Many years ago I was coaching a tiny athlete. She was super quiet and her shyness hid behind her dark-rimmed glasses. You knew when she was excited because her blonde curls would bounce up and down, and she’d give the tiniest squint with her eyes. Though her smile was small, you could tell she was happy. This athlete was a flyer for a few years on our tiny and mini teams, however every time she flew a prep or braced extension, she would bend her knees ever so slightly. That meant any time a base went up higher than the other or their timing was off, she’d collapse rather than be able to shift and recover.
I’d regularly tell her, “lock out those knees.” What’s strange is that she had a beautiful heel stretch and neither knee was ever bent in her heel stretches. I couldn’t figure out why she would lock in a more challenging stunt, and yet keep them slightly bent in easier stunts.
Then one day it hit me. After three years of coaching this athlete, I said, “Abigail, do you understand what I mean when I say, ‘lock out’?” She shook her head. I had been telling this child to do something over and over for years and she didn’t have a clue what I meant.
I then explained, “Lock out means to straighten your knees.” While three years of bad habits were instilled, it was obvious Abigail was working to straighten her knees during our practices.
Do you believe that? I was saying the same thing over and over and not getting the results I wanted. It was eye opening as a coach that in three years I hadn’t thought to ask if she knew what I meant. Instead, I assumed “lock out” was common because I was coming at this with 20 years of cheer experience.
Do you ever have a staff member who has done something the same way for a long time it’s driving you crazy? Maybe you’ve told them a few times to stop doing something or to do something a different way, but they’re not consistently following your word. In his book, The Ideal Team Player, Patrick Lencioni says we have to tell people something seven times before it fully 100% registers in their brain and starts becoming an instinct.
I recently tested this with my Youth 2 team and he’s right. Starting at the first practice, I told them why I would always be particular about the little things. “How you do the small things is how you will do everything.” Last Thursday, I saw some of them “summer tumbling”. (That’s not a real thing, but that’s what I call it when they lose some of their technique because they’re out of the rhythm and discipline of daily life.) I had everyone pause. I said, “Why do I need to see your arms by your ears in a level 1 skill when we’re a level 2 team?” Almost in unison, these kids – ages 8-11 years old said, “How you do the small things is how you do everything.”
I could have cried, because I was so excited. I am getting through to them with a quote that has the potential to impact the way they do everything in life.
So if you have staff or athletes who are driving you a little crazy, consider how many times you’ve asked them to do something. Were you repetitive enough to create an instinct in their brains? Did you stop long enough to tell them WHY that thing you want them to do is so important?
