The Power of the Coach

I wonder sometimes if people truly understand the influence a coach has on someone. I am not just talking about a gold winning coach, I am talking about anyone that is in the position to teach and train someone to do a sport. Whether it is football, swimming, Olympic lifting, track, CrossFit ...ANYTHING!

In my opinion, a good coach is not someone who has the winning record or the best staff. A good coach is someone who has developed a relationship with his athletes. A good coach knows what makes his athlete nervous and what calms them down. A good coach knows where his athletes weaknesses are and what their strengths are.  A good coach knows what cues will work and which ones won't. A good coach knows who needs to be pushed harder and who needs the softer nudge to finish the task. Most importantly, a good coach cares about more than just winning, he cares about the athlete and not just the athlete but the HUMAN that makes the athlete.

This person has been given an incredible amount of power. No, I don't mean that they rule the roost, although some may think they do. What I'm talking about is the power these coaches have over the athlete they are training. The power to lift these athletes up, full of self-confidence is the same power than can crush them.

Let's talk briefly about the athlete for a minute. There are a handful of people that are genetically GIFTED at sports and will succeed at anything they attempt. In the CrossFit world, that person would obviously be Rich Froning, Jr. In basketball you might say it is Michael Jordan although he may argue that fact. In the football world, the Manning's are the first to come to mind. For the majority of us though, we must be taught and coached. Through that learning process, among a series of failures and successes, we begin to learn what things are difficult for us, what things we really want to learn and be better at and what comes naturally and easily to us.

For me, I am that athlete that wants to do but needs to be coached. TEACH me how to do it and I will do it! Leave me over here by myself to figure it out on my own and I may struggle. The struggle will just piss me off  though and I will eventually figure out how to do the task...especially if I feel I was ignored because you felt I wasn't "Good Enough".

I am a grown up though and I have some pretty tough skin. Kids? Not so much.

When you are coaching a child, and I am using the word child to define anyone that has not graduated high school, you have more power than you are aware of. A LOT OF POWER! That child is clay, sitting in your hands waiting to be molded. If you do nothing with him, if you ignore him, skim over him, create no relationship with him, then you have done nothing with that clay and nothing will be created. An opportunity missed. A possible masterpiece that never was developed. Then you watch as the love for the sport begins to die in their eyes and in their heart. I mean, why try if you are not going to be noticed for your efforts anyways, right?

If you are a coach and coaching has become just a job for you, just a place you go every week to get a paycheck, then this post is for you. Do our kids a favor and find something else to do because bad coaches are dream killers and that's a tragedy. Our kids deserve better.

Who Inspires You?

Who inspires you?

For me, it's not just one person because I have a list of things I want to accomplish. Maybe that is the reason I can get bogged down and feel like I'm not accomplishing ANYTHING.

My son, Brendan is a perfect example of someone who has a list of things. This year, he is on the track team and in the marching band. In his fifteen years on earth he has played t-ball, soccer, basketball, flag football, track and is a third degree black belt. He also plays the trombone and is learning to play the bass guitar. He just told me yesterday that next year he wants me to train him in CrossFit and the Olympic lifts so he can start doing CrossFit competitions. So, another item to add to his list.

Here is the remarkable thing. He doesn't do these things to make his list longer. He does them because, in his words "I want to do everything."

He means it. He really wants to do EVERYTHING! My husband and I had to sit down with him a few years ago and make some hard decisions because his plate was too full. He decided to let go of Cub Scouts. Oh! I forgot to mention that one, didn't I?

I have to admit, when I started this blog today, I was going to use Brendan as my example on how I want to do everything, and therefore can't achieve the goals I want because I have too many at once. Or how I have many people who inspire me because of the different areas in my life I want to get better at, but that's not how this is writing out. I see a very obvious difference between myself and Brendan.

I just WANT to do everything. Brendan has managed to do it and to make it even more impressive to this average "C" student, he has done it all while maintaining A's and B's in school, mostly A's.

WOW! You know what? It's Brendan. He inspires me. He decides he wants to do something and  he just does it.  You would think this kid would be full of confidence and maybe a little cocky.

Nope. He is shy, thoughtful, humble sometimes a little awkward and just adorable.

Today, Brendan is my inspiration.

I better get busy!

Bad Days Happen

Have you ever hit that place where you wonder if you will ever get better at something or if you are just destined to be mediocre forever?

Do you have that negative voice inside your head telling you just to hang up the lifting shoes? Maybe it's asking you "why bother getting up on those rings, you're just going to fail anyways?"

Maybe it has nothing to do with CrossFit or lifting. Maybe that voice is telling you that your mom-skills suck or that you have failed as a friend or it's telling you that you are terrible at making the bed. Whatever it is, big or small, that voice in your head can be mean.

That voice can be loud.

That voice can be defeating.

That voice can also be a huge liar.

One bad day in the gym, or an off day with the kids does not make  you suck at life. It makes you human. Everyone has those days. The danger comes when we let those voices take over, murdering our self confidence.

DON'T LET IT.

You are that voice and you have the power to make it shut the hell up. The best way to do that is to just keep on keeping on. If you are frustrated, step back take a deep breath and try again. Never stop giving it your best shot and know that some days your best is better than on other days.

There is no way you can be mediocre if you are trying.

Bad days happen.

Brush yourself off, put on a smile. If you don't feel like smiling, do it anyways! Before you know it, your smile becomes the real thing. Your happiness returns. Your joy floods back in.

Take your joy back. It's yours and you deserve it.