Matters
of the Heart in Coaching & Sport
Matters of the heart in coaching and sport
can make or break a program. We witness numerous incidents in sport
where the integrity of a program is tested. Physical conditioning
of the heart may be addressed while the spiritual and psychological
perceptions of the heart are left to chance. Coaches are in a powerful
position to influence athletes' thoughts, actions, and behaviors.
Coaches with extreme expectations of selflessness,
integrity, and respect develop athletes who are disciplined, caring,
young men and women. Coaches are role models. Coaches must raise
the bar, take charge, and hold athletes and assistant coaches accountable
for their actions. Clear expectations and examples of upstanding
behavior must be provided. The heart plays an essential role in
decision making that supports these expectations. Coaches and athletes
may find the following best selling authors, publications, and websites
useful and inspirational:
Ken
Blanchard on the art of influence in his books, The Heart
of a Leader and Everyone's
a Coach with Don Shula.
". . . we are not human beings having
a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience."
(Blanchard, The
Heart of a Leader)
". . . think back to a leader you had
- a parent, teacher, coach, or boss who got great performance from
you. More than likely, this was a leader who combined tough and
nice. You knew that person cared about you, but that he or she would
not let up on you in the quest for excellence." (Blanchard
& Shula, Everyone's
a Coach)
A book to read, and read again is Season
of Life by Jeffrey Marx (2003). "This is a life-changing
book. You'd have to be a slug on a rock not to be impacted by the
messages in this book," says Steve Moulton, ESPN Radio. "Jeffrey
Marx has used the most violent of American games to show how men
and boys should not be afraid to look for love," according
to Frank Deford, Sports Illustrated.
The following excerpts from Marx's book
provide a taste of his philosophy.
"I felt that I validated myself as
a man every time I knocked you flat on your back. But I tell you,
those kinds of concepts don't make good husbands, they don't make
good fathers, they don't make good sons, and they don't make good
friends. They leave boys in a tremendous sense of confusion."
"You have to be physically tough on
them," Seneca Valley High School coach Terry Changuris was
quoted as saying of the teenagers who played for him. "You
have to push them to the brink, and either they are going to break
or they are going to stand up and be a man. That's how you change
these young boys into being men.
Bif was incredulous. "We ought to get
a lifetime contract to play against this guy," he scoffed.
"We'd beat them every time we'd play because he has no idea
what he's talking about. Fifty boys together, fifty boys that love
each other and that are well affirmed and well loved by their coaches,
will smack those guys anytime, in anything. Being a father. Being
a son. Being a football player. Being a doctor. Being an astronaut.
Being a human being. Being anything." (Marx, Season
of Life)
Deepak Chopra's book, The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, addresses the importance of
acknowledging the perceptions of one's heart. Coaches are in a powerful
position of influence at the center of the sport experience. Coaches
are in control of the choices they make and how they affect the
lives of the athletes they coach. The following is an excerpt from
The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success:
"There is a very interesting mechanism
that the universe has to help you make spontaneously correct choices.
The mechanism has to do with sensations in your body. Your body
experiences two kinds of sensations: one is a sensation of comfort;
the other is a sensation of discomfort. At the moment you consciously
make a choice, pay attention to your body and ask your body, "If
I make this choice, what happens?" If your body sends a message
of comfort, that's the right choice. If your body sends a message
of discomfort, then it's not the appropriate choice.
For some people the message of comfort and
discomfort is in the area of the solar plexus, but for most people
it's in the area of the heart. Consciously put your attention in
the heart and ask your heart what to do. Then wait for the response
- a physical response in the form of a sensation. It may be the
faintest level of feeling, but it's there, in your body.
Only the heart knows the correct answer.
Some people think the heart is mushy and sentimental. But it's not.
The heart is intuitive, it's holistic, it's contextual, it's relational.
It doesn't have a win-lose orientation. It taps into the cosmic
computer - the field of pure potentiality, pure knowledge, and infinite
organizing power - and takes everything into account. At times it
may not even seem rational, but the heart has a computing ability
that is far more accurate and far more precise than anything within
the limits of rational thought." (Chopra)
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