Leadership and Learning are very much the same

I found a blog post earlier today that talked about when everyone starts new things they are ignorant.  And the truth is they're right.  When we start something new we are ignorant and are fooling ourselves to think otherwise.  When we first start learning to play baseball for instance we have to be taught how to do everything.  We need to know how to throw and catch.  Then that evolves into catching fly balls or fielding grounders and being able to judge that as the ball comes off the bat.  Next we need to be more fluent in our attempts to do that, and we throw in being able to hit a ball thrown from a person and not just fed into a machine or lobbed to us from our dad.  We have to work on batting stances, proper swings, balance, timing and positioning.  Then base running and signals come into play, as well we begin to play situational baseball and needing to know what to do with the ball when there is a runner on 2nd with 2 outs and the ball is hit into the alley.  How do we respond?  In order to grow to this point we have learned from whoever was willing to teach us and that is the trick.  We must learn the right things to do and grow into leaders on the field by spending time to know what to do and when to do it.  No matter what stage of athletics you are in right now this will help.  You will not succeed until you know what to do and many times why you are doing it.

Raising the Athlete!

In today's world it is incredible how early many people have their kids trying to do "major league" things. So what is the right thing to do? What can we do with our young athletes to prepare them without tearing them up? Fundamentals! Fundamentals my friends! There is nothing that changes about fundamentals. They are something that your young athlete will never not use. It is far more important for an 8 year old to know how to throw properly and far less important for them to be effective at throwing curve balls. It is coming up on football season and if you think there is any sport that is less about fundamentals you would be wrong. The best athletes in the world may be good, but without proper technique they are gobbled up as they get into higher ranks of football. If you have a lineman teach them to "fire off" the line and find their opponents chest with there hands and head. Teach them to avoid looking for their eyes, and to avoid standing up straight. As they get older, into their preteen ages and early teen ages, work with them on flexibility, agility, and explosiveness while still recognizing that their fundamentals are still important. The same is true with quarterbacks and receivers, fundamentals in route running, footwork, hand placement, stance, release point, etc., are the things that they will use for their entire careers. Also, if you can teach a young kid that you build on basics and grow from there through time, perseverance and hard work they will be better equipped for life circumstances.