Words have power. We know of the power they have to transform lives, but did you know they also help athletes perform better? The words employed as cues for teaching skills can be the difference between flawless execution and total frustration.

"How do I deal with crazy parents?" I hear this a lot and my first response is "Stop dealing with them and engage them." (Gordon and I titled our book Engage). My second response is "Stop calling them crazy." In this special guest episode, Gordon MacLelland and I discuss the best tactics for engaging parents as partners.

Do you consider the perspective of your athletes when you coach? They see the game differently and they also have different frames of reference. A simple drawing by my son was the light bulb moment for me to start seeing the game from their eyes so I could coach better.

Did you know Denmark supports activity for ALL at all levels? They help fund the resources, pay for the coaches of all levels to have the top licenses, and even scholarship the participants. They believe all kids should have access until at least age 14 and it has paid off for them on the World Stage. Should we be learning from what they are doing?

Elite?? That word now grates on me like nails on the chalkboard. The $17 billion youth sports marketing machine uses that term to tickle the FOMO of every parent out there and cons us into believing we MUST put our child with the club or coach who has "elite" somewhere in the title, name, or resume.

Eye contact is crucial in a learning environment for sighted children. Making it develops a connection with the brain, engages them, builds trust, and much more. In general, the intention to make eye contact with someone makes you more fully engaged and accessible. As a coach, your goal is to be at eye level, give kids a chance to see yours, be intentional and in the moment, and reduce distractions all by seeking that eye contact.

My kids loved knock knock jokes. Now they love funny memes and stinging sarcasm. They act like they don't, but I know they STILL LOVE my #DadJokes. Humor is one of the most effective ways to connect with others, get your point across more easily, and have what you say remembered much longer. In this episode we review how to use humor in the coaching code.

"Kids these days" tune us out after a few words. We think they are uncoachable. Could it be they expect us to communicate more with less, like the 140 (now 280) character limit of Twitter. Great coaches can adapt and communicate more effectively with kids of today by saying less and showing more, by letting the game help reveal answers, and by sitting down and shutting up during games.

How good do you think you are? Albert Bandura defines Self-Efficacy as one's belief in their own capability to execute the tasks needed to attain a performance level. In other words, how good do you think you are? Our athletes come to us with their own beliefs and their own voice, but as coaches what do we do to enhance or destroy that belief? In this inaugural episode, I dive into this question and try to unlock the coaching code for it.

The Zone of Proximal Development. A little known concept in coaching but widely used in teaching. It's that sweet spot for athletes between being challenge too much and being bored to tears. That push/pull spot where, as coaches, we should be striving to get them to avoid burnout. Dig into the code with me as we unlock the ZPD.