Is frustration good or bad for your development process? The question is: why are you frustrated? If it’s with learning something new and you are working at it and working it, then know it will come. If you’re frustrated with your effort and focus, then change it. There is no better feeling for a development specialist than when a player who was frustrated with trying to figure something out finally gets it! The exuberant feeling of "you did it" makes all the battles worth it. As a trainer,...

Walk into any locker room, dugout, or gym, and you will inevitably hear the whisper: "Coach definitely plays favorites." It usually comes from a place of frustration, often muttered by a player struggling for playing time. But let's be totally candid: Do coaches have favorite players? The short answer is yes. However, the reasons why they have favorites are rarely what the critics think. It isn't about arbitrary preference, politics, or who has the flashiest gear. It is fundamentally about a...

The Great Divide: Average vs. Elite The legendary Nick Saban famously broke down the psychology of the locker room with a quote that every athlete and parent should pin to their bathroom mirror: "Average players want to be left alone. Good players want to be coached. And great players want to be told the truth." If you find yourself getting defensive when a coach points out a missed rotation or a lazy footwork drill, you’re operating in the "average" mindset. To reach the top of the...