What’s it really like to go through MTP Certification? In this episode, you’ll hear directly from Coach Danny Tippett — the very first coach to complete the program.
Danny shares:
- Why he decided to pursue mental performance training
- How the tools helped him coach his son, lead a middle school football team, and improve his own anxiety
- What the certification process was like
- How he’s now applying MTP tools in sports like cheerleading, volleyball, and football
- Why every coach should have this in their toolbox — even if it’s not their main role
Whether you're a coach, trainer, or someone who wants to make a bigger impact — this episode gives you a clear picture of what’s possible when you get MTP Certified.
🔗 Apply at mentaltrainingplan.com → Click “Get Certified”
Are you an ATHLETE looking to take your training to the next level? Check out our website to learn more about 1-on-1 training opportunities:
mentaltrainingplan.com/athletes
Are you a COACH looking for an affordable year-round mental performance training program? Check out the MTP Academy available through our website:
mentaltrainingplan.com/academy
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the
official podcast of MentalTraining Plan.
Today we're going to dive in alittle deeper and we're going to
follow up on previous episodewhich, if you did not listen to
it, about the MTP certification.
Go ahead and pause this one.
Go back and get caught up onwhat the certification program
(00:20):
is, who it's for.
Today we're going to be joiningwith Danny Tippett.
It was the first coach to gothrough the certification
program and just kind of hearhis side of what was the benefit
, what was the value on theother side of it, you know what
were the things that he got outof it.
Just for anyone who'spotentially interested in going
(00:40):
through the MTP certificationprogram, depending on when
you're listening to this, ournext one is coming up.
We've got one here in a coupleof weeks.
We've got one in a couplemonths.
We've got one at the end ofthis year.
That's an application processto get signed up and again, if
you want more information,that's at mentaltrainingplancom.
(01:01):
Click on the Get Certifiedbutton at the top.
But without further ado, let'shop in and check out our
conversation with Danny.
For this next part, I want totalk with the first coach to go
through the MTP certification.
Danny Tippett's with us today.
Coach, appreciate you beinghere.
Would love to just kind of heara little bit about your story
(01:25):
and how you got to where you'reat today.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, I would say, as far as like mental training,
I've always had this desire tocoach.
So I coached my son in footballwhen he was in Pop Warner in
Florida.
He was, you know, five yearsold and getting into the Mighty
Mites, or actually it was TinyMites at the time years old and
getting into the mighty mites,or actually those tiny mites at
the time and so so just coachedhim through all those years and,
(01:49):
just having been formerly anathlete myself, you know there's
there's all these things Ithink of as a parent, right, as
a dad, when your son or yourchild period because my other
two of my daughters also didsports as well you just sort of
how do I coach them but parentthem and how do I keep them from
doing some of the things that Idid, like my dad will always
(02:11):
bring up the time when I was afreshman quarterback in high
school and I got so, sofrustrated with my offensive
line because I couldn't eventurn around, I couldn't even
hand the ball off, I couldn'tbarely get the snap before I'm
turning around, getting hit anda couple fumbles.
I'm just getting demoralized.
It was bad.
(02:32):
I got so angry.
I'm jumping up and down on thefield, yelling and screaming,
and I can picture it howembarrassing it would have been
for my dad.
But for me I was just lost injust this anger, and so he
brings that up all the time.
He was like do you rememberthat time when you looked like a
total fool, jumping around andyelling at your lineman and
everything?
I was like, yes, dad, I doremember that time.
(02:54):
So coaching my son who ended upbeing a quarterback.
One of the things I wanted himto understand was like I could
tell right away kids, they'resix, seven, eight years old,
they're playing a position likequarterback and they know they
have to lead the team.
And then they do something theyfumble, they throw an
interception and at that agethey throw a lot of
(03:14):
interceptions, right.
Just throw the ball up in theair and hope and pray right.
And I remember one of the firsttimes he comes walking off the
field his head was down.
And I remember one of the firsttimes he comes walking off the
field his head was down.
And we were in a game where wewere in it.
We were losing but we were init and I said, look kid.
I said, son, you've got toremember, your position doesn't
(03:35):
allow for you to have your headdown.
So I'm not telling you not tothink about what you just did,
I'm asking you to process it.
But put it aside Because youhave to go back out on the field
and you have to be ready inyour mind that you can do this
and you can push.
And I can almost tell you thathappened about twice before he
just ended up understanding hisrole and what he had to do in
(03:58):
order to keep his team going.
So mentally he locked in prettyearly age.
So, moving forward, as I justwatched him progress and play
the game, my daughters get intocheerleading.
I have another daughter who wasin volleyball.
You know I love X's and O's,but I don't pride myself on
being the coach that reallyknows.
(04:19):
I learned from a lot of othercoaches and I will parrot a lot
of what they say.
That's good.
That's good.
Well, let me keep reinforcingthat.
I always say I would be areally good supportive assistant
coach.
But I was a head coach at onepoint for middle school team and
let me tell you, they were agroup.
My first group was really raw,really rough.
They didn't, they just wantedto do their own thing.
(04:42):
So there was a shift I had tomake for them mentally, um, and
it sort of was good because itwasn't needing to be like they
knew pretty much offense,defense, they were experienced.
Uh, we gave them some plays, wegave them strategy and schemes
and, you know, set up a prettyeasy defense, but it was more
about, like, controlling theiranger.
They were all angry kids andthe ones that weren't fed off,
(05:04):
the ones that were and the onesthat were were my leaders, which
was you know.
So I'm seeing this.
I'm a need to say, okay, thesekids don't respond to yelling,
they're not going to respond toa coach that screams, they're
going.
They need somebody to calm themdown and get them to think and
focus, like shift back right.
(05:24):
And so I this is when Iactually I think, I think I'm we
ran into each other.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I honestly try to remember how we met the first
time I think the first time itwas when fbu had reached out and
there was a I.
I came in and I spoke to agroup of athletes and then we
were going to be doing theonline academy and you came up
and we started talking aboutyour son and then also your team
(05:53):
and it kind of you know, orderwise I don't necessarily
remember which was first orsecond, but I'm pretty sure FBU
kicked that off.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So I wasn't sure if that we had met before that or I
heard your name, but yes, I do,and we talked after.
After that, I was superimpressed with it clicked with
me.
I'm like gosh, this is, this isso needed.
And I know coaches in my past.
They didn't care about mementally.
They was like suck it up, getback on the field.
Yeah, do your thing.
And I know their own way.
They're trying to sure, tryingto get me going in my head.
(06:21):
Um, but I saw the value in whatyou're talking about, this idea
of the focus cycle, this ideaof positive statements and
reinforcing yourself on themental side, because that's the
separation between those who aregood and those who are great.
And I saw something in my sonthat I was just like he's really
(06:42):
good and FBU is about havingsome of the best of the best out
on the field.
So we're already at this camplooking at a program who's
trying to really take those whoare really good and make them
really great, and that's why FBUhad brought you in.
So, talking to you afterwards,I was like, yes, this is
something that I think it wasabout my son.
But I was like this is valuefor my middle school team.
(07:04):
Yeah, so I brought you in.
You did some sessions.
Some of the kids, some of thekids really grasped a hold of it
.
Matter of fact, one of themthat I know of um he actually I
think now um is going to be gosh.
He just committed to a d1school.
His name is damien shanklin.
He is now um.
He went to warren and stand outand now he's playing you're
going to be playing D1 ball andsome of them grasped it.
(07:27):
Some of them didn't, which wasunderstandable at eighth grade,
but the ones that grasped it sawmore success at the next level.
And you know, look, we were onthe east side of Indianapolis.
There's already a lot to dealwith over here on this side of
town, and so my goal was just totry to make sure these kids
stayed out of trouble, stayfocused.
(07:48):
Um, and they were all talentedand there was a lot of talent of
it.
I wanted them to be talentedand knowing why they're talented
and not just because somebodysaid well, you can do really
good at this and then just focuson your skills, only your
physical side of it.
So you came in and you did that.
That was very helpful for us.
That team actually wentundefeated that year and won
(08:11):
everything.
And then they continue to wineverything and they had a really
good season last year thatsenior class graduated and a
really good season their senioryear.
That was a positive, that was abenefit, and so for me, I'm
like man, I wish I could do morewith this.
I was also applying some of thethings to my own life.
I had struggled with anxiety.
It really hit me around 2009.
(08:36):
And from about 2009 to 2024,especially COVID COVID just
really when I actually hadgotten that it really had done
something to me, anxiety-wise,mental health-wise.
It really had done something tome, anxiety wise, mental health
wise.
It was something that reallyhelped me, like the breathing
cycle particularly.
It was something that really Ineeded help with.
And so just practicing some ofthose things, focusing the
positive statements you know,you know, the breathing cycle
(08:59):
was huge sort of recenteringthat vagus nerve and connecting
it all.
I didn't know anything aboutall that and when I'm learning
about these things, I'm likegosh, I'm not practicing any of
this.
I'm high anxiety right now.
I need to figure this out.
Well, little did I know.
I was also projecting it a lotonto my son, who was getting it.
Honestly, he was dealing with alot.
Covid was very hard for himbeing at home and not being at
(09:24):
school with his friends.
He's not a kid.
That would be a good homeschoolkid.
He wants to be around hisfriends.
Sports was sort of a strugglefor him, although he was doing
really well.
He was just having some issuesinternally when it came to his
play on the field.
But on the field he's confident.
I've seen him do things on thefield for a backup quarterback
to come on and do things andbring a team to a win when he
(09:46):
didn't even want to be there atschool that day.
So he had this ability to dothat.
But he was still being affectedoutside of it.
So grades were dropping, hisdesire to just be a football
player anymore was diminishing.
So I actually signed him upwith you because he some,
because he did not want to docounseling.
He did not want to do any ofthat.
So I said, well, let's dosomething with coach Carnes
(10:08):
where it helps you talk throughthese things, work some of these
things out, but also help youwith the field.
You know, I know that's thatwas important to him his
athletic ability and he didthose sessions with you and I
know it's still to this day.
He talked about how he's usingthe breathing cycle.
He's got his go-to statementsthat he's trying to use to
positively reinforce him.
For him it's scripture.
(10:28):
He uses scripture to help himout.
He's very confident in what heknows he can do now and when he
comes up against some struggleswhich we've had a lot of loss in
our family those things arethings he goes to.
It helps them just outside ofsports, which helps them in
sport.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I want to go back to.
I want to go back to somethingthat you said about that middle
school team how they don'trespond to yelling.
They needed to be like, theyneeded to be equipped with some
tools to be able to to performat their best.
And you know, I think an okaycoach is just going to yell
something from the sideline likecatch the ball, like at least
(11:11):
he's coaching his guys, he's,you know, maybe paying attention
.
That's better than juststanding around twiddling your
thumbs, I suppose.
But yelling catch the ball at akid who's thinking, man, I wish
I really would have caught thatball is not helping him improve
in any way.
No, telling him, you know thatwas above your, that was above
your shoulders.
You need to get your pointerfingers and your thumbs together
(11:32):
.
You need to see that thing allthe way in.
Those are, those are tools thatit's like oh yeah, I can, I can
do that, I can improve that andI can get better at this goal
of catching the ball.
I don't think anything isdifferent on the mental side of
the game.
When you and I were growing up,we had coaches that saw you know
(11:53):
kids on the team, whether itwas us or somebody else who, at
times, were mentally weak andthey wanted us to be just
tougher, and so they.
They didn't really know how todo that, and so they would just
scream from the sideline.
That's kind of that same.
You know equivalent there.
So talk to me a little bitabout now, as, as you hear about
(12:17):
this MTP certification, youhear about this opportunity
where you can be equipped withsome more of these tools to now
take it out, and now you can gocoach the individuals that are
struggling with things.
You can coach those teams thatneed a little bit of extra help.
You can equip people with thosetools and the frameworks and
(12:38):
the focus cycle and improvingthe prime five and all those
types of things.
What was the draw for you?
That made you think, huh, Ithink I want to look into this.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, I mean partially life experience, a
door opened up for me to be ableto put more focus into this.
But you know, I'm always a bigbeliever in if it ain't broke,
don't fix it, and something thatyou have already been doing.
You have already worked veryhard at developing this program
and developing these techniquesand tools.
I wanted to learn more abouthow you use them to help others.
(13:15):
I told my son, I said, becausemy son's into coaching now he
still plays, he plays at thecollege level, but he also does
coaching on the side.
And I told him I said look, ifyou ever want to hire me as a
coach, hire me as a mental coach.
I will do that.
100.
I would love to do that to, tosee when that student, when that
athlete comes off the field andwants to slam his helmet on the
on the ground and then pout onthe bench.
(13:36):
I want to be the guy that'sgoing to be going over to him
and reminding them of the toolsand the techniques that we have
already laid out for them to use.
Because, like you said, whenyou're a middle school coach,
there is little less talkingabout skills and technique.
You're just really workingbasics right.
You're trying to get them readyfor high school.
You're just really workingbasic.
(13:57):
A lot of those kids neverplayed a down in their life, so
you're trying to give them thebasics, but you're also trying
to prepare them as eighthgraders to be ready for the high
school level.
And when you're on the Eastside, going from middle school
to Warren, that's a big deal.
And so, look, there's a lot ofpressure on the East side to
play a certain level of football, and so I wanted to be able to
(14:18):
say to them look, let's work onthat confidence that you don't
have right now about theposition you want to play, but
you don't have the experience,so you lack the confidence.
But let's work on figuring outjust these basics, because you'd
be amazed at how many of thesebasics the higher level kids
don't do and so they neveractually improve right, it's
like doing that one extra stepabove the next person, and if
(14:41):
you're going to put that work in, even at the basic level,
you're going to get better.
That's going to increase yourconfidence because you know that
you're grasping what you'redoing.
You know what you need to do.
If you're an offensive lineman,you know who you're supposed to
block, in what situation atwhat time, right, you know how
to make do an audible in yourown mind to say I see a blitz
coming, I need to pick up thislinebacker and let this other
(15:02):
person because my teammate willknow what to do, because he is
seeing what's happening rightnow.
So I was excited about learningwhat tools were already there.
I wanted to, and I'm alreadysort of a guy that thinks
through these things, I'm a deepcritical thinker and in
realizing that this isn't aphysical problem for this kid,
(15:23):
this is a mental problem, andit's a mental problem that goes
back to practice.
So if they're not mentallyready for practice, they're not
going to be mentally ready forthe game, especially when that
stressful moment like you're thequarterback that throws one
interception and they get youdown, but you throw two
interceptions Now you're done.
And so I wanted to make surethat If I'm going to learn this,
(15:44):
I might as well just learn itand go through the certification
that already has this set upand granted.
I'm going to have my ownexperience and my own things
that I've learned and gonethrough.
That will be different, maybe,than what Coach Carnes says, but
it's just another perspective,but it all applies to the same
thing.
I mean don't reinvent the wheeltype deal right, it's the focus
(16:07):
cycle.
That is one of the main things.
Focus and a lot of stuff goeswith that.
The prime five you talk about,those things are all involved in
understanding how do I approachwhat I'm doing in practice
before I even get to the game.
Because one of the things Ialways say life happens, so be
prepared for when it does.
So you prepare yourself now,before that event happens.
(16:29):
Still may not be easy to gothrough, but at least you're
more prepared because you saidthis is a.
This is not a what if situation, this is a win situation.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
For sure.
So now here we are on the backend of going through the
certification.
Talk to us just a little bitabout you.
Know what?
What was your?
What was your experience likegoing through the certification?
Maybe for a coach that'ssitting out there listening and
thinking, hey, maybe this is forme.
What would you say to them?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I would encourage, at the very least, every coach to
go through this.
You may not be the one on yourstaff to really enforce it or to
be the accountability guy.
I just think it's too good tonot have in your back pocket or
your toolbox.
It is a tool.
I mean today, look the oldschool coach, put ice on it
(17:24):
right, rub it out.
You got to cut, you got toscrape, you got hit, whatever.
Who knows how many concussionswe had back then.
I mean, just get up and go backin.
I had a coach when I broke myankle.
He was like get up and go backin.
I was like no coach, I'm prettysure I broke my ankle.
So you know, it's that oldschool mentality.
I get it, but we have so muchin the way of science that has
(17:48):
been able to help us understandwhy some of the things we used
to do we now need to maybeapproach it a little bit
different.
It doesn't mean we're gettingsoft.
It just means that we have alittle bit more of a, a little
bit more knowledge to say, hey,let's be a little bit more
intentional about how we coach.
Let's not just say the X's andO's.
Let's be intentional about howwe coach the whole athlete, not
(18:10):
just part of the athlete,because as much as you are
mental, there's the physical andas much as you are physical,
there's the mental.
And for me I wanted to.
When coming out of this, my goalwhen I sat through the
certification was I look at itfrom a discipleship, rabbi type
of standpoint something I'vebeen doing a lot of studying on
(18:31):
lately as having a master andthen the apprentice.
Right, you have your master,electrician, master, plumber,
you got your apprentice.
So I look at myself as thisapprentice to Coach Carnes,
because Coach Carnes has beendoing this for so many years and
the proof is in the pudding,there's so much success with it.
We've seen this, we know theWestfield story, we know some of
the other stories of some ofthe other athletes, and I want
(18:55):
to be that apprentice that I amgoing to go out and I'm going to
be another Coach Carnes, andI'm not trying to elevate you to
this position, but I also havemy own experiences to provide
with this, whether it's my son,whether it's myself.
But I want to go out there.
I don't want to recreate thewheel Again.
I want to just take the toolsthat I see, understand them and
know that they've already beensuccessful.
(19:16):
And so I want to make sure,just like we have talked about
before, not just anybody shouldcome in and just say I'm going
to just take this and do what Iwant with it.
Don't, because it won't be assuccessful.
I can guarantee you it won't beas successful.
Just go, do your own thing.
But what we're doing with MTPin the certification is I'm
learning from a master mentalperformance coach that has been
(19:38):
doing this.
I'm going to take what he'sdoing, which has been successful
.
I'm going to bring it into mylife and my experience and then
I'm going to go out and I'mgoing to share this with these
athletes that I get to have thisprivilege and this contact with
, to say, hey, you can elevateyour game, but you can also
elevate your life in a lot ofother ways through this mental
performance coaching.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
So I love that and the as you're moving forward
kind of into your own journey, Iguess you know what are.
What are maybe some of theareas of expertise you know,
cause, I'll be honest, I haven'tworked with a lot of football
coaches who are also competitivecheerleading coaches Like
you've got, you got a.
You got a pretty uniqueskillset.
(20:20):
Um, talk to us just a littlebit about maybe, your passion,
your future, where you see thisgoing for you.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
So, yeah, it's interesting you say that because
that was the cheerleadingexperience that I've had.
I coached cheerleading for 16plus years.
I did everything from judge tocoach to choreograph, had my own
gym, so I was really deep intoit.
And, man, let me tell you, ifthere is a sport that has its
mental blocks, it ischeerleading we're doing, we're
teaching these kids at youngages to do something that's not
natural for the body, that'sflip over and over and over
(20:54):
again, fly high in the sky andall these things.
So there's a lot of mentalblocks that happen.
And so, as I am going, you know, I'm just sort of following
what you're doing.
I'm seeing what you have donewith my son, what we have
learned with the coaching in themiddle school team, my own life
.
I'm like man.
There are so many other sportsthat this could benefit.
Cheerleading is a huge one andI want to see it get applied in
(21:19):
that realm.
I think there are some goodcoaches out there that are
starting to understand, becauseit's so frustrating when you got
a kid that can throw this andyou may not understand this
language, but this roundup, backhandspring, double through the
double and then next week theycan't do a back handspring,
which is the basic foundation ofanything that they're doing.
It's the first thing they learn.
So it's helping them have thetools, as a coach, to say, hey,
(21:43):
this is something that may bevaluable because before your
cheerleader and it's inevitableevery cheerleader and some come
over, some make it over, somewill have that victory in that
area.
They'll have that moment, butthen they'll overcome it.
A lot of them don't.
It's to say, how do you coachthem through that?
How do you remind them to usethe tools they already learned
if you've already implementedthat program?
(22:03):
So you know, for me and also mydaughter just this past year
played volleyball and the teamhad all the tools physically,
they had all the skillsindividually.
Every one of those girls wereamazing.
But for some reason there was amental breakdown at some point
of the weekend of games.
(22:23):
And I'm watching this happenand I'm just baffled and some of
the other parents are lookingand they're just baffled and
we're like, okay, what'shappening?
But while I'm sitting therewatching them play, I'm seeing,
you know, a coach throws handsup in the air, I'm seeing him
drop his head and I'm seeing himyell and and, and the girls are
not responding to that.
So I mean, as a coach, we haveto notice those things.
(22:46):
I had to notice that in mymiddle school team.
They're not going to respond.
They get yelled at all the timeat home they're not going to
respond to me yelling to them.
So why would I think that'sgoing to help, not to say it
didn't happen?
Still, from time to time Someof them they needed it.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
But there needs to be this ability to say, okay, this
is how you do it, this is whatyou're doing, but they also want
to understand why they're doingit, and you don't get why
without using your brain.
Yeah, and I'm so glad you bringthat up because I've had people
approach me and say, hey, haveyou thought about working with
firefighters and EMS and policeofficers with this?
(23:22):
And it's because they need it.
And it's like, yes, 100%.
I don't have the bandwidthright now to go work with people
like that and explore thatprogram, because I got a list of
golfers, football players Idon't have room for that in my
life right now.
But let's give you the toolsand you go teach them and you go
(23:45):
do it.
Have you thought about doingthis in the business world?
Because I got guys that youknow they're walking into a $10
million deal and their handsshaky on the briefcase and they
need this.
They need this physical andmental control and it's like I
know I just I can't go do thatright now.
And the you know professionalsingers need this, and the band
(24:05):
kids and the choir kids and thedrama kids and the athlete kids
and the kids that are going tobe like who doesn't need all of
this stuff?
And so that the whole heartbehind the MTP certification is.
Hey, here's everything thatI've learned over the last 15
years.
You know, very rarely anymoreDo I run into a kid where it's
(24:28):
like, wow, I, I don't reallyknow what to do.
You know, because at this pointall the problems pretty much
just it's either it's eitherconfidence or it's focus, or
it's confidence and focus, or ityou know what.
Whichever take your pick fromthe prime five, it's, it's less
of, it's less of having ananswer, you know, ready for for
(24:51):
every single kid, and it's moreof just let's learn.
Where's this kid struggling?
What's this kid need?
What's this?
What's this grown man need?
What's this grown woman need?
What are the, what are theobstacles that are in the way?
Oh well, we've got tools forthat right.
Here they are, and they're,they're time tested.
(25:12):
There I'll be honest, I didn'tcome up with them Like I've,
I've, I'm using all of them, butlike we're, we're, depending on
all the research that's beendone by the sports psychologists
, by, you know, the U S military, pumping millions of dollars
into research.
How do we get our men and women, when their life is on the line
, to perform at their best?
(25:33):
Where I, where I do think we'rea little bit different is how
do we implement this in a teamsetting where every single
person can walk away with theirown plan?
Because that you, that was the.
That was.
The frustration in the earlydays was we would bring in these
experts and what they weresaying was dead on.
(25:53):
It was at yes, absolutely, butthere was a.
There was always these littlepockets of athletes that was
like well, but this isn't reallywhat I'm struggling with.
I'm struggling with somethingelse.
And if, if we don't addressthat, as coaches, we're not
doing our job.
Like we got to put a productout on the field and the whole
(26:13):
community is going to come watchand they're going to see did we
prepare the team?
I'm pumped for the impact thatyou're going to be making.
One of the things that I alwayslove to close episodes with is
(26:36):
just knowing what you know.
Now, if you could go back andtell a younger version of
yourself something, maybe thatgetting ready for your, your
senior year of high school, whatwould that be?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, can I go back to when I was throwing my little
temper tantrum?
on the field when I was afreshman, against, uh, the
Thompson high school JV team.
For sure, um, yeah, thompson,georgia that day, if, if I could
have told myself before thatgame, or prepared by practicing
this understanding that numberone and you mentioned team, I
(27:14):
think that's highly important isnot only is it on me to try to
control and understand what Ineed to do for my own mental
whether you want to call itmental health or mental
awareness, or your focus, yourconfidence, whatever you want to
call it my teammates are doingthe same thing, like they're
human, Like if you're a humanbeing, there's a mental side to
you, right?
And I needed to understand that.
(27:37):
They were having a struggle.
And this is what I love aboutMTP and I love about the team
aspect of it, especially whatwe've seen.
What I think you're doing, whathas happened at Westfield, is
this legacy right Of how theseniors have poured into the
freshmen.
They're coming in like.
This is what we do, this is howwe operate, this is our culture
(27:57):
.
It's a culture, right?
If I could have had that abilityto know that in my freshman
year and practice that throughmy senior year, I would have
been a better leader.
I would have been a betterplayer.
I wouldn't have done a lot ofthe dumb things that I did to
try to gain an edge, and itwould have been better for my
(28:19):
teammates to try to be able tobe this guy that says, hey,
that's not what we do or how wedo it, and it's just better for
you if you understand that everypractice we got to go into this
, physically we're going to gettired, we're going to get wore
out, we're going to get ourbutts kicked, but mentally we
also need to stay strong inthere too, because when you get
tired, mentally that's a wholenother tired versus physically.
(28:41):
I would have loved to been ableto have that ability.
Again, you're a teenager andthere's obviously scientific
reasons why we don't think asmuch when we're younger or that
age.
But I still believe we have theability to have that critical
thinking or that mentalassessment to where we say what
am I lacking and I need to dothis?
They're older and they areadults.
(29:09):
They would have been able tosee those things, but it's just
that wasn't coaching back then.
So, yeah, I would have loved totold myself um, hey, just calm
down, let's let's breathe.
Breathing was huge.
And I will say this.
My dad used to tell me tobreathe, but I didn't hear much
of that until I got older, youknow.
But, um, those types of thingswould have been helpful to know.
Um, that I could have said it'sgoing to be okay.
(29:30):
But just let's, let's work onthese things and you won't have
that temper tantrum in that gameagainst Thompson.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well, danny, thanks so much for for joining us today
.
It's been a pleasure justgetting to hear a little bit
about your story.
If anyone is interested inreaching out Danny working with
him, head on over tomentalaltrainingplancom.
You can scroll down and seemeet our coaches section and you
can click on that to learn alittle bit more about Danny, to
(30:00):
get in contact with him.
If your son or daughter or yourteam is interested in having
him come in and do some work onthe mental side of the game, I
know he would, uh, he wouldcertainly love to help you guys
out.
So, coach, thanks for beinghere, man.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I appreciate you, yeah, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
If you're interested in learning a little bit more
about the mental training plancertification, or MTP
certification, head on over tomental training plancom.
Click on get certified at thetop and you can fill out an
application right there on thatscreen.
If you've got questions, don'thesitate to reach out and until
next time, make your plan andput it to work.
Hey, welcome to the Coaching Minds podcast, the
official podcast of MentalTraining Plan.
Today we're going to dive in alittle deeper and we're going to
follow up on previous episodewhich, if you did not listen to
it, about the MTP certification.
Go ahead and pause this one.
Go back and get caught up onwhat the certification program
(00:20):
is, who it's for.
Today we're going to be joiningwith Danny Tippett.
It was the first coach to gothrough the certification
program and just kind of hearhis side of what was the benefit
, what was the value on theother side of it, you know what
were the things that he got outof it.
Just for anyone who'spotentially interested in going
(00:40):
through the MTP certificationprogram, depending on when
you're listening to this, ournext one is coming up.
We've got one here in a coupleof weeks.
We've got one in a couplemonths.
We've got one at the end ofthis year.
That's an application processto get signed up and again, if
you want more information,that's at mentaltrainingplancom.
(01:01):
Click on the Get Certifiedbutton at the top.
But without further ado, let'shop in and check out our
conversation with Danny.
For this next part, I want totalk with the first coach to go
through the MTP certification.
Danny Tippett's with us today.
Coach, appreciate you beinghere.
Would love to just kind of heara little bit about your story
(01:25):
and how you got to where you'reat today.
Speaker 2 (01:27):
Well, I would say, as far as like mental training,
I've always had this desire tocoach.
So I coached my son in footballwhen he was in Pop Warner in
Florida.
He was, you know, five yearsold and getting into the Mighty
Mites, or actually it was TinyMites at the time years old and
getting into the mighty mites,or actually those tiny mites at
the time and so so just coachedhim through all those years and,
(01:49):
just having been formerly anathlete myself, you know there's
there's all these things Ithink of as a parent, right, as
a dad, when your son or yourchild period because my other
two of my daughters also didsports as well you just sort of
how do I coach them but parentthem and how do I keep them from
doing some of the things that Idid, like my dad will always
(02:11):
bring up the time when I was afreshman quarterback in high
school and I got so, sofrustrated with my offensive
line because I couldn't eventurn around, I couldn't even
hand the ball off, I couldn'tbarely get the snap before I'm
turning around, getting hit anda couple fumbles.
I'm just getting demoralized.
It was bad.
(02:32):
I got so angry.
I'm jumping up and down on thefield, yelling and screaming,
and I can picture it howembarrassing it would have been
for my dad.
But for me I was just lost injust this anger, and so he
brings that up all the time.
He was like do you rememberthat time when you looked like a
total fool, jumping around andyelling at your lineman and
everything?
I was like, yes, dad, I doremember that time.
(02:54):
So coaching my son who ended upbeing a quarterback.
One of the things I wanted himto understand was like I could
tell right away kids, they'resix, seven, eight years old,
they're playing a position likequarterback and they know they
have to lead the team.
And then they do something theyfumble, they throw an
interception and at that agethey throw a lot of
(03:14):
interceptions, right.
Just throw the ball up in theair and hope and pray right.
And I remember one of the firsttimes he comes walking off the
field his head was down.
And I remember one of the firsttimes he comes walking off the
field his head was down.
And we were in a game where wewere in it.
We were losing but we were init and I said, look kid.
I said, son, you've got toremember, your position doesn't
(03:35):
allow for you to have your headdown.
So I'm not telling you not tothink about what you just did,
I'm asking you to process it.
But put it aside Because youhave to go back out on the field
and you have to be ready inyour mind that you can do this
and you can push.
And I can almost tell you thathappened about twice before he
just ended up understanding hisrole and what he had to do in
(03:58):
order to keep his team going.
So mentally he locked in prettyearly age.
So, moving forward, as I justwatched him progress and play
the game, my daughters get intocheerleading.
I have another daughter who wasin volleyball.
You know I love X's and O's,but I don't pride myself on
being the coach that reallyknows.
(04:19):
I learned from a lot of othercoaches and I will parrot a lot
of what they say.
That's good.
That's good.
Well, let me keep reinforcingthat.
I always say I would be areally good supportive assistant
coach.
But I was a head coach at onepoint for middle school team and
let me tell you, they were agroup.
My first group was really raw,really rough.
They didn't, they just wantedto do their own thing.
(04:42):
So there was a shift I had tomake for them mentally, um, and
it sort of was good because itwasn't needing to be like they
knew pretty much offense,defense, they were experienced.
Uh, we gave them some plays, wegave them strategy and schemes
and, you know, set up a prettyeasy defense, but it was more
about, like, controlling theiranger.
They were all angry kids andthe ones that weren't fed off,
(05:04):
the ones that were and the onesthat were were my leaders, which
was you know.
So I'm seeing this.
I'm a need to say, okay, thesekids don't respond to yelling,
they're not going to respond toa coach that screams, they're
going.
They need somebody to calm themdown and get them to think and
focus, like shift back right.
(05:24):
And so I this is when Iactually I think, I think I'm we
ran into each other.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
I honestly try to remember how we met the first
time I think the first time itwas when fbu had reached out and
there was a I.
I came in and I spoke to agroup of athletes and then we
were going to be doing theonline academy and you came up
and we started talking aboutyour son and then also your team
(05:53):
and it kind of you know, orderwise I don't necessarily
remember which was first orsecond, but I'm pretty sure FBU
kicked that off.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
So I wasn't sure if that we had met before that or I
heard your name, but yes, I do,and we talked after.
After that, I was superimpressed with it clicked with
me.
I'm like gosh, this is, this isso needed.
And I know coaches in my past.
They didn't care about mementally.
They was like suck it up, getback on the field.
Yeah, do your thing.
And I know their own way.
They're trying to sure, tryingto get me going in my head.
(06:21):
Um, but I saw the value in whatyou're talking about, this idea
of the focus cycle, this ideaof positive statements and
reinforcing yourself on themental side, because that's the
separation between those who aregood and those who are great.
And I saw something in my sonthat I was just like he's really
(06:42):
good and FBU is about havingsome of the best of the best out
on the field.
So we're already at this camplooking at a program who's
trying to really take those whoare really good and make them
really great, and that's why FBUhad brought you in.
So, talking to you afterwards,I was like, yes, this is
something that I think it wasabout my son.
But I was like this is valuefor my middle school team.
(07:04):
Yeah, so I brought you in.
You did some sessions.
Some of the kids, some of thekids really grasped a hold of it
.
Matter of fact, one of themthat I know of um he actually I
think now um is going to be gosh.
He just committed to a d1school.
His name is damien shanklin.
He is now um.
He went to warren and stand outand now he's playing you're
going to be playing D1 ball andsome of them grasped it.
(07:27):
Some of them didn't, which wasunderstandable at eighth grade,
but the ones that grasped it sawmore success at the next level.
And you know, look, we were onthe east side of Indianapolis.
There's already a lot to dealwith over here on this side of
town, and so my goal was just totry to make sure these kids
stayed out of trouble, stayfocused.
(07:48):
Um, and they were all talentedand there was a lot of talent of
it.
I wanted them to be talentedand knowing why they're talented
and not just because somebodysaid well, you can do really
good at this and then just focuson your skills, only your
physical side of it.
So you came in and you did that.
That was very helpful for us.
That team actually wentundefeated that year and won
(08:11):
everything.
And then they continue to wineverything and they had a really
good season last year thatsenior class graduated and a
really good season their senioryear.
That was a positive, that was abenefit, and so for me, I'm
like man, I wish I could do morewith this.
I was also applying some of thethings to my own life.
I had struggled with anxiety.
It really hit me around 2009.
(08:36):
And from about 2009 to 2024,especially COVID COVID just
really when I actually hadgotten that it really had done
something to me, anxiety-wise,mental health-wise.
It really had done something tome, anxiety wise, mental health
wise.
It was something that reallyhelped me, like the breathing
cycle particularly.
It was something that really Ineeded help with.
And so just practicing some ofthose things, focusing the
positive statements you know,you know, the breathing cycle
(08:59):
was huge sort of recenteringthat vagus nerve and connecting
it all.
I didn't know anything aboutall that and when I'm learning
about these things, I'm likegosh, I'm not practicing any of
this.
I'm high anxiety right now.
I need to figure this out.
Well, little did I know.
I was also projecting it a lotonto my son, who was getting it.
Honestly, he was dealing with alot.
Covid was very hard for himbeing at home and not being at
(09:24):
school with his friends.
He's not a kid.
That would be a good homeschoolkid.
He wants to be around hisfriends.
Sports was sort of a strugglefor him, although he was doing
really well.
He was just having some issuesinternally when it came to his
play on the field.
But on the field he's confident.
I've seen him do things on thefield for a backup quarterback
to come on and do things andbring a team to a win when he
(09:46):
didn't even want to be there atschool that day.
So he had this ability to dothat.
But he was still being affectedoutside of it.
So grades were dropping, hisdesire to just be a football
player anymore was diminishing.
So I actually signed him upwith you because he some,
because he did not want to docounseling.
He did not want to do any ofthat.
So I said, well, let's dosomething with coach Carnes
(10:08):
where it helps you talk throughthese things, work some of these
things out, but also help youwith the field.
You know, I know that's thatwas important to him his
athletic ability and he didthose sessions with you and I
know it's still to this day.
He talked about how he's usingthe breathing cycle.
He's got his go-to statementsthat he's trying to use to
positively reinforce him.
For him it's scripture.
(10:28):
He uses scripture to help himout.
He's very confident in what heknows he can do now and when he
comes up against some struggleswhich we've had a lot of loss in
our family those things arethings he goes to.
It helps them just outside ofsports, which helps them in
sport.
Speaker 1 (10:48):
I want to go back to.
I want to go back to somethingthat you said about that middle
school team how they don'trespond to yelling.
They needed to be like, theyneeded to be equipped with some
tools to be able to to performat their best.
And you know, I think an okaycoach is just going to yell
something from the sideline likecatch the ball, like at least
(11:11):
he's coaching his guys, he's,you know, maybe paying attention
.
That's better than juststanding around twiddling your
thumbs, I suppose.
But yelling catch the ball at akid who's thinking, man, I wish
I really would have caught thatball is not helping him improve
in any way.
No, telling him, you know thatwas above your, that was above
your shoulders.
You need to get your pointerfingers and your thumbs together
(11:32):
.
You need to see that thing allthe way in.
Those are, those are tools thatit's like oh yeah, I can, I can
do that, I can improve that andI can get better at this goal
of catching the ball.
I don't think anything isdifferent on the mental side of
the game.
When you and I were growing up,we had coaches that saw you know
(11:53):
kids on the team, whether itwas us or somebody else who, at
times, were mentally weak andthey wanted us to be just
tougher, and so they.
They didn't really know how todo that, and so they would just
scream from the sideline.
That's kind of that same.
You know equivalent there.
So talk to me a little bitabout now, as, as you hear about
(12:17):
this MTP certification, youhear about this opportunity
where you can be equipped withsome more of these tools to now
take it out, and now you can gocoach the individuals that are
struggling with things.
You can coach those teams thatneed a little bit of extra help.
You can equip people with thosetools and the frameworks and
(12:38):
the focus cycle and improvingthe prime five and all those
types of things.
What was the draw for you?
That made you think, huh, Ithink I want to look into this.
Speaker 2 (12:51):
Well, I mean partially life experience, a
door opened up for me to be ableto put more focus into this.
But you know, I'm always a bigbeliever in if it ain't broke,
don't fix it, and something thatyou have already been doing.
You have already worked veryhard at developing this program
and developing these techniquesand tools.
I wanted to learn more abouthow you use them to help others.
(13:15):
I told my son, I said, becausemy son's into coaching now he
still plays, he plays at thecollege level, but he also does
coaching on the side.
And I told him I said look, ifyou ever want to hire me as a
coach, hire me as a mental coach.
I will do that.
100.
I would love to do that to, tosee when that student, when that
athlete comes off the field andwants to slam his helmet on the
on the ground and then pout onthe bench.
(13:36):
I want to be the guy that'sgoing to be going over to him
and reminding them of the toolsand the techniques that we have
already laid out for them to use.
Because, like you said, whenyou're a middle school coach,
there is little less talkingabout skills and technique.
You're just really workingbasics right.
You're trying to get them readyfor high school.
You're just really workingbasic.
(13:57):
A lot of those kids neverplayed a down in their life, so
you're trying to give them thebasics, but you're also trying
to prepare them as eighthgraders to be ready for the high
school level.
And when you're on the Eastside, going from middle school
to Warren, that's a big deal.
And so, look, there's a lot ofpressure on the East side to
play a certain level of football, and so I wanted to be able to
(14:18):
say to them look, let's work onthat confidence that you don't
have right now about theposition you want to play, but
you don't have the experience,so you lack the confidence.
But let's work on figuring outjust these basics, because you'd
be amazed at how many of thesebasics the higher level kids
don't do and so they neveractually improve right, it's
like doing that one extra stepabove the next person, and if
(14:41):
you're going to put that work in, even at the basic level,
you're going to get better.
That's going to increase yourconfidence because you know that
you're grasping what you'redoing.
You know what you need to do.
If you're an offensive lineman,you know who you're supposed to
block, in what situation atwhat time, right, you know how
to make do an audible in yourown mind to say I see a blitz
coming, I need to pick up thislinebacker and let this other
(15:02):
person because my teammate willknow what to do, because he is
seeing what's happening rightnow.
So I was excited about learningwhat tools were already there.
I wanted to, and I'm alreadysort of a guy that thinks
through these things, I'm a deepcritical thinker and in
realizing that this isn't aphysical problem for this kid,
(15:23):
this is a mental problem, andit's a mental problem that goes
back to practice.
So if they're not mentallyready for practice, they're not
going to be mentally ready forthe game, especially when that
stressful moment like you're thequarterback that throws one
interception and they get youdown, but you throw two
interceptions Now you're done.
And so I wanted to make surethat If I'm going to learn this,
(15:44):
I might as well just learn itand go through the certification
that already has this set upand granted.
I'm going to have my ownexperience and my own things
that I've learned and gonethrough.
That will be different, maybe,than what Coach Carnes says, but
it's just another perspective,but it all applies to the same
thing.
I mean don't reinvent the wheeltype deal right, it's the focus
(16:07):
cycle.
That is one of the main things.
Focus and a lot of stuff goeswith that.
The prime five you talk about,those things are all involved in
understanding how do I approachwhat I'm doing in practice
before I even get to the game.
Because one of the things Ialways say life happens, so be
prepared for when it does.
So you prepare yourself now,before that event happens.
(16:29):
Still may not be easy to gothrough, but at least you're
more prepared because you saidthis is a.
This is not a what if situation, this is a win situation.
Speaker 1 (16:37):
For sure.
So now here we are on the backend of going through the
certification.
Talk to us just a little bitabout you.
Know what?
What was your?
What was your experience likegoing through the certification?
Maybe for a coach that'ssitting out there listening and
thinking, hey, maybe this is forme.
What would you say to them?
Speaker 2 (16:58):
I would encourage, at the very least, every coach to
go through this.
You may not be the one on yourstaff to really enforce it or to
be the accountability guy.
I just think it's too good tonot have in your back pocket or
your toolbox.
It is a tool.
I mean today, look the oldschool coach, put ice on it
(17:24):
right, rub it out.
You got to cut, you got toscrape, you got hit, whatever.
Who knows how many concussionswe had back then.
I mean, just get up and go backin.
I had a coach when I broke myankle.
He was like get up and go backin.
I was like no coach, I'm prettysure I broke my ankle.
So you know, it's that oldschool mentality.
I get it, but we have so muchin the way of science that has
(17:48):
been able to help us understandwhy some of the things we used
to do we now need to maybeapproach it a little bit
different.
It doesn't mean we're gettingsoft.
It just means that we have alittle bit more of a, a little
bit more knowledge to say, hey,let's be a little bit more
intentional about how we coach.
Let's not just say the X's andO's.
Let's be intentional about howwe coach the whole athlete, not
(18:10):
just part of the athlete,because as much as you are
mental, there's the physical andas much as you are physical,
there's the mental.
And for me I wanted to.
When coming out of this, my goalwhen I sat through the
certification was I look at itfrom a discipleship, rabbi type
of standpoint something I'vebeen doing a lot of studying on
(18:31):
lately as having a master andthen the apprentice.
Right, you have your master,electrician, master, plumber,
you got your apprentice.
So I look at myself as thisapprentice to Coach Carnes,
because Coach Carnes has beendoing this for so many years and
the proof is in the pudding,there's so much success with it.
We've seen this, we know theWestfield story, we know some of
the other stories of some ofthe other athletes, and I want
(18:55):
to be that apprentice that I amgoing to go out and I'm going to
be another Coach Carnes, andI'm not trying to elevate you to
this position, but I also havemy own experiences to provide
with this, whether it's my son,whether it's myself.
But I want to go out there.
I don't want to recreate thewheel Again.
I want to just take the toolsthat I see, understand them and
know that they've already beensuccessful.
(19:16):
And so I want to make sure,just like we have talked about
before, not just anybody shouldcome in and just say I'm going
to just take this and do what Iwant with it.
Don't, because it won't be assuccessful.
I can guarantee you it won't beas successful.
Just go, do your own thing.
But what we're doing with MTPin the certification is I'm
learning from a master mentalperformance coach that has been
(19:38):
doing this.
I'm going to take what he'sdoing, which has been successful
.
I'm going to bring it into mylife and my experience and then
I'm going to go out and I'mgoing to share this with these
athletes that I get to have thisprivilege and this contact with
, to say, hey, you can elevateyour game, but you can also
elevate your life in a lot ofother ways through this mental
performance coaching.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
So I love that and the as you're moving forward
kind of into your own journey, Iguess you know what are.
What are maybe some of theareas of expertise you know,
cause, I'll be honest, I haven'tworked with a lot of football
coaches who are also competitivecheerleading coaches Like
you've got, you got a.
You got a pretty uniqueskillset.
(20:20):
Um, talk to us just a littlebit about maybe, your passion,
your future, where you see thisgoing for you.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
So, yeah, it's interesting you say that because
that was the cheerleadingexperience that I've had.
I coached cheerleading for 16plus years.
I did everything from judge tocoach to choreograph, had my own
gym, so I was really deep intoit.
And, man, let me tell you, ifthere is a sport that has its
mental blocks, it ischeerleading we're doing, we're
teaching these kids at youngages to do something that's not
natural for the body, that'sflip over and over and over
(20:54):
again, fly high in the sky andall these things.
So there's a lot of mentalblocks that happen.
And so, as I am going, you know, I'm just sort of following
what you're doing.
I'm seeing what you have donewith my son, what we have
learned with the coaching in themiddle school team, my own life
.
I'm like man.
There are so many other sportsthat this could benefit.
Cheerleading is a huge one andI want to see it get applied in
(21:19):
that realm.
I think there are some goodcoaches out there that are
starting to understand, becauseit's so frustrating when you got
a kid that can throw this andyou may not understand this
language, but this roundup, backhandspring, double through the
double and then next week theycan't do a back handspring,
which is the basic foundation ofanything that they're doing.
It's the first thing they learn.
So it's helping them have thetools, as a coach, to say, hey,
(21:43):
this is something that may bevaluable because before your
cheerleader and it's inevitableevery cheerleader and some come
over, some make it over, somewill have that victory in that
area.
They'll have that moment, butthen they'll overcome it.
A lot of them don't.
It's to say, how do you coachthem through that?
How do you remind them to usethe tools they already learned
if you've already implementedthat program?
(22:03):
So you know, for me and also mydaughter just this past year
played volleyball and the teamhad all the tools physically,
they had all the skillsindividually.
Every one of those girls wereamazing.
But for some reason there was amental breakdown at some point
of the weekend of games.
(22:23):
And I'm watching this happenand I'm just baffled and some of
the other parents are lookingand they're just baffled and
we're like, okay, what'shappening?
But while I'm sitting therewatching them play, I'm seeing,
you know, a coach throws handsup in the air, I'm seeing him
drop his head and I'm seeing himyell and and, and the girls are
not responding to that.
So I mean, as a coach, we haveto notice those things.
(22:46):
I had to notice that in mymiddle school team.
They're not going to respond.
They get yelled at all the timeat home they're not going to
respond to me yelling to them.
So why would I think that'sgoing to help, not to say it
didn't happen?
Still, from time to time Someof them they needed it.
Speaker 1 (23:01):
But there needs to be this ability to say, okay, this
is how you do it, this is whatyou're doing, but they also want
to understand why they're doingit, and you don't get why
without using your brain.
Yeah, and I'm so glad you bringthat up because I've had people
approach me and say, hey, haveyou thought about working with
firefighters and EMS and policeofficers with this?
(23:22):
And it's because they need it.
And it's like, yes, 100%.
I don't have the bandwidthright now to go work with people
like that and explore thatprogram, because I got a list of
golfers, football players Idon't have room for that in my
life right now.
But let's give you the toolsand you go teach them and you go
(23:45):
do it.
Have you thought about doingthis in the business world?
Because I got guys that youknow they're walking into a $10
million deal and their handsshaky on the briefcase and they
need this.
They need this physical andmental control and it's like I
know I just I can't go do thatright now.
And the you know professionalsingers need this, and the band
(24:05):
kids and the choir kids and thedrama kids and the athlete kids
and the kids that are going tobe like who doesn't need all of
this stuff?
And so that the whole heartbehind the MTP certification is.
Hey, here's everything thatI've learned over the last 15
years.
You know, very rarely anymoreDo I run into a kid where it's
(24:28):
like, wow, I, I don't reallyknow what to do.
You know, because at this pointall the problems pretty much
just it's either it's eitherconfidence or it's focus, or
it's confidence and focus, or ityou know what.
Whichever take your pick fromthe prime five, it's, it's less
of, it's less of having ananswer, you know, ready for for
(24:51):
every single kid, and it's moreof just let's learn.
Where's this kid struggling?
What's this kid need?
What's this?
What's this grown man need?
What's this grown woman need?
What are the, what are theobstacles that are in the way?
Oh well, we've got tools forthat right.
Here they are, and they're,they're time tested.
(25:12):
There I'll be honest, I didn'tcome up with them Like I've,
I've, I'm using all of them, butlike we're, we're, depending on
all the research that's beendone by the sports psychologists
, by, you know, the U S military, pumping millions of dollars
into research.
How do we get our men and women, when their life is on the line
, to perform at their best?
(25:33):
Where I, where I do think we'rea little bit different is how
do we implement this in a teamsetting where every single
person can walk away with theirown plan?
Because that you, that was the.
That was.
The frustration in the earlydays was we would bring in these
experts and what they weresaying was dead on.
(25:53):
It was at yes, absolutely, butthere was a.
There was always these littlepockets of athletes that was
like well, but this isn't reallywhat I'm struggling with.
I'm struggling with somethingelse.
And if, if we don't addressthat, as coaches, we're not
doing our job.
Like we got to put a productout on the field and the whole
(26:13):
community is going to come watchand they're going to see did we
prepare the team?
I'm pumped for the impact thatyou're going to be making.
One of the things that I alwayslove to close episodes with is
(26:36):
just knowing what you know.
Now, if you could go back andtell a younger version of
yourself something, maybe thatgetting ready for your, your
senior year of high school, whatwould that be?
Speaker 2 (26:52):
Well, can I go back to when I was throwing my little
temper tantrum?
on the field when I was afreshman, against, uh, the
Thompson high school JV team.
For sure, um, yeah, thompson,georgia that day, if, if I could
have told myself before thatgame, or prepared by practicing
this understanding that numberone and you mentioned team, I
(27:14):
think that's highly important isnot only is it on me to try to
control and understand what Ineed to do for my own mental
whether you want to call itmental health or mental
awareness, or your focus, yourconfidence, whatever you want to
call it my teammates are doingthe same thing, like they're
human, Like if you're a humanbeing, there's a mental side to
you, right?
And I needed to understand that.
(27:37):
They were having a struggle.
And this is what I love aboutMTP and I love about the team
aspect of it, especially whatwe've seen.
What I think you're doing, whathas happened at Westfield, is
this legacy right Of how theseniors have poured into the
freshmen.
They're coming in like.
This is what we do, this is howwe operate, this is our culture
(27:57):
.
It's a culture, right?
If I could have had that abilityto know that in my freshman
year and practice that throughmy senior year, I would have
been a better leader.
I would have been a betterplayer.
I wouldn't have done a lot ofthe dumb things that I did to
try to gain an edge, and itwould have been better for my
(28:19):
teammates to try to be able tobe this guy that says, hey,
that's not what we do or how wedo it, and it's just better for
you if you understand that everypractice we got to go into this
, physically we're going to gettired, we're going to get wore
out, we're going to get ourbutts kicked, but mentally we
also need to stay strong inthere too, because when you get
tired, mentally that's a wholenother tired versus physically.
(28:41):
I would have loved to been ableto have that ability.
Again, you're a teenager andthere's obviously scientific
reasons why we don't think asmuch when we're younger or that
age.
But I still believe we have theability to have that critical
thinking or that mentalassessment to where we say what
am I lacking and I need to dothis?
They're older and they areadults.
(29:09):
They would have been able tosee those things, but it's just
that wasn't coaching back then.
So, yeah, I would have loved totold myself um, hey, just calm
down, let's let's breathe.
Breathing was huge.
And I will say this.
My dad used to tell me tobreathe, but I didn't hear much
of that until I got older, youknow.
But, um, those types of thingswould have been helpful to know.
Um, that I could have said it'sgoing to be okay.
(29:30):
But just let's, let's work onthese things and you won't have
that temper tantrum in that gameagainst Thompson.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Well, danny, thanks so much for for joining us today
.
It's been a pleasure justgetting to hear a little bit
about your story.
If anyone is interested inreaching out Danny working with
him, head on over tomentalaltrainingplancom.
You can scroll down and seemeet our coaches section and you
can click on that to learn alittle bit more about Danny, to
(30:00):
get in contact with him.
If your son or daughter or yourteam is interested in having
him come in and do some work onthe mental side of the game, I
know he would, uh, he wouldcertainly love to help you guys
out.
So, coach, thanks for beinghere, man.
Speaker 2 (30:14):
I appreciate you, yeah, appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
If you're interested in learning a little bit more
about the mental training plancertification, or MTP
certification, head on over tomental training plancom.
Click on get certified at thetop and you can fill out an
application right there on thatscreen.
If you've got questions, don'thesitate to reach out and until
next time, make your plan andput it to work.
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