Bruce Brown argues that coaching language shapes athlete mindset and that sports should develop character in every kid, not just the talented ones. He pushes coaches to set standards instead of rigid rules, giving athletes room to meet high expectations rather than just comply.
I'm going to focus today on the power of your words and how you can change attitudes. How you can change attitudes. So as we go through this thing, kind of identify, are there some kids in your program that need to grow attitude-wise? So there's a few coaching beliefs. Almost everything that we speak on is based upon our core beliefs as a company. And there's kind of our— there's just a few of them. The athletic opportunity should provide an opportunity for character growth. It shouldn't have to be good to get good out of the activity. It isn't just for your most talented kids. It should be for every kid. The one down there at the bottom, I'm going to come back up to the second one, but the one down there on the bottom, especially for you young coaches, I really encourage young coaches to have standards and not rules. Big difference. You know what young people do with rules. Yeah. They push them. They question them. They drive you right to the edge. You know what young people will do with standards, especially if they're standards of a coach of significance? They'll rise to those standards. Kids will rise to standards when they'll fight you on rules. Rules bind you in. They take away your discretion. Standards allow you to have wide range of discretion, and as a coach of significance, you need to be perfectly happy and satisfied to be able to use your discretion. Thank you.
