Learning, Improving, Embracing Change, Participating = FUN!

Probably the greatest solution to constant improvement of skills (both cognitive and physical) is the adoption of the growth mindset whereby each athlete AND coach preps for DAILY practice by asking the questions “How I can get better today? What is it that I need to focus on today in order to walk away a better athlete or coach than I was yesterday?”

 

Below is from Vern Gambetta’s blog where this mindset philosophy is more purposefully stated.

 

‘Getting Better---The daily challenge for you and your athletes is getting better. How do you get better? How much better can you get? It is a simple proposition: How much better do you want to be? How far out of your comfort zone can you get each day & how deep into the performance zone can you get? Most of us limit ourselves because we believe in boundaries, limitations and barriers. There are no boundaries and barriers! Get out now and do it better than you did yesterday. Action not words!”

 

Both coaches and athletes NEED to embrace the concept of “change” as it relates to getting out of one’s comfort zone. As I once read, “THE COMFORT ZONE IS A PLACE WHERE NOTHING GROWS!”

 

The true growth mindset seeks the challenge of breaking out of one’s comfort zone so that gradually, one practice at a time, one can walk away knowing that through focused, purposeful effort one is just “that little bit better” than the day before. This relates to both physical and mental skill improvement.

 

Consider the two quotes that were shared on Twitter by two different people the other day…“Good coaches 'accept' feedback. Great coaches 'crave' feedback. Differences in open mindset lead to personal development”—Llyod Mlller

“Good players 'accept' feedback. Great players 'crave' feedback.- Small differences in mindset lead to huge differences in performance.”--Gary Curneen

 

A recent study showed that KIDS ARE LEAVING SPORTS between the ages of 6-12 years old IN ALARMING NUMBERS! 

 

Statistics show that between 2008 and 2013 there were 2.6 MILLION fewer kids playing the sports of Basketball, Soccer, Track & Field, Baseball, Football and Softball. The percentage of decrease were Basketball= -3.9%, Soccer -10.7%, T&F – 13.7%, Baseball – 14.4%, Football -28.6% and Softball -31.3%. THE 2.6 MILLION COUNT DOES NOT INCLUDE OTHER SPORTS!

 

The same study revealed that kids were most interested in activities that were fun and/or enjoyable. WHAT KIDS SAY IS MOST FUN were activities where they gained access to social bonds acquired through the action of sports. Their list of requirements on what was “more fun” included the following list ranked by number of responses…..1) TRYING YOUR BEST, 2) HAVING COACHES WHO TREAT PLAYERS WITH RESPECT, 3) GETTING PLAYING TIME, 4) PLAYING WELL TOGETHER AS A TEAM, 5) GETTING ALONG WITH TEAMMATES, 6) EXERCISING AND BEING ACTIVE.

 

Activities that were LESS FUN were listed by responses as: 1) WHERE WINNING WAS A PRIORITY WHICH LIMITED CHANCES TO PLAY, 2) PLAYING IN TOURNAMENTS, 3) PRACTICING WITH SPECIALITY TRAINERS AND COACHES, 4) TRAVELING TO NEW PLACES TO PLAY, 5) TOO MANY HOURS OF PRACTICE TIME PER WEEK, 6) GETTING PICTURES TAKEN.

 

 

The LESS FUN examples listed by kids might be the shockers considering the rise in Travel Teams, practice time, specialty coaches, etc. ARE PARENTS LISTENING?

 

I surely don’t understand #6 (getting pictures taken) BUT I am not a kid. 

 

Perhaps it is time to LISTEN to kids and make sports activities more about learning, participating & improving oneself.

 

Below is a great take on what parents need to consider regardless of how “talented” their kids are…so, ENJOY ANOTHER VERN GAMBETTA BLOG…..

 

LTAD - Let Them Be Kids First!   By Vern Gambetta

It is one thing to say that young athletes are not miniature adults and then to turn around and treat them as miniature adults by imposing adult training, competition and practice schedules on them. They are young and still developing and need to be treated as such. We need to get away from emphasizing where they will be, their future potential, there is time for that later, put the focus on where they are now and build upon that. Develop them so they have mastery of fundamental movements and fundamental sport skills acquired through play. De-emphasize the competition every weekend that starts an early trend toward peaking for Saturday, which then becomes a habit at latter stages of development and results in stifling long term development. We must allow for play that is free and unsupervised by adults. Play that allows the kids to be kids where they learn to explore the all dimensions of movement. The benefits are many and proven over time but simply do not fit into many of the contemporary models that seek to identify the athlete young and get them to specialize as early as possible to accumulate the necessary ten thousand hours to be a superstar. Combine that with the youth sport “Industry” and we have a huge problem in developing athletes. The athlete becomes a client in a business model not a child to be nurtured and encouraged. This has happened because we have deviated form a strong philosophical foundation of athlete development based on physical education, free play, principles of growth and development and emotional maturation.