Tag Archives: hard work is the magic

November 6, 2010 · 8:32 PM

The Physical Space: A Coach Hays Rant

Rest Day Read (SR-57)

The Physical Space a Coach Hays Rant

The secret to physical preparation lies in the the work.  The physical space is a vital component of that work.  The outpouring of heart and soul, blood and sweat, time and effort, is key.  The pressure applied by the athlete toward themselves over time prepares the body for physical challenge, much like pressure applied to carbon over time results in the formation of a diamond.  Hard work, every day, every minute, every second.

The secret to success is not a shiny new training space with matching new pieces of equipment.  The success lies not in mirrors and color coordinated outfits.  The success lies in offering a good physical space which, above all else, is safe and effective. Let me repeat, safe AND effective. A good physical space needs heavy things to lift, move and carry.  It needs places to hang from, drag things over and move upon.

The environment has to be welcoming, the athletes should want to go there to work.  Athletes should know they are expected to be there.  The cultivated physical, mental and emotional environment must make the athlete want to show up and put it out there every session.  Everyone gets better, everyday.  That is how teams are made.  That is how athletes learn to trust each other and become a unit, a team.  Players know their teammates are putting it out there.  Hard work and trust become contagious.  Then the diamonds are formed.

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September 30, 2010 · 6:19 PM

The Arena of Compete: Tickets, Please.

The Arena of Compete: Tickets, Please.

a Coach Hays Rant

“May I see your ticket, please?”

“What ticket is that, fine sir?”

“Your ticket to the Arena of Compete, of course.”

Now that’s the ticket I am talking about!  The ticket to the Arena of Compete.  The ticket to the big show, the big stage, the place where you get to shine.

By this point of the season, everyone, regardless of sport, has probably played a few games.  You probably know whether you possess a ticket or not.  You also probably have a pretty good idea who is holding the tickets on your team or your opponent’s team.  You probably know who belongs in the Arena of Compete and who does not.

Wins alone are not the ultimate indicator of possessing a ticket.  Even a broken clock is right twice a day.  S0,  maybe a win can be squeezed out here or there, regardless of ability.  What really matters is the ability to compete when times get tough.  The ability to compete when it is all on the line.  The ability to compete when the opponent or situation becomes daunting and overwhelming.

How much to buy a ticket, you ask?  Sorry, you can’t buy one.  Cash is not good at the Arena of Compete.  You can’t buy your way in with money, association or appointment.  There are no gift memberships.  Nothing is given freely, all must be earned!  Earned by blood, sweat and tears. Earned through hours of toil and labor.  Forged through continual preparation and through the Fail Cycle (pushing, failing and conquering…pushing, failing and conquering…)

No ticket? No problem.  You can still enter through the back door, even without a ticket.  Intertwined into the Arena of Compete is the Field of Fraud.  Sure enough, don’t do the work, just show up at the Field of Fraud.  Wear the right uniform, say the right things, look the part and you can get in there.  But, realize,  that you and your weaknesses will be exposed in front of God and everyone.  There is no place to hide on the Field of Fraud.  It will be obvious you did not earn a ticket.  You will lack the confidence and the swagger of those who did.  You will be a fraud and everyone will know it.

The Arena of Compete can be a brutal, unforgiving place for the unprepared or it can be a place of honor and glory.  the choice is yours.  Do the work.  Earn your way.   Earn your very own ticket into the Arena of Compete.

Hard Work is the Currency.

Hard Work is the Magic.

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August 30, 2010 · 11:25 AM

Striving to Excellence: Harrison Bergeron

Rest Day Read (SR-44)

Harrison Bergeron by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

“THE YEAR WAS 2081, and everybody was finally equal.”

Masterpiece, an absolute masterpiece in only 2200 words. Mr. Vonnegut published Harrison Bergeron in 1961. It was relevant then and still (maybe even more) relevant now. Think about it. Think about our education system. Actually, pick any system. Excellence is thwarted, mediocrity is preferred. Kids, adults, athletes, etc., all who strive to excel must fight through many hurdles in order to succeed. They inadvertently become stronger spirits because of these efforts. Success isn’t bringing everybody down to a level of mediocre equality. Success is achieved by allowing excellence to push forward, creating a draft that pulls everything with it. Everything is made better for everyone.

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August 24, 2010 · 7:57 PM

A Coach Hays Rant: Compartment Syndrome, Supplements, Etc.

Rest Day Read(SR-43)
Mystery Illness Strikes 12 High School Football Players
by Dean Shabner, ABC News
Compartment Syndrome, Rhabdomyolysis, Affect McMinnville Players
by Amy Judd
Compartment Syndrome Hits High School Football Team
by Dr. Michael Smith, MD @ WebMD
Creatine a Culprit in Oregon Compartment Syndrome Cases?
by Kim Carollo, ABC News Medical Unit

When I first heard and read of this “outbreak” of Compartment Syndrome/Rhabdomyolysis in Oregon, I can honestly say the warning bells started going off in my head. Why did this happen? What can we do to prevent this from happening in the future? How much is too much for high school athletes?
I tried to find articles to present all sides of the story. I don’t know if you can blame creatine supplements.  I don’t know if you can blame the adults for pushing the kids too far, too early in too much heat. I do know that wherever the blame lies, the behavioral factors must be prevented in the future.
I am a firm believer in The Performance Triangle (Hydration, Nutrition and Rest) for high school athletes in training. In fact, I published an article on The Performance Triangle several years ago in a football magazine called Gridiron Strategies. The article covered what I preached to the kids I coached and trained over the nine years I was allowed to work with athletes. I am not a believer in supplements, except in very, very rare situations. Whenever a kid asks me about creatine or other supplements, I first ask them to tell me what exactly the supplement does. They rarely know (Creatine phosphate, for example, helps restore muscle energy stores after extremely long intense work). They just heard by word of mouth that Product X really works and usually are doubling or tripling the recommended dose! I would explain how the supplement works then have the athlete log in a notebook their food, fluid and sleep habits over a week period. After looking at the weekly log, we can find a hydration/nutrition/rest solution to help them out 99.99% of the time. I only advised one kid in nine years to try creatine phosphate. He worked his butt off daily, ate well, drank well and slept 8+ a night and was able to benefit from the supplement taken at recommended dosage.
I believe HARD WORK IS THE MAGIC. I believe kids develop a body confidence and positive self-image through their hard work. I believe kids develop a trust and belief in themselves through their hard work that cannot be equaled. I think supplements rob this from athletes. The confidence is developed in the supplement, not in themselves. There is no magic pill, there is no easy way, HARD WORK IS THE MAGIC.

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June 14, 2010 · 8:10 PM

Blame it on Mr. Rogers?

Rest Day Read (SR-31)
Blame It on Mr. Rogers: Why Young Adults Feel So Entitled
by Jeffrey Zaslow, The Wall Street Journal
“Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were “special” just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes form working hard and having high expectations for yourself….”
…The world owes you nothing. You have to work and compete. If you want to be special, you’ll have to prove it.”
I don’t know if you have to blame it ALL on Mr. Rogers, maybe just a little bit. But you have to blame this entitlement attitude on the ” ‘special’ just for being whoever they were” approach our society seems to have adopted. If you work with youngsters, especially young athletes, you have seen an explosion in the prevalence of this attitude. It is a struggle and a fight to convince kids they will reap greater enjoyment, confidence and self-esteem by working hard toward obtaining the goals they set for themselves. Mom and Dad cannot do the work for you. They can complain and moan and groan on your behalf to make things easier for you, but it doesn’t do you a dang bit of good in the long run. There is no way around it, hard work is the magic.

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May 7, 2010 · 9:54 PM

The Creative Process in Action: Moby on NPR

Rest Day Read (SR-24)
The Creative Process
Moby: One Song, Two Days, Three Versions
from NPR’s Project Song by Bob Boilen
“I kicked off the songwriting process by showing them a series of photographs and words…Moby and Scarr are both drawn to an image of a man in the woods wearing a trenchcoat. There is a brown suitcase on the earthen floor beside him, and his head looks like a glowing storm cloud.
Next, I gave them a series of words to chose from. Moby picks the word “flight”. Scarr chooses “Sunday”, which Moby calls “the most depressing day of the week”.
Not long after, Moby puts the card with the word “Sunday” printed on it, along with the photograph, on a nearby chair. He picks up the bass guitar and immediately starts playing a riff in the key of E. Turns out, this hastily played baseline would become the bedrock for their new song.
Just six hours later, the first of three versions of “Gone to Sleep” was recorded.”
The creative process has always intrigued me. Creativity is vital to excellence. Creativity separates, it is the cream which rises to the top. I have always been interested in what makes greatness, in particular, Malcolm Gladwells writings on the subject. The great trainers I follow, Crossfit, Gym Jones, Dan John, Mike Rutherford, Coach Rod Cole, CrossFit Kids, Marty Gallagher, Mark Rippetoe and Dr. Lon Kilgore, just to name a few, are all very creative in their expertise and approach to their craft. The great football coaches I idolized, Hank Stram, Vince Lombardi, Mike Ditka, Bill Belchick, Mary Schottenheimer, Urban Meyer, Bill Snyder all use their creativity to innovate and dominate the sport. The beauty of what they all do is truly an art form.
This article, audio file and video of Moby creating a song from a photo and word on the NPR program Project Song shows the creative process at its best. Moby is completely in the zone, absolutely, completely focused on his purpose, as he and partner Kelli Scarr attack the creation of the piece. It is pretty cool stuff. Listen, watch, learn and enjoy.
Makes one wonder just what exactly it is in the small percentage of differences in the genetic code between Homo sapiens, that allows for such variety and creativity in our species.

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April 28, 2010 · 11:34 AM

Summer Conditioning: Fail Cycle

Rest Day Read (SR-22)
Failure by Mark Twight of Gym Jones
“The gifted athlete who sails from one success to the next with little effort or training knows nothing of himself or how he might behave when truly pressured.”
Whenever I think I know what it is all about, whenever I think I have reached an acceptable, comfortable level and the good I am doing is good enough, I always seem to find a way back to Mark Twight’s essays on the Gym Jones web site. He always slaps me back into reality, back into challenging myself and pushing forward. Gym Jones always reminds me just how behind the game I am.
Back when I was training athletes, I lived by the philosophy of the Fail Cycle. I give you a task, first you would cuss me out and complain, then you would try and fail, beaten and broken. Then you would go home and it would eat at you all night that you failed. Then you would come back and work your ass off until you complete the task. Then a new, more difficult task would be handed out and the cycle starts again.
I admit, I used to worry about some of the stuff I would ask the athletes to do. But I also knew that we weren’t big, fast, or terribly athletically gifted as a group, so we had to prepare with maximum effort mentally and physically to turn our bodies into weapons. Their jelly-legged, exhausted, dead-ass tired bodies would drag themselves off the floor or dusty ground, give me that “you SOB” glare then go home. But the next day, they would come back fresh and ready to go.
It may sound weird to most, but seeing kids fight through those demons and push their mental and physical barriers, seeing them get up after being beat down and move forward a better man, is the one thing I miss the most about not coaching anymore. I do miss Friday nights, but I REALLY miss summer mornings at 6:30 AM.
No wonder the mothers worried so much…

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March 5, 2010 · 2:45 PM

Rest Day Read 3-5-10

Rest Day Read (SR-13)
Epilogue to The Purposeful Primitive by Marty Gallagher
“By generating a methodical and sustained physical and psychological effort, the human body is forcibly morphed from what it is into what we want it to become: leaner and more muscular. The human body is not seduced, lured, cajoled, convinced or persuaded to alter itself-it is forced to alter itself.”
“Sub-maximal training yields sub-maximal results”
I can’t even remember where I ran into this promotional free download file to Marty Gallagher’s excellent book, The Purposeful Primitive, but it convinced me to buy the book. Once I read the book, it ignited a change in the way I approach life and fitness. I highly suggest the book and suggest adoption of its principals.

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March 2, 2010 · 12:11 PM

One Month and Counting…

It’s March! Only one month until Fitness New Year’s Day! You haven’t heard? April Fools Day is now also Fitness New Year’s Day, the start of the fitness year. See, it’s blogged and everything, so it is official. Get that fitness resolution ready to roll in 30 days!

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February 28, 2010 · 3:22 PM

Rest Day Read 2-28-10

Rest Day Read (SR-12)
Aphorism #106 Do not parade your Position
-from “The Art of Worldly Wisdom” by Balthasar Gracian
“If you wish to be valued, be valued for your talents…”
Yesterday, I was reading “Chickamagua” by Ambrose Bierce (which was scheduled to be today’s story) on the web site which I use to link the short stories in these rest day reads. On of the ads at the bottom of the page was a box to sign up for the free daily email from “The Art of Worldly Wisdom”, which was written in the 1600s by Fr. Balthasar Gracian . Obscure to say the least, but being a lover of the obscure and forgotten, I jumped at the chance. This was the first one I received today and it is both a doozy AND timely. Earn respect and value, every day.

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