The Other 90% - Teaching and Enhancing Success (part 2)

Any goal is somewhat worthless unless there are precise and effective strategies put into place for achievement. This is where the motivation comes in as anyone can write a goal, but it takes work, intensity, and perseverance to achieve difficult goals.

Another process of success is to understand that human endeavors have clearly indicated universal truths concerning success. As part of the motivation process, coaches need to daily install such truths to increase expectations and set up a culture of success. One such truth is that loyalty and commitment are powerful forces to achieve success and the related goals. There will be times when a team’s back is against the wall. This is when times are the toughest and the outlook is the darkest. Some refer to such times as character building, but this goes beyond character. It becomes the focus and the mission around which the team revolves.

A second universal truth is there is no easy way. Hard work pays off and get used to working hard. If you are a player truly with the program, then another saying arrives: soon you will enjoy hard work, not avoid it. Sound familiar?

Third, intensity is needed, but calm intensity (poise) is better. There should be fire in the eyes and ice in the veins. The player should look quietly arrogant, in total control, and convince the opposition that the eyes resemble the famous assassin eyes of Larry Bird.

Finally, about 10 percent of the population in any human endeavor achieves about 90% of the notoriety and success. As a player you seek and desire to be in that mix.

Coaches can share another process of success daily, common traits of successful people. Players love to hear such stories that are motivational in nature, especially in those rare times when the story is told first person. The successful person starts with a vision and achieves the knowledge to define and carry out the vision to completion. This becomes what is termed a set of core values. The player will have the commitment, the work ethic, and the willingness to overcome adversity and achieve success. These core values are centered on high expectations that are obtainable and not influenced by outside opinion.

written by Doc4blu

Mailbag Question:

Hey Guys,

I have seen you guys post about the old and new regime at Michigan and could you talk about the differences of the two and the differences in the S&C programs. Don't mean to beat a dead horse here, but could you also explain why the old guard wasn’t so demanding of the kids in the off-season and is this one reason why Michigan has gotten behind other programs like osu?

Thanks

Dan
-----------------------------------------------------
When eroc and myself attended practice this spring one of things we were interested in observing was the differences in how practices were managed. We wanted to see if things had really changed. The differences were astounding.

Three areas truly stood out:
First was the intensity of the practices. Old regime had more walk through and low intensity drills. No more, everything is full speed with emphasis on hitting. There was more hitting in first thirty minutes than the three spring practices I attended last year. What really stuck on the intensity side were the coaches. They were on top of every player. Screaming and lecturing making sure players realized the amount of intensity required by new regime.

Second difference was amount of work done and pace of practice. There were no down periods, or go through motion sessions. Every drill, every rep was filled with football skills necessary to succeed in Coach Rod’s scheme. There was no walking between drills or from one station to another. Every player hustled, Hell even injured players were either jogging or riding a stationary bike.

Third was the organization of practice. In the past Michigan used long sessions with tons of talking and explaining. No more, practice was set up in many short, usually five minutes or so, drills with each teaching a basic football skill. Practices under Old regime always reminded me of city workers, one person working and ten others standing around watching. Not this staff, standing around doing nothing was held an absolute minimum. However, what I noticed most was the amounts of time full go, with best against best. Donovan vs. Stonum, Zibrel vs. Taylor, Minor vs. Ezeh, every station was not first group vs. second group. It was #1 vs. #1. The amazing thing was watching Donavan go head to head with Stonum, and Ortmann against with Jamison.

As for why Coach Carr ran things, the way he did. Really, believe Coach Carr felt that players should also be allowed to be students and have lives. He did think that football should not be only thing in player’s life.

Differences in S&C from under Coach Gittleson to Coach Barwis were stark. Coach Barwis emphasized core training and transfer of energy through the core. Very little of this was done under old S&C. Power lifts were also basis for much of S&C under Coach Barwis were it is Olympic lifts that are focus under Coach Barwis. Coach Barwis also is huge believer in stretching and flexibility, Coach Gittleson would go ballistic even asked about stretching. Final major difference is Coach Barwis includes many football specific exercises.

written by CoachBt and ErocWolverine

Thanks for stopping by http://gobluemichiganwolverine.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions please e-mail erocwolverine@gmail.com

Michigan Baseball: Michigan gone from Regionals

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=139260

Michigan Eliminated From NCAA Regional by Kentucky

June 1, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Event: NCAA Regional
Score: Kentucky 12, #17 Michigan 6
Records: U-M (46-14), Kentucky (43-19)
Next U-M Game: Season Completed

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan baseball team had its season come to an end with a 12-6 loss to Kentucky on Sunday (June 1) in the NCAA Regional at the Wilpon Complex, home of Ray Fisher Stadium. Despite facing a 9-1 deficit through two innings, the Wolverines responded and made it a 9-6 affair in the fifth inning. Unfortunately, the offense subsided in the final four innings when the Wolverines stranded eight of their 17 runners left on base.

Junior third baseman Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) spearheaded U-M's offensive output with a 4-for-6 showing at the plate with a run scored and a run batted in. Although Michigan out-hit Kentucky 16-12, the Wildcats had seven extra-base hits on five doubles and two home runs.

Michigan scored once in the top of the first inning on an RBI single from Abraham. However, the opening frame of the elimination contest clearly belonged to Kentucky, which tallied seven runs on five hits, including three doubles and a home run.

U-M starter Jeff DeCarlo (Medford, Mass./St .John's Prep) gave up a leadoff hit and then walked the next two batters before giving way to senior/junior Ben Jenzen (Grosse Pointe, Mich./South HS). Kentucky continued the pressure with consecutive two-run doubles to make the score 4-1. The Wildcats added three more in the frame to push the score to 7-1 after one inning.

Kentucky upped its lead to 9-1 as a result of two sacrifice flies to centerfield in the second inning. Jenzen hit the leadoff man and then allowed another double before getting three of the next four batters out.

Michigan pulled to within three runs, making the score 9-6 with runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Abraham doubled and scored on a Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) single in the third. The hit was the senior leftfielder's 200th of his career, as he became the 19th member of Michigan's 200-hit club.

In the fourth inning, junior DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) brought the crowd to its feet with a three-run blast to centerfield -- his second home run in as many days. The three-run jack was set up by junior SS Jason Christian's (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) third walk of the game and fifth-year 2B Leif Mahler's (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) first hit of the day.

On inning later, sophomore 1B Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) led off with a single and came around on Mahler's two-out double into the leftfield corner. The double was Mahler's team-leading and career-best 17th of the season.

UK's All-America first team selection Sawyer Carroll halted the Wolverine momentum in the sixth inning with a two-run home run to centerfield, pushing the score to 11-6. Prior to the sixth, U-M freshman reliever Tyler Burgoon (Defiance, Ohio/Defiance HS) had retired nine of the 11 batters he had faced since entering the game to start the third inning.

Senior/junior Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS) was called in from the pen following the home run for his 28th appearance of the season.

The Wolverines complete their season with an overall record of 46-14. The Wolverine claimed their third consecutive Big Ten regular-season crown and captured the Big Ten Tournament trophy with a 3-0 weekend at home. Their 26 Big Ten regular-season wins set a record that may never be broken, as the league is moving to 24 games next season.

The Other 90% - Teaching and Enhancing Success

The Other 90% - Teaching and Enhancing Success

The first part of the series dealt with change and the second part cognitive functions. Both topics combine at a fork commonly termed success. Success is the intended result of a wide spectrum of coaching strategies and decisions that cross into every aspect of human endeavor, both on and off the field.

Scholarship has two encompassing types of definitions for success. The first is lexical. This is the literal dictionary meaning not so arbitrarily accepted as agreed upon fact. In the case of success the lexical definition falls short of what a coach needs to instill success. The lexical definition of success revolves around fame or wealth. So by the lexical definition most athletes are unsuccessful.

The second type of definition, operational, fits coaches and athletes better. Here, the party in need can tailor a definition to fit the task at hand. Literature in the area of success indicates over sixty current models of success that start with a definition. Below is a discussion that contains “modern” and age-old theory that contributes to success in athletics. Pay attention to the criteria and determine for yourself what programs have fallen short in this regard and what programs have advanced by paying attention to the tenets of success.

One simple model asserts there are three parts to success, ability, attitude, and perfecting the processes that lead to success. Ability, at the highest level of any endeavor, is necessary but not sufficient for success. Someone may wish to be a college football player and outwork anyone else but end up on the field as a bloody pulp. Success at the highest level is a collection of many abilities rolled into one construct.

Now for that ever present concern of attitude. Attitude is subdivided into intrinsic and extrinsic. While both motivational types always intermix, the coach largely controls the extrinsic motivation and the intrinsic motivation is nested within the player’s psyche. Techniques used for motivation run the gambit, from fear to anger, to rewards, to ownership and everything in between. It is almost silly to declare a most effective coaching motivational strategy.

Having said that, there is a collection of motivational processes that are sound, regardless of the approach along the motivational spectrum. Now, guess where this conversation starts? It starts with the most proven of all motivational strategies, goal setting. Even though this strategy is from the now deflated behaviorist school of psychology, it remains supreme. Coaches do this at all levels, the difference is that some programs just write down a few goals and give them lip service. The goals have no real power or meaning and do not serve as a true motivational tool intended to boost success. Some programs have a goal setting process that is dead serious and players talk about them as if they were brainwashed. The goals become power and spur motivation and therefore success. Almost universally, teams set goals and players set individual goals. Meetings about goals and performance are frequently held and some can become more of an interrogation than a meeting. A good program constantly (read daily) reinforces both team and individual goals. Players should be made to memorize team and individual goals and frequently be put on the spot to state and comment on goals. The worst mistake, concerning goals, is to create too many. Take the age of the participants, up to 20, and divide by two. This number is workable and equates for college-aged athletes to a maximum of 10 goals.

written by Doc4blu

The Other 90% - Part Two: Cognitive Functions and Athletic Performance continuation of part 2

So what benefits can good mental conditioning programs provide athletes and coaches? These programs breed success, but are shunned by some because the commitment needed, expectations and the physical, emotional, and mental intensity can be overwhelming. Many players self-select themselves out, quickly.

Mental conditioning and mental toughness programs, more than anything else, are meant to improve performance across the entire performance spectrum by using powerful physical challenges that can quickly break a player down, both mentally and physically. Gus Hoefling, mentioned earlier, had the best mental toughness program I ever witnessed or incorporated. This program had several levels and most players found level one difficult enough. It is my opinion that mental toughness programs get the best results when starting with flexibility first, then working on strength, then progressing to speed. It takes about six weeks to become proficient at level one. It takes renewed commitment and months to master a second level.

The secret weapon of a mental toughness program is focus. When focus is improved, performance is improved and energy is added to practices. Martial arts workouts help to perfect focus. Imagine a team with two or even three sets of ankle and wrist weights working out with high level marshall art challenges, staring at lines on a wall, not being allowed to look at the ground or around, not being allowed to whine or moan, not being allowed to loose balance, and having the toughest team selected players in the front demanding excellence. Imagine getting to the point of excellence where the entire team has to start at the beginning of the workout after a screwup.

Players with great mental conditioning programs have a quiet arrogance, paired with unshakable confidence. They are taught to pay no attention whatsoever to the other team, outside of what is needed to execute and win. Players from programs like this have tremendous poise and are frequently labeled a machine. They visualize their own success and the team’s success they have worked hard for. Players trained in such programs are fierce in their will to win, despise losing and are willing to pay the price. Players from programs like this show an improvement curve that is consistent and positive, not a plateau, or an up and down slope, or worst of all, a regression. Teams prepared in mental toughness believe in axioms that reinforce the other 90%. One axiom is; there is no easy way and another is; if you are with the program you will get better, if you are not you will soon leave the program. Players prepared with such mental toughness strategies do their best when under fire. They do not accept limited expectations authored by others, or goals that are a dime a dozen. For example, we want to finish .500 in the Big Ten.

What would Yogi say? Maybe this: To make it work you have to have work, and nothing beats winning.

written by Doc4blu

Thanks for stopping by http://gobluemichiganwolverine.blogspot.com/
If you have any questions please e-mail erocwolverine@gmail.com

Michigan Baseball: Michigan loss sends them to losers bracket

from MGoBlue.com

http://www.mgoblue.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=139188

LaMarre, Putnam Homer in Regional Loss to Arizona

May 31, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Event: NCAA Regional
Score: #24 Arizona 4, #17 Michigan 3
Records: U-M (46-13), Arizona (40-17)
Next U-M Game: Sunday, June 1 -- vs. Kentucky in NCAA Regional (Wilpon Complex), 2 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan baseball team received eight innings from senior/junior RHP Chris Fetter (Carmel, Ind./Carmel HS) and solo home runs from junior DH Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) and freshman OF Ryan LaMarre (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi HS) but fell 4-3 to No. 1 seed Arizona in NCAA Regional action Saturday night (May 31) at the Wilpon Baseball Complex, home to Ray Fisher Stadium.

Michigan will take on No. 3 seed Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday (June 1) for the right to meet Arizona in the first Ann Arbor Regional championship game at 7 p.m. Sunday night.

Though Michigan fell behind 4-0 after three innings, Fetter allowed just three hits the rest of the way, holding the Wildcats off the board. Michigan's offense responded with single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to cut the Wildcat lead to 4-3 heading into the eighth.

The Maize and Blue got the potential tying run to third base in the eighth inning, but Wildcat first baseman C.J. Ziegler dove to his right to rob pinch hitter Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) of a hit with two outs. Putnam led off the inning with a walk against reliever Ryan Perry. Junior 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) advanced the runner with a bounceout to third.

Following a strikeout, junior CF Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) hit a grounder to short that was bobbled, putting runners on the corners with two down. On the first pitch he saw, Dufek laced the ball toward first, but Ziegler snagged it, got to his feet and tagged the bag to end the threat.

Arizona's hitters were sharp early as the first and third batters each doubled in the bottom of the first inning. Following a walk, Ziegler collected his team-leading 58th RBI of the year on a single to centerfield. Fetter got the ground ball he needed from the next batter, but the bouncer to shortstop was not hit hard enough to let U-M turn two, allowing the Wildcats to score their third run. A flyout to rightfield ended the inning.

Arizona picked up its fourth run with a two-out rally in the third. After striking out the first two batters, Fetter gave up back-to-back singles. An error by junior SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) let the runner on second score as the ball skipped off the shortstop's glove into leftfield.

In the fifth, Michigan got its first run of the game on a two-out triple to deep right-centerfield by Christian that brought around LaMarre from first base. LaMarre had reached on a single through the left side, his first of three straight hits.

Leading off the sixth inning, Putnam blasted the first pitch he saw over the centerfield wall to cut U-M's deficit to 4-2. Arizona countered by bringing in Mike Colla to relieve starter David Coulon, and Colla set down three of the next four batters to quell any Wolverine momentum.

Michigan continued its comeback bid with another solo home run in the seventh inning, as LaMarre cranked the second pitch of his at-bat to centerfield, just left of where Putnam's shot cleared the fence. UA then summoned Daniel Schlereth from the bullpen to face the top of U-M's batting order. After issuing a walk, Schlereth induced a 4-6-3 double play from senior 2B Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep).

Michigan drops down to the loser's bracket to take on No. 3 seed Kentucky at 2 p.m. Sunday (June 1). The winner advances to face Arizona at 7 p.m. Sunday night in the first Ann Arbor Regional championship game. U-M beat UK by a 7-5 score when the teams met earlier in the regional.

Michigan Baseball: Michigan beats Kentucky 7-5

from MGoBlue.com
http://www.mgoblue.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=139168

Michigan Wraps Up Win Over Kentucky in Regional Opener

May 31, 2008
Site: Ann Arbor, Mich. (Wilpon Complex)
Event: NCAA Regional
Score: #17 Michigan 7, Purdue 5
Records: U-M (46-12), Kentucky (42-18)
Next U-M Game: Saturday, May 31 -- vs. Arizona in NCAA Regional (Wilpon Complex), 7 p.m.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 17-ranked University of Michigan baseball team won its first game of the NCAA Regional by a 7-5 count over Kentucky on Saturday (May 31). The game began Friday evening (May 30) but was suspended in the bottom of the fifth inning with U-M in front 5-1 because of imminent thunderstorms.

Junior RHP Zach Putnam (Ann Arbor, Mich./Pioneer HS) earned the win by throwing five effective innings Friday night. He gave up one run on six hits with four strikeouts. Junior 3B Adam Abraham (Grosse Pointe Park, Mich./South HS) went 3-for-4 at the plate and drove in what turned out to be an important run in the bottom of the fifth when play resumed this morning.

With the win, No. 2 seed Michigan advances to play top-seeded Arizona tonight at 7 p.m., while No. 3 seed Kentucky turns around right away to face No. 4 seed Eastern Michigan at 2 p.m. in an elimination game.

Kentucky got on the board first by effectively playing small ball in the second inning. Following a pair of singles to start the frame, a sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third, and a single by Tyler Howe brought in one run. Putnam began to work himself out of the jam with a fake-to-first, throw-to-third pickoff play that cut down the runner at home plate. Putnam then froze the Wildcats' No. 9 hitter for his second strikeout of the game.

The Wolverines responded in their half of the second inning with a five-run outburst. Putnam earned a leadoff walk and moved to third base when Abraham executed a hit-and-run play perfectly by slapping the ball behind the second baseman. Junior CF Kevin Cislo (Novi, Mich./Novi HS) scored Putnam with a sacrifice fly to centerfield for U-M's first run. Senior LF Derek VanBuskirk (St. Clair, Mich./St. Clair HS) reached safely with a base hit, and sophomore catcher Chris Berset (Vienna, Va./Heights School) ripped an RBI single to give U-M a 2-1 lead.

UK starting pitcher Chris Rusin was lifted after walking Ryan LaMarre (Jackson, Mich./Lumen Christi HS). Reliever Aaron Lovett entered with the bases loaded and gave up a two-run double to junior SS Jason Christian (Loveland, Ohio/Loveland HS) to right-centerfield. Senior 2B Leif Mahler (Columbus, Ohio/St. Charles Prep) drove in the final run of the inning with a suicide squeeze down the third-base line to plate LaMarre.

Putnam got into trouble again in the third inning with the Wildcats' No. 1 and No. 2 hitters reaching base with singles. The U-M hurler got the first out of the inning by inducing a flyout by UK's leading hitter, Sawyer Carroll, who began the night hitting .416. Putnam finished the inning with the help of his batterymate, Berset, as Putnam fanned the batter and Berset fired to third to throw out a would-be base-stealer.

The Wolverines got a two-out rally started in the fifth inning when senior 1B Nate Recknagel (Lake Orion, Mich./Lake Orion HS) walked and Putnam singled to put runners on first and second. Unfortunately, approaching storms and eventual heavy rains forced the game to be suspended until Saturday morning. Abraham's 3-1 count carried over into the morning, and he hit the first offering he saw from new pitcher Brock Baber up the middle for an RBI.

U-M tacked on another run in the sixth when, with one out, four straight batters reached base -- three singles and a walk -- to drive in Berset. The rally ended when Mike Dufek (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS), who had to come in to replace an injured Recknagel, bounced into a 4-6-3 double play with the bases loaded.

Kentucky got back into the game with a four-run eighth inning off reliever Eric Katzman (Harrington, N.J./Northern Valley Old Tappan HS). Carroll clocked his 17th home run of the season to lead off the inning. Three of the next four batters reached base on a single, infield error and hit by pitch, which brought in Michael Powers (St. Clair Shores, Mich./South Lake HS). With the bases loaded, a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly to centerfield allowed the Wildcats to trim their deficit to 7-5.

In the ninth inning, Powers got the first out by retiring Carroll but then permitted a walk and a single to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Christian got the second out of the inning by making a nice running catch down the leftfield line, and the final out of the game was a groundout to second base.

The Wolverines will take on No. 1 seed Arizona later tonight at 7 p.m. in the winners' bracket final of the Ann Arbor Regional. Arizona defeated No. 4 seed Eastern Michigan 13-7 in the early game yesterday.