Friday, November 25, 2011

What Environment Do You Supply?

I recently went through the Titleist Performance Institute's (TPI) Junior level 3 certification.  TPI does a great job of bringing together research from multiple backgrounds to create a simple and organized program that anyone could immediately implement. 

Denis McDade was one of the presenters, and said something so simple, yet very profound.

"If you have to demand someone to do something, than you haven't created an environment where they value that particular skill, exercise, or program."

I immediately slapped myself and did 20 pushups for not having already thought of this statement.  This is coaching at it's greatest.  Looking in the mirror and asking what do I want my athletes to value?

Do I provide the environment for them to grow these values?

What can I do to improve the way I communicate these values?

This can range from big picture ideas such as hard work, being on time, being respectful, all the way down to the everyday training details like mobility, stability, lifting technique, and so on.  I know in my programs I need to do a better job of having the athletes value regeneration through methods of hydration, nutrition, sleep, etc.  They all know they should be eating better and sleeping more, but they don't have a emotional connection because they haven't been in an environment has made it important to them..... yet.

One of the big picture ideas that immediately came to mind was in Remember the Titans.  Denzel knows his job isn't football in training camp, it's creating an environment where they boys respect and fight for each other.  If this scene doesn't fire you up, I don't know that we could ever get along.



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