Monthly Archives: June 2014

300

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300 posterSorry, no historical (or even quasi-movie historical) references to the Battle of Thermopylae, Sparta, or Persia… just a reference to the number 300.

I have been writing this blog for about a year and a half … Today is my 300th post!

I want to thank all of the folks that have been following, many from the very first post.   I also have a request. If you find the blog helpful, interesting, or motivational, please consider sharing this link (youcandomore.net) with…

  • Any coaching colleague…
  • Any student athlete…
  • Any teaching colleague…
  • Any parent….
  • Any administrator…

Who might find it useful as well.   They can follow in a number of ways, including email notification, or RSS feed.

Your loyal readership is appreciated.  Thank you!

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You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

This is easy…

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No, it really isn’t.

Whenever athletes of mine whine, grouse or complain that a particular workout, technique or drill is hard, my comment is always,

“Why would we ever want you to do something that was easy?”

Business author Seth Godin echoed this in his recent post:

Fast, easy, guaranteed

…pick none.

That’s the work that’s worth doing.

And by the way, the athlete was “whining” was really just wanting affirmation that yes, this is hard, and yes, I did it and, aren’t I pretty awesome for doing this thing that is so hard?

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Hard-work

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Is Luckey, “lucky”?

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In my post last week, Lessons from the Tech Industry, I mentioned Palmer Luckey, the inventor of Oculus Rift, and how this technology is being used in athletics and coaching by the company, Eon Sports VR (see post, The Highest Quality Mental Reps)

I am traveling today, and during a quick stop in the airport bookstore, I noticed that there were no less than three magazines that were featuring Palmer Luckey:

palmer luckey

Pretty impressive stuff for a 21 year old gamer… a 21 year old gamer who exhibited great genius, persistence and determination in solving a series of problems that had stumped others in the virtual reality field.

While some may say that Luckey was “lucky”, I am reminded of a couple of quotes:

  • “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration” – Thomas Edison
  • “The harder I work, the luckier I get” – Samuel Goldwyn

I hope you can get a chance to check out one of the articles… there is much that can be learned.

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Lessons from the Tech Industry

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I can be a bit of a nerd.  I did own an Apple IIc in 1984 after all.

Yesterday I read two articles… an article about Oculus Rift in Wired Magazine, and an article about Google X in Fast Company.

oculusrift1The piece in Wired Magazine chronicled the development of Oculus Rift, the virtual reality head mounted display, by its 21-year-old inventor, Palmer Luckey.  The development is a testimony to persistence, ingenuity, and problem solving.

Palmer is an avid gamer, and gamers are excited about the Oculus Rift because it, according to CEO Brenden Iribe, is the first VR headset that delivers a

“sense of presence in the virtual reality… your brain says, OK, I’m comfortable in this environment… I know it’s not real, but I think it is”

I am not a gamer at all and am not interested how Oculus Rift can fully immerse you in Call of Duty or Titanfall.  I am interested in how this technology can be used in athletics… how you can get fully immersed in a virtual reality world consisting of game footage of your upcoming opponent.

I wrote about the Kansas City Company, Eon Sports VR, a few weeks ago in my post, The Highest Quality Mental Reps. Brenden (different Brendan!) Reily’s company uses this technology along with your existing video and playbook to fully immerse your athletes in a virtual football arena.  Brenden gave me a demonstration, and I can tell you that you get that sense of presence that Iribe spoke of.

The Fast Company article on Google X was the first time a reporter has been allowed inside the innovation lab on the Google campus.  Google X is about finding

“audacious innovations that have a slim chance of succeeding but might revolutionize the world if they do”

The four main projects that have so far emerged from X:

  • Driverless cars
  • Google Glass
  • High-altitude Wi-Fi balloons
  • Glucose monitoring contact lenses.

contact lenseWhat the article is really about is the culture at Google X that embraces failure… that only by pressing the envelope… by risking failure… do you achieve audacious innovations.  On the just first page on the article there were almost 20 references to failing – here are a few:

  • Slim chance of succeeding
  • Course-correct
  • Setbacks
  • Falling
  • Fail
  • Rejecting
  • Cult of failure
  • Defeat
  • Fall apart

How does this philosophy translate to teaching and coaching?

Well, I am not suggesting that you set out to lose every Friday night contest.  But, there are many opportunities for “failure” before Friday night arrives, and this is the chance for real growth.

What I am saying is that if you are a coach preparing your team for a contest:

  • If you only practice at what you are good at
  • If you only put your athletes in situations where they will be successful
  • If you don’t test your athlete’s boundaries physically and mentally
  • If you don’t help your athletes get better at what they are not good at

Then your team will probably not improve to its full potential. Don’t be afraid to attempt, fail, re-teach, and try again.

What I am saying is that when attempting new things, “failing” is part of the learning process, and it is OK.

Attempt… and DO… great things… and in the process don’t be afraid to fail greatly!

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Thanks to PrepsKC, the home of the Greater Kansas City Football Coaches Association for running this post on their site today.  I hope you can take some time to visit PrepsKC, and “Like” this post!

You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Fatherhood

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For me, Fathers Day is always a day of reflection… an evaluation of sorts…regarding Fatherhood.

How am I doing… am I making the grade… am I making a difference?

My wife and I were expecting with our first (and only) child… our son, Carter, during my stint as Defensive Coordinator at the University of Central Missouri. I remember how all of our friends and coaching colleagues that already were parents would constantly be telling me, “having a child will change you!”

I remember thinking, “well I am sure it will change me, but it will not change my coaching”

You see, prior to my son being born I was fairly selfish coach. I was the type of coach that would just piddle around the office… looking at a little more film… examining a few more tendencies. My wife understood… we got married on August 13, 1983 … and I started two-a-day practices on August 15. She knew what she was getting into, understood and supported my career, and had a career of her own.

Well I am here to tell you today that having our son, Carter, did change me and did change the way I coached… for the better.

While my wife always understood my career and allowed my to spend all the time I wanted in the office and at work, I knew that a newborn (or 1 year old, or 5 year old, or 10 year old) probably would not understand to the same degree. I wanted to be a great father… and also wanted to be a great coach. Each takes a large time commitment. There are only a given amount of hours in a day. So how was I (and my family) able to reconcile the time demands each “career” (coaching and fatherhood) need?  If I shirked either responsibility, guilt was sure to follow.

A couple of things made it possible in our situation.

I became a more efficient, organized and focused coach. Instead of just piddling, I always tried to work with a purpose.   It also helped that I was a morning person, and my wife (and son) were not. By going into the office early, (5:00 am) instead of going in at 6:00 or 7:00 am, I would not be missing any family time.

familyThe most important cog in making our family work, and allowing me to be a meaningful father (especially in season) was my wife, Jamie. It is funny now to look at family videos and pictures from that time period. It is amazing how many were shot at the Multi, Walton Stadium, or the practice field at UCM. Jamie would schlep Carter up to campus whenever I had a few free minutes… after practice… prior to team meetings…. during a recruiting weekend… just so we could have some family time.

 

If I could sneak away for an evening meal at home before heading back to the office to work, she would make sure that the family schedules jibed. We would read to Carter every night before he went to bed (even through most of the Harry Potter series) and if that meant he stayed up a while longer until I made it home, Jamie allowed that to happen. Sunday night became our “Library Night”. Before coming home on Sunday evening, I would head to the children’s literature section of the UCM library and get 5-6 new books to read.

So each year when I reflect on Fathers day, it really is a reflection on how lucky I am… lucky to be the father to our wonderful son, Carter… and lucky to have my wife, Jamie of 30+ years that made our family, and my fatherhood, FUN!

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You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Can You Help Cultivate a Champion?

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It is not often that you get to meet, mingle with, and have your picture taken with an icon. Recently I had that opportunity.

photo-6

Last night I attended a small gathering of people (thanks to my wife, Jamie, and her company, Atria Senior Living) to hear Billie Jean King speak. Many consider Billie Jean King as one of the two most significant sports figures (along with Jackie Robinson) of the last century. Ms King spoke for an hour, answering questions and touching on a variety of subjects including:

It was striking and significant to me that out of the four He-roes or She-roes that she mentioned, three were teachers/ coaches (3rd grade, 6th grade, and 12th grade) and the other was former Olympian (and her childhood minister) Bob Richards.

Ours is an awesome job… with awesome responsibilities. Do you have the next Billie Jean King in one of your classes?

Amazing Night…

Amazing Woman…

Amazing Human…

The following is the video that preceded Billie Jean Kings talk… I hope you can take the time to watch this five minute clip!

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You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

A Significant Football Resource

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Today’s post is significant for three reasons…

  • I am reviewing a great offensive football coaching resource, The Zone Offense: Create a Structured System
  • I am highlighting some innovative methods available to better teach whatever offensive or defensive system you use
  • I am introducing an outstanding coaching resource, Coach Keith Grabowski

zone offeseCoach Grabowski’s new iBook, The Zone Offense: Create a Structured System is one of the best coaching resources that I have ever read…. and you really do so much more than read it… you read it, you watch it, you interact with it, you take notes in it.  It is a coaching clinic, webinar, PowerPoint, film session, drill guide, tutorial, etc… all rolled into one coaching resource.  It really is as if you had the opportunity to spend a week (or more!) with Coach Grabowski, his staff, and players when he was at Baldwin Wallace University.

Coach Grabowski starts at the beginning and details the philosophy behind their version of the Zone offense, goes through their terminology, (formations, adjustments, etc) and personnel considerations.  He then takes their stretch play and details, for every position group, how to teach, install, practice (including practice organization and drill work) and analyze (via video analysis) their role for that play.

This video is one example of the kind of powerful resource this iBook is.   This piece shows how the iBook takes you through the initial explanation of offensive line combo blocks for the stretch, a drill introduction, and actual practice video of the drill being executed.

This video shows how the iBook explains an adjustment of the tailbacks path on the stretch play.

The final chapters put it all together and discuss (and show via game video) intricacies of the play vs a myriad of defensive fronts.

It is important to note, that although this iBook is optimized for viewing on an iPad, it can also be “read” on a Mac using the new Mavericks operating system.

If you are running, or want to run the zone scheme as part of your offense, then this book is a must have.  If you are not using any zone concepts in your offense (or you are a defensive coach) this book still has much to offer.  This book is a roadmap, a template, for using technology to better teach your athletes.   It is comprehensive, interactive, and incorporates many different teaching styles, to accommodate all types of learners.

If none of this appeals to you… you are not interested in the zone concepts, not interested in using technology to help teach and coach your athletes, then at a bare minimum I would follow and read Coach Grabowski’s blog : Coach and Coordinator.  It is an excellent resource on a variety of topics ranging from offensive football, to game planning, and leadership development.

I hope this post has done this iBook and Coach Grabowski justice… it is an amazing resource for running the zone scheme, it is a great example of using technology to better teach and coach your system, and Coach Grabowski is a true innovator regarding “On Edge Coaching”

You can purchase Coach Grabowski’s iBooks at these links: The Zone Offense: Create a Structured System, and his first book, 101+ Pro Style Pistol Offense Plays

You can follow his blog at this link: Coach and Coordinator, and follow his Twitter feed here: @CoachKGravbowski 

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You Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

Hard Work Pays Off

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A couple of updates…

In my most recent 5K, ( on a very hilly course) after training more consistently, I finished the entire 3.2 miles without walking (see yesterday’s post- Achieving True Confidence)… amazing how that works!

Hard work=Real Confidence=Success

At the Missouri State 4A Track and Field championships this weekend, Sophomore Lexi Hart (see post – In the Spotlight, Alexis Hart) won the Long Jump with a jump of 18’ 5”.  Lexi also placed 6th in the Triple Jump

LexiYou Can Do More… your brain is lying to you…. Don’t Believe It!

Jeff Floyd – youcandomore1@yahoo.com

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