More Lessons from Coach Meyer

This article about Don Meyer deserves sharing. It popped up during a search for "hard coaching." Great players want to be coached hard.

Here are the main themes: 

1. Criticize Players in Private
2. Emphasize What's Most Important
3. Know Why You're Coaching
4. Be Nice to Everyone You Meet
5. Put the Team First
6. Effort is a Choice

Nobody wants to be 'called out' publicly. A coach's job, to get high performance, requires 'correction'. As a player, you control attitude, choices, and effort. Control what you can control. When coaches thinks you need correction - better attitude, decision-making skills, or to work harder - they tell you. 

"The main thing is the main thing." TIA - teamwork, improvement, accountability. Accountability is holding yourself to a high standard. You can't do that without adequate training, nutrition, rest, and study. 

Coaches help people become more. Someone asked legendary coach Amos Alonzo Stagg about his team. He answered, "ask me in twenty years and I'll be able to give you a better idea." Melrose volleyball alumnae are going places. Numerous graduates have advanced degrees as educators. Victoria Crovo is a second year veterinary student. You read about Emma Randolph last week. 

Wakefield Coach Kayla Wyland is as nice as anyone you will ever meet. And you know she played on the Melrose 2012 State Championship team. 

Why play team sports if not to achieve more together? The African proverb says, “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together.”

Winning is hard. "The magic is in the work." To win big in sports or in life, do 'unrequired work'. In James Kerr's book, "Legacy" about the New Zealand All-Blacks rugby team, he explains, "Champions do extra."