2 W o r d s C h a r a c t e r D e v e l o p m e n t • S e a s o n 1 • W e e k 9

09W E E K

CCOACHES CAPTAINS ATHLETES FAMILY

Use athletes asking “why?” as a teaching

opportunity.

Refine your leadership to be as strong during practice as on

gameday.

Dissect your week to discover where you spend your time.

Create a Disagreement Agreement to

prepare for parental “trench moments.”

5 P’sWhen is the game really won? Is it when you run up the scoreboard? When the clock ticks out to zero? When you stride a few inches longer than your opponent? While all those are technically true, they don’t tell the whole story.

You will only spend 8 percent of your time competing. You spend 92 percent of your time

practicing, watching film, working on the fundamentals and lifting in the weight room. If you want to outscore your opponent on Friday night, you’ve gotta outwork them Saturday-Thursday. Victory isn’t just for the playing field; it’s also found on the practice field. If you want to win in the game, you’ve got to win in practice. Prior Preparation Permits Proper Performance. You’ll never reach the fullness of your potential so long as you don’t prepare to do so. You may win the game, but you will not reach your full potential if you do not prepare. It doesn’t matter how fast you are if you’re not your fastest. It doesn’t matter how strong you are if you’re not your strongest. If you want to be successful in the 8 percent, you’ve gotta prepare in the 92 percent. Practice and the game are directly linked. You can tell how much you love your team by the choices you make grinding at practice. You can tell how much you want to win the game by the choices you make everyday during and after school. Everything you’re doing today will prepare you for what you do tomorrow. If you want to know what kind of person you’re going to be in the future, look at what you’re doing now.And remember the 5 Ps: Prior preparation permits proper performance. Want to change the future? Change what you do today.

C O N T E N T O V E R V I E W5 P’s

2 W o r d s C h a r a c t e r D e v e l o p m e n t • S e a s o n 1 • W e e k 9

09W E E K

F O R C O A C H E S

5 P’s: FOR COACHESSometimes, we feel disrespected by our athletes. We augment practices with specific advice and directions only to find our counsel falling on unattentive ears. Back in the day—think of when Bear Bryant and John Wooden were prime time—respect was everything. Coach’s word was the final word. But there has been a generational switch. Blind respect is gone. Students need purpose and explanation for why they are doing the things we are asking of them. We’re coaching the why generation.

“Coach, why we runnin’ suicides?” “Coach, why are we just practicing corner kicks today?” Let’s think back to the R Factor. We can’t control the event (the complaining, incessant question asking and disrespect), or what the outcome will be (how they will ultimately accept or reject our advice) but we can control how we respond. Instead of seeing the questioning as a lack of respect for authority, what if we saw it as a coachable opportunity, a chance to explain? Because that’s really all their why questions are about. Kids these days want to know how things work and how the actions they take are going to benefit them. There is no blind following of authority on or off the field. We can choose to see that as a bad thing and long for the good ol’ days, or we can choose to see it as an opportunity to expand our students’ understanding. Answer their why questions. Help them think through every inch of practice. Saying, “Because I said so,” doesn’t cut it. Solidify their training in reason and logic. Engage them mentally. Give them a reason to run. Give them a reason to put in the 92 percent.

In answering their why, there are opportunities to coach with or without words. The U.S. Army follows a threefold leadership paradigm called Be-Know-Do, which gives the qualities that a leader must be, know and do.

THIS WEEK, BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR WAYS TO:1. An opportunity to BE. As you answer your athletes’ why’s, teach in a way that does more than share vague principles abstract examples. Be the example. Explain with the way you live your life. Demonstrate how you live with loyalty, selflessness, directness, kindness, and affirmation.

2. An opportunity to KNOW. You can expand your students’ horizons by letting them see how you work during the heat of practice. Explain with how you treat them during the 92 percent, and know that sometimes that requires explaining with words why you do so. This is an opportunity to show them how to cultivate interpersonal and relational skills, tactical skills, and active listening skills.

3. An opportunity to DO: One of the best ways to reinforce a concept or principle is by doing. Structure individual periods, drills, or live competition in such a way that the lessons you are teaching are reinforced via action.

QUOTES OF THE DAY:MONDAY:“Prior preparation permits proper performance.” - Coach Mackey

TUESDAY:“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.” - President Abraham Lincoln

WEDNESDAY:“When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.” - John Wooden

THURSDAY:“If you want to know what you will do, look at what you are doing. And if you want to change what you will do, change what you are doing today.” - Coach MackeyFRIDAY:“It’s not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It’s the will to prepare to win that matters.” - Paul “Bear” Bryant

5 P’s

2 W o r d s C h a r a c t e r D e v e l o p m e n t • S e a s o n 1 • W e e k 9

09W E E K

F O R C A P TA I N S

5 P’s: FOR CAPTAINSIn the early 2000s, Mel Gibson starred as Lt. Col. Hal Moore in the classic war movie, We Were Soldiers. Lt. Col. Moore led an Army battalion during a bloody battle in Vietnam. In the movie, he was famous for saying, “When we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I will be the last to step off.” Two iconic shots of the movie feature him stepping off and, after

hours of fighting, onto a helicopter. In both cases, Lt. Col. Moore is the picture of a leader. He followed through with his word, and he led his men by taking responsibility for opening and closing the battle. Those in charge have to understand the responsibility and opportunity of their position. As team captain, you’re the first to practice, last to leave. First to volunteer, last to seek out applause. Still sound fun? We all know the Spider-Man quote, “With great power comes great responsibility.” As a leader, you have power to influence your peers and shape the speed of the game. It’s exhilarating. But it’s a position that’s earned, not given. Everyone wants to hear their name on the loudspeaker. But that, too, is earned. To perform at your peak: practice, practice, practice. As the team captain, you need to be as committed to the 92 percent as you are to game-day. When there is no glory, lights, or crowd, are you still being the first on the field and the last to leave? When fans aren’t on the sidelines cheering you on, are you still showing up and giving your all? Your leadership position is earned by the 92 percent you give at practice. Whatever the sport, whatever the tedious task, it’s the consistent movement that yields success.

C

/// CAPTAINS’ LOG ///“LEADERS ALWAYS LEAD”

Do your actions and attitude motivate or deflate the team’s morale at practice? What about in the game?

How can you become a more dedicated leader during practice so that your team respects your leadership on game day?

In what ways are you setting an example for your team to practice well?

Do you put too much emphasis on winning games and not enough on practicing? Write one thing you can do today to shift the focus to giving your all in practice.

Name one thing you can do this week to set the tone for the team to give it their all in practice.

5 P’s

2 W o r d s C h a r a c t e r D e v e l o p m e n t • S e a s o n 1 • W e e k 9

09W E E K

F O R AT H L E T E S

5 P’s: FOR ATHLETESWhile victory might be rewarded on the playing field, it’s earned on the practice field. If you want to win in the game, you’ve got to win in practice. Keep repeating this to yourself until it sticks: Prior preparation permits proper performance.

Why does it matter if you’re fast, if you’re not your fastest, yet? Why does it matter if you can bench 200, if you know you could eventually work your way up to more weight? Aim to become better, faster or stronger. That’s real victory. There are 168 hours in a week. Adrian Peterson, Michael Phelps, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Serena and Venus Williams, Lionel Messi, and Abby Wambach all have 168 hours in their week. The difference between fame and just being a face in the crowd comes down to how you spend those 168 hours. You could spend them playing video games, hanging out with friends, or goofing off at practice. Or you could spend them studying, putting in extra time on the track, and giving every moment in practice to improving. Downtime is important for reducing stress and taking care of yourself. But if you honestly assess the amount of time you spend relaxing rather than preparing, does your assessment show that you’re giving all that you can? You stand out among your peers when you make the most of your 168 hours. If you want to be successful in the 8 percent, you’ve got to prepare in the 92 percent. Practice and the game are directly linked.

You can tell how much you love your team by the choices you make grinding at practice. You can tell how much you want to win in the game by the choices you make every day—on and off the field.

Athlete’s Exercise:Dissect how you spend your 168 hours in a week. Figure out where your 92% is spent, and you’ll see where your future lies. How many hours are you spending sleeping, eating, studying, practicing, scrolling through social media, spending time with family and friends?

Where do you spend the majority of your time? Is it helping you prepare to succeed?

What’s one thing you can do today to better utilize your time? Come up with a reminder for yourself so that you’ll continue doing that thing for the rest of the week and beyond.

Think about how your teammates spend their time in practice. Are you giving as much as they are? Are you giving more? How can you encourage yourself to give more and encourage your teammates to do the same?

Are you currently satisfied with how you’re spending the 92%? At the end of the season, will you be happy with how you finished?

5 P’s

2 W o r d s C h a r a c t e r D e v e l o p m e n t • S e a s o n 1 • W e e k 9

09W E E K

F O R FA M I LY

5 P’s: FOR FAMILYIt’s easy to think about the big milestone moments of being a parent: graduation days, college acceptance letters, family vacations, weddings... These are our “gametime” moments. But true parenting happens during the moments we don’t post on Facebook. When we’re at

our wits end. The type of moments when we beg our children to go left and they go right instead. That’s the grind of parenting that allows us to get to the big milestone moments and celebrate. Parents win in the trenches, in the daily grind of dishes and 9-to-5’s, not on the mountain tops of parenting breakthroughs. Parenting is hard, and we can’t possibly be prepared for every nuanced issue or “trench moment” that may arise. But we can determine principles to help guide us and put those principles into practice during our trench moments. Those moments are our 92%. As parents, we don’t have it all together, but we’ve blindly committed to love and care for our children and we will find a way to be what they need. We know those hard moments are coming, so let’s do everything we can to prepare ourselves for them. For example, let’s think about disagreements. How can we prepare for disagreements so that when one sparks, we’ve practiced how to handle such situations? As a family, we can write rules of engagement for working through a disagreement. This agreement will help prepare for those head-to-head arguments and difficult conversations. It will give our family a center point to come to. So when one party breaks a rule, the other can say, “Let’s remind ourselves of the agreement we’ve made. I understand you’re frustrated and that’s why you said that, but “I don’t care” is not an acceptable phrase to articulate your problem.” Is this an idealistic idea? Yes. But we finish where we focus. This is better than fighting and duking it out with no avail.

/// BEST 5 ///THE BEST FIVE MINUTES OF THE WEEK

What are common things the kids say when they are upset or don’t get their way?

What are common things the parents say during disagreements?

Why are those not effective statements and how could they be better?

Prepare your family for an unexpected trench moment by discussing a disagreement agreement. How would that have been helpful during a recent argument?

Write out five statements everyone agrees to abide by during disagreements. For example:

Kids: I agree to not say “I don’t care.” Instead, I will do my best to describe what I’m feeling.Parents: We agree that whenever we can, we’re going to give a better explanation than “Because I said so.”

5 P’s