Commitment

I wanted to share a few things from Dr. Rotella's book, "Golf Is A Game Of Confidence". As we all know, the mental to physical is 4 to 1. The mental aspect is as important as any other fundamental that we teach.

Internationally celebrated for his work in the area of applied sports psychology, Dr. Robert Rotella is consistently recognized as the Top Sports Psychologist in the world. Dr. Rotella’s golfers on the PGA Tour have won at least 25 of the 40 tournaments played for each of the last 15 years. Rotella’s book, “Golf Is Not a Game of Perfect” is the best selling sports psychology book of all time and one of the three best selling golf books in history.

1. Characteristics of a Champion--strong willed, they all have dreams and they all make a long-term commitment to pursue those dreams.
2. Your state of mind is a matter of choice.
3. People by and large become what they think about themselves.
4. Make a commitment to good thinking.
5. Confidence doesn't guarantee success. It only enhances the chance.
6. Confidence is the sum of all the thoughts you have about yourself.
7. The happiest people have a sense of commitment i everything they do, whether it's playing golf, running a restaurant or selling hardware. They approach their undertaking with passion.

Bird Watching

I just wanted to pass along a few of the notes I have from Larry Bird's book, "Bird Watching".

1. Less screaming in games.
2. Mix up how you deal with the team, can't yell all the time, it loses is effectiveness.
3. In the NBA, the 3rd quarter is the key to the game and you can't afford for the team to spend 5 minutes recovering from half-time.
4. Score after every timeout.
5. Bird expected the team to be very aggressive on the offensive glass.
6. Find three players each night who are playing well.

Maker Of My Own Fortune

We are constantly looking for different voices to share our message to our team. Responsibility and Accountability are two essential traits we are working to develop on our team.

The following quote from Tecumseh shares this thought:

I am a Shawnee. My forefathers were warriors. Their son is a warrior...From my tribe I take nothing. I am the maker of my own fortune.

Samurai Swordsmen On Technique

Samurai Swordsmen:

Determined the best way to beat one's adversary in a duel was to fight without the delay of thinking. Polished technical skill was a pre-requisite, but the actual moves were dictated by feeling rather than thought.

Figuring It Out For Yourself

One of the concepts about leadership we are emphasizing with our team is to first lead yourself. To do so, we are teaching the idea of "Figuring it our for yourself."

It doesn't mean that we are not going to help our players, but instead teach them "how". --"Feed a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."

• We can't tell them everything.
• They have to become critical thinkers.
• Critical thinkers are winners.
• Teach them how to figure it out for themselves.

Lamar Hunt On Preparation

Lamar Hunt founded the Kansas City Chiefs. He lists three items to consider as you prepare and plan:

1. Determine what you want

2. Find out what it will cost you to get what you want

3. Decide if you are willing to pay the price

Motion Offense Thoughts

As we are preparing for our fall workouts and teaching points we want to emphasize for the 2009-10 season I wanted to pass along some of our points of emphasis for our motion offense.

1. We would like to force the defense to defend all the spots of the court with all of their players.
2. Spacing is offense and offense is spacing.--Chuck Daly
3. Dribble with a purpose.
4. Know what you can and can't do.
5. Pass away from the defense.
6. The most important way a player can contribute to our team is to cut.
7. Cutters and Screeners--Who, What, When, Where and How?
8. Get your eyes on your defender.
9. Let the ball find you.
10. Change of direction and change of speed.