🥇 The Athlete Development Journal

Simple solutions for complex athletic problems.

For the full story, listen to this episode on your way to practice. ⬇️

You can also listen on ​Spotify​ or ​Apple Podcasts​.

If you just want the quick-hitters, you can read the summaries below. ⬇️

What’s going on at GT?

• Two really special young women, Allie Monack and Lauren White, made their college commitments.
• Coach Courtney has been crushing it since she recently started up and and has been a huge asset for our team.
• Brody Graft and Dane Firmstone hit big vertical jump PRs.
• Jocelyn and Jayelyn Luft set the 6A softball world on fire this past season and capped their freshman campaign with a state title… all while training 2x per week, every week.

Training deep dive: 3 myths around in-season and game day lifting

Myth #1: “If you lift around game day, you’ll be to sore to compete”

Myth #2: “I’ll just train when I don’t have games.”

Myth #3: “It’s not optimal.”

What’s going on through my sports parenting lens?

Grace just wrapped up flag football and dance. She’s now in the midst of gymnastics and soccer.

I got to coach her 4-6 year old flag football team. Here are 4 lessons I learned:

1. Kids that age should not be competing in a traditional league set-up.
2. Kids flag football at that age should be 3v3 (instead of 5v5) and played on a condensed field.
3. Setting clear expectations and having clear communication are low-hanging fruit that can separate your organization from others.
4. I really love watching my daughter play.

Mental deep dive: “How hard should I push my kid?”

If you push too hard, your kid will resent you and crumble under the pressure. If you push too little, your kid won’t fulfill their potential and discover what they’re truly capable of.

A 2019 study might have given us the answer.

• If you succeed 85% of the time, you’re at the edge of your competency. You’re focusing and working hard. You’re failing 15% of the time. But, you’re not so far beyond your depth that you don’t get anything out of it.
• Just like different kids have different physical gifts (height, speed, strength, etc.), they also have different psychological gifts. If you take an easily overwhelmed kid, and you apply the same pressure that you would to a stress loving kid, the easily overwhelmed kid is going to drown.
• However, you can build the easily overwhelmed kid up overtime. I’m no finance guy, but I think compounding 15% for years on end results in a pretty insane return on investment.

Let’s wrap it up with a couple of important things…

1. This newsletter and podcast are completely free. I spend many hours each week researching, writing, illustrating, recording, editing, and uploading. The best way you can support it and allow it to continue is to share it with people you know. You can just send them to ​gtperformance.co/newsletter​ and they can subscribe there!
2. Everything in these newsletters, podcasts, social media, and on our website is for educational purposes only and should not be taken as medical advice for you or your athlete. Consult directly with a healthcare professional.

Thanks so much for your help in spreading the word about athlete development!

Go be great out there,

Zach

Dr. Zach Guiser, PT, DPT, CSCS