"A winner is someone who recognizes his god-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals."
-Basketball hall of Famer
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
When Parenting and Sports Goes Wrong
My wife called me this morning to tell me about a story she watched on "Good Morning American". This story was about a father who gave his son a cocktail of performance enhancing drugs as early as the age of 13 to aid in his son's persuit of being a champion speed skater.
As a new parent myself I can't wait for my daughter to participate in sports. Both my wife and myself both grew up on participating in Athletics and being a part of a team. We both agree that the experiences we had while playing sports growing up help shape us into who we are. We can't wait for our daughter to have those same experiences.
Now, I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to share with my daughter everything I have learned about performance enhancement. We all think our children have the potential to get college scholarships, be a champion, make it to the pros, etc. But, there are healthy and non healthy ways to go about it.
Here at Ullucci Sports Medicine I work with many youth athletes and some of them want to be here and some are here because of pressure from Mom and Dad. But, What I notice is that most of these athletes are over training and most of them don't have the time to be a kid. Now, I fully understand that to excel at a sport it takes hours of dedication and practice. But, kids these days are participating in the same sport year round. There is no diversity and no "off season". When people think about rest they think of a negative impact on training. But, it should be though of as a positive impact. If you coach or if you are a parent think about how much time you put into focusing on rest. Not much time. Coaches you probably think 4 and 5 times as much on what to do in practice than what you instruct the kids to do when they are not practicing or on a off day. Think about it do you focus on rest and what to do on a day off at all?
Rest or Off season should be viewed as a period of Active Rest. Even on days off active rest should be emphisised. Time off or an offseason athletes need to be active. They should go for a easy jog or play a different sport. For example if you are a soccer player. Instead of spending your off day working on foot skills or going for a distance run to stay in shape. Play some basketball or go for a swim. This will work other muscles and help you from falling into a rut of over training.
Now, what does this have to do with the dad who gave his child performance enhancing drugs. Simple, RECOVERY!!!! Young athletes don't take the time to recover. They just go and go and go. We have to remember they are YOUNG ATHLETES not professionals. They are going to school, doing homework, doing stuff around the house, and some may even hold a part time job. Add thoses stresses with the practice and training time. When do they sleep and when do they recover. Burnout hits many athletes when they reach high school and this can have a negative impact on their whole life not just there life as an athlete. These athletes will look to rebel. They will lose intrest in not just their sports but in school, socializing and etc. They become withdrawwn and can show signs of depression. Think about what got you involved in sports as a kid. It was fun, it was to be part of a team, and it was how you built confidence in yourself. As a parent or coach you may not outwardly pressure your kids to win or get a scholarship or be the best. But, kids are not dumb they have instincts that you and I have lost. They read people extremely well. So they will sense the need to win they will sense the need to be the best. A quote by Paul Brown the former coach of the Cleveland Browns was this:
"You can learn a line from winning and a book from losing."
As a coach and a parent it is your responsibility to teach kids the life lessons from athletic because they won't understand some of their feelings. Be a guide to them. Don't push your feelings or your needs on them. Help them understand that losing is a disapointment. Teach them that winning is great success and that it shows that good things come from hard work. Help them learn that sometimes you can work hard and prepare well but sometimes you just fall short and that is ok as long as you gave your very best. These are just some of the lessons to be learned from athletics. Athletics are supposed to build character not destroy it.
I think about this family and how this father has destroyed this family and this young athlete's future in his sport. It is just a terrible sign of were we are heading as a society. To learn more about this story this is the link: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ESPNSports/story?id=4211036&page=1
As a new parent myself I can't wait for my daughter to participate in sports. Both my wife and myself both grew up on participating in Athletics and being a part of a team. We both agree that the experiences we had while playing sports growing up help shape us into who we are. We can't wait for our daughter to have those same experiences.
Now, I have to be honest when I say that I can't wait to share with my daughter everything I have learned about performance enhancement. We all think our children have the potential to get college scholarships, be a champion, make it to the pros, etc. But, there are healthy and non healthy ways to go about it.
Here at Ullucci Sports Medicine I work with many youth athletes and some of them want to be here and some are here because of pressure from Mom and Dad. But, What I notice is that most of these athletes are over training and most of them don't have the time to be a kid. Now, I fully understand that to excel at a sport it takes hours of dedication and practice. But, kids these days are participating in the same sport year round. There is no diversity and no "off season". When people think about rest they think of a negative impact on training. But, it should be though of as a positive impact. If you coach or if you are a parent think about how much time you put into focusing on rest. Not much time. Coaches you probably think 4 and 5 times as much on what to do in practice than what you instruct the kids to do when they are not practicing or on a off day. Think about it do you focus on rest and what to do on a day off at all?
Rest or Off season should be viewed as a period of Active Rest. Even on days off active rest should be emphisised. Time off or an offseason athletes need to be active. They should go for a easy jog or play a different sport. For example if you are a soccer player. Instead of spending your off day working on foot skills or going for a distance run to stay in shape. Play some basketball or go for a swim. This will work other muscles and help you from falling into a rut of over training.
Now, what does this have to do with the dad who gave his child performance enhancing drugs. Simple, RECOVERY!!!! Young athletes don't take the time to recover. They just go and go and go. We have to remember they are YOUNG ATHLETES not professionals. They are going to school, doing homework, doing stuff around the house, and some may even hold a part time job. Add thoses stresses with the practice and training time. When do they sleep and when do they recover. Burnout hits many athletes when they reach high school and this can have a negative impact on their whole life not just there life as an athlete. These athletes will look to rebel. They will lose intrest in not just their sports but in school, socializing and etc. They become withdrawwn and can show signs of depression. Think about what got you involved in sports as a kid. It was fun, it was to be part of a team, and it was how you built confidence in yourself. As a parent or coach you may not outwardly pressure your kids to win or get a scholarship or be the best. But, kids are not dumb they have instincts that you and I have lost. They read people extremely well. So they will sense the need to win they will sense the need to be the best. A quote by Paul Brown the former coach of the Cleveland Browns was this:
"You can learn a line from winning and a book from losing."
As a coach and a parent it is your responsibility to teach kids the life lessons from athletic because they won't understand some of their feelings. Be a guide to them. Don't push your feelings or your needs on them. Help them understand that losing is a disapointment. Teach them that winning is great success and that it shows that good things come from hard work. Help them learn that sometimes you can work hard and prepare well but sometimes you just fall short and that is ok as long as you gave your very best. These are just some of the lessons to be learned from athletics. Athletics are supposed to build character not destroy it.
I think about this family and how this father has destroyed this family and this young athlete's future in his sport. It is just a terrible sign of were we are heading as a society. To learn more about this story this is the link: http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/ESPNSports/story?id=4211036&page=1
Monday, January 28, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/29/08
" More men fail through lack of purpose than lack of talent."
- 19th Century Baseball Player
Quote of the Day 1/28/07
"Practice puts brains in your muscles."
-Sam Snead
-7x Major Tournament Champion in Golf
Friday, January 25, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/25/08
"Only fools live in the past or carry envy to the present."
-World Golf Hall of Famer
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/24/08
"My past is my wisdom to use today... my future is my wisdom yet to experience. Be in the present because that is where life resides."
-Former Major Leaguer
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/23/08
"Cuase there's only one reason for doing anything that you set out to do. If you don't want to be the best, then there's no reason going out and trying to accomplish anything."
-Pro Football Hall of Famer
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/22/08
"It's just a matter of understanding what's necessary and discipline yourself to do it."
-lauded as one of the outstanding Track coaches of all time & credited with popularizing jogging for non track competitors
Monday, January 21, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/18/08
"Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional."
-Former Major League Baseball Player & 3x All-Star and World Series Champion
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/17/08
"A champion is someone who gets up when he can't."
-Boxing Heavyweight Champion 1919-1926
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/16/08
"Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It's courage that counts."
-Prime Minister of Great Britain during WWII
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/15/08
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
-Basketball Hall of Famer as Coach and Player
Monday, January 14, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/14/08
"Hard work has made it easy. that is my secret. That is why I win."
-5x Olympic Gold Medalist
Friday, January 11, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/11/08
"Life is very interesting if you make mistakes."
-Boxing Light Heavyweight Champion 1920-22
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
Revelations on Resolutions
Happy New Year!!!!
2008 is well underway and most people set New Years Resolutions to kick of the year. But, setting resolutions is not necessarily the best way to kick of a year. Lets be honest a large majority of all resolutions never are completed. Whether its to start working out, eat right, stop eating fast food, lose 20 pounds, or etc. we set resolutions to start the year of right. Now, I ask how is it setting the year off right by setting a resolution which we most likely will not be able to stick too? Does this not set the year of on a bad note when you break down and miss a workout, eat that donut, gain 2 pounds, or drive thru Micky D's.
So my suggestion is to set goals. Have some short term goals and some longer term goals. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds have a goal to be losing between 3-6 pounds in January and Ten by March and the full twenty by the end of June. If it is beginning a new workout regiment start slow and build. Most workout plans fail because of people starting out to hard to fast and either injury or fatigue kicks in and the compliance to the plan fizzles. Plan on working out two to three times a week for 45 min then build. For any resolution there can be a goal set. Goal setting is a valuable method to changing your lifestyle and succeeding in making the changes that seem like a great idea leading up to the New Year but once the New Year arrives execution may be hard than thought.
After setting Goals you should have a reward system. Now when I say reward system that does not mean if your goal is to stop eating donuts and you make it a month go and get a donut. A reward system should be something you want to do or have than is a luxury to you. For short term goals have something simple like buying some new clothes or a CD or DVD. For the long term goals splurge on a day at a spa or going away for the weekend.
Goal setting is a rewarding method to achieve the resolutions in the New Year. But, what is more rewarding is seeing your hard work pay off and sticking to goals and changing your lifestyle.
2008 is well underway and most people set New Years Resolutions to kick of the year. But, setting resolutions is not necessarily the best way to kick of a year. Lets be honest a large majority of all resolutions never are completed. Whether its to start working out, eat right, stop eating fast food, lose 20 pounds, or etc. we set resolutions to start the year of right. Now, I ask how is it setting the year off right by setting a resolution which we most likely will not be able to stick too? Does this not set the year of on a bad note when you break down and miss a workout, eat that donut, gain 2 pounds, or drive thru Micky D's.
So my suggestion is to set goals. Have some short term goals and some longer term goals. If your goal is to lose 20 pounds have a goal to be losing between 3-6 pounds in January and Ten by March and the full twenty by the end of June. If it is beginning a new workout regiment start slow and build. Most workout plans fail because of people starting out to hard to fast and either injury or fatigue kicks in and the compliance to the plan fizzles. Plan on working out two to three times a week for 45 min then build. For any resolution there can be a goal set. Goal setting is a valuable method to changing your lifestyle and succeeding in making the changes that seem like a great idea leading up to the New Year but once the New Year arrives execution may be hard than thought.
After setting Goals you should have a reward system. Now when I say reward system that does not mean if your goal is to stop eating donuts and you make it a month go and get a donut. A reward system should be something you want to do or have than is a luxury to you. For short term goals have something simple like buying some new clothes or a CD or DVD. For the long term goals splurge on a day at a spa or going away for the weekend.
Goal setting is a rewarding method to achieve the resolutions in the New Year. But, what is more rewarding is seeing your hard work pay off and sticking to goals and changing your lifestyle.
Quote of the Day 1/7/2008
"People who live in the past generally are afraid to compete in the present. I've got my faults, but living in the past is not one of them. There's no future in it."
-Baseball Hall of Fame Manager & first Manager to win World Series with a team from both the NL & AL
Friday, January 4, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/4/08
"Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play."
-Pro Football Hall of Famer
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/3/08
"Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory."
-Basketball Hall of Famer
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Quote of the Day 1/2/08
"If your not practicing, somebody else is, somewhere, and he'll be ready to take your job."
-Baseball Hall of Famer
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