While coaching Cross Country and Track and Field at a
University, I ended up coaching the University Soccer Coach’s wife. She was a
very talented distance runner and wanted to train with our team. One day the
Soccer Coach pulled me aside and relayed what he thought was a funny, but
revealing, story. His wife was reading a Track and Field Magazine article on
“Proper Warm-Up” and exclaimed, “look at this, we do all those same things in
our warm-up! The Soccer Coach glanced over at the article and asked his wife to
look at the author of the article. Yes, it was MY article and, in fact, no
coincidence that the warm-up was the same she did every day but it seemed more
impressive in print.
I tell this to illustrate how much more “clout”
information has when it is DISCOVERED in a magazine article, book or, more
likely these days, a website or electronic magazine.
So, TO FULLY TAKE ADVANTAGE
of using books, articles and interviews WITH ELITE COACHES, ATHLETES AND
EDUCATORS to my advantage, I am calling upon NFL Strength Coach and former
Offensive Lineman Tom Myslinski, Toni Nadal (uncle and Coach to
perhaps the number one tennis player in the world, Rafael Nadal), top Educator
and well-know Blogger Tim Elmore AND noted author, (his book, The
Talent Code, being instrumental for educators and coaches) and blogger Daniel
Coyle to help validate my previous few blog posts.
First up, I will call upon Daniel Coyle with reference to
his Talent Code, Chapter 4 titled:
THE THREE RULES OF DEEP PRACTICE ---Try again, fail again. Fail better. – Samuel
Beckett
In Chapter 4, the Three Rules of Deep Practice are listed
as: Rule 1: CHUNK IT UP, Rule 2: REPEAT IT, AND Rule 3: LEARN TO FEEL IT.
Chunking, as noted
by Coyle to be a strange concept, can be used for both cognitive and physical
skills. So, lets use the example of physical skill. Physical and cognitive
skills are both built of chunks, or parts. An athlete, when performing a
competitive movement, such as throwing a javelin, he learns it through a
process of assembling the various movements, or chunks, of the total technique
involved in throwing the javelin (postural stance, run-up accelerating into
cross-over steps with a final “braking” of the lower body and resultant
explosive acceleration of trunk, shoulder and arm much like a “catapult”. To
master this technique, the thrower has grouped a series of movements together.
These movement patterns have been practiced often enough so that the thrower
can repeat them more efficiently and then sequence them into larger parts of
the whole technique and repeated until all the parts can be repeated
efficiently into one, continuous flow of unconscious movement. This chunking,
or mastering the individual chunks of the javelin throw before putting the
chunks together to master the entire “sequence” of movements that becomes the
JAVELIN THROW. Deep Practice is ALL about the building of individual parts
(words for sentences, sentences for paragraphs AS WELL as a linking simple
movements to form competitive movements).
Or, as stated by Coyle: “The goal is always the same; to
break a skill into its component pieces (circuits), memorize those pieces
individually, then link them together in progressively larger groupings (new,
interconnected circuits). He does also recommend ABSORBING THE WHOLE THING
by “spending time watching or listening to the desired skill---the song, the
move, the swing, as a SINGLE, COHERENT ENTITY!
Rule
2, as noted by Coyle, IS INVALUABLE AND IRREPLACEABLE. Rule 3 reminds
me of Bruce Lee’s profound message of “BECOME THE MOVEMENT”.
NOW, lets put this BLOG into reverse and recall some of
the important ELEMENTS for successful academic and athletic DEVELOPENT I
have recommended such as; MIND SET, NUTRITION, FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS
AND SLEEP.
Now, connect the dots with FUNDAMENTAL MOVEMENT SKILLS
and Athletic Movement Skill Competencies with DEEP PRACTICE as described by
Coyle. In addition, read Tom Myslinski’s answer to the difference between
college athletes and pro athletes and you will see DEEP PRACTICE as one of two
big differences in college and pro athletes. In the next answer he gives THREE
big things that he preaches to pro football players…NUTRITION, HYDRATION AND
SLEEP. He even elaborates on the importance of sleep with reference to a
noted expert…please take the time to read the two answers.
Tom Myslinski on: Other Training Variables From>>>>> Sept.16th Part 3 Interview w/Martin Bissinger
Martin: You have also coached at the collegiate level. What are some of the big differences you see with professional athletes?Tom: The two big differences that separate pro guys from college guys are their self-awareness and ability to conduct deliberate practice. If we can create self-awareness, they are able to communicate to us better. The better they can communicate to us, the better we can train them. As for deliberate practice, practice means everything to them. It’s their job and livelihood. They do not take it for granted.
The big three things we preach to our guys are sleep, nutrition and hydration. I want them to control the things that they can control because there is so much in their sport and their lives that is out of their control. For example, we live in Florida and our heat index is 100+ degrees every day. Hydration is a big deal here. Our guys must understand that they have to consistently stay hydrated on a daily basis and that requires work.
Martin: Nutrition has been a big topic for decades now, but sleep has been overlooked for a while. I don’t think it is talked about as much as it should since it has a huge effect on training and performance.
Tom: Cheri Mah is a scientist over at Stanford and has some really good published research on this topic. Her current research concludes that most athletes are about a month in sleep debt. Elite athletes should get 8 to 10 hours of sleep a night, but most of them are only getting 6 to 7. That amount sleep debt can’t be made up through a nap, and has to made up at night.
That’s an easy conversation to have with an athlete. “Hey you aren’t sleeping enough” and “you need to sleep more” but actually getting it is a different story. That’s where the athlete has to learn to be more self-aware and give a little bit too. Maybe the athlete needs to unwire at night, disconnect from the world, and force themselves to go to bed a little bit earlier. They might need to break bad habits and develop new sleep patterns.
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Remember,
this all material I have presented for your CHUNKING.
NOW, what about all the noise I have made regarding
MINDSET? If you didn’t read the Carol Dweck interview regarding her book on
MINDSET, maybe you would rather listen to UNCLE TONI, as in Toni Nadal,
lifelong coach of Rafael Nadal, BEFORE supplementing with Tim Elmore’s helpful
thoughts on FIVE WORDS EVERY CHILD NEEDS TO HEAR.
The following quotes from Toni Nadal are taken from the
book RAFA My Story, by Rafael Nadal with John Carlin:
“Where Toni is unbendingly
doctrinaire, however, is in his views regarding the way children should be
brought up. “The problem nowadays,” he says, “is that children have become too
much the center of attention. Their parents, their families, everybody-around-
them feels a need to put them on a pedestal. So much effort is invested in
boosting their self-esteem that they are made
to feel special in and of themselves, without having done anything. People get confused: they fail to grasp that you are NOT SPECIAL because of
who you are BUT BECAUSE of WHAT YOU DO.”
“Respect for other people,
for everyone irrespective of who they might be or what they might do, is the
starting point of everything”, Toni says. “What is NOT acceptable is that
people who have had it all in life should behave coarsely with other people. No,
the higher you are, the greater your duty to treat people with respect.-------I
always say, and his parents do too, that it is MORE IMPORTANT TO BE A GOOD
PERSON THAN A GOOD PLAYER.”
“The things you receive as
gifts, unless they come with special sentimental attachment, you don’t value,
whereas the thing you achieve by YOUR OWN EFFORTS, you value a lot. The
GREATER THE EFFORT, THE GREATER THE VALUE.”
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Five Words Every Child Needs to Hear
I spoke to a Division 1, NCAA
football player who dropped off the radar screen his senior year. All four
years, he’d been a great student (3.8 GPA) and a well-respected starting player
for his school. But after December (translate that — when his final season
ended) he was missing in action. He didn’t show up to class, his grades
dropped, and he became a social recluse. When I found this out and caught up
with him, I asked why he’d disappeared. His response?
“I’m just so scared about what
comes next.”
This student had figured out
how to get a scholarship, how to pass a test and how to catch a football but
felt entirely inadequate at becoming an adult. Adults in his life had focused
so much on his current happiness, they forgot about future readiness.
Much more than the gift of
happiness, caring adults owe each new generation some perspective. I believe we
must be willing to sacrifice their temporary happiness for long-term happiness
— including preparing them to be disciplined adults themselves. Instead of
pleasure, let’s prepare them for fulfillment.
What if we borrowed a page from
the playbook of the past? A few years ago, Izquierdo and Ochs wrote an article
for Ethos, the journal of the Society of Psychological Anthropology.
They posed cultural questions like: Why do Matsigenka children “help their
families at home more than L.A. children?” And “Why do L.A. adult family
members help their children at home more than do Matsigenka?”
With the exception of the
imperial offspring of the Ming dynasty, contemporary kids in the U.S. may
represent the most indulged young people in the history of the world. Writer
Elizabeth Kolbert notes, “It’s not just that they’ve been given unprecedented amounts of stuff —
clothes, toys, cameras, skis, computers, cell phones, televisions,
PlayStations, iPods (the market for Burberry Baby and other forms of kiddie
‘couture’ has reportedly been growing by ten percent a year). They’ve also
been granted unprecedented authority. ‘Parents want their kids’ approval, a
reversal of the past ideal of children striving for their parents’ approval,’
Jean Twenge and W. Keith Campbell, both professors of psychology, have written.
In many middle-class families, children have one, two, sometimes three
adults who are ready and waiting to meet their every beck and call. This is a
social experiment on a grand scale, and a growing number of adults fear it
isn’t working out so well.: according
to one poll, commissioned by TIME and CNN, two-thirds of American
parents think that their children are spoiled.”
But who’s really to blame?
Hmmm. We can’t just say it’s the kids.
Let me suggest some key ideas to follow as you lead your young people:
1. They need to hear the word
“watch.”
They need an example
from you more than they need entertainment from you. When kids lack
direction or discipline, they don’t need more diversion. What they need is an
example that demonstrates how to grow wise as they grow up. They need to see
adults living for something greater than themselves. They need leaders who show
them how to be selfless and sacrificial.
2. They need to hear the word
“practice.”
They need long-term
preparation more than short-term happiness. Kids have plenty of
amusements that offer pleasure; they need help getting ready for a
not-so-pleasurable future where they’ll need to pay their dues on a job for a
while. Real satisfaction comes when a person commits to a goal and masters it.
3. They need to hear the word
“no.”
They need a mentor more
than a buddy. I decided years ago, my kids have lots of buddies. They
have only one dad. That’s me. So I must play the card that isn’t always fun but
earns their future love and respect. This means they may not “like me” each
week of their childhood or adolescence. If I earn their respect through leading
them well, love will naturally follow.
4. They need to hear the word
“wait.”
Today, most things happen quickly,
with little wait time. Our ability to delay gratification has shrunk. I
think it’s important for parents, teachers, coaches, employers and youth pastors
to build “wait time” into the game plan for their young people — as a rehearsal
for adult life. Kids naturally become happy when they learn to appreciate
waiting for something they want and delaying gratification.
5. They need to hear the word
“serve.”
Unlike other cultures in
history, we’ve made “the pursuit of happiness” a part of our American
tradition. It’s in the Declaration of Independence because service was so
imbedded into the society at the time. Being happy was a relatively new thought
to that generation. Today, we breed consumers more than contributors —
producing dissatisfied kids. All I can say is: It’s no wonder.
Through the years, I’ve had the
chance to interview hundreds of parents, coaches and parents on what
adjustments we need to make as we lead kids. In response, my latest book, Twelve Huge
Mistakes Parents Can Avoid, was just released. In it, I outline a dozen common mistakes that sabotage our kids’ journey into adulthood,
including:
- We won’t let them fail.
- We project our lives on them.
- We remove the consequences.
- We praise the wrong things…and others.
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