Fister's Focus

Doug Fister recently received a standing ovation for his performance on 9-27-2012 vs. the Kansas City Royals.  The unusual part of the ovation was Fister had no idea what it was for.  Fister had made history by setting the major league record for most consecutive strikeouts (9).  In fact, Fister was quite possibly the only person in the stadium who didn't know the significance of what just occurred.  Teammate, Prince Fielder, asked him to step off the mound to acknowledge his accomplishment and embrace the ovation, but Fister was so locked in to the next batter he didn't understand why Fielder was breaking his rhythm.  He's used to Fielder asking him to step off the mound when he's struggling, pitching too fast, appears rattled or not paying enough attention to a base runner, but Fister felt he was in a good rhythm, no one was on base and he didn't understand why Fielder would break his rhythm at that point.  Fielder just smiled and said I'll tell you later.  Of course later Fister found out the ovation was for him and he had etched his name into the major league record books.

Ownership

I recently posted a question for our team in the team room before beginning a pre-season workout.  The question was "What will people say when they talk about our program?" and the following activity was for players to discuss and come up with 3-5 characteristics they would like to be known for.  Our staff left the players to have 20 minutes of uninfluenced and free conversation about the topic in the team room.  It wasn't easy to leave the room and I was nervous about what they would actually come up with, but I felt it was important to give players space to speak freely amongst each other and let players lead the discussion and really take ownership of the process.  After 20 minutes the players had agreed upon 4 characteristics they want to be known for (hard work, mental toughness, confidence and intense defense).  Moving forward we will use these 4 things as points of emphasis and motivation and when we do talk about these things they will have more meaning to the players since they had ownership in their selection.

What activities do you have that will provide players an opportunity to take ownership and provide input to the team philosophy/goals?  Please share your comments.

Ray Lewis - Passion

Ray Lewis is incredibly passionate about life.  You can hear it in his voice and see it in his eyes when he communicates on and off the football field.  A quick search on youtube for Ray Lewis and you will find several examples of what I am talking about in his speeches to teammates, speeches to other teams, speaking at funerals, interviews on tv and visiting with the sick.

Ray Lewis has chosen to be passionate about life.  Its an attitude choice for him and its a choice we have as well.  It won't always be easy and if you know Ray Lewis' story you'll understand it wasn't always easy for him.  He had several opportunities to turn bitter and be mad at the world.  Just a few examples in Ray's life was his dad leaving him at a young age, going through several years of college with 1 pair of jeans, and being incarcerated. Ray Lewis has used the events of his life to become a stronger person, willingly tells his story to inspire others and remains steadfast in his passion for life.

We may not possess the natural intensity of a Ray Lewis, but we can chose to be passionate about life.

Jimmy Dykes - Truths about Basketball

Jimmy Dykes, basketball analyst, recently spoke at a CoachingULive clinic. During his talk he shared some thoughts and ideas that he has picked up through his unique access to many college basketball programs. Here are some of my favorite takeaways from his talk.

• Everyday guys beat sometime guys everyday
• Awesome! Our team will be having this discussion soon.
• No toughness = No success
• Define toughness to your team, what it means to you
• If your players cannot talk it, they cannot execute it
• Practice as if you are playing in loudest arena
• ELC "Early, Loud, Continuous"
• Players play is either taught or allowed
• Hold your players accountable; if they take a bad shot, come out of their stance, stop talking, etc. it is because they were taught to play that way or allowed

Persistence

"Persistence and patience is exemplified by the stonecutter who hammers away at a piece of rock. He may hit the rock 100 times without so much as a crack showing.  Then, on the 101^st hit, the rock will split in two.  It was not that hit that did it, but an accumulation of all that came before it."

During the pre-season I'm constantly reminding our team they are laying the foundation and putting in the required work and sacrifice to reach our potential and goals during the season.  Each day we improve or decline.  Each day we take a step towards maximizing our potential or waste an opportunity.  

What can you do to motivate your team to keep chipping away and make progress towards their ultimate goals?

Composure

The Washington Redskins were down 3 points and moving the ball into St. Louis territory on their final drive and chance of the game to score. Josh Morgan made a huge play for his team on 3rd down catching a pass that did not give his team a first down, but would set their field goal kicker up for a very makeable 47 yard fg attempt. However, before Washington could rush their field goal unit onto the field Josh Morgan lost his composure and threw the football at a St. Louis defender prompting the official to throw a penalty flag and access a 15 yard personal foul for unsportsmanlike conduct on Morgan.  This moved the field goal attempt out of the comfortable range of Washington's kicker to 62 yards.  The attempt fell short and St. Louis was able to take a knee and run out the clock.

We may never know what caused Josh Morgan to snap and lose his composure on what should have been a great moment for him to jog off to the sidelines, celebrate his clutch catch with his teammates and cheer on the field goal attempt.

Players must be able to keep their composure in the heat of the competition. How is your composure under pressure?

Potential

Potential by definition is what is possible; what we are capable of being or becoming. This brings two thoughts into play 1. having potential provides hope for the future and 2. having potential means you haven't reached your optimal or peak performance level.

Everyone has the potential to perform at a higher level than their current standing so the question becomes what are you doing to maximize your potential.  As a coach I spend a good amount of time in the preseason talking with our players about how great their potential is and how valuable they will be to our team success, but always follow up with the sacrifice and commitment it will take to reach that potential.  To keep it simple we have one team goal in the preseason....Improve each day.  This gives players a daily objective that will lead to long term progress towards maximizing their potential. 

"Winners commit to improve everyday, losers go through the motions." - Vince Lombardi