Month: October 2015

October 29, 2015

WYC 060 – Youth Soccer – Creed Larrucea talks The only rule you need and PCA’s ELM tree of success

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Creed Larrucea shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

Creed is a physical therapist in Sacramento, California by day, and a stud youth soccer coach by night. He coaches youth teams and the local high school team. He is married and has 2 daughters ages 12 and 10.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out’ – John Wooden

Coaching your own kids

The first key is open communication – ask your kids – ‘Do you want me to coach your team?’

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

Inaction – could have started 2 teams since he had great demand for his team – but he didn’t have the confidence that he could pull it off (he since has done this.)

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

Patience and understanding the age-level you are at are key
Say less, have them do more – make it fun and have ‘hidden’ teaching in there
Soccer shooting drills:
- Knockout
- Bring out different style balls – tennis ball, big huge ball

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

Positive Coaching Alliance’s ELM tree of success:
- Effort – is one of the main things you can control
- Learning – is what we’re here for
- Mistakes – are normal and part of growth

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Discipline

HUGE IDEA #1

One rule: ‘Don’t let your teammates down’ – this one universal rule can apply to almost any situation
Have fun games right at the beginning of practice – this is a great way to encourage kids to get to practice on time

Rewards

Set team goals

HUGE IDEA #2

Coach Creed gives effort scores – scores based according to their effort capability

The One that Got Away

Writing down mistakes is one of the best ways to not let history repeat itself
Creed had one girl on his team who had a family member able to attend one of her games for the first time – so he tried to get her extra opportunities – but he didn’t really put her in the best position to succeed and probably added pressure to her.

Best Stolen Idea

When teaching skills – 3 steps:

Show how to do it
Let them practice with slight opposition
Let them practice in game-type setting

Using this you can see progress every practice, not just at the end of the year

Best Quote/Book

Quote: ‘Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out’ – John Wooden
Book: The Double Goal Coach – Jim Thompson from Positive Coaching Alliance

Parting Advice

Make sure you’re winning twice

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October 21, 2015

WYC 059 – Youth Basketball – Drew Maddux talks Manhood Mondays at CPA and Elite Hoops Basketball

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What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Drew Maddux shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

Drew Maddux is the Head Coach at Christ Presbyterian Academy (CPA) in Nashville. Maddux has a combined record of 240-44, while being ranked in the Top 10 each of those seasons. In 2008 and 2009, Maddux lead his team to the Region 5AA Championship. Maddux has acquired many coaching accomplishments being named the NBCA Coach of the Year in 2008, 2011-2012 District 10-AA Coach of the Year, 2012 Tennessean Coach of the Year, and 2012 Nashville Civitan Coach of the Year. In the 2011-2012 season, he lead to Lions to their first ever State Championship and finished the season an impressive 37-2. In 2012-13, Maddux lead the Lions to another State Championship with another 37-2 record. 2013-14 was yet another great season for Maddux and his program as the posted a record of 34-3 and went to the Final Four Drew has coached 4 Mr. Basketball award winners, 19 players that received college scholarships, and 1 NBA first round draft pick.

From 1994-1998, Maddux was a four year starter at Vanderbilt University where he scored an impressive 1689 points in his career, good for 11th all-time at Vandy. There he received several individual awards including All-SEC Freshman, USA Olympic Festival Team, First Team All-SEC, and Honorable Mention All-American honors. Off the court Maddux was just as impressive being an Academic All-SEC member as well as being recognized as one of the Outstanding Young Men of America in 1998. During his junior year, Maddux averaged a team best 16.8 points 4.1 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as he lead his team to the NCAA Tournament.

Drew Maddux first started working with Elite Hoops in 2009 as a Camp Co-Director. Since then, Maddux has been instrumental in growing the Nashville market and in 2014, he will direct 6 NIKE Basketball Camps with over 600 players in attendance.

Twitter: @DrewMaddux; @EliteHoops

Facebook: /EliteHoops

Instagram: /elitehoops

Website: elitehoopsbasketball.com

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘We were running the program with a fear-based approach instead of a freedom-based approach.’

Career decisions

Drew had the opportunity to lead a large sales organization, but felt the calling to leave the business world and become a full-time coach

Identity being tied to athletic performance

As an athlete growing up, Drew felt he was only as good as his last sports performance
‘My total mission in coaching is to release that identity-driven performance bug out of the lives of our kids and out of their hearts, and that they would understand and be able to perform with freedom and be able to experience all that they have been provided with.’

Joe Ehrmann’s 3 big lies being told to our kids

Coach Maddux teaches the boys he coaches about the 3 big myths/lies being taught about masculinity:

Ballfield – a man’s worth is based on his athletic performance
Bedroom – a man’s worth is based on his sexual conquests
Boardroom – a man’s worth is based on his business successes

Coach Maddux contrasts these myths by teaching the real truths about what being a man is all about:

Man was built to be in relationships with God, themselves, and others
Man was built to be part of a cause that is bigger than themselves

To see more details about this see here: winningyouthcoaching.com/3-big-lies-2-truths/

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

In Drew’s early years he remembers still being too focused on outcomes and placing his worth on the team’s win/loss record
‘We were running the program with a fear-based approach instead of a freedom-based approach.’

Creating a Winning Culture

HUGE IDEA #1

Jim Collins book – Good to Great
Every aspect of your program becomes about excellence – Coach Maddux began an early morning regiment with his coaching staff
Jon Gordon – The Energy Bus – Get the energy vampires off the bus and surround yourselves with energy-givers and life-givers
4 Word Mission statement: ‘Christ-centered, Others focused.’

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

‘It’s not what I know, it’s what the kids know.’ So keep it simple. Be great at 1 or 2 things instead of trying to be great at a bunch of things.

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

Boundaried Freedom – Create the culture and boundaries – and then give them the freedom to go make plays

Culture – Discipline/Rewards/Teambuilding

Discipline

Life happens in the gray – every kid we serve have unique situations and unique families
Long-term transformation only happens when you create the right habits
Shared sacrifice with shared accountability

HUGE IDEA #2

Teambuilding

Coach Maddux does not do cuts – if you want to be on the team – you are
Coach has a goal to call every kid’s name to them at some point of every practice
During circle time they’ll call out a few of their leaders to speak a blessing about another player on the team. This creates the culture built on loving each other, complimenting each other, encouraging each other.
Manhood Mondays – every Monday during the season they have different coaches and players create a shield with 4 parts to share with the team:
1. Tell a childhood story that defined them
2. Tell a recent story that defines them
3. How does the public view them
4. Who their private self is

Winning

Excellence and the pursuit of greatness should be a goal. The scoreboard doesn’t define this.

Best Stolen Idea

Billy Donnovan, former Florida Gators and current Oklahoma City Thunder coach, the way he sets up his practices and team to be great passing teams.

Best Book

Season of Life, Jeffrey Marx

The One that Got Away

Drew lost his last game his senior year for the state championship in overtime
Drew lost a game at Vanderbilt to Kentucky at the buzzer
Lessons learned: to keep the game in context, the sun does come up the next day

Elite Hoops Basketball

Located in the Southeast – elitehoopsbasketball.com
Teaches basketball skills and life skills – to live an elite life
3-on-3 leagues, camps

Parting Advice

‘Pick up the trash’ – Use the opportunities given to leave people, places, and things better than we found them

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October 9, 2015

WYC 058 – Youth Softball – Valeri Garcia talks Growth Mindset and Starting at ground zero

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What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Valeri Garcia shares stories and discusses her journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

Garcia, a Program Advisor at UC Davis’s Student Academic Success Center, has known since about age eight that she wanted to coach. At UC Davis, Garcia conducts workshops based on Mindset, the book by Stanford University Psychology Professor and PCA National Advisory Board Member Carol Dweck, which emphasizes individual growth through effort, rather than reliance upon talent. Valeri was honored with the Positive Coaches Alliance Double-Goal Coach Award in 2013.

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘Stop trying to coach at a pre-college level – coach them at the level that they are right now.’

Coaching your own kids

Utilizing the concepts from Carol Dweck’s book ‘Mindset’ has been big help – her girls know she will focus on their effort rather than be critical of their results
A big compliment is she has had parents who don’t know she has a daughter on the team

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

Valeri wishes she had started teaching the value of pursuing greatness and using their skills to win at a little earlier age – she was focused on effort, which was great, but she says she might have instilled a little more of the competitive part of the game a little earlier for her 12 year-olds

Travel Sports

Valeri is struggling with what to do with her daughter who is becoming good enough to play for some higher level travel teams, but Valeri is concerned with the coaching mindset and philosophy on those teams. Common struggle – the most important thing is to do the research and understand the philosophy of the organization and coach before signing up!

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

To encourage aggressiveness – she rewarded them with effort points
Always start with ground zero: you have to know where your athletes are with regards to knowledge – what do they know and what do they not know. You have to meet them where they are.
HUGE IDEA #1: Great way to make sure you are teaching at their level: Try to teach one your assistant coaches to do a skill with their off hand: i.e. If they are right-handed try to teach them to throw left-handed. This forces you to break down the skill into it’s most elemental pieces. Then add in variables a little bit at a time.

HUGE IDEA #2: FUN GAMES THAT TEACH SKILLS:

1 – Last player standing – player bats with 2 strikes – if they hit it fair they keep going. If you strike-out you go play defense. Then you add complexity – they have to hit it to the grass, etc. Great game to teach the girls to play in pressure situations.
2 – Throwing accuracy – Kids weren’t hitting their targets when throwing – so she put a ball on a cone at 1st base and they took turns throwing from shortstop trying to hit the ball on the cone. Then she said first one to hit she would give $1.

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

Positive Coaching Alliance: ELM tree – Effort, Learning, Mistakes
Brush-off routines: One effective way to help kids brush off mistakes is for teammates to pick each other up: ‘I’m ready, are you ready?’

Connecting with and Impacting Kids

Valeri sometimes gives homework assignments – involving things like John Wooden’s pyramid of success
Transferrable skills – Valeri understands and teaches the importance of teaching kids that being on this team will teach as much about life as it will about sports

The One that Got Away

Any game where the team does not play up to their potential
They had one game where they had the chance to beat a team that was much better than them, and it slipped away. She wishes she had told them more – during the game – of how proud she was of them.

Parting Advice

3 questions to ask yourself at the end of the season:

Did they learn something?
Did they have fun?
Do they want to come back?

‘Stop trying to coach at a pre-college level – coach them at the level that they are right now.’

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October 1, 2015

WYC 057 – Youth Hockey – Warren Nye talks Mental Fitness and Mind over Sport

What does it take to be a winning youth coach? Listen in as Warren Nye shares stories and discusses his journey to becoming a successful youth sports coach.

Warren has been coaching youth sports for over 30 years, mostly hockey teams from the youth level through junior national teams in which he has won the national championship in Canada. Coach Nye is a student of the mental aspect of the game, and over the last few years he has launched ‘Mind over Sport’- which is a passion of Coach Nye’s to work with people and companies as their peak performance life coach. Warren lives in Ontario, Canada, with his wife and 2 teenage children.

Website: coachingmindoversport.com

Website: ultimatehockeysource.com

Facebook: /warren.nye.73

Twitter: @coachnye

Listen Now:

Listen in ITunes: Itunes link

Listen in Stitcher: Stitcher link

Quote

‘Success is a peace of mind, which is a direct result of self satisfaction, in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.’ – John Wooden

My Cringe & ‘Ah-Ha’ Moments

Warren admits to thinking he knew it all when he first started coaching
He also shares a story about trying to fire up his team in the locker room so he kicked a garbage can and it accidentally hit a kid in the head.

Teaching Children & Keeping it Fun

You have to gain the kids’ trust before they will buy into what you are teaching them. Really listen to them.
Start practices with a fun game – it helps get the blood flowing and gets their mind in the game.

Self-Confidence and teaching kids to achieve peak performance

Practice and reps are key. Coach Nye wrote a blog about the 5 Habits of a Successful Coach – and point #2 deals with performance practice: ultimatehockeysource.com/2015/09/29/the-5-habits-of-a-successful-coach/
Visualization – if they are thinking about mistakes – have them picture a time or game when they were doing really well – and have them keep replaying these times/games in their mind.
The process to excellence – If a kid is beating himself up over mistakes – it’s usually a symptom of bigger problems – and it can’t be solved overnight. But pour into the kid and be a positive role model in their life by truly caring.

HUGE IDEA #1

Mental fitness – It starts with repeating positive self-talk. But the core is action. ‘I can do it’ is great – but you have to define the actions and repeat them.

Culture – Creating a Winning Attitude

Discipline – Establish the culture up front with the players and parents.

HUGE IDEA #2

Lay out a game plan for the 1st half of the season and the 2nd half of the season to set expectations and create the vision of where this team is going.

Don’t overlook anything that needs corrected – correct it immediately.
Rewards – The kids vote after each game to nominate player of the game
Encourage the kids to carry forward their success at this sport towards some other activity they are passionate about (this requires for you to get to know them and other interests they have)

The One that Got Away

Coach Nye shared a story about one team he was involved with who changed their identity going into final tournament of the year – and how it ended up preventing them from winning the tourney.

Leadership Quotes

‘Success is a peace of mind, which is a direct result of self satisfaction, in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable.’ – John Wooden
‘If your mind can conceive it, and your heart can believe it, then you can achieve it’

Mind over Sport

Peak performance life coach
Coaches athletes and their parents, and businessmen, and performers. Live and over Skype.
Website: coachingmindoversport.com