Author: Martin Rooney

Coach,

If I asked you to name the top 20 basketball, football or baseball players of all time, I don’t think you would have a problem quickly rattling off a comprehensive list.  Granted your list might not be the same as everyone else’s, but I believe it wouldn’t be too difficult for you to come up with a bunch of names in a short period of time.

But what if I asked you to name the top 20 coaches of all time?  Do you think you could come up with a list just as fast as you did for the athletes?  I don’t. If you were lucky, maybe you might spit out a couple legendary names like Lombardi, Wooden, Gable, Jackson, Landry or Summit, but I am sure your pool of names would dry up pretty fast.   And if I asked you to name them according to sport, I bet your list would be even tougher to create.

And why did you select the names you did anyway?  Was it because their names are in the news or that their team won a recent championship?  

Well, regardless of how you selected the names, why is it that the list of great coaches seems so short?  One reason could be that while many athletes are born with attributes that made them great, a great coach requires much more than god-given skill.  Another could be perhaps that even though both the athlete and coach are ultimately there to succeed, a great coach is not there to garner recognition.  He or she instead takes pleasure in attaching victory solely the efforts of the athletes he or she coaches. Oftentimes athletes can be selfish, but a great coach, by definition, should not be.  As mentioned by Super Bowl MVP Phil Simms in the foreword of my new book Coach to Coach, the biggest and most overlooked reason that the greatest coaches are the ones you will never hear about is because these important men and women come along at a time in an athlete’s life when the spotlight is not yet shining on them.  The most important coaches are the ones giving all they have to the younger, developing athletes. And the tragic truth is that they usually get less credit than anyone. Instead of seeking great paydays and acclaim, these men and women coach because they love both the experience and the responsibility of turning a young athlete into more than they dreamed they could be.  Great coaching is a passion, not a paycheck.

Everyone is a Coach

I wrote the book Coach to Coach because I believe everyone is a coach.  Whether you are a parent teaching your child to ride a bike or swing a bat or giving a co-worker confidence before a big presentation, we are all coaches for someone.  To be a great coach is not just about the X’s and O’s of a sport, it is also about the ability to bring more out of a person than they thought they were capable. A coach is there to inspire and instill confidence in his or her players in order to do his or her most important job: to believe in these players when they don’t even believe in themselves.

For 8 years I was lucky to be part of an incredible team of great coaches.  Although you probably have never heard of them, these men helped to produce 8 NJ State Football titles, a 55-game winning streak and positively affected the lives of thousands of young men.  I have seen first-hand that these coaches are not inspired by a paycheck. In fact, if they were paid by the hour, they could have made more flipping burgers. They weren’t driven by money. They were driven by the passion to coach.  

In my years working with the team, the final game of my last season was perhaps the toughest challenge I have experienced as a coach.  Our team had again advanced to the New Jersey state title game and would get to compete in front of thousands on the field at Giants Stadium.  We were playing a team that boasted one of the top quarterbacks in the country. Both of those two facts were enough to place tremendous pressure on a high school athlete.  The fact we would also be playing the final game without 9 members of our starting team made that pressure incomprehensible.  

We were not expected to win.  In fact, the game was not expected to be remotely close.  Unlike any situation I had ever been involved with, these young players’ backs were against the wall under a tremendous amount of scrutiny and pressure.  Just five minutes before they were to leave the locker room, I was asked to say something to the kids. I knew I had to seize the opportunity to remind them that victory was not only possible, but probable.  The following is the video of that speech…

I did not show that speech to impress you, but to impress upon you that there are speeches like that going on every day in every sport at every school. There are great coaches out there making a difference daily.  And years later, athletes from that team still say the words I had for them have made an ongoing impact.  

We have all had both good and bad coaches.  The luckiest of us may have even had one that was great.  My question for you is, if you can agree that you are a coach, which coach do you want to be?

As you will learn from my book Coach to Coach and my Coaching Greatness programs on this website, I take the title “coach” very seriously.  Being called a coach carries a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with the title. So many people are looking for guidance, motivation and someone to believe in them at a time when they believe in themselves the least.  The world needs more great coaches and it is my mission to do my part to help produce them.

The best coaches in the world aren’t just the ones being paid millions at top professional and college teams.  They can also be helping a kid you will never hear of through a tough time or saying the right thing at the right time to a friend that needed to hear it.  Coaches are in the trenches everywhere and regardless of their Win/Loss record, they are in a position to make a difference. Check out Coach to Coach and I promise you will not only have a greater appreciation of what it means to be a coach, but also a roadmap of things you need to do to make an even more positive impact.

Oh, and by the way, the Wayne Hills team won that game 15-12.  And I believe it had a lot to do with coaching… 

Coach,

To be more successful, a coach has to make other people more successful.

Over the last 10 years, I have presented around the world about coaching.  With my new book Coach to Coach coming out, I am being requested more than ever to share my favorite lessons. One weekend this past year taught me a number of great lessons about coaching and I only had to travel to Denver to do it (Denver, NC that is, which is only 15 minutes from my home!)

On that Saturday morning, I got up early and headed to the USA Powerlifting Fall Festival.  I had the usual nerves that come along with a powerlifting meet. Although I have competed in many meets, this one was unique.  At every other meet I have attended, I was always worried about myself. This day, however, I was concerned about someone else. This would be the first-ever meet I attended strictly to coach.  And I would be strictly coaching an athlete in his first-ever meet.

Meet Michael Soos.  At 53 years old, you might think it was a little late for him to enter his first powerlifting meet, but there is a story that led up to competing in Denver.  Although you could say his training for the meet started a few months ago, it actually started 3 years ago with a visit to his doctor.

What Was Your “Trigger Moment?”

For the last decade, Michael has been a “road warrior.”  His job at Prudential requires a lot of time in the car. And all those hours traveling in the car led to a lot of fast food.  That fast food led to excessive weight gain and a eventual trip to the doctor. That trip to the doctor led to tests that diagnosed bad blood levels, high blood pressure and to Michael’s dismay, diabetes.  

After the visit, Michael came home upset and was asked by his daughter to play soccer outside.  After only a few minutes, his heart was racing so fast, he went into his house, sat on his steps in a cold sweat and cried.  He knew he had to do something. With three adopted children, he was not the role model he wanted to be as a parent.

Enter my program, Training For Warriors.  Michael reached out to his friends for help.  His friend suggested TFW, a fitness program she too had just begun and was seeing results.  Although his travel schedule was difficult, he made the time to begin. He could barely make it through his first “workout.”  After the first few weeks of soreness and frustration, he gave up. His TFW coach actually went to his house, talked to him and got him back on in the gym!  Michael began again determined not to give up. At that time, we became friends, and he hasn’t looked back since.

In over three years since,  Michael has lost 74 pounds, added muscle and became such a standout in the entire TFW global network that he won the coveted Student of the Year award in 2017 voted on by all the TFW’s around the world.  Even with his crazy schedule he even found time to coach other beginners in the program too!

Once you push out of your comfort zone, it’s hard to stop.

Michael’s weight loss was amazing.  He was leaner, healthier (blood report was perfect) and running circles around his kids, but he wanted a new challenge.  Michael heard about the powerlifting meet and wanted to see how he could do against people his own age and weight. Because he never dreamed of lifting in a competition, he asked me for help.  Because I never dreamed he would be lifting in a competition, I said, “yes.”

In the few months that followed, Michael trained hard, ate well and focused for the meet.  Each week there were ups and downs that come along with serious training. I wasn’t completely sure how the meet was going to go, but I gave all I could.  During the training sessions, Michael probably thought he was the one that was doing all the “learning.” Little did he know I was getting the biggest coaching lessons of all.

10 Coaching Lessons From Martin Rooney

Lesson 1:  A coach should use his experience to make someone else’s better.

When I was asked to coach Michael, I knew I would have to invest time I didn’t particularly have available to help.  But I also knew I had a lot of hours invested in lifting and how to successfully compete at meets. How could I not use it to make him better?  To not be able to share that experience would have been to waste it. I accepted and put together a plan for training 3-4 days a week to prepare.  Over that training period, we tried to leave no stone unturned, and after all the work in the shadows, it was time to shine under the lights.

Lesson 2:  A coach has to get people to do the things they could never have done without him or her.

A powerlifting meet is a long and stressful day.  To go it alone would seriously hurt the opportunity to perform at your best.  I knew my job was to not only make sure he was relaxed, but also to do the “little things” so he wouldn’t have to.  I directed his warmups (the meet was over an hour behind schedule) and was there for last minute reminders on form and technique. 

Lesson 3:  A coach must be like a psychic.  He has to be better than everyone else at seeing the future.

At a meet, you have only 30 seconds to choose the weight you are going to lift.  If you miss, you cannot go back down to a lighter weight. With only three attempts at each lift, it is a tough call because you also don’t want to leave too much on the table or miss and not get the number you wanted.  Because of these facts, the coach must know his athlete and what they can do in that moment. I called the weights for Michael and he was crushing the meet. Until of course, adrenalin got the best of him and he decided not to listen.

Lesson 4:  A coach knows that losing will be the biggest teacher for winning.

After making his first two squats, Michael called for a higher weight than I suggested (I said 380, he decided on 389.)  He just barely missed at that weight and was obviously upset. Although he didn’t get the final squat, I let him know that error will teach more for next time than the lifts he successfully made.  He also admitted he learned you have to listen to your coach. 

Lesson 5:  A coach has to inspire people to do the things they may not believe they can do.

After successfully making good lifts on the squat and bench press, Michael had one lift remaining to do something special: the deadlift.  For this lift, I his coach knew two things:  One, this was his best lift.  Two, he needed to go for an all-time personal record to exceed his goal of 950 total pounds and get closer to his dream goal of 1000.  After he crushed his first two deadlifts, I was the one this time to call for a big weight. This time Michael listened to his coach and waited his turn to lift.

Lesson 6:  A coach must be a serial optimist.

When the people under his or her charge have doubt, the coach’s job is to believe.  I knew Michael had to be nervous, but as we stood in line waiting for his attempt, I kept filling his mind with positive thoughts and how I knew he was going to make the lift.  I only focused on what he needed to do to make it and did believe he was going to do it. Then, when he walked up to the bar loaded with 429.5 pounds in front of the hundreds in the crowd, there was no hesitation.  He did just as we had trained and in powerlifting terminology, he “smoked” it!

Lesson 7:  A coach is there to grow people and in doing so, grows him or herself.

When he saw the judges unanimously accepted his lift, he and I both let out a powerful yell.  He had not only hit a new all-time personal best in the deadlift, but with that lift, he exceeded his goal of 950 total pounds with 970 and took 3rd place overall in his age group and 4th place in the open division besting athletes that were much younger. As he left the platform, he wasn’t the only one that grew this day.  I grew as a coach and a person too.

Lesson 8: To a coach the real trophy is someone else’s.

Michael stepped up and hit that 429.5 deadlift.   When he got the third place medal (only top three got medals), I was so proud to see it around his neck.   But I was more proud he did his best when it meant the most. That medal reminded me I am not a good coach because I once pulled a lot in the deadlift. I was a good coach in this day because I pulled greatness out of someone else.  And as he wore that medal with pride, his result was my result that day too.

Lesson 9:  A coach’s goal is to be regarded by his or her people as someone who cares.

After the meet, Michael stood there with tears in his eyes.  He kept thanking me saying how my time was too important to “waste” on him as if I had nothing to gain from the experience.  I hope when he reads this that he will finally understand that little did he know I was a winner too. Why? Because I got the most important lesson and a reminder I needed:  I just love coaching.

Lesson 10:  A coach has to love to coach.

Whether you believe it or not, if you are a parent, husband or wife, business owner, teammate or friend, you are also a coach.

What do you love?

Are you using that gift and giving it away?

I have been told my gift is the use of storytelling to motivate others.  In my new book Coach to Coach, I use that gift to teach you how to be a better coach.  I hope you order the book and use the 10 lessons above to both see how you are doing and make someone’s life a little better today.

I promise there will be no better feeling when you do.  You might even let out a yell.

Want to know all my coaching secrets and help others reach their goals?

Raise your “Coaching Game” with Coaching Greatness

If you’d like to become a better coach, discover how to unlock the untapped potential in your clients and really separate yourself in your industry, my Coaching Greatness programs are your answer.

Yours in Strength,

Martin

Coach,

After over a decade of writing, I pride myself on not only having a better understand of grammar and punctuality, but also on the use of words as well.  In my new book Coach to Coach, I have put that understanding to the test to help create a simple parable designed to improve your coaching immediately.  During the yearlong process of bringing the book to life, I reflected on my last two decades of coaching lessons.

Want a secret to becoming a better coach?

All you need is to understand the difference between two prefixes!  

Over my career, I have had the luxury to personally coach and present to tens of thousands of people about the concept of coaching.  Those experiences have helped me to uncover this essence of coaching: The main purpose of a coach is to be there to offer encouragement!

Encourage is defined as to give support, confidence or hope to someone.  When a coach has done this, that person will gain more “courage” to take on the task at hand.  And the great news? Encouragement is not something you are born with or comes naturally, it is a skill you can develop. As you will discover when you take my “Encouragement Challenge” below, you can better encourage others and with practice, become a better coach. 

If you are reading this, you are a coach.  A coach is not just a person in a position of power on the sports field.  A coach can be a teacher, parent, spouse, boss, co-worker, friend and or family member.  In fact, everyone around you has the potential to be a great coach. The way this is done is by taking advantage of what I describe in my book Coach to Coach as the “coaching moments” that happen every day.  I wrote the book to make sure you never miss these moments to improve someone else’s life through encouragement. 

Before you go to my “Encouragement Class,” think back on your life.  Most of the great things you have done probably started with a little bit of encouragement from someone else.  Whether it was a parent, teacher or coach, I am sure someone said or did something to give you the strength to continue what you started.  Something you never forgot even until this day. Unfortunately, you can probably also remember some people from your past who held you back from your goals.  Both examples not only prove of the importance and power of a coach, but they should also remind you that you can greatly affect people’s courage just by understanding the difference between a two simple prefixes: en or dis.

Encouragement Class 101

The prefix “en” is an intensifier.  The prefix “dis” creates a negative, reversing force.  To understand how to become either a positive (ENcouraging) or negative (DIScouraging) coach, examine the two lists below.   In every interaction, every day, the choice is yours of which prefix is placed in front of your “courage.”

5 Best Ways To ENcourage 

1. Compliment
2. Listen 
3. Find The Positive
4. Search For Strengths
5. Smile

5 Worst Ways To DIScourage 

1. Criticize
2. Disregard
3. Find The Mistakes
4. Search For Weaknesses 
5. Frown

Now that you understand how the different prefixes lead to different actions, you first need to analyze which list you may be currently using.  If you find you are a little negative and your current responses require some upgrades, that is great news! With a little work using the first list above, you will enhance your encouragement skills to not only change the lives of others, but also your life too. 

The way you will apply numbers 1-4 of the list above will be with using words.  Great coaches recognize he or she has the power with a few choice words to better or worsen anyone’s day (or life!)  In order to give you a encouragement “cheat sheet,” here are two lists of phrases that are guaranteed to produce results.  Although each list only contains 15 words, depending on which list you choose could bring out or stop the greatness in someone else. 

5 DIScouraging Phrases

5. “You will never do it.”
6. “It can’t be done.”
7. “Waste of time.” 
8. “Not you.” 
9. “No.”

5 ENcouraging Phrases

5. “I know you’ll do it.” 
6. “I believe in you.” 
7. “Go for it.”
8. “You bet.”
9. “Yes.”

Take The Rooney Encouragement Challenge

As you will learn through coaching, little things can make a big difference.  Encouraging others is a skill. You have to work to develop it. That is why I created my 2-Part Encouragement Challenge.  For the next 7 days, challenge yourself to find a reason to give encouragement and practice the two steps below. After one week of hard work, your life will improve.

Step 1:  Print or write down the “5 Best Ways To ENcourage” list above. Keep them in your pocket or wallet.  See if you can check off all five steps in as many interactions as possible this week.

Step 2: Print or write down the list of “5 ENcouraging Phrases” above on the same piece of paper.  See how many times you can honestly use each phrase per day. Keep count until your skill becomes natural.

Do you need some encouragement?  You are sure to get it from either my Coach to Coach book one of my Coaching Greatness programs.  If you are interested in connecting with more people, these will make you the coach you wish to be.

I hope you learned something from the lists and take my challenge.  If you do I am sure you will learn encouragement is like food and the people around you were all starving for it.  

Yours In Strength,

Martin 

Coach,

Over the last 20 years, I have had the opportunity to coach a number of different teams.  In fact, there may be few people that have coached teams ranging from such a wide variety of levels in both age and ability.  You might believe that my experiences coaching NFL teams, world class fighters and special forces from the military would have been the most rewarding or exciting, but you would be incorrect.  Yes, it has been an honor to stand on NFL sidelines, corner fighters at the UFC and be behind the scenes with Navy SEALs, but my last season of coaching middle school track reminded me once again the enjoyment from coaching is not about the high level of the athlete.  Enjoyment from coaching is about raising the athlete to a higher level.

As I mention in my bio on the jacket of my new book Coach to Coach, some of my greatest coaching experiences have come from high school level and below.  Two years ago, I had the honor for the second year to help coach our town’s middle school track team. I was very excited about the season and knew the girl’s team was going to be strong with some returning athletes from the previous year.  

At the first practice, I made the girl’s team a promise that if they gave their best all season long, we would avenge our only loss from the previous season, finish as conference champs and go undefeated.  During the season, the team worked as hard as we asked them at practice and never questioned the difficulty of some of the races and events that were chosen for the individuals. Over the months we spent together, this team built fantastic chemistry and made it a treat for me to go to the track every day.  Week after week, the team dominated the competition. School records were broken and personal records were set at every meet. I had set expectations high for these girls and they were living right up to them.

Then came the final meet of the season.

I knew the girl’s were aware of what the meet represented.  If they could best the two teams (and one of our big rivals) it would be the perfect season I promised at that first practice.  In a meet that was rainy and cold, the teams battled. When the final scores were announced, our girl’s team exploded in cheers.  They had done it with another dominant performance winning the tri-meet 105 to 13 to 11.  

As we were taking our photos, I realized the season was perfect, but it was also over.  As I got a chance to reflect on the last few years, although those kids might think they learned some things from me that season, I also received a number of important lessons too.  I know as a coach I was there to grow them, but in the process of growing someone else, you grow yourself too. You may have been given the title of coach by someone higher up in an organization. In order to live up to the title, a coach “Has To” be a number of things to the people below them.  Here are 10 coaching lessons that I discovered that season at the track:

10 Things Every Coach “Has To” Do

1. A Coach has to be happy to be there.
2. A Coach has to set expectations high.
3. A Coach has to have tough standards and live up to them.
4. A Coach has to create an environment to bring out best in someone else.
5. A Coach has to be positive even when a student makes mistakes.
6. A Coach has to see possibility when a student thinks there is none.
7. A Coach has to see something in someone else they cannot yet see.
8. A Coach has to lift the team up and improve confidence and esteem.
9. A Coach has to ask the question each day, “How can I help?”
10. A Coach has to believe in them before they believe in you. 

That season was a great success.  We had an undefeated girl’s team and there were a number of records broken.  But as I look back on the season, I was taught the most important lesson:

For a coach, there is a difference between Success and Significance.  

Although we won the conference championship, I now understand that was not the most important thing I produced that year.  Championships get forgotten, but a significant impact you can make on someone else’s life by your words or deeds can last forever.  While coaching someone else, you just might be the person to create the belief someone needs to make a lasting change in his or her life. I hope over the course of the season, I said or did a couple things that will be significant to those kids for years to come.

Would you like to be more significant as a coach?  If you enjoyed the tips above, you will love my new book Coach to Coach and my Level 1 and 2 programs called Coaching Greatness.  Both can be found here on this website.

The list above should give you some insight how to become a better coach.  My wish is it also inspires you to take some time out of your schedule to serve others.  The last four seasons of carving out time to be down at the middle school and high school track reminded me that regardless of level or ability, I just love to coach.  I hope you spend some time discovering what it is you really love to do too.  

Yours in Strength,

Martin

Coach,

This past year, I committed to myself and my family to do half the traveling I usually do per year.  After the last decade of 30-50 trips per year, the big part of this decision was to spend more time coaching my 4 daughters.   In addition to freeing up time to be with them, I was also able to focus on writing my book Coach to Coach.  Although the book is a fictional coaching parable, the story was inspired by events from my life.  And when you read the book, you will see the main character starts off with trouble taking care of the “little things.”  Here is the true story from my life where I learned the coaching lessons to share in the book:

On the tri-weekly 30-minute drive back from swim practice with my second daughter, Kristina, I reflected on not only being there for the “little things” for your kids, but also how doing just one “little thing” can improve your relationships as both a parent and a coach.  Before I give you this “secret” coaching technique, I want to elaborate how the the last four years of swim meets and practices started.

During the Rio Olympics in August of 2016, my kids and I were glued to the television each evening to watch athletes from around the world attempt to make golden dreams come true.  Having once had an Olympic dream myself, I make it a point every four years to honor these athletes with my attention and celebrate the lesser known sports that finally get some exposure.  As a fan of all sports, I was inspired by Usain Bolt and Allyson Felix on the track, Simone Biles in gymnastics and the athletes of other less-promoted sports like wrestling, judo and weightlifting.   But each night, whether the venue was volleyball, rowing, cycling or fencing, my second daughter Kristina (who was not usually the biggest sporting fan in the house) was attracted to the swimming and diving.  Unlike herself, she kept talking about the swimming events and asking what I thought would happen that night in the pool. As we were on the couch watching Michael Phelps, Katie Ledecky and Katinka Hosszu winning medals, my then 10-year-old asked me a simple but impactful question, 

“Dad, do you think I could be good at swimming?”

It was one simple question that could have had a number of different answers. It would have been easier to immediately say something like, “No, I am not a great swimmer, so why would you be.”  Or I could have taken the realistic route and said, “swimming is so much work and takes so much time to be good, why would you want to do that?” It would have been easier to brush her off, but I paused and reminded myself in addition to being a parent, I am also a coach.  And as I have learned in the years since that simple conversation on the couch, a coach should never take away the most important thing a person with a dream can have: HOPE.

Although I consider myself athletic, when I get in a pool, I swim like a rock.  Not that I can’t swim, but as I got older and I guess more dense (my wife would agree on that one!) swimming really became a ton of work.  Add in the fact I gravitate to events that are shorter in nature and usually ground-based, I am not the guy who is going to go “swim 20 laps” for fun.  Regardless of my passion or lack thereof for the sport of swimming, I was faced with the question as my daughter waited anxiously for the answer.  

And now looking back on the four years since, I am so glad I had learned enough as a coach to always try to say the right thing at the right time.

So I looked down at that 10-year-old and said, “Yes, not only do I think you would be a great swimmer, but I know where we can get you some lessons!”  If you would have seen her smile, you would realized what I did in that moment. One of the best things you can do for your child (or someone you coach) is to let them know you BELIEVE in them.

A week later, she got in the pool for a “tryout” with a coach from Swim Mac, one of the top swimming programs in the US.  She was nervous and to be honest, so was I. As a parent, it is tough to have your kids evaluated, especially when you know they aren’t completely prepared.  

At the tryout, she actually did well!  She was placed into the middle level of the program and that started our three-time-a-week commute to and from the pool for an hour of practice.

Let me be honest: watching swim practice is not the most exciting pastime.  They swim down, get out of the pool, wait for some coaching, and then swim back.  Wash, rinse, repeat (pun intended). As a parent, you sit in the stands and watch the laps (and the hour) tick by.  As a coach to many athletes, it is hard for me to sit back and just watch. I wanted to be able to offer more to foster that hope and belief I had started.  But not knowing much about swimming, I thought it was out of my coaching realm. That is until I realized I had the best coaching tool to increase HOPE and BELIEF with me in those stands every day.

You see, each time my daughter would get out of the pool, she would hop out and immediately look up at me.  At first I thought she did this just to make sure I was watching. My eye contact showed that I was, but her responses showed me just being present wasn’t enough.  She, like most people, was looking for a little more approval or appreciation. So, as practices went on, when she would hop out after a strong lap and look up, I would give her the “THUMBS UP” sign.  Each time her smile was just like the one when I first answered her question.

The “THUMBS UP” signal has now become our routine.  After a good lap, with that little raise of the thumb, she gets a big boost in confidence.  It would be easier to look at my phone or read, but that isn’t what I am there for as a dad.  Now I am spending less time on planes, but am definitely spending more time in the car getting my kids to practices and lessons.  I wouldn’t trade those conversations in the car or that time watching from the stands.  

Maybe you aren’t a parent yet, or maybe you don’t think of yourself as a coach. I just want you to know everyone is a coach to someone else in some way.  If you work with others, you can be their coach. If you have family members or are part of a team, you can coach them up too. Now that you know you are a coach, here are three simple lessons you should have learned from my story how to do it: 

3 Simple Coaching Lessons:

1. One of the most important things to instill in a person with a dream: HOPE
2. One of the most important things to give a person with a dream: BELIEF
3. One of the most important things to support a person with a dream: THUMBS UP

Become known as someone that gives people HOPE and BELIEVES in others and you will be the most popular coach you know.  And how do I know this? Because I go to see one of the top swim coaches in American history live it!

Only a few months into my daughter’s training, the head of the program, David Marsh, who is one of the most decorated NCAA and Olympic swim coaches in the US, was walking into the swim center as we were walking out.  My daughter pointed him out and said to me he was a famous coach. Overhearing this, Coach Marsh told my daughter to stay right there as he went back out to his car. A minute later he returned with a Tokyo 2020 Olympic swim cap and as he gave it to her, he said keep working because he saw potential in her.  She never forgot that moment and neither did I. That is why when I was tasked to see what top coaches thought of my new book Coach to Coach, he was one of the first people to receive a copy.  

And when it gave it a shining testimonial, it was the second time he had given something to my family that I will never forget.

A coach has the power to change how a person thinks in an instant.  And those thoughts can lead to actions that can change a person’s destiny.  And what is some of the magic behind that power? HOPE and BELIEF.

My advice?  I HOPE you start today with a little “THUMBS UP” sign for someone you think might need it.  And trust me on this one, I BELIEVE everyone does.

Yours in Strength

Martin