Week 6 of Prep Steps ™

Week 6 of Prep Steps ™
Days 27-BONUS

Day 27—As coaches, we definitely know that effective relaxation and breathing are valuable skills for everyone, especially high level athletes. Has anyone incorporated breathing exercises or yoga in your teams’ routines? If so, what results have you seen/experienced?

Day 28—In the “boiling waters” of stressful schedules, high expectations and pressure toward positive results, how are you changing those around you for the better? Are you coffee-like... exuding a rich aroma that makes others smile? (Maybe this one is a little more rhetorical, but hopefully is challenges us all to examine ourselves!)

Day 29-30—Will you make it a point to convey these Intangible extremes to your teams and to help them understand the character of a true TEAM player? Speaking for myself, many times I was selfish as player and did not even realize it! Maybe some of your athletes fight the same battles?

Day 31—None of us are born automatic winners, and none of us are born automatic losers. We are all born CHOOSERS! We all have choices, and our choices matter. Are your small, penny-sized choices moving you closer to where you would like to be, or further from your goals, dreams and aspirations? We are always moving in one direction or the other :)

BONUS—One of the biggest distractions for college athletes? Relationships… love! Love is more than feeling or emotion, but a choice. Our feelings and emotions are very strong and quite real, but they are not reliable… REAL but not RELIABLE. Can we find ways to validate our students’ feelings while challenging them to make choices based on something more reliable than emotion?

Thank you for following along on this Prep Steps™ journey. Hopefully many of you have benefitted, even if you have not had the time to post on this blog. Thank you for everything you do each day to instill positive work ethic and character in the athletes you train. There is no more honorable title than that of a “Coach”. From one coach to another, thank you for all you do!
--CB
@CharityButler (Twitter)
www.exceed-sports.com

Week 5 of Prep Steps™

Week 5 of Prep Steps™
Days 21-26

Day 21—We live in a culture of instant gratification. Honestly, I get impatient if my iPhone takes more than three seconds to respond! Likewise, our athletes do not have to wait for much of anything. Information is instant. Coffee is instant. Even microwavable food is instant. What approach do you take to help athletes see the “big picture”… to understand that over time, hard work really does pay huge dividends?

Day 22—What are your observations in the difference between confidence and cockiness?

Day 23—How do you define focus? How do you encourage this type of focus in your athletes?

Day 24—In order to maximize our athletes’ focus and ultimately their resulting performance, in what ways can we practically apply the mental light switch?

Day 25—Even as an adult, I find myself struggling to keep a positive attitude 100% of the time. We all face challenges. How can implementing the “Replacing” strategy make a difference for you personally?

Day 26—The foundation for effective refocusing is laid well before major mistakes or obstacles occur. So often, our athletes feel the weight of the world on their shoulders during competition because they feel their value and worth as people are directly linked to their performance. With this approach, when athletes perform well, they feel valuable/successful. If they perform poorly, they feel like worthless failures. How can we help our athletes see their intrinsic value as people? How do we help them see they have value because of who they are… period? When their value and self-worth do not hang in the balance with every play or every game, mistakes are less earth-shattering and much easier to overcome.

Prep Steps™ Week 4

Prep Steps™ Week 4

Days 17-20

Day 17

When your athletes do experience injury, how do you approach working with the team coaches, athletic trainers and doctors?  Determining what is best for the athlete and balancing various agendas can be a challenge!  Please share your experiences, so we can all learn.

Day 18-19

Startling Statistics:  The mortality rate of anorexia is twelve times higher than that of all other causes of death for females ages 15-24.  Surprising?  One of the reasons this issue is so dangerous:  Only 1 in 10 receives treatment. 

Body image, disordered eating and ultimately eating disorders are fragile topics, but addressing them is absolutely necessary.  Our female athletes need advocates for their health physically, mentally and emotionally.  How can we foster awareness and be the support some of our girls desperately need?

Day 20

Do you have any secrets for rest and recovery?  Has anyone studied Glutathione, the “Super Hero of antioxidants”?  This enzyme plays a huge role in recovery.  These short videos are fascinating!  http://abcliveit.com/site/Glutathione.html