The Four Most Important Words Your Players Will Ever Know

In an April 14th 2008 Sports Illustrated feature New Orleans Hornet forward, David West, spoke out about quitting his high school basketball team. "When I lived in New Jersey, I had problems with my coach. I wasn't the quickest guy or the strongest guy. I could play, but because I wasn't the type you'd look at Charmerskinny say, he's going Threebuttonjacket be great, my coach wrote me off. He said I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that. When you're a young kid, you get broken".

Fortunately David West had the fortitude Threebuttonjacket strength to continue with his basketball career where most kids would have permanently given up and quit the game. You see, there are few words that have a greater impact on a player than the words I believe in you. These powerful words have incredible meaning and will change your players' lives not only athletically, but also Venusbridesmaid members Nightstandsale our community. Coaches need to institutionalize these four powerful words into their everyday interactions with their players both in terms of verbal and non-verbal Twinsizebedset for positive player motivation. When we believe in ourselves incredible things happen. When others, especially our coaches, believe in us, magic occurs. These words, I believe in you, are equally important to adults and children.

I have seen this magic work over and over in my coaching career and usually without fail. My first experience witnessing the power of these words was while coaching a 12 year old little league team in the championship game. Justin came to bat in the bottom of the sixth needing a hit for our team to win the game. I could see nothing but fear in his eyes. I calmly told him I had been planning the entire season for this very moment. I told him I knew he would be in this position and that is why all season long we had been working on his hitting and why he was now one of the best hitters on the team. (I think Justin had two hits all year). Looking deep into his eyes, I said, I believe in you and "you are going to watch the bat hit the ball into right field" describing the expected outcome. I told him several times to see the bat hit the ball and each time he told me he could see himself getting a hit. More and more confident, this moment became the defining point of Justin and our season. Justin hit the first pitch between first and second base allowing the tying and winning runs to score and Justin became his teammates' instant Couturedresscollection I know this story sounds hopelessly corny and some would say this hit was pure chance, but I know otherwise. Those special words, I believe in you, made a connection with Justin and I'm sure he still remembers his incredible game today. Positive coaching methods do make a difference!

Much has been said about Tiger Woods and his astonishing ability to focus, but where would he be if his parents and coaches hadn't believed in him? I believe his self-confidence and focus manifested itself partially as a result of how much other people believed in him. Tiger didn't have people telling him he couldn't play golf, rather his entire support system told him he was the best young golfer in the world. From my previous articles you know that you achieve what you focus on and if his focus was to become the best golfer in the world, no one was going to stop him. His father had Wowpromdress much confidence in Tiger that at the age of two he arranged for him to appear on the Mike Douglas show with Bob Hope. I'm confident had Tiger's support system been full of negative thoughts and energy, his future would be quite different today. Maybe that is why Earle Woods didn't trust his son's coaching to anyone else, because he knew no one could believe in Tiger more than himself.

In February 2006, I coached the Sunnyslope High School JV Baseball Team. Sunnyslope had a great baseball program and while its Freshman and Junior Varsity programs performed very well year after year, something happened that prevented these young players from replicating their success at the Varsity level. For a team that won a state championship 10 years earlier, morale and player confidence were low. With a 12 member team including three freshman of over-achievers, we were able to beat some of the more successful and powerful programs in the state. We did so by creating a strong belief system and environment where all players believed in themselves and were given the freedom to make mistakes without fear of Fluttersleevedress criticism. Our daily coaching focused on creating individual player belief and on what we wanted them to do through positive affirmations and instructions. Although they did not win all of their games, they won far more than they should have. Sadly, two years later there was only one player from that Junior Varsity team still with the program even though they all still had a love for the game of baseball.

I believe as the players matured through the program the game stopped being fun and the coaches started micro managing the players' every move. The small technical changes being made created a lack of self-confidence and player doubt. Instead of creating a positive focus and belief system in the players, the coaches' negative energy became a team cancer. One of the most talented players (a freshman) from the previous season quit the team his Wowpromdress year within the first few weeks of practice because of the coaches' negative focus and baseball no longer being fun. Coaches who create programs with a positive focus and energy level for their players will always achieve more satisfactory results because the game will be more rewarding.

In many sports, a coach's philosophy after a loss is often, "I will show you that you need to play better", and players run laps or sprints so the coach can demonstrate his superiority over his players, thus motivating them to win. Research demonstrates that discipline based motivation seldom works, yet coaches repeat it over and over. A much more effective yet difficult motivation practice is the use of positive reinforcement strategies (recognition and reward systems) for player and team motivation. Most coaches view this approach to be too soft in the trenches of sports, yet it provides for a more lasting and effective means for improving on field performance. By using this method coaches improve team morale, player self-confidence, and game enjoyment which transcends to improved on-field performance. And a player who believes in himself, like a young Justin or Tiger Woods, with a strong I believe in you focus, will go on to accomplish great things.

Copyright 2008 Grapevine Discovery LLC

Ken Tims is a principal in Grapevine Discovery LLC. Grapevine Discovery is one of the premier goal achievement programs in the US. http://www.grapevinediscovery.com Our extensive background working with some of the most successful corporations developing long range corporate and strategic plans led us to working with individual executive team members to create personal work balance and life fulfillment programs. Ken Tims has an extensive background in management, leadership practices, and coaching. Visit http://www.grapevinediscovery.com for more details.