Tag Archives: coaching athletes

From Champions to Leaders

Posted on July 2, 2024 by in The Art of Exceeding

THE ART OF EXCEEDING: Building High-Performance Athletes

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Frank’s New Release- The Art of Exceeding: Building High Performance Athletes is now ready to pre-order the E-book version for a Special New Release Price of Only $2.99

The following post is an excerpt from THE ART OF EXCEEDING: Building High-Performance Athletes. Enjoy, Frank

From Champions to Leaders

Sports and Leadership

Let’s peek into Jake and Katie’s past. Fifteen years ago, they were battling to the top of the national tennis scene. I asked them to try something revolutionary as they developed strokes and athleticism. I asked them to buy into developing their life skills, character traits, and moral compass. Their process is what I want to share with you. I asked these two youngsters if I could train them like they were already an 18-year-old college star. They agreed, and here’s their story:

1.1 Transferrable Skills

Jake wasn’t just an athlete; by age 13, he was already a strategist, problem solver, and decision-maker. A future leader was born as he honed these transferable life skills through years of practice and competition.

1.2 Beyond the Game: Life Skills

Sports, like life, demands resilience in the face of setbacks, perseverance in the pursuit of improvement, and grace in both victory and defeat. These qualities, instilled in Katie, were the building blocks of character that extended far beyond the boundaries of her tennis career.

1.3 The Foundation

Developing skills to compete successfully on the court also sets a foundation for success off the court. Skill sets such as discipline, time management, and the ability to handle pressure are foundational skills that lay the framework for sports and life.

1.4 The Moral Compass

Honesty, integrity, and respect for opponents are not just empty words; they are the guiding principles of sportsmanship. Each day, Katie nurtured the importance of fair play. This moral compass, developed and reinforced throughout her tennis career, transitioned her to her spot as the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company.

1.5 The Vision Ahead

There are incredible similarities between Jake and Katie’s tennis and their future leadership success. Let’s look deep into the principles, ethics, and responsibilities that accompany leadership in sports. You’ll explore the skills that champions acquire, and leaders live by.

1.6 Developing Soft Skills

The following lists a dozen hidden skills that winners like Jake and Katie possess. Throughout your years developing your athletic skills, it’s wise to look into these invaluable tools to help you along your journey from an athletic champion to a happy, successful leader in life:

  1. Active Listening and Empathy
  2. The Ability to Inspire Others
  3. Flexibility and Adaptability
  4. The Ability to Build Trust
  5. Strong Communication Skills
  6. Positivity And Reliability
  7. The Ability to Motivate Others
  8. Connecting With Others Authentically
  9. Recognize Others’ Achievements
  10. Leading By Example and Creating Unity
  11. Open And Transparent Communication
  12. Gratitude, Appreciation, Caring and Kindness

Take a few moments to think deeply about these soft skills and how they’ll help you maximize your potential.

As you look into the past of Jake and Katie, this playbook will inspire and empower you to be accountable because you’ve got the potential for this type of future as a top leader. Look into your future. Fifteen years from now, these experiences will have shaped the course of that amazing leader that you’ll see when you look in the mirror.

YOUR TAKEAWAY CHALLENGE

Look back to 1.6 in From Champions to Leaders, Developing Soft Skills. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you grade yourself on these skill sets? Being a leader in sports and life requires these invaluable tools.

Building Coachable Athletes- Part 3

Posted on September 1, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

Frank Giampaolo

 

Let’s Look at the Characteristics of the Coachable Athlete:

  • Willingness to Accept the Coach’s Philosophy
  • Acceptance of the Necessity for Improvement
  • Desire to be Accountable
  • Optimism and Growth Minded
  • Respectfulness
  • Acceptance of Responsibility
  • Letting Go of Excuses
  • Non-Combative Attitude
  • Open-Minded too Constructive Criticism
  • Eager to Receive Feedback
  • Respectful of the Coach’s Knowledge
  • Selflessness
  • Integrity
  • Courageous

It’s astounding how many young athletes self-sabotage their potential by choosing to ignore the above positive characteristics. Coachable athletes are taught life skills development and religiously held accountable for their morals and ethical conduct by their parents and coaches. Parents and athletes, please look for the above positive characteristics of the coachable athlete in your entourage of coaches as well. You can be sure that quality coaches will be looking for the same positive characteristics in their students and their parents.

 

In the 1st Edition of The Tennis Parents Bible (published in 2010), I wrote about the importance of positive coaching and parenting. A vital takeaway was the use of the 5-1 compliment to critique rule (verbal and non-verbal). If athletes are to fire their optimistic responses we have to provide the ammunition. I recommend exposing these qualities in timely condensed sessions. Coaches, the above 14 coachable software skills should be discussed in a creative, interactive information exchange that feels like a chat versus a moral lesson.


 

Building Coachable Athletes- Part 1

Posted on August 26, 2021 by in The Soft Science of Tennis

The following post is an excerpt from Frank’s newest book, The Soft Science of Tennis.

Click Here to Order through Amazon

frank

Building Coachable Athletes

 

During a seminar, I conducted at The Wingate Sports Institute in Tel Aviv, Israel an attending woman’s volleyball coach raised her hand and asked me a great question: How does one discover their true potential? I responded, whether you’re coaching, parenting, or playing your chosen sport, realize that you’re only one decision away from going up a level. The choice to avoid risk is what holds most of us back. Even before we attempt an endeavor, fear of the unknown forces most of us to retreat our efforts.

In psychology, it’s called the Spotlight Effect. The brain hesitates when it perceives there’s going to be a problem. We are hardwired to avoid pain and hardship whether it be physical, mental, or emotional.  It’s easy to slide back and continue the same old comfortable routines, but “easy” only produces average results. Tennis coaches and players habitually choose to groove another basket of balls versus shifting their focus to the actual needs of the player (cause of losses). Why? It’s far less painful.

What’s holding us back is changing our decisions to taking risks versus routinely avoiding risks. Unpredictability and uncertainty should be seen as positive gatekeepers. I recommend moving towards those feelings versus running away from them. We all have an affinity for our habits. All too often we stay too long with those habits not because they’re productive but because we’re loyal to them.

A new relationship to anything may appear risky, but truth be told, it’s often riskier to remain in an ineffective environment. The real danger lies in stagnation. We instinctively know that around the world, opponents are training smarter, faster, and more efficiently. Remaining in our comfort zone will only leave us behind the competition. To our detriment, our brains will try to sabotage any and all attempts at doing anything uncomfortable. I recommend shifting focus from the negative attitude of “what could go wrong” to the positive attitude of “what could go right.”

Whose responsibility is it to teach coachability? The typical response from a parent is, “I assume my child’s coaches are teaching life skills…right?” Ask a coach and the response is, “Teaching life skills are the responsibility of the parents. They’re paying me to teach their child strokes.” Ideally, these core values are the result of everyone involved in the athlete’s development, with the parents playing the decisive role. Providing children with the opportunity to take responsibility and instill accountability at an early age is not only an essential skill set for coach-ability but a vital life skill. Communication and independent problem-solving skills are the foundations of coachability.

 

“Two core software skills champions need most are millisecond decision making and problem-solving skills. Both of which,
are not commonly found in standardized drilling.”