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Post by mariner42 on Aug 27, 2009 14:29:11 GMT -6
So I'm about 80% through The Inner Game Of Tennis, (Link: www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Tennis-Classic-Performance/dp/0679778314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251404256&sr=8-1) and I can honestly say I think this book is going to change more about how I coach than anything I've previously read. I'm a concrete example kinda guy and I'd really like to hear from those who've read it and applied it to their coaching. I, for one, am going to seek a lot more college-level 'clinic'/'position' tapes to show my guys just how the higher level athletes move/train so that their bodies can visually see how to perform the actions before we ask them to do them. I'm also going to really try to limit/eliminate the assigning of negative or positive values to their efforts and just ask questions about the particular repetition/play/etc that, hopefully, lead to the athlete discovering the correct form/technique/assignment on their own and keeps them in a non-thinking/judgemental flow as much as possible. |
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Post by coach4life on Aug 27, 2009 15:11:36 GMT -6
You might also check out "The Talent Code". It's all about how the to develop talent and it's quite good. I'm going to do a longer post on the subject when I can, you're definitely on the right track. Understanding NLP will also help in this area. A few quick points before I have to run to practice:
- We have 3 primary ways of interpreting the world, Visual, Kinesthetic (body movement) and Auditory. Give directives that hit all three, like this for the o-line first step: "Look down and see how long your first step was" (V), "When your foot hits this time notice where you feel it the most on your foot" (K), "Everyone take your first step on the hit. Now what did you hear? We want to hear all 5 guys making one step and one sound, if we don't somebody's step was too long.".
- Give short directives when working the concept. I like to go whole-part-whole, that is explain where we are going to end up, break it down into components, work those, and build it back up. Nothing revolutionary there, but the key is while working the component techniques give short directives say no more than 8 words max, using different modalities (fancy work for the V-K-A thing) and ways of relating the point.
It's a fascinating subject and as I get better at it I'm seeing better results.
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 27, 2009 22:01:13 GMT -6
Good stuff, coach. I really like the 'sound of 5 guys stepping at once' idea, that's solid application of what you're getting at because it really does clue them in on how short the step should be, whether they're in sync with the unit, and how they can correct it without you really having to say anything, very nice.
Could you give an example of working with such short directives? 8 words isn't a whole lot, do you use a lot of loaded/trigger words to make up for it?
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Post by brophy on Aug 28, 2009 5:41:39 GMT -6
Thanks for the heads up on this book
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Post by tog on Aug 28, 2009 6:41:52 GMT -6
mariner----can you explain more about the premise/point of the book
i do like the one idea about + or -
i used to be a big stickler for grading OL
now it isn't so much about that grade
it is more about FIXING IT and getting them to UNDERSTAND AND EXECUTE
my two cents
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Post by brophy on Aug 28, 2009 7:16:59 GMT -6
If I understand correctly, and being around (real) tennis coaches, the coaching methodology is inline with many high caliber Olympic coaches, where developing the complete athlete in a dynamic environment and how to respond to changing stimuli during a contest. It is more about physio-psych than running around doing drills. brophyfootball.blogspot.com/2009/08/teaching-defense-see-it-to-believe-it.html |
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Post by dc207 on Aug 28, 2009 8:04:22 GMT -6
So I'm about 80% through The Inner Game Of Tennis, (Link: www.amazon.com/Inner-Game-Tennis-Classic-Performance/dp/0679778314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251404256&sr=8-1) and I can honestly say I think this book is going to change more about how I coach than anything I've previously read. I'm a concrete example kinda guy and I'd really like to hear from those who've read it and applied it to their coaching. I, for one, am going to seek a lot more college-level 'clinic'/'position' tapes to show my guys just how the higher level athletes move/train so that their bodies can visually see how to perform the actions before we ask them to do them. I'm also going to really try to limit/eliminate the assigning of negative or positive values to their efforts and just ask questions about the particular repetition/play/etc that, hopefully, lead to the athlete discovering the correct form/technique/assignment on their own and keeps them in a non-thinking/judgemental flow as much as possible. I read the book twice as a teenager, because my H.S. History teacher saw how much pressure I put on myself with baseball and basketball. The book helped, and I have been looking for a copy to read again now that I'm a semi-adult. The use of video is so, so crucial to these high school guys. I mean THIS IS HOW YOU DO IT type-of-video, where they can see similar scheme's and techniques being applied on the field - be it practice or game. |
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 28, 2009 9:08:35 GMT -6
Brophy's largely hit it on the head. The way the author phrases it goes something like this: the majority of athletes problems come from Self 1 (the ego-mind/consciousness) trying to be dominant and in control when in reality we want Self 2 (the unconscious, present in the moment human being) to be doing the work. He talks about problems like trying too hard, 'forcing it', being unable to 'get out of ones head', etc and attempts to show how to get athletes to search for methods to let go and just be in the moment.
Another section that I absolutely loved was his very short, but very powerful discussion towards the end about competition and the nature of competition. Basically, he's come to view his opponents as someone to be appreciated, respected, and honored because they provide us with the opportunity to discover something about ourselves that we could not have found without them. The more difficult the opponent, the greater the reward, but it's not in defeating our opponents, but rather the obstacles they provide. It really was great for offering a way to help our boys grow as competitors in a healthy, whole-person way.
Yeesh, I've drank ALL the kool-aid...
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Post by bobgoodman on Aug 28, 2009 11:08:14 GMT -6
I haven't, but I remember 25-30 yrs. ago when the "inner tennis" guy and the Hispanic guy each were giving tennis tips on TV. The Hispanic guy said that the "inner tennis" guy headlined all the "head" stuff, but that what was actually taught at the "inner tennis" guy's camp was strokes. |
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Post by coachks on Aug 28, 2009 13:38:11 GMT -6
Brophy's largely hit it on the head. The way the author phrases it goes something like this: the majority of athletes problems come from Self 1 (the ego-mind/consciousness) trying to be dominant and in control when in reality we want Self 2 (the unconscious, present in the moment human being) to be doing the work. He talks about problems like trying too hard, 'forcing it', being unable to 'get out of ones head', etc and attempts to show how to get athletes to search for methods to let go and just be in the moment. Another section that I absolutely loved was his very short, but very powerful discussion towards the end about competition and the nature of competition. Basically, he's come to view his opponents as someone to be appreciated, respected, and honored because they provide us with the opportunity to discover something about ourselves that we could not have found without them. The more difficult the opponent, the greater the reward, but it's not in defeating our opponents, but rather the obstacles they provide. It really was great for offering a way to help our boys grow as competitors in a healthy, whole-person way. Yeesh, I've drank ALL the kool-aid... From a pretty popular book on this site. I learn to understand my enemy. I learn everything about him, and in that moment, I begin to love them. It is at that moment I destroy them utterly and completely. |
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Post by coach4life on Aug 30, 2009 12:03:07 GMT -6
Good stuff, coach. I really like the 'sound of 5 guys stepping at once' idea, that's solid application of what you're getting at because it really does clue them in on how short the step should be, whether they're in sync with the unit, and how they can correct it without you really having to say anything, very nice. Could you give an example of working with such short directives? 8 words isn't a whole lot, do you use a lot of loaded/trigger words to make up for it? Loaded/trigger words are essentially the idea, yeah. It can be more than 8 words, that's kind of an arbitrary number I'm working from. The key point is to come up with stuff that is short and sweet, but ties back to important concepts. I've found in the past in my zeal to make sure they understand I spend too much time explaining everything only to find they missed the main point due to my overly-pontificative effusion of knowledge in an attempt to inculcate my pedantic lesson (a silly way to say I talk to much but I've come to realize that's what some of it probably sounded like to them). Much better to avoid having them drink from the firehose by giving them something their attention spans can handle. My guess is this is something the "naturals" at coaching (if such animals exist) do without even thinking about it. The rest of us mere mortals have to work at it, or at least I've come to learn I do. One of the best example's I can think of is Coach Slack's stuff: "Elevate" to "Get to Zero" - 5 words that gets the concept of getting your body into the best position for an accurate throw.
"Extension" or "Extend to the target" - Trigger words to the concept of getting the maximum out of the lever that is the arm before firing the wrist to release the ball.
"Work down to up" - Trigger words to install the idea of using the legs and glutes as part of the throw. For the o-line: "Pick it up and put it down quick" - A short way of saying that 6" first step has to be quicker (and therefore shorter) than the other guys.
"First step ties, second step wins" - A short directive to reinforce the notion that the guy with the quickest feet will usually win the battle at the LOS.
"Bring the hips" - use the glutes after contact for maximum lifting power
"Get Hippo" - you must be hip to hip on the double teams or the defender will split 'em. The Talent Code book (don't have it right in front of me at the moment or I would quote them) has some good ones from Martinez who worked with Brady. It talks about him working with Jamarcus Russell before the Raiders drafted him and has some really good examples. I hope that helps... |
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Post by tog on Aug 30, 2009 21:46:04 GMT -6
sounds like what we refer to as verbal blasts
things the kids get that are short phrases that imply complex things
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Post by mariner42 on Aug 30, 2009 22:01:13 GMT -6
Yeah, that's a part of it. An easily understood direction that makes clear what the physical goal is so that they can allow their unconscious to do the work. By giving them a clear image to work towards, they can picture the result and just allow themselves to make it happen.
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Post by coach4life on Sept 2, 2009 10:08:34 GMT -6
Haven't seen any research on this but it is known that language and motor skills are handled in different parts of the brain. It stands to reason that short directives keep the language centers from taking over and the athlete can stay more focused in the movement center (cerebellum), whereas the more you talk the more you disengage from the movement mode. That's what Galloway is onto with his Back-Hit concept (I think he had that in IGT, I know he did in IG of Golf); give Self 1 something to focus on and let Self 2 just do it's thing. (Golf: what other sport gives you the opportunity to stand there and let your gremlins sabotage your efforts before you even move? "Don't hit it in the water!". Next sound: kerplunk. I swear the brain ignores the don't part.) Interestingly enough Pete Carroll is a fan, but I'm not surprised. He is Pete Carroll after all. latimesblogs.latimes.com/allthingstrojan/2007/12/the-inner-game.htmlThanks for bringing this up mariner, I'm gonna dig up my old copies of both and go back through 'em. |
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 2, 2009 11:59:21 GMT -6
Funny enough, I actually picked it up because I read about it's influence on Pete in an article on his coaching background.
I really liked the "Bounce-hit" example from IGT because it immediately made me think of one of our WRs and his problem catching the ball, I really want to get him trying a "throw-catch" method where he says "throw" when the QB releases and "catch" when he's going to catch it.
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Post by cc on Sept 2, 2009 12:19:16 GMT -6
Man I just saw this for $2 in the used book store and was wishing they had it for football. Maybe I should go back and get it! Hope it's still there.
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ex-centralcoach
Junior Member
[F4:@marcmarinelli ] [F4:marcmarinelli]
Posts: 384
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Post by ex-centralcoach on Sept 2, 2009 20:53:11 GMT -6
Read it four years ago, after Pete Carrol talked about it. Changed alot of how i did things. Loved it.
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Post by mariner42 on Sept 2, 2009 21:31:11 GMT -6
Could you give some concrete examples? I always do a lot better in fully wrapping my head around something if I get examples to confirm my own take on it.
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