I love these type of videos when done well. The first two go along well with the post from the yesterdayday and the second two are just plain funny because this is how so many kids think these days.
For personal trainers and strength coaches.....Thanks to Bruce Kelly for showing me this one.
Alan Stein did these next ones and they are fantastic.... stole them from his blog.
For team sport coaches
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
5 Ways to Filter Trainers, Fitness Products, and Programs
When a fitness program or product has the word "Guarantee" along with vertical jump, 40 yard dash, weight loss, strength gain, etc; my suggestion is to keep the credit card in your wallet. Today there are so many trainers, gyms, and online programs it's hard to know which one will provide the best results. Now, throw in the YouTube generation, everybody who's ever laced up some Nike's or cleats thinks they are an expert.
Here's a couple ways to filter through to know whether a program is garbage or not.
1. "Have they been there, done that, and still doing it?" Fitness guru Alwyn Cosgrove said this pertaining to internet products. When it comes to internet products claiming ridiculous results, first do some research on where they work, what results did they get, and are they still working in the trenches. Have the consistently improved their athletes or just had great ones to begin with.
2. If they claim to have the "One Secret you need to gain incredible results," it's probably crap. Many times parents, coaches, and even athletes come to me suggesting, "We need to do this one drill. Johnny did it and he's really fast." If I've learned one thing in my career so far, it's that one exercise, drill, or lift won't make or break a program. It's the sum of a good overall strength program, performed consistently, that will translate into better athleticism and results.
3. Ask about their injury rate. If they say, "I'm not sure," or "It's probably good," they are not paying attention to the most important detail. Which is that a sport performance coach or trainer's first job is to keep them healthy so they can play their sport. Every coach should know their athletes and whether or not they had any muscle pulls or serious injury that was non contact.
4. Experience over certifications. If you have the choice between Larry, whose had tons of experience with thousands of athletes and only has 1 minor certification versus Jimmy who has 5 well known certifications and has worked part time for a couple years. Always chose Larry. Certs are great but experience gives coaches the skills to teach effectively.
5. Is it for show or for purpose? Many times even great trainers market the harder looking exercises that only a small number of athletes might be doing. What they don't show is the beginning where they had to teach the actual skill that developed into intense drills that look cool on youtube. Today a lot of trainers and gyms base everything they do on how bad@$$ it looks and if you feel like puking after. This often leads to pain and injuries, along with the annoying "frat boy cockiness" syndrome.
(Relax, some of my good friends were in frats).
If the coach hasn't been established, ask why he's doing certain exercises. If he says "It gets them faster" chances are he's doing exercises just to do them.
The overall point I'm trying to make is not to focus on one drill or aspect of a program but the overall process that is consistent, progressive, and safe.
The Other Side:
I'm addicted to raw energy. It's something that can be faked. It's probably a reason why I fell in love with sports. It comes in all different forms from being in a energetic crowd, sky diving, music, dancing. It's a situation that gives you the chills and makes your jaw drop, makes you smile, or just say "oh my......" This past weekend I attended the SDSU Aztecs basketball game vs TCU. At the beginning there is a chant the entire crowd gets into and the whole places shakes. This is raw energy!
Here's a couple ways to filter through to know whether a program is garbage or not.
1. "Have they been there, done that, and still doing it?" Fitness guru Alwyn Cosgrove said this pertaining to internet products. When it comes to internet products claiming ridiculous results, first do some research on where they work, what results did they get, and are they still working in the trenches. Have the consistently improved their athletes or just had great ones to begin with.
2. If they claim to have the "One Secret you need to gain incredible results," it's probably crap. Many times parents, coaches, and even athletes come to me suggesting, "We need to do this one drill. Johnny did it and he's really fast." If I've learned one thing in my career so far, it's that one exercise, drill, or lift won't make or break a program. It's the sum of a good overall strength program, performed consistently, that will translate into better athleticism and results.
4. Experience over certifications. If you have the choice between Larry, whose had tons of experience with thousands of athletes and only has 1 minor certification versus Jimmy who has 5 well known certifications and has worked part time for a couple years. Always chose Larry. Certs are great but experience gives coaches the skills to teach effectively.
5. Is it for show or for purpose? Many times even great trainers market the harder looking exercises that only a small number of athletes might be doing. What they don't show is the beginning where they had to teach the actual skill that developed into intense drills that look cool on youtube. Today a lot of trainers and gyms base everything they do on how bad@$$ it looks and if you feel like puking after. This often leads to pain and injuries, along with the annoying "frat boy cockiness" syndrome.
(Relax, some of my good friends were in frats).
The overall point I'm trying to make is not to focus on one drill or aspect of a program but the overall process that is consistent, progressive, and safe.
The Other Side:
I'm addicted to raw energy. It's something that can be faked. It's probably a reason why I fell in love with sports. It comes in all different forms from being in a energetic crowd, sky diving, music, dancing. It's a situation that gives you the chills and makes your jaw drop, makes you smile, or just say "oh my......" This past weekend I attended the SDSU Aztecs basketball game vs TCU. At the beginning there is a chant the entire crowd gets into and the whole places shakes. This is raw energy!
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Praising..... A study on WHAT to encourage
Recently I read the book Bounce by Matthew Syed. This part of the book set a bomb off in my cranium!
"In 1998, Carol Dweck and a colleague took four hundred 5th graders and gave them a series of simple puzzles. Afterward, each of the students was given his or her score, plus something else: six words of praise. Half the students were praised for intelligence: 'You must be smart at this!' The other half were praised for effort: 'You must have worked really hard!'
Dweck was seeking to test whether these simple words, with their subtly different emphases, could make a difference to the students' mind-sets; whether they could mold the students' attitude to success and failure; whether they could have a measurable impact on persistence and performance.
The results were remarkable.
After the 1st test, the students were given a choice of whether to take a hard or an easy test. A full two-thirds of the students praised for intelligence chose the easy task: they did not want to risk losing their "smart" label by potentially failing at the harder test. But 90% of the effort praised group chose the tough test: they were not interested in success, but in exploring potentially fruitful challenge. They wanted to prove just how hardworking they were.
Next the students were given a test so tough that none of them succeeded. But once again, there was a dramatic difference between the ways they responded to failure. Those praised for intelligence interpreted their failures as proof that they were no good at puzzles after all. The group praised for effort persevered on the test far longer, enjoyed it far more, and did not suffer any loss in confidence.
Finally, the experiment came full circle, giving the students a chance to do a test of equal difficultly to the very first test. What happened? The group praised for intelligence showed a 20% decline in performance compared to the 1st test, even though it was no harder. But those in the effort praised group increased their scores by 30%: failure had actually spurred them on.
And all of those differences turned on the difference in six simple words spoken after their very first test."
Actual evidence that telling someone how good they are actually hurts them in the long run.
I used to have a couple friends who always used to say to me or others, "I would get just as good of grades if I worked as hard as you," or "Yeah but if I shot as much as he did I probably would be just as good....." Here's the thing, they didn't.
If you look at every great program that has great results no matter who is playing year after year (Bellicheck, Coach K, Bill Walsh) you see that a major principle instilled into their program is praising effort.
Comes back to the quote that "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."
The Other Side:
Lately I haven't been able to turn off Matt & Kim's new record Sidewalks. They're energy is off the charts and bring a sound that you've never heard.
Here's one of their past songs you might recognize.
"In 1998, Carol Dweck and a colleague took four hundred 5th graders and gave them a series of simple puzzles. Afterward, each of the students was given his or her score, plus something else: six words of praise. Half the students were praised for intelligence: 'You must be smart at this!' The other half were praised for effort: 'You must have worked really hard!'
Dweck was seeking to test whether these simple words, with their subtly different emphases, could make a difference to the students' mind-sets; whether they could mold the students' attitude to success and failure; whether they could have a measurable impact on persistence and performance.
The results were remarkable.
After the 1st test, the students were given a choice of whether to take a hard or an easy test. A full two-thirds of the students praised for intelligence chose the easy task: they did not want to risk losing their "smart" label by potentially failing at the harder test. But 90% of the effort praised group chose the tough test: they were not interested in success, but in exploring potentially fruitful challenge. They wanted to prove just how hardworking they were.
Next the students were given a test so tough that none of them succeeded. But once again, there was a dramatic difference between the ways they responded to failure. Those praised for intelligence interpreted their failures as proof that they were no good at puzzles after all. The group praised for effort persevered on the test far longer, enjoyed it far more, and did not suffer any loss in confidence.
Finally, the experiment came full circle, giving the students a chance to do a test of equal difficultly to the very first test. What happened? The group praised for intelligence showed a 20% decline in performance compared to the 1st test, even though it was no harder. But those in the effort praised group increased their scores by 30%: failure had actually spurred them on.
And all of those differences turned on the difference in six simple words spoken after their very first test."
Actual evidence that telling someone how good they are actually hurts them in the long run.
I used to have a couple friends who always used to say to me or others, "I would get just as good of grades if I worked as hard as you," or "Yeah but if I shot as much as he did I probably would be just as good....." Here's the thing, they didn't.
If you look at every great program that has great results no matter who is playing year after year (Bellicheck, Coach K, Bill Walsh) you see that a major principle instilled into their program is praising effort.
Comes back to the quote that "Hard work beats talent, when talent doesn't work hard."
The Other Side:
Lately I haven't been able to turn off Matt & Kim's new record Sidewalks. They're energy is off the charts and bring a sound that you've never heard.
Here's one of their past songs you might recognize.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Part 2 of 2: The Importance of Upper and Lower Dissociation
Enjoy....
Here's the Medball series from Jeremy Frisch. Check out his blog here.
The Other Side:
Some recommended books is on par for this week. Many people think genetics often determines how far you can go in your life. Here are four books that might make you think otherwise. These books pretty much explain and prove why the word talent is a myth.
"Talent if Overrated" by Geoff Colvin
"The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Bounce" by Matthew Syed
If you have an open mind and aren't in denial (sorry parents) check these books out they may change the way you think!
Here's the Medball series from Jeremy Frisch. Check out his blog here.
The Other Side:
Some recommended books is on par for this week. Many people think genetics often determines how far you can go in your life. Here are four books that might make you think otherwise. These books pretty much explain and prove why the word talent is a myth.
"Talent if Overrated" by Geoff Colvin
"The Talent Code" by Daniel Coyle
"Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell
"Bounce" by Matthew Syed
If you have an open mind and aren't in denial (sorry parents) check these books out they may change the way you think!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Part 1 of 2: The Importance of Upper and Lower Dissociation
Dissociation is a topic that often gets overlooked with performance training. Dissociation is different joints or body segments moving separate of each other in a sequential fashion. It is best developed through fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills during one's youth. However injuries, early specialization, over zealous coaching, etc. can all lead to improper development of dissociation. Here is part 1 that is focused on dissociation of the hips and lower body.
Questions or comments leave below or email me @ caseywheel@gmail.com
The Other Side:
I am so excited to share this next video. The song below, California Sunrise by Dirty Gold, is performed by 3 of my athletes at Pacific Ridge School. They invited the faculty of our school to come witness their first performance in San Diego and I was absolutely in awe of how good their music was. They have finished the first EP, and below is a link where you can buy their single (it should be on iTunes shortly). They have signed to a small label and are looking to get much bigger. I love getting to know what the kids do outside of their sport. It allows for better communication, trust, and its just fun to see how talented these kids really are.
Picture at their first show!
Link for their single: http://dirtygold.bandcamp.com/
Questions or comments leave below or email me @ caseywheel@gmail.com
The Other Side:
I am so excited to share this next video. The song below, California Sunrise by Dirty Gold, is performed by 3 of my athletes at Pacific Ridge School. They invited the faculty of our school to come witness their first performance in San Diego and I was absolutely in awe of how good their music was. They have finished the first EP, and below is a link where you can buy their single (it should be on iTunes shortly). They have signed to a small label and are looking to get much bigger. I love getting to know what the kids do outside of their sport. It allows for better communication, trust, and its just fun to see how talented these kids really are.
Picture at their first show!
Link for their single: http://dirtygold.bandcamp.com/
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Picking Brian McCormick's Brain
This weekend I had the opportunity to meet and talk with Brian McCormick, who is coach, writer, researcher, etc in the field of basketball/athletic performance. It was a lot of fun to pick his brain about how to improve athletes especially basketball players. Brian has great prospective on how to develop players the right way from a young age through college and professional ranks using a long-term athletic development program.
Here are some highlights from our conversation that I wanted to share:
“Fast movements are hard to teach slowly”
Examples- Defensive shuffle, sprinting, olympic lifts. You can break these down as much as you want but in the end you really can’t demonstrate fast movements slowly. There can be good drills to emphasize certain parts but in the end it must come together as one fluent motion. That is why speed is a skill that takes a lot of time. Coaches who try to over-coach these movements can often end up giving incorrect cues (i.e.:step slide) or make the athletes think too much. Give a short explanation, a good demonstration and then let them player figure it out. The body is an amazing machine that will get it right over time with proper coaching and demonstration.
“Kids will often move the right way, it’s bad coaching that gives them bad habits.”
Coaching the youth is not easy. You must know when to back off and let them figure it out by themselves, and you also must know when a short cue or instruction will help them learn faster. A problem is that most youth coaches are parents who think they are the next Bobby Knight, who end up giving 15 commands for something as simple as a layup. The old cliché… I hear-I forget, I see- I remember, I do- I understand. Short instruction, a good example, and let them figure it out!
“Coaches are stubborn!”
There are a lot of coaches out there who still refuse to learn or improve their program. We talked about this with regards to the step slide vs the shuffle. You are a dinosaur if you still teach step slide. It makes NO sense. Even if you teach step slide your players will still naturally shuffle in games because it’s FASTER! Brian told me about numerous emails and convo’s of coaches taking it personally because “our program has been winning for years and we teach step slide.” Instead of “wow I can still improve my program even after all our success.” It’s not personal, just bizzzznesssss.
Check out Brian’s products and info at these site’s.
http://thecrossovermovement.wordpress.com/ - Articles and Blogs
http://www.trainforhoops.com/- More articles
http://www.180shooter.com/ebook.php - His products (all reasonably priced with GREAT info!)
To subscribe to his newsletter email hard2guard@yahoo.com with the title of Subscription.
The Other Side:
I'm also going to start another section of my blog called "The Other Side," to share something outside of athletic performance. It could be a music group, movie review, book review, story, article, etc. I always preach to kids to be well rounded and try new things other than their sports. So I will share things outside of my career that interest me as well.
The first thing I wanted to share is a video that gives you goosebumps, and some of you may even shed a couple tears. This guy makes me want to be a father sooner than later. A young man and his daughter sing a duet to "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetics. Incredible.
Here are some highlights from our conversation that I wanted to share:
“Fast movements are hard to teach slowly”
Examples- Defensive shuffle, sprinting, olympic lifts. You can break these down as much as you want but in the end you really can’t demonstrate fast movements slowly. There can be good drills to emphasize certain parts but in the end it must come together as one fluent motion. That is why speed is a skill that takes a lot of time. Coaches who try to over-coach these movements can often end up giving incorrect cues (i.e.:step slide) or make the athletes think too much. Give a short explanation, a good demonstration and then let them player figure it out. The body is an amazing machine that will get it right over time with proper coaching and demonstration.
“Kids will often move the right way, it’s bad coaching that gives them bad habits.”
Coaching the youth is not easy. You must know when to back off and let them figure it out by themselves, and you also must know when a short cue or instruction will help them learn faster. A problem is that most youth coaches are parents who think they are the next Bobby Knight, who end up giving 15 commands for something as simple as a layup. The old cliché… I hear-I forget, I see- I remember, I do- I understand. Short instruction, a good example, and let them figure it out!
(Psycho.....)
“Coaches are stubborn!”
There are a lot of coaches out there who still refuse to learn or improve their program. We talked about this with regards to the step slide vs the shuffle. You are a dinosaur if you still teach step slide. It makes NO sense. Even if you teach step slide your players will still naturally shuffle in games because it’s FASTER! Brian told me about numerous emails and convo’s of coaches taking it personally because “our program has been winning for years and we teach step slide.” Instead of “wow I can still improve my program even after all our success.” It’s not personal, just bizzzznesssss.
Check out Brian’s products and info at these site’s.
http://thecrossovermovement.wordpress.com/ - Articles and Blogs
http://www.trainforhoops.com/- More articles
http://www.180shooter.com/ebook.php - His products (all reasonably priced with GREAT info!)
To subscribe to his newsletter email hard2guard@yahoo.com with the title of Subscription.
The Other Side:
I'm also going to start another section of my blog called "The Other Side," to share something outside of athletic performance. It could be a music group, movie review, book review, story, article, etc. I always preach to kids to be well rounded and try new things other than their sports. So I will share things outside of my career that interest me as well.
The first thing I wanted to share is a video that gives you goosebumps, and some of you may even shed a couple tears. This guy makes me want to be a father sooner than later. A young man and his daughter sing a duet to "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetics. Incredible.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Inception: Applying it to Athletics
You’re probably wondering why the Leo blockbuster has anything to do with youth training or exercise in general. Mostly it just drove people nuts trying to understand the plot and whose dream they were in. I saw this movie in theaters over the summer and then had to watch it again when it came out on DVD to see if I could pick up on anything else I may have missed. What I realized the second time is that I could apply many of this to training and developing youth athletics. Maybe it’s because I apply everything to training youth athletics.
Before I breakdown some of my favorite quotes from the movie, I want to discuss the idea of “pruning” or use it or lose it theory. Around adolescent the process of pruning occurs where the mind will break off connections it doesn’t use and reinforce the connections used regularly (1).
I am bringing up pruning because as the support system, (coaches, parents, mentors and/or role models) to young athletes, especially before puberty, we are HIGHLY influential as to how kids develop. They copy our words, actions, behaviors, etc. This can be both positive and negative, that will often set their habits and behaviors for life.
Back to Inception though….
“What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient...highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere.”
Holy smokes Leo, You’ve come along way since the Titanic. As coaches if we put the right ideas in kids head with regards to work ethic, reacting to positive and negative situations, sportsmanship, and overall attitude, which will stick with them forever!! They will understand and appreciate it more over time, but if we set the example and help teach it to young athletes, we set them up for success in anything they do.
“The seed that we planted in this man's mind may change everything.”
Every great sports story, especially the rags to riches, has an important figure in a child’s life that helped plant a seed that would change them forever. There’s often a star athlete’s saying if a certain person didn’t set them straight and show them right way, who knows where they would’ve ended up.
“You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”
Like my man Will Smith said, "Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity." Now I think in the short term being realistic is essential for achieving goals, but why not dream HUUUUGE for the long term? Many kids give up on their dreams way to earlier because their support system doubts and even discourages their dreams. Let the youth do what you couldn’t and even better, help them get there!
“I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.”
Will there be negative emotions and people in every child’s life? Of course, and there probably will be more than positive people, but if the kid gets positive reinforcement and behavior around them from their coaches, parents, mentors I believe that will overcome negative emotions and people 100% of the time.
1. ( Wallis C., et al. (2004) What makes teens tick? TIME 163(19): 56-65.)
Before I breakdown some of my favorite quotes from the movie, I want to discuss the idea of “pruning” or use it or lose it theory. Around adolescent the process of pruning occurs where the mind will break off connections it doesn’t use and reinforce the connections used regularly (1).
I am bringing up pruning because as the support system, (coaches, parents, mentors and/or role models) to young athletes, especially before puberty, we are HIGHLY influential as to how kids develop. They copy our words, actions, behaviors, etc. This can be both positive and negative, that will often set their habits and behaviors for life.
Back to Inception though….
“What is the most resilient parasite? Bacteria? A virus? An intestinal worm? An idea. Resilient...highly contagious. Once an idea has taken hold of the brain it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully formed - fully understood - that sticks; right in there somewhere.”
Holy smokes Leo, You’ve come along way since the Titanic. As coaches if we put the right ideas in kids head with regards to work ethic, reacting to positive and negative situations, sportsmanship, and overall attitude, which will stick with them forever!! They will understand and appreciate it more over time, but if we set the example and help teach it to young athletes, we set them up for success in anything they do.
“The seed that we planted in this man's mind may change everything.”
Every great sports story, especially the rags to riches, has an important figure in a child’s life that helped plant a seed that would change them forever. There’s often a star athlete’s saying if a certain person didn’t set them straight and show them right way, who knows where they would’ve ended up.
“You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.”
Like my man Will Smith said, "Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity." Now I think in the short term being realistic is essential for achieving goals, but why not dream HUUUUGE for the long term? Many kids give up on their dreams way to earlier because their support system doubts and even discourages their dreams. Let the youth do what you couldn’t and even better, help them get there!
“I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.”
Will there be negative emotions and people in every child’s life? Of course, and there probably will be more than positive people, but if the kid gets positive reinforcement and behavior around them from their coaches, parents, mentors I believe that will overcome negative emotions and people 100% of the time.
1. ( Wallis C., et al. (2004) What makes teens tick? TIME 163(19): 56-65.)
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