Joining the Gym to be a Better Coach

Yup, I'm going to The Gym. Well, no, actually The Gym (by Tom Hanson) is coming to me. As you can see, I'm doing a lot of "being a life long learner" at this point. I guess I'm just in that mode right now. I've learned a lot, but I feel like there are great tips out there that can help me hone in on where I can get better and there are ways that I can help my team get better. So in addition to the books I've talked about recently, this is the other resource I really wanted to check out.

The things that really caught my eye with this Gym were...

• "How to Get Players 'On Board' with Developing their Mental Game Skills"
• “How to Teach Pre-Performance Routines so Your Players are More Consistent,”
• "How to Work on the Mental Game During Practice,"
• "How to Give Feedback," and
• "How to Work Effectively With Parents."

Then of course there are the bonuses for joining for a year...

• Pitching Dominator DVD -- Watch me teach the mental mechanics of pitching. Shows exactly, step-by-step what to do on the mound to pitch with a dominating mindset ($67 value) (mailed to you).
• Hitting Dominator DVD -- Watch me teach the mental mechanics of hitting. Shows exactly, step-by-step, what to do at the plate and before you get there, to hit with a dominating mindset ($67 value) (mailed to you).

You see, I KNOW how important the mental game is, but I also know how hard it is to teach. I don't know that anyone really took clear cut steps to "teach" it to me, but being mentally strong and having the right mind set to be successful is something I learned along the way as I played softball and became an adult.

As a coach, I always want more consistency from my players. To me, one thing that separates good players from great players is consistency. They almost ALWAYS get their job done, no matter what the situation. I'm not saying they are always perfect. Everyone is human and everyone makes mistakes, but I'd much rather have someone consistently make those routine plays rather than be hot and cold and sometimes make unbelievable plays, but not consistency make the routine ones.

Then there's working on the mental game in practice....any time I can learn more about how to work on the mental game in practice, I'm in.

So, again, I will let you know how things go in The Gym!