Players should make a point to talk with coaches during every practice and feel comfortable asking questions during any game. If you are not talking with your coaches, then you are not getting the full value of what they have to offer.

“We can’t win at home. We can’t win on the road. As general manager, I just can’t figure out where else to play.”

Pat Williams

Steve Nash, basketball player for the Dallas Mavericks, grew up in Canada playing hockey, admiring Wayne Gretzky and collecting hockey cards. He didn’t really start playing basketball until he was 13.

What's Ahead
Parents:
Getting Your Kids Off to A Good Start
Coaches:
Criticize the Performance Not the Player
Players:
Breaking Bad Habits in 21 Days

Maine Youth Sports
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When Life Deals You a Bad Season

Judging the success of a season is something that is easy for parents to do at anytime. If kids are playing in a safe environment that is fun and that is teaching the kids to be better people, then the season is going well. If there are risks that kids may get injured, want to quit playing or are learning the wrong life lessons, then the season is not only bad, it is on the verge of disaster.

In our last newsletter, we covered the 10 commitments that parents should expect from coaches. When some or all of these commitments are missing, then the risks of a disastrous season increase. A lack of commitment from a coach can lead to an environment that has a negative impact on a child’s confidence and enjoyment. If not corrected, this negative impact can easily cut short a young person’s sports future.

One of the life lessons that parents often teach is that one should tough out a bad situation. Yet, when confronted with a season with a bad coach, parents should rethink the finer points of this lesson. Toughing out a season makes sense only if parents can be assured that their child will not loose enthusiasm for sports. Toughing out a bad situation may avoid conflict but is not worth the risk that the current season will be the child’s last.

There are alternatives to quitting for the season. Communication with the coach or league personnel may address the issue. Changing teams may be an option. However, placing a child’s overall enjoyment ahead of all other issues gives parents a good starting point to address the problem.

Turning Around a Problem Parent

Last week’s newsletter covered the 10 commitments that coaches should expect from parents. When these commitments are missing, coaches may find the team or a player suffering as a result. Here are some ideas for working through this problem.

• Assume parents are trying to help. In spite of what parents may be doing, most are behaving as they are because they believe their actions will benefit their child. Many times parents may be repeating inappropriate behaviors that were used with them when they played sports.
• Educate parents about best practices. If parents are working in their child’s best interests but are going about it wrong, then coaches can give parents alternative behaviors that will accomplish the desired results.
• Communicate frequently with parents as individuals and as a group. The more parents and coaches are at ease talking with each other about small issues, the more parents and coaches will be comfortable talking about more difficult issues.
• Rely on beginning of season communications. If the coach has held a meeting early in the season and given parents a clear set of goals and playing philosophies, coaches can go back to those to statements to restart the relationship.
• Seek help from league officials. Don’t hesitate to discuss a problem parent with the supervising league official. This provides an opportunity to gain insight into the parent or the problem as well as alerting others to a difficult situation.
• Seek advice from other coaches. With coach turnover, coaches are seeing problems with parents and parent issues that have been resolved many times by other coaches before them.
• Use parent meetings to form consensus and invoke peer pressure. Parent meetings are good times to set expectations for team parent behavior and discuss them. Parents are more likely to act in ways that they believe are supported by other parents.
• Rely on printed league statements and codes of conduct. In extreme situations, coaches may need to reference the league’s Code of Conduct to warn that current behavior may risk league actions.

Coaches should use the league as the enforcer of these policies. There is no standard approach to parent problems. A strategy focusing on communication, education and enforcement gives coaches the best chances of resolving parent issues.

Have You Talked with the Coach Today?

Good communication is not only critical among players, it is also critical between players and coaches. Players need to be able to talk with coaches to get the information and education they need. Many times communication from coaches can be confusing or incomplete. Players should feel comfortable talking and working with coaches to fill in the missing pieces.

For some players, talking with coaches can be intimidating. A coach’s age, experience and authority may leave some players tongue-tied. One way to get past this is to make a habit of asking the coach at least one question during each practice. The first few questions may be difficult, but after a few times it gets easier and players can start gaining more knowledge from their coaches.

Circuit Training and Improving Your Sports Endurance

Circuit training has to one the most effective, versatile and challenging forms of conditioning.

It's excellent for developing strength, stamina (both aerobic and anaerobic), flexibility and coordination. It's one of the best modes of training during the early pre-season and the closed season. A well-designed circuit will help to correct the imbalances that occur in any sport played to a high level. It's also one of the best types of workouts to improve strength endurance - perfect for sports like soccer and basketball.

You'll find circuit training routines purely for strength development, circuit training workouts for endurance events like a half-marathon, sport-specific circuits, basic circuits for beginners and a whole host of circuit exercises you can use to devise your own regimen.

What is Circuit Training? Vertical progression... you perform each exercise once before moving to the next station. More simply it is a series of exercises performed one after the other, consecutively - as opposed to performing 3 sets on one exercise before moving on to the next. Because it is fast-paced and works your entire body, you can gain total body sports endurance with one workout session.

Developing Your Own Workout. If you want to develop your own Circuit Training workout just make sure you pay attention to the the order of the exercises. Split your body into 4 parts (ouch!) - total body/upper body/lower body/core region. Perform exercises that target those parts in that order. Here's an example... Squats to press (total body), then bench dips (upper body), followed by lunges (lower body), followed by back extensions. Start with 1-2 circuits and build up to as many as 5 or 6. Just remember to keep the session within the 40 minute mark. Rest between stations or exercises should be minimal (30-60 seconds). Rest between circuits is longer - usually 1-3 minutes

Sample Home-Based Circuit Training Workout

• Warm up: 5-10 mins jogging on spot, start jumps, tuck jumps etc., followed by stretching
• Time at Station: 60 seconds
• Rest between stations: 30 seconds
• Number of circuits: 1-3
• Rest between circuits: 2-3 minutes
• Cool down: 5-10 mins jogging on spot, start jumps, tuck jumps followed by stretching

Squat Jumps - Total Body

1. Stand with feet shoulder-width apart, trunk flexed forward slightly with back straight in a neutral position.
2. Arms should be in the “ready” position with elbows flexed at approximately 90°.
3. Lower body where thighs are parallel to ground. Explode vertically and drive arms up.
4. Land on both feet and repeat.
5. Prior to takeoff extend the ankles to their maximum range (full plantar flexion) to ensure proper mechanics.

Push Ups - Upper Body

1. Lie face down on the floor with hands palm down, fingers pointing straight ahead, and aligned at the nipple line.
2. Place hands slightly wider than shoulder width, and feet should be at hip width with toes on floor.
3. Start position: Extend the elbows and raise the body off the floor. Lower your entire body (legs, hips, trunk, and head) 4-8 inches from the floor.
4. Return to the start position by extending at the elbows and pushing the body up.
5. Remember to keep the head and trunk stabilized in a neutral position by isometrically contracting the abdominal and back muscles. Never fully lock out the elbows at the start position and avoid hyperextension of the low back.

Lunges - Lower Body

1. Start by standing with your feet shoulder width apart.
2. Step forward with one foot and bend your knees into a lunged position. Your back knee should come close to touching the ground and your front leg should be bent to about 90 degrees at the knee.
3. Maintain your upright posture throughout the movement.
4. Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite leg.
5. If you have then hold a light dumbbell in either hand.

Sit-Up With Twist - Core Region

1. Start position: Lie back onto floor or bench with knees bent and hands behind head. Keep elbows back and out of sight. Head should be in a neutral position with a space between chin and chest.
2. Leading with the chin and chest towards the ceiling, contract the abdominal and raise shoulders off floor or bench. As you come up twist one shoulder towards the opposite knee.
3. Return to start position and repeat with the other shoulder.
4. Remember to keep head and back in a neutral position. Hyperextension or flexion of either may cause injury.

Count Bodybuilders - Total Body

1. Start in a standing position and bend your knees and place your hands on the ground.
2. Extend your legs back into a push up position. Bring your knees back in towards chest and stand back up.
3. This should be a continuous motion and be fluid.

Bench Dips - Upper Body

1. Sit upright on the edge of a sturdy bench and place hands hip width apart, palms down, fingers pointing forward and gripping the edge of the bench. Place heels on another bench with legs out straight in front of you.
2. Start position: Slide glutes off bench with elbows slightly bent.
3. Lower body by bending at elbows until elbows are at 90 degree angle.
4. Return to start position.

One Leg Squat - Lower Body

1. Stand with feet hip width apart with knees slightly bent and toes pointing forward.
2. Start position: Lift one foot off ground and extend leg forward. Extend arms forward at hip level.
3. Lower body by flexing at the hips and standing leg knee. Upper body can flex forward at the hips slightly (~5°) during movement. Be sure to "sit back" so that knees stay over the feet.
4. For balance, hold on to a chair by your side. Once thigh is slightly above parallel return to start position.
5. Remember to keep head and back straight in a neutral position - hyperextension or flexion may cause injury. Keep weight over the middle of foot and heel, not the toes. Keep abdominals tight throughout exercise by drawing stomach in toward spine.

Supermans - Core Region

1. Start position: Lie face down on floor with hands down at sides. You may place a rolled towel under forehead to clear face from floor.
2. Raise chest and head off floor keeping feet in contact with floor. To increase resistance, extend arms out in front like superman.
3. Do not raise head past 8-12 inches - excessive hyperextension may cause injury. To vary exercise raise feet while raising trunk.

info from Waehner, exercise.about.com

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