This article was provided by The Junior Volleyball Association

By Kevin Brylski

Most coaches will tell you a high percentage of sports, and life for that matter, is played between your ears. If you have played or coached sports long enough you know that not every win is notated in the win column, and not every loss is in a column either. If your will to compete is diminished, that’s going to be a loss no matter the level.

I have the great opportunity to coach alongside Dan Dresen, a Director for the Juniors Volleyball Club and the Head Coach at Alverno College in Milwaukee Wisconsin. I asked Dan what he does to ensure his teams maintain their competitiveness, he says “I try to refocus the team on our goals we set going into the match”. Dan continued to explain the different approach at the levels he coaches now; “The focus depends on the level at which you’re coaching. Coaching 13s we want our athletes trying new things and being aggressive. This leads to more aggressive errors which we like at this age as it will teach them to look to score as they get older“. He explains “at the college level we are looking for specific scoring opportunities. Something as simple where we can find a mismatch at the net, or keeping our tempo up to beat blockers and defenders.” Dan’s sage advice and approach is perfect for the athletes he coaches, I’ve witnessed his coaching and it’s extremely effective.

Here are five ways to continue to develop your team’s competitive edge and help ensure they remain in the fight until the last point is scored:

1. Set, reference and review individual and team goals consistently.

a. Write individual and team goals early and track them, use them as an accountability measure and motivational tool

2. Put the message into an off of the court life lesson:

a. Tell them how being competitive will matter off of the court as well. Let’s face it, life is a competition too.

3. “Don’t fail each other!”

a. This is what being a team is about- be about “us” not “I” and get to work!

4. Don’t leave this to “What If” (one of my military lessons).

a. We don’t want to look back and say “What If” we fought harder, this is a great way to lead into goal accomplishment

5. Tap into their passion for the sport and zeal for life

a. Most of our girls are stand out humans, not just athletes, tap into their personal lives to induce competition as well.

A while ago I came across a saying that moved me to tears, which my daughter would argue happens often. We walked into a local BBQ restaurant that supports our Military and First Responders and on the wall was the below quote:

“IF YOU KNEW YOU COUNDN’T PLAY TOMORROW 
HOW HARD WOULD YOU PLAY TODAY”

It could always be our last time so while we’re hear LET’S DO THIS! Coaches, continue to develop your craft- read leadership and coaching books, learn from your peer group and become the coach your athletes deserve.

For related reading on culture click HERE. For related reading for coaches click HERE.

About the Author

 

Kevin Brylski was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania and graduated from Johnstown High School in 1988. He joined the Navy in 1990, served 20 years on active duty, completed numerous combat deployments, and retired in 2010. Since retirement Kevin has built his business, INVICTUS Training, with one thing in mind, helping people be the best they can be. He is a personal trainer, a life coach, a motivational speaker, and conducts Sports Organization Training. In addition, Kevin is the leadership Director for JVA member Wisconsin Juniors Volleyball Club, the Parent/Coach Liaison, and 15-1’s coach. Kevin is the father of two wonderful children, Maegan is 14 and Grady is 11; both Maegan and Grady are student athletes and maintain an “A” average in school.

If you are interested in contacting Kevin to learn more about how INVICTUS Training can help your club, team or organization he can be reached at 847-533-1185 or [email protected]

These two articles were writtin by Frank Lenti, Mt. Carmel High School.

I found these articles on Steve Smiley’s website: SNSBasketball.com

Article 1 Motivating Young Athletes

One of the hardest parts of coaching is motivating young athletes to practice. To do this effectively, the coach has to foster an understanding of the relationship between training, practice and peak performance.

He (or she) must encourage the athletes, provide structured training, and help them gain the self-discipline necessary for success and excellence on the field.

BUILDING THE COACH-ATHLETE RELATIONSHIPS

Effective motivation flows from the partnership between coaches and athletes. As coaches, we must understand our athletes as individuals and as a team ­ gain their trust and respect.

We must remember that we’re coaching people, not machines. We must teach youngsters the mechanics of a sport, but we must also assist in building their character. Showing support and interest in all facets of their lives helps build an effective coach-athlete relationship.

A good way to demonstrate such personal interest is by working out with the athletes. It will show them that you’ve been where they are, that you know it’s hard work, and that you’re willing to sweat, too.

DEVELOPING A WINNING ATTITUDE: SETTING GOALS

At Mount Carmel High School, we think in terms of attitude, motivation, performance, and success. Success is a journey, not a destination. Success is realized the moment an athlete gains a winning attitude, is motivated to set a worthwhile goal, and begins to move toward that goal.

A winning attitude is the best motivator. If athletes believe they can achieve their goals, they’ll try harder and increase their likelihood of success.

A positive coach-athlete relationship lays the groundwork for this attitude, and the setting of clear-cut goals helps establish it. Coaches should help the athletes set long-term goals and encourage them to achieve these goals through a series of short-term goals.

The incremental goals will keep motivation high, while giving the athletes an ongoing sense of achievement. Once the athlete begins developing a sense of accomplishment, he will be motivated to try even harder.

At Mount Carmel, we have our athletes write down a goal and the obstacles they anticipate in reaching it. We then identify the steps to take and the short-term achievements leading to the goal.

For example, if a football player wants to play wide receiver but isn’t fast enough, we set short-term goals to increase his speed. Each tenth of a second improvement in speed will motivate him to try even harder. If he increases his speed enough, we will give him a chance at wide receiver. If he doesn’t, we will examine why and set up a new workout schedule.

INCENTIVES AS MOTIVATORS

Incentives (material rewards for good performance) are commonly used for motivation, but may only be effective on a short-term basis. Athletes may become satisfied once they achieve rewards, such as helmet stickers or plaques, and the rewards will lose their power to motivate. We often have to increase the value or quantity of incentives to motivate players on an ongoing basis.

FEAR MOTIVATION

We do not believe that fear motivates. Fear motivation, or punishing players to “motivate” them, is only a temporary expedient. After repeated exposure to fear tactics, athletes become immune to threats, and continued punishment may destroy their desire to participate. It’s difficult to justify using fear to motivate young players.

T-E-A-M

It’s important to remember that athletes can motivate one another. We usually split the players into drill groups and score them as a team rather than as individuals. These training sessions help build team morale and make the players feel they have invested in one another. Each player has a responsibility to the team. We share the short-term goals of improving attitudes and basic skills with the long-term benefit of overall improved performance.

SUMMARY

Motivation is simply a means to an end. If we provide exposure to positive ideas over a long period of time, we will produce a successfully motivated athlete.

To summarize, this is our Mount Carmel Credo: Attitude controls motivation; motivation controls performance; performance controls success. And there’s no I in T-E-A-M.

Article 2–Building Teamwork

John Wooden, the legendary UCLA basketball coach, often said that “there are three things vital to success in athletics: conditioning, fundamentals, and working together as a team.” Of these three elements, “working together as a team” often proves to be the most elusive goal.

Teamwork is essentially an interaction of five key elements, as follows:

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS

Clear, positive communications from coach to coach, coach to athlete and athlete to athlete are essential in establishing the concept of “teamwork” and in fostering all the other basic elements of teamwork. Effective communication enables all the team members and the staff to clearly understand the team goals and work toward the achievement of the stated objectives.

As a coaching staff, we focus on two communication principles: 1) clearly and repeatedly communicating both our expectations of players as individual athletes, students, and team members, and the reasons for our expectations, and 2) remembering that effective communications is a two-way street: that is, the coaching staff must listen to the athletes, too.

WINNING ATTITUDES

All coaches know that the players with good attitudes are usually the ones who will contribute the most to the team. However, it’s not enough to inspire good attitudes in individual players: a “team attitude” is necessary in building the kind of teamwork upon which winning is predicated.

At Mount Carmel, we define a good team attitude by how well the athletes accept their roles and their responsibilities to the team. The star role is relatively easy to accept, but it is equally important for the team specialists and back-ups to understand and accept their roles and responsibilities.

Coaches should encourage this kind of attitude by setting an example: accepting all the responsibilities of their coaching position, not just the ones that they like.

TEAM EGO

Once players understand and accept their roles on the team, it is possible to take the concept of “team attitude” one step farther to “team ego.” This simply means that players must overcome their own egos for the good of the entire team.

MOTIVATION

The subordination of individual attitudes and egos cannot happen in a vacuum. The players must be given a reason to be motivated to achieve a favorable outcome for the team.

Coaches can set up a continuing system of motivation by setting long-term goals and by encouraging players to achieve them by meeting a series of short-term goals. At Mount Carmel, we also include personal and academic goals. By measuring progress in small steps, we can give each athlete an ongoing sense of achievement and keep his or her motivation high.

Athletes can also motivate one another. We usually split players into drill groups and score them as a team rather than as individuals, making the players feel they have a vested interest in each other.

DISCIPLINE

The establishment and maintenance of positive communications, team attitudes and egos, and motivation depends heavily on the final element of teamwork ­ discipline. Discipline is the glue that holds everything else together. Coaches should remember that discipline, if used fairly and consistently, is a positive force in building teamwork.

Rules are a part of discipline, although we have found that too many rules have a negative impact on teamwork. It is also important to make sure that the rules you do have are consistent with team goals, are realistic and are enforceable.

A key focus in our discipline program at Mount Carmel is developing self-discipline, which we define as “what one does when no one is watching.” We help athletes develop self-discipline through: 1) setting goals as described above, 2) clearly communicating the coach’s expectations for the players and maintaining those standards, and 3) demanding the best effort from each athlete, whether in practice, in the classroom, or in a game.

 

This article was provided by Coaches Network

As a coach, you strive to find the words that will help your athletes reach their full potential—not only as athletes, but as young adults.  In an article in Psychology Today, Meg Selig—author of Changepower! 37 Secrets to Habit Change Success—provides a few brief motivational messages that coaches have used in motivating their athletes to get the most out of their athletic experience.

Do it for love. Selig remembers when well-know figure skating coach Frank Carroll told nervous 18-year-old U.S. skater Gracie Gold the following message when she took the ice for a key performance: “Think about how much you love skating!” And she references a quote from legendary NBA coach Phil Jackson in his book, Eleven Rings: “Focus on something greater than yourself that you love and value, such as your sport or your team.”

Next play. This philosophy is emphasized by Duke University basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski, who prevents players from dwelling on their mistakes.  Selig cites a description by LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, who has adopted the “next play” philosophy, based on Coach K’s beliefs: “(Coach K) yells out ‘next play,’ because he doesn’t want the team lingering too long on what just took place. He doesn’t want them celebrating that incredible alley-oop dunk, and he doesn’t want them lamenting the fact that the opposing team just stole the ball and had a fast break that led to an easy layup. You can take a moment to reflect on what just happened, and you probably should, but you shouldn’t linger too long on it, and then move on to the next play.”

Aim for excellence, not perfection. Selig says this is a great motto for an athlete who gets bogged down by never being able to achieve total perfection. Accepting failures and glitches in one’s program is simply part of the process.

Why not you? Why not us? According to Selig, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson always remembered his father’s question to him, “Why not you?” When he encouraged his Seahawks teammates, he transformed the saying into, “Why not us?”

Create the best possible conditions for success, then let go of the outcome. Selig quotes this statement from Phil Jackson’s Eleven Rings: “I’ve heard echoes of this statement in interviews by Olympians and other successful athletes. Once you’ve prepared mentally and physically for your game, then you are ready to do your best–and your best is the best you can do.”

Cultivate a learning mindset instead of a fixed mindset. Many young athletes believe that it’s talent that counts, says Selig, and as a result, they don’t put in the hard work needed to overcome deficiencies, hone a skill to excellence, or develop the mental strength and flexibility to bounce back from failure.  For these athletes, Selig encourages that the coach rewards effort rather than talent and reframe failure as an opportunity to learn.

Use setbacks as motivation. Can athletes use their failures as a springboard to success? Selig writes, “If you read the sports page, you’ll find that almost every sports team uses a significant loss to motivate themselves to improve in the coming year.”

Keep your self-talk encouraging. Selig emphasizes that positive self-talk must be geared to the athlete’s own and she offers these phrases as mantras for athletes to say to themselves: “I’ve done it before; I can do it again, “or “I’m going to trust myself,” or “Whatever happens, I’ll do my best.”

 

Are you tired of walking into practice and seeing lackluster effort from your players?  Have you had it with trying to get your female athletes to care about the team as much as you do??

Click here to find out more about Coach Dawn’s eBook: Motivating Female Athletes

Comes with a FREE PowerPoint presentation called Guarantee Your Success: Using John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success To Increase Your Team’s Cohesion.