Mental Toughness: Are You a Baby?

For those that follow my blog, you know I am the proud father of 6 month old twin sons, Luke and Jack. While I am not 100% certain (haven’t had them actually tested), I am confident they are geniuses. I’m serious!

Why? Because they have already figured out the 6 keys to success:

1) Persistence: they never quit. Ever. When they want something… to be fed, to be changed, or hold a toy… they do not stop until they get what they want. Right now they are learning to crawl… and they spend hours and hours “practicing.”

How persistent are you in getting what you want? How relentless are you in your development?

2) Communication: they speak their minds. Granted, it’s in the form of crying, grunting, laughing, and Gibberish... but they do communicate. And they are attentive listeners. When Mr. Wiggles is talking, my boys are listening! They communicate with me (coach) and they communicate with each other (teammate).

Does everyone on your team know their role? Their strengths and weaknesses? The team’s goals? Is this being communicated among coaches and players?

Quick side note: My wife is the Head Coach of our family; I am a lowly assistant.

3) Enthusiasm: they have a passion for everything they do! When they are happy, they bounce around and their faces light up the room. When they aren’t, they flail their limbs and they cry like wild hyenas.

How much passion do you have for the game? Is your enthusiasm contagious? Do you raise the level of those around you?

4) Structure: they are on a schedule. They go to sleep at the same time every night, get up at the same time every day, and eat (and nap) at scheduled intervals. They have a consistent routine.

Do you have a daily routine? Do your workouts/practices have structure or are they haphazard?

5) Uninhibited: they don’t care about looking cool. They will (literally) crap their pants while staring at directly at you. They don’t care if they fall on their face or if they have vomit on their shirt. They are comfortable being themselves. And they aren’t afraid to make mistakes.

Are you worried what others will think if you make a mistake? Do you only practice the skills you are good at so you don’t look bad?

6) Imagination: they think outside of the box. They can spend an hour playing with a ball of tissue paper. They make the most of what they have.

How much imagination do you put in to your own workouts/practices? When you are doing drills, do you imagine there is a defender… or do you just do the drill?

So there you have it, Luke and Jack have figured out the 6 keys to success. Now, it’s my job as their father to make sure they maintain these traits as they get older.

If they go through life with persistence, can effectively communicate, have an unbridled enthusiasm, have a consistent daily schedule, aren’t afraid to make mistakes, and can think creatively… they will be successful in whatever they choose to do.

I have my fingers crossed its basketball.

Just kidding.

No I’m not.

I will leave you with this…

Your answer to the question I ask at the beginning of this video clip will determine how successful you will be: http://TinyUrl.com/WaitingVsPreparing

Please let me know if I can ever be of service to you for your program. You can email me at Alan@StrongerTeam.com.

Train hard. Train smart.

Alan Stein
www.StrongerTeam.com
www.Twitter.com/AlanStein

PS: I will be speaking about proper pre-season and in-season strength & conditioning at basketball coaching clinics in Columbus, OH (September 27), Orlando, FL (October 1), and Houston, TX (October 2). If you live in one of those areas, I hope to see you there!

Top 5 Lessons the Military Can Teach Coaches

The military can teach many lessons from what to do during a chemical attack to how to clear a room. Those are military jobs and skills. What are some of the leadership lessons that a basketball coach can use to better improve their coaching or their love of the process? These are a few that I have learned along the way and have learned to adapt to my perspective on coaching.

1. Be a Follower First then a Leader - One of the great lessons taught by the military is the fact that you must first learn how to be a great follower before you can expect to become a great leader. The idea that leaders are born and not made does not apply in the military. In other words, you do not simply walk in and announce you are the next coming of Patton. Instead you are taught about chain of command and your place in it.

When you first enter the military, your place is the splinter of wood on the bottom of the ladder - a fact you will be reminded of daily as you scrub toilets, do pushups until you cannot move, and other fun human games unknown to Milton Bradley. Remember, great leaders are born through the fire of daily discipline and correct character choices.

Your time will come be the follower that you will expect your followers to be.

2. Suck Scum - Be the guy that is willing to do the things that others will not do.
When you are coaching basketball this means working your tail off in the July recruiting period, getting up early to work out your players, and all the little things involved in preparation. In the military you have no choice. You accept the job given to you and work hard to accomplish it in the most efficient way possible. Period. There is no room for emotions - only execution.

When you coach basketball, so many times, people expect good things to happen because they work hard. Hard work does not guarantee success - it is only the ticket to the party. Suck scum and work hard because you do not deserve success without paying this price.

3. Stay Fit to Lead Effectively - Leaders in the military are in physical shape. You know this because you cannot stay in the military without meeting a standard of physical fitness. Also, you cannot rise in rank without paying your dues which takes time. That being said, you know that those leaders in the military are disciplined and expect you to perform at a level that they have already surpassed.

In basketball coaching, I believe that your ability to coach most effectively is diminshed when you cannot demonstrate these physical skills. At the same time, if you know that you cannot physically demonstrate certain movements or skills, it is wise to have someone on staff that can. Stay fit, sweat with your players, and reach new heights of coaching effectiveness.

4. Expect More - Please coaches remember that no matter how much you demand from your players that they are always capable of more. The Navy SEALS teach that the average person can do 10 times more than they think possible. They demonstrate this through a week long trial by fire where the longest they are even allowed to sleep is 4 hours - most are awake in 72 hour shifts.

Translate this to the basketball court and push your players physcially to their limits. Most high school kids do not even know their limits because they have never been pushed to that level. For these players, their first introduction to this is in college. Please do not let your player go to college without any idea about the price they must pay physically. Remember, fatigue makes cowards of us all and physical toughness is a prerequisite for mental toughness.

You cannot be mentally tough without forging your body the way through the fire of your will.

5. Disciplined Emotions - If you look at the most successful coaches in basketball like Tom Izzo, Coach K, Brad Stevens, Roy Williams, and others, you will notice that they have total control over their emotions on the sidelines. Even though they may rant and rave during the game at officials and players, these are calculated manouvers designed with a purpose. They are translating emotions to give these tactics power and command, but like the great actors, deep inside they are calm and collected. This is much like the military where the leaders have been forged through the fires of combat and pressure situations. They must have control over their emotions to make decisions where life and death hang in the balance.

While everyone is still human, I believe the great leaders - in the military and on the basketball court - have command of their emotions and are able to act upon them when needed for the most effect.

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