Kids And Sport

Cycling is a great way to get out of the gym and stay
in shape. This cardiovascular activity strengthens your leg and
abdominal muscles. However, if safety precautions are not heeded, a
cyclist can find himself in danger.

First and foremost, make sure
your bicycle is in good working order. Pump the brakes. Ensure the
chain is tightened, and check for broken or loose parts. If you are
riding with a children’s bike seat, be sure you have the proper kind
for your bicycle. Do not attach just any seat to your bike. Also, be
sure that you as well as your child always wear helmets when riding.
Placing spoke guards on your bike’s wheels will reduce the risk of your
child’s shoelaces or feet getting entangled.

Be sure to always
ride with traffic. If you ride against the traffic flow, you will be in
danger, and it is illegal. A collision with a vehicle would impact a
cyclist harder and at a faster speed than when riding with the flow of
traffic. Keep in mind that both the automobile driver and bike rider
would have less time to react. Many drivers pulling out from driveways
and parking lots as well as those making right turns are not going to
expect to see traffic coming at them from the wrong direction. A driver
may accelerate toward a cyclist without realizing his whereabouts.

Avoid
staying in blind spots. When you stop, be sure to pull up behind cars,
rather than beside them since a car’s blind spots are located on its
sides.

Brighten yourself by purchasing a headlight. Most places
require a rear light when night riding. Even utilizing a light during
the day helps motorists to see you. You could even invest in a light
that flashes like a strobe to make yourself more visible.

By cycling safely, you make the road a safer place for yourself and others.

If you’re a resident of Boise or Eagle, then you’re a lucky person. Boise and Eagle are 2 cities, unlike many others around the country. Very few cities have such a high density of child centered activities. Everything from dance, language, sports, arts and crafts, martial arts, etc., and all available within a 5 to 15 minute drive.

With so many activities available, what should a child participate in? That is the big question. Should you have your child do everything? And, believe me, it’s possible in Boise or Eagle. Or, should you find a couple activities and really let your child excel and build confidence?

Here is my opinion. I’m a fan of sports. I’ve played them my whole life. In fact, I still play soccer on a recreational men’s league. On the other hand, I’m not partial to soccer. I’ll let my children play any sport they want. If they decide, AFTER THE SEASON, that the sport they just participated in is not for them, so be it… we’ll move on.

There is one thing that my children will always do, and that is martial arts. I will never treat martial arts like a sport that they can change season to season. Martial arts, including Karate and Taekwondo should be viewed as part of their school work. And, it’s not because I own a martial art school either. It’s because I own a martial art school that I can see the profound impact it can have on children’s lives. There are certain things that a martial art school or karate school is capable of teaching that is not taught in very many places. Of course, not all martial art schools or karate schools teach this way, so do your research.

Martial arts is basically an extension of your childs school in the way of personal and character development. It’s the part that is being missed in many classrooms. Please don’t misunderstand me… our school teachers in the Boise & Meridian School District are fabulous. It’s just my belief and experience that the primary focus is to educate, or as I like to say- teach “content.” I actually wouldn’t want it any other way.

Our primary example is to teach children important character traits, such as: Focus Self Discipline Self Confidence Goal Setting Skills Respect Self Esteem Positive Attitude

If we succeed at this, then their ability to accomplish more in school improves. We teach students “context.” Think of context as the bowl that holds the content. The larger the bowl (context), the more content that can be placed in it. More importantly, a student will have the self discipline and confidence to do more with the content they learn in school. Your childs school and a good martial arts program makes a great combination!

There are 3 main types of martial art schools or karate schools in Boise and Eagle. I recommend that you choose which one is most appropriate for you and your family.

1. Sport Oriented- These are the schools that focus 100% on competition. These are the programs that make competing the number 1 objective. It’s not uncommon to go into a tournament within the first few months of joining a program like this.

2. Combat Oriented- This type of martial art school or karate school may or may not be as big into competition. Their primary focus is to teach students how to disable or maim an attacker with force.

3. Character Development Oriented- This type of martial art school or karate school is focused on teaching students skills not only in self defense, but also skills for life. The discipline, focus, and confidence that they learn in a program like this will usually empower them to achieve greater things in life.

If you’re interested in learning martial arts in Boise, I would recommend calling a few different schools to setup a time to visit each one. When you visit the martial art school or karate school, you will be able to get a feel for the environment your child will be learning in. You’ll also have the opportunity to see the school and will hopefully be able to do an introductory lesson. An introductory lesson will enable you to see how the instructor interacts with your child.

At this point, hopefully you’ll have a good feel for the martial art school that would be best for you and your family.

Good luck!

This Week In Our Youth Football Practices:

As we move into the last third of our season, the kids start to get a little restless. While we are still getting prefect attendance on most nights, you can see some kids getting a little lax on some things they have been perfect on for the last 9 weeks or so. The worst thing that can happen to a youth football player is for him to do something that is technically wrong, but still have success, This often happens when you play that midseason cream puff on your schedule, that no matter what you run or what technique your kids use, the other team is so awful that everything works. When your players use improper technique against teams like this and still have success, your players will often revert to that poor technique.

This is the time of the year where even coaches let up and let poor habits creep back into the drills they do. Youth coaches often get to this time of year, “knowing” their players can do a specific task, the kids have been taught it, the kids have repped it and the kids have done well with it in games, So in practice many coaches will “let it go”, because they have seen the kids perform the task well in games etc. These are dangerous waters, You have to stay vigilant with the standards you have set, as it is normal for kids to push and test the boundaries. While you may be letting up in some areas, never let up on holding the kids to perfect alignment, effort and technique standards. I constantly have to push even my coaches to ratchet up the pace and make certain the little things are still being concentrated on.

While as the season progresses, we do continue to add more advanced techniques, we never totally move past some of the things that have made us competitive teams to this point. We are still doing the wedge progression fits we did in week one, to make sure our wedges are tight etc etc While things like splatter blocking and tackling drills make little sense at this point in the game, ( splatter drill goals are to get kids over their fear of full contact) don’t ever abandon those critical success factors that have gotten you this far. We will however, add a few twists to a few of our existing drills to keep the kids attention.

This week we worked the basics a lot including base double team blocking, down blocking, open field blocking, wedge fits and crab blocking. We did an unusually high amount of tackling this week including lots of shed and tackle and various open field tackling drills. Since we did so much full contact in individuals this week including lots of 3 level Oklahoma drills, we only had one 10 minute intense team “compete” session.

We continued to refine some of the finer points of the game with plenty of 2 minute offense drills. We also heavily worked our special teams and “last play” football plays. Each team also added their own “trick play”. I’m not talking about any type of deceptive illegal type football plays, but something like “Statue of Liberty Throw Back” . Something we most likely will NEVER run in a game, but again tweaks the players attention at this last date.

When coaching youth football, we think that’s part of our mission, to finish strong with the kids still wanting more.

If you want to gain a strength advantage over your competition, and don’t have a lot of fancy equipment, don’t worry. Here are 3 tried and true “unique” strength training exercises that can help get you stronger for the mat - FAST!

1. Bottom Squats - Bottom squats are incredible for developing hips and gluteal strength. In layman’s terms, that would be working your rear-end. Ok, have a quick laugh, and then get to work. These are a perfect addition to your wrestling strength training routine. Here’s what you do. With an Olympic barbell, you perform a regular full depth squat. This means you descend until the top of your thighs break parallel with the floor. Instead of standing straight up, you come up only half way. You pause in the half-way up position, descend to below parallel, and repeat. I would throw them in about once or twice a month, to keep the muscles “confused”. This forces the muscles to respond by getting stronger. In fact, you might want to perform a regular barbell squat or machine squat during the first workout. The next workout you might perform a barbell or trap bar deadlift. The third workout might be a bottom squat. Just perform each exercise with 100% intensity (with a spotter at all times) and seek to improve strength over successive workouts.

2. Negative-Only Chinups - This one is fantastic for developing the kind of upper body strength you need for the mat very quickly. Why? Because performing negative repetitions incorporates many more muscle fibers than the positive part of the repetition. In other words, you are 40% stronger lowering a weight than you are raising a weight. To apply this to chinups do the following: Grasp a chinning bar with a close, underhand grip. (Using this grip is much more effective than a wide grip for developing the latissimus dorsi muscle. The “lats” work with the biceps when you are performing a single or double-leg takedown.) By standing on a high bench or chair, hop up so that your chin is over the bar, and hold for 2 seconds. Slowly lower yourself under control until you reach a hanging position where the “lat” muscles are stretched. This lowering should take a good 8-10 seconds. Hop right back up to the starting position and again lower in 8-10 seconds. Repeat until it is impossible to lower with control. You may have to use additional weight around your waist if using body weight only gets too easy. Keep an arch in the middle back area when performing to force the back muscles to work harder than the biceps.

3. Negative-Only Dips - Just as the last exercise works the back and biceps muscles hard, this one works the antagonistic (opposite) muscles to them. This one will get the chest, shoulders, and triceps stronger fast. To perform you lock out the arms and support yourself at the top on a dipping bar. Keep the chin tucked into the chest to force more work from the chest muscles, and less emphasis on the triceps. Lower until the chest is fully stretched. This will take 8-10 seconds. Repeat. When you can’t lower in at least 6 seconds, the set is over. At this point take a much needed breather and get a drink.

Negative only training is very taxing on the body. I would do it for no more than 3 weeks at a time, about 4 times a year, to help push past a sticking point in your training. These 3 exercises can be performed by any wrestler. If a wrestler is young and hasn’t reached physical maturity, perform the squats with bodyweight only. For older, more mature wrestlers, go for broke. If you aren’t huffing and puffing, and can’t wait to get out of the gym, you didn’t work hard enough.

Discover the power of negative only training and watch your performances improve almost overnight.

Every coach dreams of the day a member of their team makes it to the big leagues. Gymnasts who make it to top teams have put in a lot of hard work and effort to get where they are. Days and hours of practice week in and week out will eventually pay off and they will take their place in the spot light. Behind the spotlight, somewhere in the shadows of every gymnast great, there is a coach who has spent hours and hours developing and honing the skills they need to excel. One of the most important aspects of coaching is to give each member of the team value. The fact that each girl or boy has made it this far, and are now a contributing member of a Gymnastic team, speaks volumes for their ability and dedication. As a coach it’s essential that you keep this high moral by employing the following tactics as you interact with you’re team members.

• Embrace MistakesAt this point in the game, the ability of your team members is not in question. They are clearly ready and able to dedicate a portion of their life to excelling as gymnasts. It’s also at this point when gymnasts become very critical of themselves. What may be small mistakes or tribulations to you, can be crippling errors in the minds of your gymnasts. With this in mind, it’s important teach you’re team members the importance of mistakes. Without making a few mistakes here and there it will be impossible to improve as a gymnast.
• Point Out PositivesIt’s fairly easy to be overly critical of your team members. As a coach, it’s your responsibility to point out errors in an attempt to fix them. Unfortunately, all too often, we tend to focus on the negative and never give any attention to the positives. As a coach, it is your responsibility to keep moral up. In order to do that, it’s essential that you strike a balance of sorts between positive and negative feedback. Next time you’re watching a team member perform a routine, make it a point to find something positive about the performance and bring it to their attention.
• Get to Know ThemThese individuals spend a large amount of their time with you practicing or performing, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a life outside of gymnastics. Since you’re a predominate figure in their daily life, it’s important that you take an interest in their life. Do they have any other hobbies? What do they do for fun? Getting to know you’re team members is a great way to show them that you really care. When your gymnasts know you care they will take your feedback seriously and will respect you more.
• Give Personal AttentionWhen you’re working with a team, you may find it difficult to single out each individual and offer the one on one coaching that they may need. However, it’s important that at some point during the practice week, you work with each individual gymnast on a personal level. Spending one on one time with a team member shows them they they are a valuable part of your team and as such, deserve you’re attention.

From managing substitution patterns to knowing when to pull the goalie at the end of the game, coaching ice hockey might seem like it mostly entails strategic decisions during game play. While that is a big part of it, the well-rounded hockey coach also does much of their work before the puck is ever dropped at the start of a game. Developing an efficient practice routine, handling the day-to-day administrative duties of the job, and learning the subtle psychological tactics to maximize the performance of each individual player are just as crucial to developing a great team.

Practice

Practice is the foundation on which all great teams are built in any sport, because teams that are well-prepared and are not surprised by a situation that arises during a game have a distinct advantage. Coaching ice hockey requires a practice routine that develops individual skills, especially on the youth levels of the sport, by constant drilling of fundamental aspects like skating, puck-handling, shooting, passing, and defense. But a coach must also fit in ample time to develop team concepts, including offensive and defensive plays, special teams, and specific game situations, all while trying to strengthen chemistry between players.

Administrative

Administrative duties are more important to coaches on lower levels. This part of the job entails creating a practice schedule and making sure a rink is available, maintaining equipment, and oversight of all team operations. While this isn’t a glamorous part of the job, it can’t be allowed to slide at all.

Interacting with Players

Coaches in any sport must be amateur psychologists of a sort, because they have to deal with the distinct personalities of all the players on their team. Knowing what buttons to push and how each player responds to certain tactics is a necessity. How a coach deals with players who want more playing time or are struggling with their confidence might make the difference between a great team and one in the cellar.

Strategy

Once all the practice and preparation is done, it’s up to the coach to make the right decisions on game day. Much of the strategy might depend on the opponent, so a good coach must also be willing to take the time to scout his opponent. Knowing the opponents strengths and weaknesses is almost as important as knowing one’s own team’s abilities.

Again, much of what happens on game day is determined by the team’s preparation in practice. But a coach must know how to adjust during a game, nixing a certain plan of attack if it isn’t working or trying a different strategy if an opponent is having success in one particular area. Coaches should also be ready to adjust their game plans depending on how their individual players are performing. For instance, a player having a good night might become a focal point, while one who is struggling might need a pep talk or some extra time on the bench to get them going.

The Juggling Act

Coaching ice hockey is a juggling act of sorts. Good coaches can drill on the physical aspects of the sport and deal successfully with the psyches of each player on the team. And, in the end, they must have the confidence in their team to get it done when it matters most.