Top Coach for Sports Communication

Coaching for peak performers has been around for years. The most successful athletes, for many decades, have been coached to win the big event. Tiger Woods would not be the golfer he is today without his golf coaches. Michael Jordan, John Elway, and Michael Johnson have all had coaches. Leaders in the business world, with some of the most successful companies, have coaches. Behind each great milestone, or accomplishment, stands two people — the one who executes the task or carries out the game plan and the one who helps to create the game plan and teaches the executor to improve his skills. Maybe it is time to evaluate and consider the benefits of a coach.

A good coach has five basic traits. When these traits are used to help you move forward in your life, the results are amazing. A coach can help you increase your production and enjoyment in life and help you craft a life of long-term success.

The first trait of a great coach is the ability to listen and help you clarify your goals and vision in all areas of your life. Earl Nightingale, the famous speaker, stated we are goal-seeking organisms. Our purpose is to set and achieve goals in life. The difficulty for people is not in achieving their goals, but setting them in the first place. We can truly accomplish anything in life provided we truly decide to do it.

The second trait of a successful coach is guiding you to understand that all goals must have deadlines. Deadlines get one’s juices and thoughts flowing to create the desired result. Have you ever planned to go away for vacation and two days before you are to go you get a flurry of activity in your business? It is because of the deadline that the activity increases and things begin to happen. How would you like to have that kind of production ongoing? Determine effective deadlines for all areas of your business.

A great coach will take the goals and vision you set for yourself and teach you to achieve them. He will help you create the step-by-step game plan to achieve the envisioned future. Even the big projects that seem like mountains can be broken down into bite size pieces, which are called daily disciplines.

For example, I had a client in 1998 that wanted to earn over $250,000 for the year, when the year before he had only earned $130,000. We worked diligently to break down into bite-size pieces what he needed to accomplish in order to achieve his goal. Once the bite-size pieces were determined, we were able to determine the daily disciplines for him to undertake. Because he had to just focus on his daily disciplines, the task was not paralyzing. When he got behind in achieving his goal, it was always caused by his not doing his daily disciplines. As his coach I helped him create the game plan and target him to execute it daily. He achieved and broke his goal by earning over $265,000 for 1998, which was over a 100% increase in his business. Coaching really works in real estate sales, as in other fields.

A great coach will show clients the consequences of not following through on their goals and commitments. The coach will provide ongoing motivation and inspiration during the storms of life. The storms of life will come. We will experience all the storms in this world. We cannot avoid them. Since we cannot avoid them, we must prepare for them. It is not the storm that causes the problem; it is how we react to the storm. A great coach will help you brace for the storm that otherwise might overwhelm you. Coaching provides the motivation and inspiration for our lives to overcome those storms.

Lastly, a great coach provides accountability and is available for you. A great coach will help you evaluate your progress against your goals and vision. He will hold you to the standard that you have set for yourself.

The truth is everyone needs a coach. Hiring a coach is making an investment in yourself. The benefits of coaching pay years of dividends. Where would Michael Jordan be without his coaches? Great coaches enable their clients to increase their abundance more rapidly without experiencing the many mistakes and pitfalls of being on their own. We have had coaches and teachers throughout our lives. The most successful people never outgrew them. They work with them today to achieve peak performance. Do not neglect to make the investment in yourself for you and your family.

There are some fundamental rules to the game of golf. Serious golfers often disagree on what the basics consist of, but if you are among the millions who desperately want to improve their golf swing, these basic tips will help you tremendously and save you a lot of frustration.

The three most important steps you should keep in mind are to keep your head perfectly still, relax your muscles, and keep your club head traveling in a straight line while making contact with the ball. The simple act of keeping your head still throughout your shot can improve your swing immediately. By keeping your club head in a straight line while making contact with the ball, you will avoid slicing and several other undesirable results.

Relaxing your muscles will aid you tremendously in keeping the proper balance. Balance is imperative to a good golf swing. Stand comfortably so you can reach the ball easily and remember that the muscles that propel the ball are the same muscles that twist the body and are the most powerful. No matter what stroke you are making or what club you are playing with, balance is the foundation to a good golf swing, and you must keep your muscles relaxed to achieve perfect balance. Balance really is the cure-all for many faults of golf. Think about keeping your head still and maintaining your balance at all times and you will have a foundation for an excellent golf game.

In the game of golf, no two people ever swing at the ball in the same way. Because of your individual body build, you develop your own individual set of muscles. A method of swinging a golf club used by one person who is of a different build and has developed a different set of muscles may not be of value to you. Golf will always be an individual sport. Find the method of playing that will produce results for you, and then go with it. When you are ready to play a game, and you are faced with a shot, make your decision on how you are going to do things. Do not be persuaded to change your methods every time you have a bad game.

Make sure you keep your eye on the ball and that any stance you take will allow you to see the ball from every point of the stroke. If your golf swing is off, go back to these fundamental rules and plan each shot in advance. Take your time and develop your own methods that work best for you, but keep in mind these basic principles and you will notice a definite improvement in your golf game.

“I wish I could be out for this season but I have to work.”

“Really, why do you have to work?”

“Because I need a car.”

“Why do you need a car?”

“So I can get to work…”

If you are a high school coach, I’m sure that you have had a conversation similar to this one with one of your young athletes. It seems that the almighty job is pulling more and more student athletes away from being involved in sports.

So, do most of these athletes really need to work?

I would argue that the answer is “no.”

But, how do you get that message across to teenagers? You can’t pay them to play for you. Why else are they working?

Many young adults are working because their parents want them to earn money, learn responsibility and learn the value of hard work.

What’s a poor coach to do?

Reason Number One: “I need money.”

Does your student athlete need money or do they want money? There is a big difference. Needing money would involve helping to support their family. Working to buy food, clothing and shelter – the basic necessities – is probably a valid reason to choose a job over sports. I don’t believe that this is the case in most situations.

How many students at your school have car payments – or motorcycle, ATV, snowmobile or boat payments for that matter? It is a shame that we push students into debt at such an early age. Are these items necessary for a sixteen or seventeen year old? Talk about a trap.

I would argue to let teenagers stay teenagers a bit longer. They will have the next 40 to 50 years to earn a paycheck and buy “stuff” when they reach adulthood. Their athletic window of opportunity, however, is limited. Once they graduate from high school, the majority will never have another opportunity to play competitive sports.

Money for wants is not a valid reason to miss out on sports. Do we really want money to be a young person’s main motivator anyway?

Reason Number Two: “A job teaches them responsibility.”

But, won’t sports teach them that same value? Being on a team includes being responsible for their behavior, for their grades to stay eligible, for their effort in practice and in games, for being places on time, setting priorities and on and on and on. These lessons can be learned without working 20 or 30 hours per week.

Learning responsibility does not need to come from the world of work at this early age.

Reason Number Three: “A job teaches them the value of hard work.”

Let’s talk about the hard work of a student athlete. Go to school for 7 to 8 hours per day. Practice for another 2 hours. Games 2 to 3 times per week. Studying and homework to make sure they can still play. Maybe even some chores at home. This all adds up to well over 40 hours per week. And all without having an actual “job.” How many adults are willing to work this many hours per week in their jobs?

And what better way to see hard work pay off. Dedication and putting in the time and the effort leads to success on the field, on the court, on the track, in the pool, etc. True cause and effect can be seen when hard work pays off in improved performance.

Being a student athlete is already hard work.

So, there you are. Some ammunition to use when you are losing athletes to work. Will this change the mind of every parent and student that you run across? Of course not. But you may be surprised at how explaining the benefits of athletics can help keep some athletes that you may have lost. Remind people of the hard work and responsibility that come with remaining a student athlete. Just maybe they will wait a bit longer for that car…