Monday 30 April 2012

How to Train Young People to be Successful at Work

How to Train Young People to be Successful at Work
Swen Nater - Click Here to read more articles from his Blog!

I work at Costco, in the corporate office. I’ve been here 17 years. I also played sports. I truly believe a sports coach can do much to help young people prepare to function successfully in a corporate office-type environment. By “successfully” I mean, be productive, be an asset, be likeable, help the company reach its goals, get promoted, and generally be happy.

I wrote down twelve things I thought were necessary to be successful here. Then, one by one, I determined if sports could prepare a person in that area. In each case, it could. 

1. Discipline to get the job done right and on time
2. Working hard
3. Loving what you do
4. Discovering how to improve and move up
5. Being an effective member of a team that is working on something together
6. Being at work and being on time
7. Being creative
8. Being subordinate
9. Helping improve or change things
10. Being responsible and dependable
11. Knowing how to be led
12. Knowing how to lead

After I wrote them down, it hit me; John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success covers many of these. So, I went back and entered the Pyramid traits (in parenthesis).

1. Discipline to get the job done right and on time (DEPENDABILITY)
2. Working hard (INDUSTRIOUSNESS)
3. Loving what you do (ENTHUSIASM)
4. Discovering how to improve and move up (AMBITION)
5. Being an effective member of a team that is working on something together (TEAM SPIRIT, COOPERATION, FRIENDSHIP)
6. Being at work and being on time (INTEGRITY)
7. Being creative (RESOURCEFULNESS)
8. Being subordinate (LOYALTY)
9. Helping improve or change things (LOYALTY, COOPERATION, ALERTNESS)
10. Being responsible and dependable (RELIABILITY)
11. Knowing how to be led (LOYALTY, FAITH)
12. Knowing how to lead (POISE, CONFIDENCE)

I was so excited. Yeah! Through youth sports, The Pyramid can prepare someone to be a great worker and a great asset to any company. Cool!

So go tell your child, “Sign up for a team. Here’s a Pyramid of Success. Take it with you and make sure you get all of these things out of it.”

That sounds silly, right? A child can’t use the Pyramid of Success to prepare for the workplace; that’s the coach’s job. And I hear, some coaches have. If you know of someone who was trained in youth sports through the Pyramid, please call me. We want him or her at Costco. Thanks.

Sugar warning for 'healthy' soft drinks



Juices and soft drinks  
 
People underestimated the amount of sugar in many so-called 'healthy' soft drinks

Related Stories

People underestimate the amount of sugar in drinks which are perceived to be "healthy", research suggests.

The Glasgow University study asked more than 2,000 people in the UK to estimate how much sugar was in a range of drinks.

While many overestimated the amount in fizzy beverages, they underestimated levels in smoothies and fruit juices.

The research also found soft drinks could be accounting for a large chunk of their recommended calorie intake.

The British Soft Drinks Association says the sugar in soft drinks is not hidden because beverages carry clear labelling of nutritional content, including calorie and sugar content.
 
Risk factor
  The reasearchers asked participants to assess their weekly drinking habits.
Their answers suggested 450 calories a day were being consumed - a quarter of the daily limit for women and a fifth for men.

Start Quote

What you drink can be as damaging to the body as what you eat”
Professor Naveed Sattar Glasgow University
But it was the lack of awareness about the sugar content of drinks that caused concern.
The participants were asked to guess the number of teaspoons of sugar in a range of popular drinks.
They underestimated it for pure apple juice and orange juice, a caffeinated energy drink and a smoothie by between two and four teaspoons.

And for a pomegranate-based drink, they underestimated the sugar content by nearly 18 teaspoons.
Unsurprisingly, many participants were not taking the calorie content of their soft drinks into account when thinking about their diet.

The team warned that the over-consumption of soft drinks was contributing to obesity and was a major risk factor for conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.
Lead researcher Prof Naveed Sattar said: "What you drink can be as damaging to the body as what you eat.

"There is no question that consuming too many sugar-sweetened drinks can greatly contribute to obesity.

"Some varieties of drinks such as pure fruit juices and smoothies, which are perceived as 'healthy' options, are also very high in sugar.

"For many people struggling with their weight, reducing their intake of such drinks and replacing with water or diet drinks would be a sensible first target to help them lessen their calorie intake."

UNDRAFTED, BUT STILL IN THE GAME?

Martin St. Louis - Undrafted
 
More information at Fitness Institute!

Not drafted or a late pick on draft day? Disappointed or even devastated?  You're not alone as many draft eligible players, in fact many more than were drafted, were left undrafted this past weekend.  Is it over or just the beginning?

The answer lies in how you deal with it.

My suggestion is, let it fuel your fire because not everybody is on a fast track to the Show (in fact most are not) and when you accept the fact that it's a marathon rather than a sprint and that scouting is far from the perfect science you'll be in the right frame of mind to prove people wrong and begin the process of getting something special out of hockey. Remember Martin St-Louis, Adam Oates, Steve Thomas, Rich Peverley, Brian Rafalski, Grant Ledyard, Chad Larose, Chris Kunitz, Curtis Joseph, Mike Green, Dino Ciccarelli, Ed Belfour, Rene Bourque, to name a few are or were undrafted players that are having or had very good NHL careers!

Make the most of this summer...with proper training and nutrition!

 

Tip of the Day

Athletes often feel anxious because of the constant threat of being judged. Thoughts must be directed toward what the athlete can control.

Friday 27 April 2012

Andrew MacWilliam - Kodiak - Future Pro Player

Andrew MacWilliam, D, North Dakota Fighting Sioux (WCHA)
Drafted 7th round, 188th overall, 2008


The third year Fighting Sioux defender scored his first and second career NCAA goals this year, but failed to surpass his point career high in point totals (eight) that he set a year ago. The 22-year-old defenseman continued his rugged style of play this season recording a team high 75 penalty minutes. Due to the injuries on the Fighting Sioux's defense, MacWilliam has also seen increased time on the clubs power play. While he's been given more chances in an offensive role, his bread and butter is his work on the penalty kill. He's been paired with offensive-minded sophomore Nick Mattson (CHI) all season which has proven to be a good complimentary pairing. MacWilliam has continued to work on his foot speed, but it still remains an area of weakness going forward. He projects as a tough, depth defenseman with leadership qualities. He's likely to spend his final year at North Dakota.

Switch Up Your Workout Routine

There are tons of people that go to the gym and either do the exact same routine or switch between two or three. Here are a few tips so that you know when it’s time to switch things up!
  1. You’re bored: I get that for most people working out isn’t exactly a great time but how crappy is being bored and not enjoying what you’re doing? Hitting the same workout routine a few times over is a great way to see progress (lifting more weight, faster time ect.) and also make sure you have your technique down. But once you find yourself “going through the motions” it is probably best to switch things up. Make it so you have to think during your workouts. You should always be trying to perform the exercise properly and identify what muscle groups you are hitting.
  2. You are not seeing results anymore: Your body is amazing! It only takes anywhere between 4-8 weeks before your body will begin to adapt to your workout and you will stop seeing as many results. The key is to always keep your body guessing. There are a 100,000,001 exercises out there try different ones out!
  3. You are no longer being challenged: If you ran 5km everyday it would not take long for it to become more of a Sunday stroll then a workout. Make your workout challenging, try some exercises that you have seen other people do at the gym, up the weight your lift or throw a quick aerobic exercise between your strength exercises.
Changing up your workout routine will help keep you motivated and your body guessing which is key for you to reach your goals. Play around in the gym and have some fun! Coming up with new exercises is something that keeps us passionate at Blitz.

Quote

It is better to look ahead and prepare than to look back and regret. -Jackie Joyner-Kersee

It’s Not the Program, It’s the Coaching

I wrote this for my StrengthCoach.com site but, wanted to share it with a wider audience.

Sam Dadd, one of my senior coaches at MBSC thought the concept mentioned in the title would make a great article. The discussion began, as many do, with a question in a staff meeting. Why does an assistant go to a new program, institute the same program used in his old job, yet fail to get similar results? Or, why when a head strength coach moves on and the assistant takes over are the results not the same? The obvious answer would be talent however I think that is an oversimplification.

My response to the question was simple and to the point. It’s not the program, it’s the coach.  In the football world legendary coach Bum Phillips described another legend, Paul Bear Bryant’s coaching this way . “He can take his’n and beat your’n and take your’n and beat his’n.” In other words if you and Bryant switched rosters, in a year he’d beat you with your own team.

A good coach with a mediocre program is much better than a great program and a mediocre coach. A program is a piece of paper or a file in a computer. Programs cannot motivate or create accountability. A piece of paper can’t figure out what is inside a person and how to get that out. A great coach can do all those things. A great coach will teach, motivate, and create an accountability system. He will figure out what makes each guy tick and then use that knowledge to get results. I have said for years that all of our programs are the same. Our base philosophy never changes. Want to get fast, run sprints. Want to get strong, lift weights. The difference is in the selling. The difference is in knowing what makes each athlete tick.

Another legendary coach, the late quarterback guru Tom Martinez, described it this way in the book Outliers. “Every kids life is a mix of shit and ice cream. If the kid has had too much shit I mix in some ice cream. If he has had too much ice cream I mix in some shit”. Martinez knew that there was a different key to every lock. To paraphrase Dan John, the key is to find the key.

Bottom line, there is a reason that strength and conditioning coaches Mike Woicek, Al Miller, Rusty Jones and Johnny Parker had a team in almost every Superbowl for about a 15 year period. They were great coaches who got the best out of their players.( Importance of the Strength and Conditioning Coach http://www.strengthcoach.com/public/1263.cfm )

There is a reason a coach like Phil Jackson succeeded in circumstances as different as Chicago and LA  . Coaching matters. Coaches change lives, programs don’t change lives. The people will always matter more than the paper.

Wednesday 25 April 2012

A Solution for “The Parent Problem”

This is a great article and many more can be seen at this webite! Fantastic resource!

As I’ve traveled around talking to teachers and coaches, there’s one refrain I hear over and over: The kids are great. The problem is the parents.
 
I think this is deeply true, most prominently in youth sports, but also in other areas, like music and the classroom. It’s not because parents are dumb or ill-intentioned — though, okay, some are — it’s rather because a lot of parents genuinely want to help, and don’t know how best to do it, so they helicopter around and that makes things messy (I’ve been there, done that).

With that in mind, check out this letter written a few years back by a new Little League baseball coach to his team’s parents before the season began. And what makes it slightly more meaningful is that the Little League baseball coach happens to be Mike Matheny, who’s gone on to be the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals (he coached Little League just after he retired from pro ball).

If you’re curious, I would recommend clicking this link to read the whole thing, but here are a few excerpts:
I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest problem with youth sports has been the parents. I think that it is best to nip this in the bud right off the bat. I think the concept that I am asking all of you to grab is that this experience is ALL about the boys. If there is anything about it that includes you, we need to make a change of plans. My main goals are as follows:

(1) to teach these young men how to play the game of baseball the right way,
(2) to be a positive impact on them as young men, and
(3) do all of this with class.

We may not win every game, but we will be the classiest coaches, players, and parents in every game we play. The boys are going to play with a respect for their teammates, opposition, and the umpires no matter what.

Once again, this is ALL about the boys. I believe that a little league parent feels that they must participate with loud cheering and “Come on, let’s go, you can do it”, which just adds more pressure to the kids. I will be putting plenty of pressure on these boys to play the game the right way with class, and respect, and they will put too much pressure on themselves and each other already. You as parents need to be the silent, constant, source of support.


I am a firm believer that this game is more mental than physical, and the mental may be more difficult, but can be taught and can be learned by a 10 and 11 year old. If it sounds like I am going to be demanding of these boys, you are exactly right. I am definitely demanding their attention, and the other thing that I am going to require is effort.

Their attitude, their concentration, and their effort are the things that they can control. If they give me these things every time they show up, they will have a great experience.

I need all of you to know that we are most likely going to lose many games this year. The main reason is that we need to find out how we measure up with the local talent pool. The only way to do this is to play against some of the best teams. I am convinced that if the boys put their work in at home, and give me their best effort, that we will be able to play with just about any team.
The thing I like most about this letter is how it so clearly establishes the relationship, and does so in a big-picture, friendly, personal way. As a parent, I wish I would have gotten more letters like this. As a former Little League coach, I’m wondering, why the heck didn’t I send one?

Why don’t more teachers and coaches use this technique? Could it be possible to use letters like this as a tool to change the dynamic, so that parents might stop being a problem and start being more of an asset?

(Big thanks to John Kessel and Jennifer Armson-Dyer for the heads up.)

4 tips to improve trust and performance in competition





Do you (or athletes you coach) excel in practice, but
freeze up in competition and don’t perform freely?

Are you unable to perform spontaneously and relaxed when
performing in competition?

If not, don't fret. Help is here...

Trying to be perfect or over controlling your game
(what I call lack of trust) in competition is a common
challenge in my work with athletes.

It happens most to athletes who love to practice and
improve. But when it comes to competing, they suddenly
lose trust in their skills perform tentatively.

Here’s the kicker...

Theses are the same skills you perform with ease and
confidence in practice.

Athletes lose trust and confidence in their skills
for different reasons including:

* Worry too much about your competitors;

* Being too over analytical with your skills;

* Lose co nfidence when you enter competition;

* Trying hard to learn a new technique and haven't
quite gotten it yet?

* Or you're a perfectionist and feel that your
performance isn't perfect enough to do well?

Why is it important to trust your physical skills and
abilities?

Trust helps you take your practice game to competition.

And if you have high confidence in your skills, this
leads to greater trust.

What is trust in your skills?

Trust is letting go of consciously controlling your
learned skills. It’s relying what you have already
grooved in practice.

**4 tips to help improve trust in your skills for
competition:**

1. Do better with leaving practice on the practice
field, and learn to trust in what you practiced that
week.

2. Become a performer in competition and "let it
happen." Keep your performance simple : See the ball
and hit it; react.

3. Perform in the here-and-now. Let go of worry about
results or outcomes.

4. Stop analyzing mistakes and trying to “fix what’s
wrong” during competition. Find a way to get it done
without worrying about how to get it done.

Want to learn all my secrets for improving trust in
competition and performing with a fearless mindset?

My most popular CD program in The Confident Athlete
Series, “The Fearless Athlete: A 14-Day Plan for
Unbeatable Trust,” helps you do just that.

You can read more about how to take your practice game
to competition with high trust here:

http://www.peaksports.com/the_fearless_athlete.php

Tuesday 24 April 2012

Big Price Tags Attached to Even the Littlest Leagues
















 
By MIKE TANIER
Published: April 24, 2012 

Youth baseball and softball seasons are opening across the United States. It is a time for youngsters to field grounders and work on their swings while their parents determine whether they need to take out a home-equity loan before heading to the sporting goods store. 

If you have not outfitted a little slugger lately, prepare for sticker shock. The youth baseball circular for one major retailer advertises bats in the $219.99 to $249.99 range. There's a $129.99 glove, perfect for digging grounders out of dandelion patches. 

A batting helmet protects tiny heads for $39.99. A pair of Nike Jordan Black Cat cleats will make your child fast and fashionable at $51.99 until he or she grows out of them, probably in late June. Batting gloves cost $19.99, and there is no need to worry about Junior getting a hernia from lugging all that precious equipment if you buy a $44.99 wheeled bat bag.

Of course, these prices represent one side of the market. Deals can still be found. But the emergence of high-end junior league gear suggests that youth baseball is yet another frontier of the commodification of childhood, alongside budget-busting test-preparation courses and lavish birthday parties and bar mitzvahs. 

Mike May, the director of communications for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association, said that high prices and seemingly limitless equipment options could be a burden for a parent. "It's dizzying at times," he said. 

When today's parents played in youth leagues about 30 years ago, they typically showed up for games run by the local parks and recreation department, often outfitted with little more than a glove and the clothes on their back. They now register their children for leagues run by independent local boards, which sometimes control huge budgets with little or no municipal oversight. 

In most parts of the country, the old parks and recreation leagues are long gone. John Engh, the chief operating officer of the National Alliance for Youth Sports, said the combination of slashed municipal budgets and the push to involve children in organized sports at a younger age resulted in the current system.

"It's been a gradual process, driven by the concept of all-stars and travel," he said.
Some parents now pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for youth sports. 

Read the rest of this article here!