This Summer I’ve been fortunate to work with a group of highly motivated hockey players pursuing various levels of professional hockey.
Last week one of my guys said something that stuck with me. Something that I wrote about in my Off-Ice Performance Training Course.
He said something that went like:
“I hate Wednesdays. This day is BRUTAL. I can’t even complain to you though because I know you’re doing it all too.”
So what’s the big message here?
I put that group through tough training sessions. Need a partner to push you through it, tough. Need to take a look inside yourself and see if you’re mentally strong enough, tough. Tough.
And I know how tough they are because I do every single training session, exactly as written. My athletes know that. They respect that.
Coaches that preach, but don’t do (or haven’t done, in the case of some of the older coaches) rarely have the respect of their players.
Think about it-Would you want to be bossed around by some lazy loud mouth with a whistle?
I’m not saying every coach needs to follow the same training program as their athletes, but every coach should be setting a good example.
Athletic development coaches should stay fit.
Youth sport coaches should maintain and seek to improve their skill levels in that sport.
And last, but not least, nutritionists should not be fat (I’ll save that rant for another day).
Train your athletes hard. Train yourself harder.
-Kevin Neeld