Dr. Clayton Kuklick is a University of Denver Clinical Assistant Professor of Master of Arts in Sports Coaching and a PhD in Athletic Coaching Education. Clayton played college and pro baseball and has coached at all levels from youth through college.

Twitter: @DrKuk14; @DU_sport_coach

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Coaching your own kids

Make sure to communicate the different roles you will be having with your child - coach vs. parent

Cringe moments

Initially Clayton was very structured and controlling. He learned to incorporate different ways to facilitate and teach vs. structure and commands.

Teaching Skills 

The difference between learning and performance - Create variation in activities vs. blocked practice design.

Dynamic systems theory - Provide a few guidelines, then allow athletes to try different strategies and learn. Small-sided tactical games are a great way to do this.

Mental toughness

Routines can reduce stress - Having a pre-bat routine in baseball reduces stress. Practice it. In practices, before they perform a task, have them: Take a deep breath, one positive thought, then we go. A positive thought is best when process related: fast and loose vs. get a hit.

Culture

It starts with core values. Keep it tight - have only a couple core values. Then you have to define what behaviors demonstrate those core values.

Great analogies to reward behviors -

The Sugar Shaker - who made practice sweeter today?

The Live Sponge - who learned and applied something new today?

Connecting with and impacting kids

Clayton coached a kid who was struggling in school, he had a big presentation coming up - so they used some of the same mental skill approaches they use in athletics to apply to his presentation

The one that got away

Clayton played on a team in college that went to the playoffs, and they got pampered and ate a bunch of unhealthy food. They had not educated their players throughout the season about the importance of their diet.

Best borrowed/stolen idea

Clayton played with Justin Gordon - and Justin did a great job using analogies

Favorite Quote/Book

Book: The Mental Game of Baseball by H.A. Dorfman and Karl Kuehl

Book: The Fifth Discipline by Peter M. Senge

Book: The Double Goal Coach by Jim Thompson

Book: Mindset by Carol Dweck

Book: True Competition by David Light Shields and Brenda Light Bredemeier

Book: Understanding Sports Coaching by Tania G. Cassidy and Robyn L. Jones

Parting Advice

Challenge: How can you embed life skills into your practice drills? Decision making, resiliency, social skills.

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