Ah-Ha Moments

The Ah-Ha moment, whenever and wherever it happens, is fun and exciting for all involved. The Ah-Ha moment is when an athlete, student or guest understands a major step in a progression that grows their knowledge of the subject matter.It can be turning the skis in both directions on the bunny hill or understanding how to make a pitcher throw you your pitch. Ah-Ha moments are fun, exciting and often rewarding for the coach.

From a coaching standpoint, many times athletes, students or ski school guests are maybe not understanding what we are trying “to play” with. If coaches do not recognize this than it often can be frustrating for everyone. It forces us as coaches to be able to understand how our groups process the information we are presenting to them. I enjoy this because it makes me as a coach to think hard about how I am going to be able to maximize my athletes success as a group as well as individually.

In skiing the big thing we see is the kids trying to carve and they are pushing their feet out to get onto their edges, which in turn is actually more of a defensive movement because they are braking as they go to turn. So with my Team Summit Athletes we play a lot with ankle flexion and basic parallel. These two areas of skiing help the kids understand the bending and patience in the turn which allows for the ski to get on its edge and load up with energy. When the kids feel and experience this they often see how much more fun it is to tip ‘em and rip ‘em.

With baseball, coaching the middle school kids one of the big things we as coaches have to do it help facilitate the transition from “little leaguers” to high school players. The high school game as we all know is much more complex and in many situations is the same as the major league game. It takes a lot of time and patience from the coaching staff but when the kids see it and understand it, it makes me as a volunteer feel awesome. A good example is the difference between a relay man and a cutoff man and when to use each one. This is confusing for a lot of kids and so it may take an entire season for the kids to understand it.

Good coaches want to see their athletes and teams succeed. Ah-Ha moments are often the key to winning more races or the difference between a one run win and a one run loss. Sports are supposed to be fun for players, athletes, coaches and families. Ah-Ha moments are one stop on the road of benchmarks to experiencing sports success.

Setting Goals

Any day that I spend coaching, whether it is baseball, skiing or something else I always set goals for each athlete as well as for the team. Setting goals allows for the athletes, team as well as me as a coach to experience success. By setting goals for athletes it keeps things simple so to allow for full understanding and a benchmark for your athletes to strive for during the season.

Setting goals for practice as well as game day is important because it provides athletes and coaches the opportunity to reach success. Goals need to be realistic for each athlete, coach or team. Goals need to be realistic so that athletes can attain them and feel confident.

Long term goals are equally important as short term because it allows for the athletes to make realistic steps towards reaching a long term goal. If goals are realistic it allows for athletes to be motivates to work at something and continue striving to get better.

Long term goals are often team goals. So when you make short term goals for players it should work towards the overall long term goals. Short term goals may be things like players hitting over .400 or a player learning to hot a curve ball, a running back rushing for 1000 yards for the season. Long term goals are things like make the playoffs, finish greater than 500 or have a team ERA under 3.00. Goals can be anything that will help an athlete, team or program succeed.

Discussing goals with players and teams allows for stronger chemistry because everyone knows as a team what they are working towards. By taking time at practice to discuss this than the kids can help with finding a happy medium between challenging and still attainable and unrealistic.

By setting goals for players as well as the team it gives the kids a better sense of a “team” because it gives them a common goal to work towards. Personal goals allows for the kids to be more interested at practice and more enthusiastic. Goals will help make the season more fun because it allows for athletes as well as coaches to experience success.