November 20, 2024 • 36 mins
In this episode of Youth Inc., Greg Olsen and Dr. Gervais welcome Adam Dedeaux of 3DQB to break down how to elevate your practice approach for real results. Adam shares insights on finding the right balance between skill development and gameplay, creating an environment where athletes feel challenged yet supported, and fostering a true love for the game. Learn why effective practice goes beyond repetition, focusing instead on purpose, progress, and making every rep count. Discover how to build not only skills but also confidence and a passion that lasts a lifetime.
Learn more about our partners at Players Health - https://www.playershealth.com/safety-hub
Thank you to MaxU and Players Health for sponsoring this season of Youth Inc.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey everyone, Greg Olson here. You're about to listen to
episode 4 of this special seasonof You Think with Doctor Michael
Gervais. Doctor Gervais is one of the
world's leading experts in performance psychology, working
with elite athletes, coaches andhigh performers to unlock their
potential and thrive under pressure.
If you're just listening, you'remissing half the experience.
(00:22):
Head over to the You Think YouTube channel right now for
daily must see content that is made specifically for parents,
coaches, and athletes. Now sit back and enjoy the
episode. Every great performance begins
with one thing, practice. But getting practice right takes
more than just repetition. It's about purpose, preparation,
(00:43):
and progress. In this episode, we dive deep
into the art of coaching and howto make each practice count on
the path to becoming a great athlete.
We'll explore innovative techniques to keep athletes
engaged, balancing skill and development with gameplay, and
the importance of creating an environment where players feel
both challenged and supported. It's not just about running
(01:04):
through the motions, it's about building skills, confidence, and
a love for the game. Whether you're a seasoned coach
or just starting out, this episode is your playbook for
success. Together, we'll unlock the
secrets to making practice not just a routine, but the
foundation of every athlete's journey to greatness.
Because when we get practice right, we set the stage for
(01:25):
extraordinary results both on and off the field.
What we know about sport and anything in life, it takes a
long time to get good at it and there needs to be some sort of
spark, some sort of love, some sort of idea of a compelling
future to do the required work. And you've got a great insight.
(01:46):
How often do you have to ask your kids if they played their
video games? That's my line.
I know I never have to remind you to play Xbox.
Because they love it. There's a spark.
There, I said. You walk past the batting cage
to go play Fortnite. Don't tell me how important is
it again, like my kids work hard.
They do. I'm just.
(02:07):
But every once in a while I'm. I'm sure I did too.
You just want it's easy to do what's easy. 100% So what we
need is is to figure out the spark that we're trying to to
nurture and flame as opposed to,you know this top down.
I'm sorry you're staying in thisthing because you've got a
future, because I. Don't want to do.
That either and they say I hate.This and the question always is
(02:30):
like, what is the right level for my kid?
You know, we were talking about our own experiences earlier and
it's like you want your kid to be on the best team possible,
but then there also becomes, OK,is there a, is it
developmentally appropriate where they're getting the play
time? And then the second factor is
typically the better teams have what they have better coaches
(02:51):
and the lower teams where you'replaying more don't have, maybe
you get lucky and they have a great coach.
I'm just saying generally speaking, the better coaches
coach the better teams and then it kind of filters its way down.
So like a lot of the times when we're we're going through it,
it's like, do you want your kid to be on a team where maybe
they're game time reps are not at the highest level because the
(03:12):
other girls, the other girls, boys, whatever, are just better
than them and they're not there yet.
But man, they're getting great work during practice and all
week they are getting great work.
They're developing and come weekend games, tournaments,
they're coming off the bench. They have their role.
They might not have the ball in their hand, they might not be
the shortstop, whatever it is. But man, Monday through Friday,
(03:32):
there's growth. I love that.
I I at some point they do need to get on the field to
understand that it's a balance tension.
That type of, you know, it is a balance.
And let's remember, most kids are not going to go on and play
pro sports. Most kids are not going to go on
and play in college. Most kids are using their high
school age or younger experienceto learn about who they are, to
(03:56):
learn about taking risks, to learn about what it means to be
let down, what it means to be a great teammate and A and a
terrible teammate. Like there's so many life
lessons. And let's remember for the
parent, my son is 16, He's a sophomore in high school.
I've got two years left with him.
I got this year as a sophomore and two years left.
(04:19):
So after that, it kind of startsto fade away.
Go to college, you know, if that's in his plans.
And it's a very precious time. So it's consistency over time
rather than jamming stuff in only through one way where they
feel small but you feel big. If you want to help them feel
big and you you maintain your bigness as well.
(04:41):
Yeah, we went through it with mydaughter.
She she's gotten into basketballin the last year or so.
And you know, she wants to play on the best team, but she wasn't
ready. Like she just, she was, her
skills and experience were just not ready relative to the other
girls in her age. And we are very clear with her.
We got to practice more. You got to keep the ball in your
hand more and you got to developand she wanted to just keep
(05:03):
playing. She wanted to keep playing and
now she's going to be on a team where there's a lot of really
good girls and where is she on the hierarchy?
I don't know. I have nothing to do with the
team. I don't help.
I don't I the practices I go to,the games I go to, I am pure
dad. I'm not even helping a little
bit. I have nothing to do with it,
which is probably good thing. And but my point is I don't know
(05:27):
what the games are going to looklike in the beginning.
Hopefully she grows and developsa role and we'll let all that
short out. But but man, the coach during
the week does such a good job inpractice with its skill
development. But also she's very tough on
them. She holds them accountable.
She doesn't take any baby stuff.Like she really coaches these
(05:49):
girls hard and like what I like.She's a young, a young female
coach. She does a great job.
So I say, you know what, if thisweekend she only gets a quarter,
half in each game and the brat, I'm OK with that.
Yeah, and. Because Monday through Friday,
she's going to get so much growth in development that at
this young age. There's a balance.
There's she can't not play at all.
(06:11):
That's not good for her either. That's right.
But man, I'll take good coachingand good weekly development
over. Just roll the ball out.
Yeah, you're going to play everyminute, but no one's getting any
better. I have no patience for that.
This episode of You Think is brought to you by Players
Health, a company that believes youth athletes deserve the
safest and the most accessible environments possible to play
(06:33):
the sports they love. To break this down, I spoke with
Tyree Burks, Players Health's founder and CEO to hear the
mission and principles of Players Health first hand.
We have a really special guest, the founder of Players Health,
Terry Burks. Terry, thanks for joining us
here on you think. I'd love to just hear a little
bit about your background, a little bit about starting and
(06:54):
founding of Players Health and really just why you saw a hole
in the youth sports kind of world that you thought needed to
be filled and and it is being filled by your work with your
team at Players Health. Where I grew up, the environment
that I grew up in played a huge part of me creating players.
So I grew up in the South Side of Chicago.
Sports truly saved my life. And when I say that like I had
(07:16):
an opportunity to choose two paths, either it was the streets
of sports. And fortunately enough, I chose
sports. I was invited to come out to a
youth football practice. I showed up early and I stayed
late and it kept me out of the streets.
And so there's been two things that I've been obsessed with,
you know, the past, call it 15 years of my, call it
professional career as I've been, I've been focused on
(07:38):
safety and I've been focused on sports.
Like I've just been obsessed with those things.
I know what it feels like to grow up in an environment with
safety as a luxury. And sports was a safe place for
me through that experience. I had all these injuries growing
up. I had, I got 3 bulging disc in
my neck. I end up tearing my hamstrings,
broken fingers, ligaments, you know, just playing sports and,
(07:59):
and playing football. We didn't have athletic trainers
growing up with the school I went to.
And then until I went to the college level, I really didn't
understand childish season protocols around how these
things were managed. And so when I look back over my
career, I end up playing in the Canadian Football League for a
couple years and I decided to hang it up.
I started to reflect on my career and go, hey, how these
(08:21):
injuries would have been made. There's a lot better when I was
younger, like who knows what would have happened, but maybe I
would have played a lot longer. And so I started to look at the
impact that I wanted to make in,in my life and, and, and also in
the world. And sports was such a huge,
played a huge role in my life. So I wanted to give back to it
and players, something was, was my way of going about doing
that. And so our mission, they've been
(08:42):
the same mission since day one, which is how do we create the
safest environment for an athlete to play the sport that
they love. I think this is something that
the world needs for our youth. And so we've been focused on
leaning into creating those safespaces.
Here at you think we want to bring value to you, the parents,
coaches, the athletes listening in, everything that we do.
Check out Players Health today and let them know Youth Inc sent
(09:04):
you. Now back to the episode.
Joining us on our latest episodeof You Think is none other than
the quarterback Whisperer, Adam Dado.
Adam is a coach at three DQB where he specializes in elite
quarterback training for top tier athletes.
With a deep understanding of mechanics, mental performance
(09:24):
and leadership, Adam has helped shape the careers of some of the
NF LS best quarterbacks. We dive into the right balance
between skill development and gameplay, how to create an
environment where athletes feel both challenged and supported,
and the importance of building not just skills, but also
confidence and a true love for the game.
(09:45):
Adam shares why practice is morethan just repetition.
It's about purpose, progress, and making every Rep count.
Let's get into it. Tom Howe shared with me about
Tom Brady, and I wonder if you'll back it up where you saw
it yourself, He said. Tom Brady would throw a handful
of balls and then lean over to maybe it was you, but definitely
(10:06):
TomTom House and say what do youthink?
And he purposely would throw a duck something that was just
substandard and and the I just just substandard.
A little test. Did you see the bad ball?
Now he wasn't throwing an awful ball, just barely detectable.
And he was, he was trying to suss out, according to Tom
(10:26):
House, trying to suss out. Are you going to coach me?
Are you really paying attention?Do you know the difference
between good and great? And so did you have that
experience with Tom Brady? And if you did or did not, that
type of intensity is what separates people clearly.
And so I'd love to hear your take.
That definitely is the nature inwhich he works.
(10:48):
And I take go back to a story, there was a timing issue.
He was going a little bit slowerthan he knew he was supposed to
be going faster, but he went a little bit slower because we're
thinking and rhythm and timing and everything like that.
And yes, part of the nature in which I coach now was built on
the fact that in that moment, you better be paying attention
(11:09):
to every Rep. There's no and, and since then
it's been pride our whole organization on we're a feedback
business. These kids, these guys, every
Rep matters. We're not, you know, and Tom
used to say, pick the rule like odd numbers, watch 3 throws and
give a teaching point, watch five.
That way. It's not one one you, you
(11:30):
develop a trend and you teach off of that.
But I remember the first day we worked or I got exposed to Brady
wanted to speed up his foot strike and he was just a titch
slow. The next day he showed up and we
were doing some pre work and it looked faster and and I was
like, hey, that you know, that looks good.
And he goes, yeah, I know that looks good.
(11:50):
And I was like, well, I mean, you know, we're not out on the
field yet. I hope this continues because
you're right on cue with everything.
And he was like, Adam, there's areason I'm the best in the
world. And I was like, OK, OK, but you
know what? He earned the right to say that
it didn't come from like a, a, acocky or anything like that.
It was like, no, he can't because he went that he went
(12:12):
home that night and he's like, Iwas in front of a mirror for
about 90 minutes working on footstrike and working on all the
movements that we had worked on the day before.
And I was. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's a huge take away. We've been talking about this,
Greg, the difference between individual work.
So you just, so we were talking about like team practices for
the team, like your, your coaches want to see a rhythm.
(12:34):
You need to know how to work with your teammates and you're
getting some skill development in context of the team.
And then individual practice is for you.
And you just took it a step further.
You said right, there's individual practice when the
coaches are there and then there's a lone practice.
Yeah, the deep training, what you do when nobody's looking,
the difference between the day and the next day, I mean,
(12:57):
amazing what he can do. And that's like just his mindset
and what his commitment to his craft is.
But I agree. I mean, Tom and I have talked
about the the power of deep training and how important it
is, the stuff that you're going to do on your own outside of the
structure of a team where you can focus on, you know, in terms
of neuroplasticity and just sticking, you know, muscle
(13:21):
memory and the things that you're going to, you're really
trying to work on. The bulk of that is going to be
done on your own. And we always tell our athletes
like, especially like the kids, it's like, hey, we get to see
you once a week on Saturdays. If that's the only time you're
working on this, I promise you, you will not get better, not in
the time frame you want. And everybody wants to, you
know, see results now, see results now.
(13:42):
It's well then the deep trainingis going to be what's most
powerful, what you take from today, being able to use it
throughout the week at your practices, even if it's 5 or 10
minutes. And we always see, you know,
hear the stories when guys will bring their teammates, the wide
receivers of the lineman, whatever, to practice.
But it's always the guys just say, yeah, he's doing that goofy
stuff off to off to the side on his own.
(14:04):
And we make fun of him for doingthe warm up that, you know,
where you're doing the, you know, everything like that.
But it lets me know that they are thinking and doing the
little things on their own that are going to make a difference
for him. It's not just on Saturdays or
Sundays when we see them for fortheir training session, which I
think in the long in the long run, absolutely.
I mean, you're building your 10,000 hours.
It can't just be done in a training session.
(14:25):
Our baseball warm up. Our kids are walking like this,
forward and backwards. We're holding the ball in their
hand. People look at us like we're
nuts, but knock on wood, our kids don't have shoulder
problems. Hold on, he he makes them walk
in perfect unison as well. So this is.
This is a little more casual, but they got to make sure
they're all those. We got a lot of these.
We get a lot of this when they get tired.
We get a lot of that. We're not doing that.
(14:46):
But but I want you to stay therefor a minute.
But instead of, yes, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, I mean, these are
these are some of the greatest players of all time.
There's a reason they are what they are.
How do you take everything you just said about what you've
learned from Tom and Drew and atthe highest level, bring us to
that Saturday, Sunday youth workout, right?
You're seeing a handful of middle school high school kids
(15:08):
coming to work with you guys. I'm sure there's an element
where you are trying to teach them similar traits and lessons
and whatnot that you would work with the more advanced high
level guys. But then I'm also, there's
probably a developmentally appropriate manner in which to
do it on a lot of different factors.
So give us some instant like what do those weekend youth
training sessions look like and how do they compare similar or
(15:30):
different to what you would do with the high level guys?
You talk to Tom and learn about windows of trainability and
where we're working on their neurological system or we're
working on their muscular system.
But in terms of the buy in, because it it, it's no
different. You know, I think about The
Saturdays, especially, we got a new kid and you know, we'll, I
usually have 5:00 to 6:00 coaches out there, very small
(15:51):
group training to make sure thatthe kids are getting the
feedback that they need. If we don't like long lines,
because I don't think people will get better if they're
sitting in a line of five or sixquarterbacks.
So we keep everything pretty intimate, but there's no
difference in terms of when you're asking for buy in from a
kid, they want to know why. And we pride ourselves on having
the why's behind it. And that's one thing that, you
(16:13):
know, I think is a staple. Like if you can't explain it, I
don't blame the kid for not having complete buy in.
You need to be able to explain the why's.
And we do that every Saturday. We're going to do this because
this and somebody say we talk about, well, hey, we just had
Matthew Stafford this morning inthis.
Why do we got to explain why? It's like it doesn't matter
'cause he doesn't know nor does he really care that any of those
(16:36):
guys were. To know how you're gonna help
me. Exactly.
And I appreciate that. Like, yes, it's cool that those
guys were here this morning, butor, or yesterday or the day
before, but it, it doesn't matter.
It's still, I, I think it's healthy for the kids to, to
question why. It shows to me that they're that
they're taking ownership of their craft, that they're being
intentional about their work. And if they believe in it, if
(16:59):
they believe in the reason why, there's a far better chance
they're going to do it at a highlevel or they're at least going
to attempt to do it at a high level.
So those Saturdays are built on in the beginning, you know, we
have a process of warm up to throw, obviously not throw in to
warm up. We're going to work on our
movement patterns, meaning movement unrelated to any
result. There's no ball involved.
(17:21):
We're just working on their body.
Much like, you know, you wouldn't put a, a weight lifter
under a weight that he can't handle.
You have to condition his body to be able to do that.
Similarly, we're working on movement patterns for these guys
so they can feel what their body's doing.
And for youth kids, that's important, especially as they
start putting on muscle because then their body changes.
So giving them the time to and the reps to feel their body in
(17:45):
space, do what we're asking themto do and really, you know,
manipulate them to make sure they feel what they're doing so
that when they take the field, there's a familiar feeling to
draw from. Give them that successful
feeling of like, OK, I know whatthat feels like.
I can sensationalize that. I can close my eyes, I can feel
what I'm doing. And then when I go out to the
the playing field, these feelings start to become more
(18:07):
familiar. And we tell them, hey, you may
only feel it 20% of the time today.
And the other 80% are going to feel, you know, crappy and your
results aren't going to be good,but 20% is a win.
And tomorrow might be 25% and 30%.
And we're going to build it. It's a process.
It doesn't happen overnight. And that's why we stress like,
hey, being here one day a week is not going to be enough.
(18:28):
It's something that you got to do on your own.
The thing that sticks out to me the most that I love is when you
put a kid at a team practice, it's so hard to hold them
accountable to doing the little things with.
Take quarterback, for example, because all that kid is
thinking, I don't care if it's Matthew Stafford or if it's a
(18:48):
7th grade boy, The only thing they're thinking at that
practice is my entire team's watching me.
This needs to be a great throw, a great ball.
However, I get it there. However, I get it there.
This ball's got to come out of my hand, tight, accurate, on
time. None of these kids are looking
at my feet. None of these kids are worrying
about my front side. None of these kids are worried
(19:10):
about my shoulder. It is so outcome oriented and I
get it. I get it.
You, you don't wanna throw a badball in front of your friends.
You don't wanna miss a layup. Like it's just get the outcome I
want in my team setting. I'm biased about football
obviously, but I think the best thing about football, especially
(19:30):
at a young age, between what youguys are doing and just the
setup of the game, it is the only youth sport going on today
that you practice more than you play.
Baseball you're. Practicing once, maybe twice a
week. You're playing seven games a
weekend. Base basketball, same thing.
Volleyball, you'll go to these tournaments and you'll play 100
(19:52):
games in the weekend. There's 1000 teams.
You did one or two practices during the week.
Football is the only sport whereyou really can show the kids the
value that we are going to practice more than we play.
This is not just a quick little check the box and just go play a
million games this weekend. And I think having the time to
go out there and slow things down and learn the mechanics and
(20:15):
learn. You can spend 10 minutes
worrying about, hey, do you likeyour top finger on the second
lace? Do you feel more comfortable
because your hands are a little smaller, maybe moving them down
to the middle? Your hands have gotten bigger.
Maybe we need to. You're not doing that at a team
practice. I'm the head coach.
I, I can't spend 10 minutes withmy quarterbacks asking them how
they feel about where the ball we got to go get the ball, take
(20:35):
the snap, here's the play and throw it or I'll put somebody
else in like I don't have time. I think more parents need to
seek this out. I think more in all sports, I
think we can apply this conversation across the board.
Everything. There's not enough time on
learning the mechanics and the fundamentals and the skills
involved with these sports because every coach is up
(20:57):
against winning and every coach is up against the timetable of
saying, listen, I don't have allday.
I got to get a team ready to go out and play a tournament this
weekend. People need to seek this out.
I wish it would come through their team coach.
You might get it every once in awhile if you're lucky, but
there are alternative opportunities outside if you
(21:18):
have access to it and you can doit.
And if you can, it is so valuable.
For high school, I'll use volleyball.
In this case, it's only four hours a week of practice.
We're not talking about a ton ofpractice here in football.
What? What is high school football
practice? Let's see a normal high school
football practice. They play on a Friday night.
(21:39):
Monday looks some sort of like aintroductory walkthrough in a
weight room session for maybe 2 1/2 hours.
Wednesday called another 2 1/2. Five, seven.
Yeah, you're talking between Monday to Thursday, four days.
You're talking probably 10 hours. 10 hours, so that would
be hard to find an extra one or two hours on individual work.
But if your kids. Probably an offseason thing
(22:01):
would be my game. Mostly offseason.
The vast majority of kids going to work with individual coaches,
especially in this sense, is an offseason.
There you go. OK.
Is that fair? Yes, absolutely.
In volleyball, you can afford todo.
You can afford to do it in. Season with baseball, right you
can go take a hit you can go do it you can go do a hit a session
on your own because your baseball practice after school
is going to be you can do a 45 minute infield, you're going to
(22:24):
do an hour at BP and you're going to hit the showers and go
home. There's just not that much to
do. And now more from my
conversation with the team at Players Health, what would you
say has been probably the most impactful policy that you guys
have consulted on? You've been part of the
conversation implementing and and kind of outline like was it
the concussion stuff? Is there something else like
(22:45):
where is there one conversation and big movement that that you
guys have been a part of that you feel like has made a
significant impact on the youth sports?
Landscape I have to hyper focus specifically around our abuse
prevention policies and the reason why I why I gravitate to
that and and not that concussions are not a big deal
(23:05):
because they are but an an incident specifically around
emotional physical sexual abuse within a youth athlete will
change their life forever. And so I always like to say that
a player's help. Our focus is to make sure that
the transaction between an athlete and their sports
organization. We want it to be positive.
(23:26):
We want them to be depositing good things into kids and not
taking things away from them. And so when we look at abuse
prevention policies, we recognize that this is a life on
the line. And so when when we look at how
we prepare and credential coaches, we need to make sure
that these adults are actually, you know been credentialed
before they come in contact withan athlete.
(23:48):
And what are the signs should webe looking for around bad
behavior around communication? What are the things should we
should we be making sure that weunderstand and then do we have a
reporting mechanism in place so that we the athlete has a voice
their parents all of the folks around that are our eyes and
ears. Do they have now have a
mechanism to communicate that this is happening and then do we
(24:10):
have preventative measures or ortemporary measures are being put
in place to stop the bleeding Ifwe do find a behavioral issue
with the coach or staff member, have we removed?
Them. Do we have an investigative
process in place? Like all that policy changes
everything and and it limits thelikelihood that something that
(24:31):
will change a life forever from happening.
We only want sports to be positive, but we recognize that
there are experiences that kids are having that that are
negatively impacting their livesforever.
So I'd say that that's the definitely the number one
policy. Health, of course, is a big
focus, but I think on the safetypiece, it can't get bigger than
that. It's a shame.
(24:51):
How much is going on in the world of youth sports?
But people like yourself that are passionate and, and
companies like, like players health that are very passionate
about improving the experience for all people, adults but
mostly children in youth sports.I, my hats off to you, man.
What what you guys are building the services and the and the
policies you guys are implementing and creating are
(25:12):
changing the landscape of youth sports for thousands of kids all
across the country. And you guys should be applauded
for it. So I appreciate you joining us
here on on you think. I appreciate you sharing your
vision, your journey and look forward to continuing to work
with you guys going forward. Absolutely.
Appreciate you, Greg. Talk to you soon here at You
Think. We want to bring value to you,
(25:33):
the parents, coaches, the athletes listening in,
everything that we do. Check out Players Health today
and let them know. Youth Inc sent you.
Now back to the episode. So let's talk about feedback
because you highlighted the importance of feedback in in
practice, whether it's team and or individual practices, the
feedback loop is really the currency and it was a great
(25:55):
insight. Every 3rd or 5th ball then
interrupt like what's happening with some feedback.
Can you open that up a little bit more about what are some of
the core principles you're working from or some some
stories to highlight, like what good looks like or what terrible
looks like on feedback? Probably give more feedback than
most, but I, I do think it's valuable.
(26:15):
I think that's why they're there.
You know, and I think a lot of what we're in the beginning,
it's finding that mental approach, you know what, how
we're going to go about our day and structuring our day.
And then most of the feedback after that is going to be more
physical. But are you asking?
Questions or or or are you saying like better posture, like
(26:37):
or reach? Are you giving them instruction
or are you asking them what happened, what you see, what you
feel, what you learn? Great question and it's all.
The above, honestly, certain athletes, I think it's getting a
feel for how they're going to learn and sometimes taking them
in the direction you want to go.You got to ask those questions
and teach through them. But to answer your question, are
we giving actual? Absolutely.
(26:59):
Your timing foot strikes, fasterposture, your head moved your
front side was soft premature rotation hold the front shoulder
yes, everything we're looking atevery mechanical detail.
Some guys can handle more some guys it's more general themed.
How'd that feel Did you feel your lower half?
Did you did you feel what your what your arm did there?
(27:20):
Did it feel easy? Were you in control?
And then I get answers and then I can kind of all right, now
let's try this. So who holds?
The answers the coach or the athlete?
That's a loaded question. I want the.
Athlete eventually to have the answers.
So if they've spent enough time and I keep asking the right
questions, I think eventually they're going to have the
(27:42):
answers. In the beginning, I think it's
my job to explain the general theme we're looking for.
Call it again. I refer back to a golf swing
kinematic sequencing. These things have to happen in
this time frame. And it it should feel like this,
as long as they're informed on what I'm going for, right?
And then the teaching points that go along with it,
(28:05):
eventually they should have their own answers.
And I remember, you know, I'll use Jalen Hurts as a example.
We spent some time together. He didn't say, you guys send me
something about trust and building with an athlete.
And you know this as an athlete,like they don't trust easily.
And I don't blame them. You know, sometimes they don't
(28:27):
say anything for a week or two, especially Jalen.
And you? Don't know.
You don't know what he's thinking.
I don't know if, but whatever. It's my job to coach him.
And then, you know, he would just kind of shake his head.
And then eventually we got to the point, said, all right, I
need to hear you less because I'm hearing everything you're
saying. I need to start being able to
(28:47):
apply it be like, OK, it's really cool.
You know, so he'd. Have a Rep and he's like, just I
want to hear I want to hear you less today.
And Andrew would say that sometimes like give me a give me
a point every five throws or something.
And then but the rest of it, let's just hold it to the end,
especially with I'm with my guys, I'm working on something
specific, something that you. Guys can maybe help me unlock is
(29:09):
that we know from a performance standpoint, from a psychological
perspective, is that we want theathlete to focus their attention
externally and for the most partnarrowly.
So if you think about there's four ways you can place your
attention, two of them are internal and two of them are
external. When your attention is external
(29:29):
broad, it's like as a quarterback, you're picking up
the big thing, like what's the whole field unfolding?
And then you go to route one andyou you want them to narrow down
to like the chin strap or the numbers or whatever, as narrow
as they can get. You have to go internal, though.
You have to think that's part ofthe internal attention.
You have to kind of feel your body.
That's internal as well. And then quickly you want to get
(29:51):
it out. OK, so or external attention.
How do you, when you this is this is, I'm confused by this.
When you ask a question like, did you feel your front foot?
Did you feel your rotation of your hips?
You're asking them to go internal, and then you want them
to think about flipping their hips at a certain point in the
(30:12):
sequence while they're doing it so they can get better.
But if they're not looking externally at the target and
they're focusing internally on their hips, their mind is not in
the right place. So I'm confused how coaches are
able to do help the athletes gettoday external narrow focus and
at the same time focus on hip rotation.
(30:33):
I guess again I'm. Not a quarterback expert, I
think just to answer your quarterback and you can give a
little bit more of a quarterbackperspective.
I I think to me, the the heavy coach directives is very age.
There's an age element to that, right?
There's an experience component.The the less experienced you are
in the skill that I'm trying to teach you in the more you're
(30:56):
gonna depend on me for external feedback pointers.
Fix your front foot pick up, youknow, control your front side.
You're dropping your OK? Yeah.
I think the. Hope in these drill sessions,
I'll be curious what your take is, but my guess is in those
individual drill moments in at ateam practice, that's what
individual periods all about. It's it's focusing on your craft
(31:18):
to do your position, whether it's footwork in the run game or
how to work under center drops, gun drops, play action, wide
receivers catching the ball. But whatever the skill set is,
that's your time to just go internal.
You're not relying on anybody else.
You are developing muscle memory.
You are laying down layers and layers in your neurological
(31:39):
system of patterns, right? And you're just laying that down
reps after reps after reps. The hope is when it's time that
your focus has to be external onthe quarterback.
Now, you are not gonna in a game, sit there and say, OK,
front side, keep it stiff, keep your shoulder slightly open,
step just to the left of your target.
(31:59):
Make sure I'm delivering the ball.
That needs to be now in those individual sessions with Adam.
You can afford to go internal there and really hyper focus on
controlling that because the idea is the more you do it
right, your body doesn't know how to do it wrong.
And when it's time to just let it loose, that muscle memory and
stuff will go from just time andtime and 10.
(32:21):
So the training is internal, theexecution in a competitive
moment, you have to be an externally focused and any of
your inner workings need to justcome out naturally.
Yeah, that's the bridge. That Adam, for you to sequence
here or to address is that when you're like we've talked about
this Greg a bunch, the way you practice is the way you play.
(32:42):
And if you're doing the individual work, practicing
focusing on the internal, you'lllikely play focusing on the
internal, which is a disaster. We all agree with that for the
most part. I mean, sometimes you can get
away with things. So how do you how do you help
them? I'm thinking there's like every
fifth ball. Maybe it's like how you doing
and then you're helping them getexternally focused at the same
(33:02):
time or on a different queuing. But take it take us home.
Well, everything you said is. Right.
And, and similar to, you know, once you paint the picture of
what you're looking for, and then we were to take them out to
the field and they, you're struggling with it, It's, it's
OK, you're not, you're not thereyet.
I'm not expecting you to be there 20%.
Just you feeling a little bit better is all we're looking for
(33:23):
today. But as time goes on and you've
put together, that's why those patterning periods are so
important. That's where we're literally
building your body, throat. Unrelated.
To a ball or anything, we're just manipulating your body,
giving you the flexibility and the mobility to do it.
And you know, as coach, we need to see what that looks like is
there is no ball yet. We're just getting the body
(33:45):
prepared to do it so that when we get on the field and we've
built enough reps doing it that it starts to trickle over.
It starts to trickle into those workouts.
And when we're asking the question, did you feel this?
It's I want you to go back to the patterning period.
Remember what that felt like with that, You know, because I'm
telling you that looked right. Are you feeling that now in the
(34:08):
space of throwing or, you know, in performance?
But when they're in a game, no, we're not thinking about any of
this stuff. Now when a guy leaves after an
offseason and he's been with us,OK, you've spent a lot of time
with me. What?
Two or three things can I do that fixes me if I'm ever having
(34:29):
a problem or I'm, you know, what's most likely to be the
thing I need to do better. And that goes back to Brady.
He had had the three notes on his, you know, his wrist
wristband, his three mechanical notes in training camp.
Go fast front shoulder, firm front side.
So it was just what was most particular to him to make sure
(34:52):
like as a reminder if he had a ball that was a little, but
like, that's it. Keep it as simple as possible.
But it's not nothing. It's just enough like a good
reminder. Oh yeah, just go faster.
Sometimes going faster is all I need to do If you were to write.
Those 3 on an athlete, would they be technical skills 'cause
that's what he just wrote that you just described Technical
(35:12):
skills for the most part. Or would you write cut it loose,
trust your stuff more, more psychological stuff?
Where would you or like pick my spots, which is that narrow
external focus? What would you write?
I think? Again, it's specific to the
athlete themselves. It's like if I've spent six
months with them and I think about what were the most
(35:33):
important three things that we talked about, it could very
easily be the mental side. It could very easily be a
trigger word that has nothing todo with mechanics.
And it's just that trigger word that literally triggers a
mechanical adjustment. You know, it like stay
aggressive, right? Or, you know, if if a guy's
going slow, like, you know, you know, play free.
(35:56):
I was talking to a quarterback who's getting ready to play a
big game tomorrow and he's, you know, just like I, I just got to
cut it loose. Like that's I, I got, I got to
cut it loose. And I said I love it.
I love it. Go out there and cut it loose.
What a great conversation. What an ending.
Yeah. What?
A great leave. It right there, Adam.
Thank you so much man. That was for sure.
That was. Awesome.
That was awesome. Thank you.
Thanks for listening. Let's recap some of the key
(36:18):
points from our discussion. Today we discussed the right
balance between skill development and gameplay, how to
create an environment where athletes feel both challenged
and supported, and the importance of building not just
skills, but also confidence and a true love for the game.
Adam shared why practice is morethan just repetition, it's about
purpose, progress, and making every Rep count.
(36:41):
Until next time, thanks for joining us here on Youth Inc.
Hey everyone, Greg Olson here. You're about to listen to
episode 4 of this special seasonof You Think with Doctor Michael
Gervais. Doctor Gervais is one of the
world's leading experts in performance psychology, working
with elite athletes, coaches andhigh performers to unlock their
potential and thrive under pressure.
If you're just listening, you'remissing half the experience.
(00:22):
Head over to the You Think YouTube channel right now for
daily must see content that is made specifically for parents,
coaches, and athletes. Now sit back and enjoy the
episode. Every great performance begins
with one thing, practice. But getting practice right takes
more than just repetition. It's about purpose, preparation,
(00:43):
and progress. In this episode, we dive deep
into the art of coaching and howto make each practice count on
the path to becoming a great athlete.
We'll explore innovative techniques to keep athletes
engaged, balancing skill and development with gameplay, and
the importance of creating an environment where players feel
both challenged and supported. It's not just about running
(01:04):
through the motions, it's about building skills, confidence, and
a love for the game. Whether you're a seasoned coach
or just starting out, this episode is your playbook for
success. Together, we'll unlock the
secrets to making practice not just a routine, but the
foundation of every athlete's journey to greatness.
Because when we get practice right, we set the stage for
(01:25):
extraordinary results both on and off the field.
What we know about sport and anything in life, it takes a
long time to get good at it and there needs to be some sort of
spark, some sort of love, some sort of idea of a compelling
future to do the required work. And you've got a great insight.
(01:46):
How often do you have to ask your kids if they played their
video games? That's my line.
I know I never have to remind you to play Xbox.
Because they love it. There's a spark.
There, I said. You walk past the batting cage
to go play Fortnite. Don't tell me how important is
it again, like my kids work hard.
They do. I'm just.
(02:07):
But every once in a while I'm. I'm sure I did too.
You just want it's easy to do what's easy. 100% So what we
need is is to figure out the spark that we're trying to to
nurture and flame as opposed to,you know this top down.
I'm sorry you're staying in thisthing because you've got a
future, because I. Don't want to do.
That either and they say I hate.This and the question always is
(02:30):
like, what is the right level for my kid?
You know, we were talking about our own experiences earlier and
it's like you want your kid to be on the best team possible,
but then there also becomes, OK,is there a, is it
developmentally appropriate where they're getting the play
time? And then the second factor is
typically the better teams have what they have better coaches
(02:51):
and the lower teams where you'replaying more don't have, maybe
you get lucky and they have a great coach.
I'm just saying generally speaking, the better coaches
coach the better teams and then it kind of filters its way down.
So like a lot of the times when we're we're going through it,
it's like, do you want your kid to be on a team where maybe
they're game time reps are not at the highest level because the
(03:12):
other girls, the other girls, boys, whatever, are just better
than them and they're not there yet.
But man, they're getting great work during practice and all
week they are getting great work.
They're developing and come weekend games, tournaments,
they're coming off the bench. They have their role.
They might not have the ball in their hand, they might not be
the shortstop, whatever it is. But man, Monday through Friday,
(03:32):
there's growth. I love that.
I I at some point they do need to get on the field to
understand that it's a balance tension.
That type of, you know, it is a balance.
And let's remember, most kids are not going to go on and play
pro sports. Most kids are not going to go on
and play in college. Most kids are using their high
school age or younger experienceto learn about who they are, to
(03:56):
learn about taking risks, to learn about what it means to be
let down, what it means to be a great teammate and A and a
terrible teammate. Like there's so many life
lessons. And let's remember for the
parent, my son is 16, He's a sophomore in high school.
I've got two years left with him.
I got this year as a sophomore and two years left.
(04:19):
So after that, it kind of startsto fade away.
Go to college, you know, if that's in his plans.
And it's a very precious time. So it's consistency over time
rather than jamming stuff in only through one way where they
feel small but you feel big. If you want to help them feel
big and you you maintain your bigness as well.
(04:41):
Yeah, we went through it with mydaughter.
She she's gotten into basketballin the last year or so.
And you know, she wants to play on the best team, but she wasn't
ready. Like she just, she was, her
skills and experience were just not ready relative to the other
girls in her age. And we are very clear with her.
We got to practice more. You got to keep the ball in your
hand more and you got to developand she wanted to just keep
(05:03):
playing. She wanted to keep playing and
now she's going to be on a team where there's a lot of really
good girls and where is she on the hierarchy?
I don't know. I have nothing to do with the
team. I don't help.
I don't I the practices I go to,the games I go to, I am pure
dad. I'm not even helping a little
bit. I have nothing to do with it,
which is probably good thing. And but my point is I don't know
(05:27):
what the games are going to looklike in the beginning.
Hopefully she grows and developsa role and we'll let all that
short out. But but man, the coach during
the week does such a good job inpractice with its skill
development. But also she's very tough on
them. She holds them accountable.
She doesn't take any baby stuff.Like she really coaches these
(05:49):
girls hard and like what I like.She's a young, a young female
coach. She does a great job.
So I say, you know what, if thisweekend she only gets a quarter,
half in each game and the brat, I'm OK with that.
Yeah, and. Because Monday through Friday,
she's going to get so much growth in development that at
this young age. There's a balance.
There's she can't not play at all.
(06:11):
That's not good for her either. That's right.
But man, I'll take good coachingand good weekly development
over. Just roll the ball out.
Yeah, you're going to play everyminute, but no one's getting any
better. I have no patience for that.
This episode of You Think is brought to you by Players
Health, a company that believes youth athletes deserve the
safest and the most accessible environments possible to play
(06:33):
the sports they love. To break this down, I spoke with
Tyree Burks, Players Health's founder and CEO to hear the
mission and principles of Players Health first hand.
We have a really special guest, the founder of Players Health,
Terry Burks. Terry, thanks for joining us
here on you think. I'd love to just hear a little
bit about your background, a little bit about starting and
(06:54):
founding of Players Health and really just why you saw a hole
in the youth sports kind of world that you thought needed to
be filled and and it is being filled by your work with your
team at Players Health. Where I grew up, the environment
that I grew up in played a huge part of me creating players.
So I grew up in the South Side of Chicago.
Sports truly saved my life. And when I say that like I had
(07:16):
an opportunity to choose two paths, either it was the streets
of sports. And fortunately enough, I chose
sports. I was invited to come out to a
youth football practice. I showed up early and I stayed
late and it kept me out of the streets.
And so there's been two things that I've been obsessed with,
you know, the past, call it 15 years of my, call it
professional career as I've been, I've been focused on
(07:38):
safety and I've been focused on sports.
Like I've just been obsessed with those things.
I know what it feels like to grow up in an environment with
safety as a luxury. And sports was a safe place for
me through that experience. I had all these injuries growing
up. I had, I got 3 bulging disc in
my neck. I end up tearing my hamstrings,
broken fingers, ligaments, you know, just playing sports and,
(07:59):
and playing football. We didn't have athletic trainers
growing up with the school I went to.
And then until I went to the college level, I really didn't
understand childish season protocols around how these
things were managed. And so when I look back over my
career, I end up playing in the Canadian Football League for a
couple years and I decided to hang it up.
I started to reflect on my career and go, hey, how these
(08:21):
injuries would have been made. There's a lot better when I was
younger, like who knows what would have happened, but maybe I
would have played a lot longer. And so I started to look at the
impact that I wanted to make in,in my life and, and, and also in
the world. And sports was such a huge,
played a huge role in my life. So I wanted to give back to it
and players, something was, was my way of going about doing
that. And so our mission, they've been
(08:42):
the same mission since day one, which is how do we create the
safest environment for an athlete to play the sport that
they love. I think this is something that
the world needs for our youth. And so we've been focused on
leaning into creating those safespaces.
Here at you think we want to bring value to you, the parents,
coaches, the athletes listening in, everything that we do.
Check out Players Health today and let them know Youth Inc sent
(09:04):
you. Now back to the episode.
Joining us on our latest episodeof You Think is none other than
the quarterback Whisperer, Adam Dado.
Adam is a coach at three DQB where he specializes in elite
quarterback training for top tier athletes.
With a deep understanding of mechanics, mental performance
(09:24):
and leadership, Adam has helped shape the careers of some of the
NF LS best quarterbacks. We dive into the right balance
between skill development and gameplay, how to create an
environment where athletes feel both challenged and supported,
and the importance of building not just skills, but also
confidence and a true love for the game.
(09:45):
Adam shares why practice is morethan just repetition.
It's about purpose, progress, and making every Rep count.
Let's get into it. Tom Howe shared with me about
Tom Brady, and I wonder if you'll back it up where you saw
it yourself, He said. Tom Brady would throw a handful
of balls and then lean over to maybe it was you, but definitely
(10:06):
TomTom House and say what do youthink?
And he purposely would throw a duck something that was just
substandard and and the I just just substandard.
A little test. Did you see the bad ball?
Now he wasn't throwing an awful ball, just barely detectable.
And he was, he was trying to suss out, according to Tom
(10:26):
House, trying to suss out. Are you going to coach me?
Are you really paying attention?Do you know the difference
between good and great? And so did you have that
experience with Tom Brady? And if you did or did not, that
type of intensity is what separates people clearly.
And so I'd love to hear your take.
That definitely is the nature inwhich he works.
(10:48):
And I take go back to a story, there was a timing issue.
He was going a little bit slowerthan he knew he was supposed to
be going faster, but he went a little bit slower because we're
thinking and rhythm and timing and everything like that.
And yes, part of the nature in which I coach now was built on
the fact that in that moment, you better be paying attention
(11:09):
to every Rep. There's no and, and since then
it's been pride our whole organization on we're a feedback
business. These kids, these guys, every
Rep matters. We're not, you know, and Tom
used to say, pick the rule like odd numbers, watch 3 throws and
give a teaching point, watch five.
That way. It's not one one you, you
(11:30):
develop a trend and you teach off of that.
But I remember the first day we worked or I got exposed to Brady
wanted to speed up his foot strike and he was just a titch
slow. The next day he showed up and we
were doing some pre work and it looked faster and and I was
like, hey, that you know, that looks good.
And he goes, yeah, I know that looks good.
(11:50):
And I was like, well, I mean, you know, we're not out on the
field yet. I hope this continues because
you're right on cue with everything.
And he was like, Adam, there's areason I'm the best in the
world. And I was like, OK, OK, but you
know what? He earned the right to say that
it didn't come from like a, a, acocky or anything like that.
It was like, no, he can't because he went that he went
(12:12):
home that night and he's like, Iwas in front of a mirror for
about 90 minutes working on footstrike and working on all the
movements that we had worked on the day before.
And I was. Like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
That's a huge take away. We've been talking about this,
Greg, the difference between individual work.
So you just, so we were talking about like team practices for
the team, like your, your coaches want to see a rhythm.
(12:34):
You need to know how to work with your teammates and you're
getting some skill development in context of the team.
And then individual practice is for you.
And you just took it a step further.
You said right, there's individual practice when the
coaches are there and then there's a lone practice.
Yeah, the deep training, what you do when nobody's looking,
the difference between the day and the next day, I mean,
(12:57):
amazing what he can do. And that's like just his mindset
and what his commitment to his craft is.
But I agree. I mean, Tom and I have talked
about the the power of deep training and how important it
is, the stuff that you're going to do on your own outside of the
structure of a team where you can focus on, you know, in terms
of neuroplasticity and just sticking, you know, muscle
(13:21):
memory and the things that you're going to, you're really
trying to work on. The bulk of that is going to be
done on your own. And we always tell our athletes
like, especially like the kids, it's like, hey, we get to see
you once a week on Saturdays. If that's the only time you're
working on this, I promise you, you will not get better, not in
the time frame you want. And everybody wants to, you
know, see results now, see results now.
(13:42):
It's well then the deep trainingis going to be what's most
powerful, what you take from today, being able to use it
throughout the week at your practices, even if it's 5 or 10
minutes. And we always see, you know,
hear the stories when guys will bring their teammates, the wide
receivers of the lineman, whatever, to practice.
But it's always the guys just say, yeah, he's doing that goofy
stuff off to off to the side on his own.
(14:04):
And we make fun of him for doingthe warm up that, you know,
where you're doing the, you know, everything like that.
But it lets me know that they are thinking and doing the
little things on their own that are going to make a difference
for him. It's not just on Saturdays or
Sundays when we see them for fortheir training session, which I
think in the long in the long run, absolutely.
I mean, you're building your 10,000 hours.
It can't just be done in a training session.
(14:25):
Our baseball warm up. Our kids are walking like this,
forward and backwards. We're holding the ball in their
hand. People look at us like we're
nuts, but knock on wood, our kids don't have shoulder
problems. Hold on, he he makes them walk
in perfect unison as well. So this is.
This is a little more casual, but they got to make sure
they're all those. We got a lot of these.
We get a lot of this when they get tired.
We get a lot of that. We're not doing that.
(14:46):
But but I want you to stay therefor a minute.
But instead of, yes, Tom Brady, Drew Brees, I mean, these are
these are some of the greatest players of all time.
There's a reason they are what they are.
How do you take everything you just said about what you've
learned from Tom and Drew and atthe highest level, bring us to
that Saturday, Sunday youth workout, right?
You're seeing a handful of middle school high school kids
(15:08):
coming to work with you guys. I'm sure there's an element
where you are trying to teach them similar traits and lessons
and whatnot that you would work with the more advanced high
level guys. But then I'm also, there's
probably a developmentally appropriate manner in which to
do it on a lot of different factors.
So give us some instant like what do those weekend youth
training sessions look like and how do they compare similar or
(15:30):
different to what you would do with the high level guys?
You talk to Tom and learn about windows of trainability and
where we're working on their neurological system or we're
working on their muscular system.
But in terms of the buy in, because it it, it's no
different. You know, I think about The
Saturdays, especially, we got a new kid and you know, we'll, I
usually have 5:00 to 6:00 coaches out there, very small
(15:51):
group training to make sure thatthe kids are getting the
feedback that they need. If we don't like long lines,
because I don't think people will get better if they're
sitting in a line of five or sixquarterbacks.
So we keep everything pretty intimate, but there's no
difference in terms of when you're asking for buy in from a
kid, they want to know why. And we pride ourselves on having
the why's behind it. And that's one thing that, you
(16:13):
know, I think is a staple. Like if you can't explain it, I
don't blame the kid for not having complete buy in.
You need to be able to explain the why's.
And we do that every Saturday. We're going to do this because
this and somebody say we talk about, well, hey, we just had
Matthew Stafford this morning inthis.
Why do we got to explain why? It's like it doesn't matter
'cause he doesn't know nor does he really care that any of those
(16:36):
guys were. To know how you're gonna help
me. Exactly.
And I appreciate that. Like, yes, it's cool that those
guys were here this morning, butor, or yesterday or the day
before, but it, it doesn't matter.
It's still, I, I think it's healthy for the kids to, to
question why. It shows to me that they're that
they're taking ownership of their craft, that they're being
intentional about their work. And if they believe in it, if
(16:59):
they believe in the reason why, there's a far better chance
they're going to do it at a highlevel or they're at least going
to attempt to do it at a high level.
So those Saturdays are built on in the beginning, you know, we
have a process of warm up to throw, obviously not throw in to
warm up. We're going to work on our
movement patterns, meaning movement unrelated to any
result. There's no ball involved.
(17:21):
We're just working on their body.
Much like, you know, you wouldn't put a, a weight lifter
under a weight that he can't handle.
You have to condition his body to be able to do that.
Similarly, we're working on movement patterns for these guys
so they can feel what their body's doing.
And for youth kids, that's important, especially as they
start putting on muscle because then their body changes.
So giving them the time to and the reps to feel their body in
(17:45):
space, do what we're asking themto do and really, you know,
manipulate them to make sure they feel what they're doing so
that when they take the field, there's a familiar feeling to
draw from. Give them that successful
feeling of like, OK, I know whatthat feels like.
I can sensationalize that. I can close my eyes, I can feel
what I'm doing. And then when I go out to the
the playing field, these feelings start to become more
(18:07):
familiar. And we tell them, hey, you may
only feel it 20% of the time today.
And the other 80% are going to feel, you know, crappy and your
results aren't going to be good,but 20% is a win.
And tomorrow might be 25% and 30%.
And we're going to build it. It's a process.
It doesn't happen overnight. And that's why we stress like,
hey, being here one day a week is not going to be enough.
(18:28):
It's something that you got to do on your own.
The thing that sticks out to me the most that I love is when you
put a kid at a team practice, it's so hard to hold them
accountable to doing the little things with.
Take quarterback, for example, because all that kid is
thinking, I don't care if it's Matthew Stafford or if it's a
(18:48):
7th grade boy, The only thing they're thinking at that
practice is my entire team's watching me.
This needs to be a great throw, a great ball.
However, I get it there. However, I get it there.
This ball's got to come out of my hand, tight, accurate, on
time. None of these kids are looking
at my feet. None of these kids are worrying
about my front side. None of these kids are worried
(19:10):
about my shoulder. It is so outcome oriented and I
get it. I get it.
You, you don't wanna throw a badball in front of your friends.
You don't wanna miss a layup. Like it's just get the outcome I
want in my team setting. I'm biased about football
obviously, but I think the best thing about football, especially
(19:30):
at a young age, between what youguys are doing and just the
setup of the game, it is the only youth sport going on today
that you practice more than you play.
Baseball you're. Practicing once, maybe twice a
week. You're playing seven games a
weekend. Base basketball, same thing.
Volleyball, you'll go to these tournaments and you'll play 100
(19:52):
games in the weekend. There's 1000 teams.
You did one or two practices during the week.
Football is the only sport whereyou really can show the kids the
value that we are going to practice more than we play.
This is not just a quick little check the box and just go play a
million games this weekend. And I think having the time to
go out there and slow things down and learn the mechanics and
(20:15):
learn. You can spend 10 minutes
worrying about, hey, do you likeyour top finger on the second
lace? Do you feel more comfortable
because your hands are a little smaller, maybe moving them down
to the middle? Your hands have gotten bigger.
Maybe we need to. You're not doing that at a team
practice. I'm the head coach.
I, I can't spend 10 minutes withmy quarterbacks asking them how
they feel about where the ball we got to go get the ball, take
(20:35):
the snap, here's the play and throw it or I'll put somebody
else in like I don't have time. I think more parents need to
seek this out. I think more in all sports, I
think we can apply this conversation across the board.
Everything. There's not enough time on
learning the mechanics and the fundamentals and the skills
involved with these sports because every coach is up
(20:57):
against winning and every coach is up against the timetable of
saying, listen, I don't have allday.
I got to get a team ready to go out and play a tournament this
weekend. People need to seek this out.
I wish it would come through their team coach.
You might get it every once in awhile if you're lucky, but
there are alternative opportunities outside if you
(21:18):
have access to it and you can doit.
And if you can, it is so valuable.
For high school, I'll use volleyball.
In this case, it's only four hours a week of practice.
We're not talking about a ton ofpractice here in football.
What? What is high school football
practice? Let's see a normal high school
football practice. They play on a Friday night.
(21:39):
Monday looks some sort of like aintroductory walkthrough in a
weight room session for maybe 2 1/2 hours.
Wednesday called another 2 1/2. Five, seven.
Yeah, you're talking between Monday to Thursday, four days.
You're talking probably 10 hours. 10 hours, so that would
be hard to find an extra one or two hours on individual work.
But if your kids. Probably an offseason thing
(22:01):
would be my game. Mostly offseason.
The vast majority of kids going to work with individual coaches,
especially in this sense, is an offseason.
There you go. OK.
Is that fair? Yes, absolutely.
In volleyball, you can afford todo.
You can afford to do it in. Season with baseball, right you
can go take a hit you can go do it you can go do a hit a session
on your own because your baseball practice after school
is going to be you can do a 45 minute infield, you're going to
(22:24):
do an hour at BP and you're going to hit the showers and go
home. There's just not that much to
do. And now more from my
conversation with the team at Players Health, what would you
say has been probably the most impactful policy that you guys
have consulted on? You've been part of the
conversation implementing and and kind of outline like was it
the concussion stuff? Is there something else like
(22:45):
where is there one conversation and big movement that that you
guys have been a part of that you feel like has made a
significant impact on the youth sports?
Landscape I have to hyper focus specifically around our abuse
prevention policies and the reason why I why I gravitate to
that and and not that concussions are not a big deal
(23:05):
because they are but an an incident specifically around
emotional physical sexual abuse within a youth athlete will
change their life forever. And so I always like to say that
a player's help. Our focus is to make sure that
the transaction between an athlete and their sports
organization. We want it to be positive.
(23:26):
We want them to be depositing good things into kids and not
taking things away from them. And so when we look at abuse
prevention policies, we recognize that this is a life on
the line. And so when when we look at how
we prepare and credential coaches, we need to make sure
that these adults are actually, you know been credentialed
before they come in contact withan athlete.
(23:48):
And what are the signs should webe looking for around bad
behavior around communication? What are the things should we
should we be making sure that weunderstand and then do we have a
reporting mechanism in place so that we the athlete has a voice
their parents all of the folks around that are our eyes and
ears. Do they have now have a
mechanism to communicate that this is happening and then do we
(24:10):
have preventative measures or ortemporary measures are being put
in place to stop the bleeding Ifwe do find a behavioral issue
with the coach or staff member, have we removed?
Them. Do we have an investigative
process in place? Like all that policy changes
everything and and it limits thelikelihood that something that
(24:31):
will change a life forever from happening.
We only want sports to be positive, but we recognize that
there are experiences that kids are having that that are
negatively impacting their livesforever.
So I'd say that that's the definitely the number one
policy. Health, of course, is a big
focus, but I think on the safetypiece, it can't get bigger than
that. It's a shame.
(24:51):
How much is going on in the world of youth sports?
But people like yourself that are passionate and, and
companies like, like players health that are very passionate
about improving the experience for all people, adults but
mostly children in youth sports.I, my hats off to you, man.
What what you guys are building the services and the and the
policies you guys are implementing and creating are
(25:12):
changing the landscape of youth sports for thousands of kids all
across the country. And you guys should be applauded
for it. So I appreciate you joining us
here on on you think. I appreciate you sharing your
vision, your journey and look forward to continuing to work
with you guys going forward. Absolutely.
Appreciate you, Greg. Talk to you soon here at You
Think. We want to bring value to you,
(25:33):
the parents, coaches, the athletes listening in,
everything that we do. Check out Players Health today
and let them know. Youth Inc sent you.
Now back to the episode. So let's talk about feedback
because you highlighted the importance of feedback in in
practice, whether it's team and or individual practices, the
feedback loop is really the currency and it was a great
(25:55):
insight. Every 3rd or 5th ball then
interrupt like what's happening with some feedback.
Can you open that up a little bit more about what are some of
the core principles you're working from or some some
stories to highlight, like what good looks like or what terrible
looks like on feedback? Probably give more feedback than
most, but I, I do think it's valuable.
(26:15):
I think that's why they're there.
You know, and I think a lot of what we're in the beginning,
it's finding that mental approach, you know what, how
we're going to go about our day and structuring our day.
And then most of the feedback after that is going to be more
physical. But are you asking?
Questions or or or are you saying like better posture, like
(26:37):
or reach? Are you giving them instruction
or are you asking them what happened, what you see, what you
feel, what you learn? Great question and it's all.
The above, honestly, certain athletes, I think it's getting a
feel for how they're going to learn and sometimes taking them
in the direction you want to go.You got to ask those questions
and teach through them. But to answer your question, are
we giving actual? Absolutely.
(26:59):
Your timing foot strikes, fasterposture, your head moved your
front side was soft premature rotation hold the front shoulder
yes, everything we're looking atevery mechanical detail.
Some guys can handle more some guys it's more general themed.
How'd that feel Did you feel your lower half?
Did you did you feel what your what your arm did there?
(27:20):
Did it feel easy? Were you in control?
And then I get answers and then I can kind of all right, now
let's try this. So who holds?
The answers the coach or the athlete?
That's a loaded question. I want the.
Athlete eventually to have the answers.
So if they've spent enough time and I keep asking the right
questions, I think eventually they're going to have the
(27:42):
answers. In the beginning, I think it's
my job to explain the general theme we're looking for.
Call it again. I refer back to a golf swing
kinematic sequencing. These things have to happen in
this time frame. And it it should feel like this,
as long as they're informed on what I'm going for, right?
And then the teaching points that go along with it,
(28:05):
eventually they should have their own answers.
And I remember, you know, I'll use Jalen Hurts as a example.
We spent some time together. He didn't say, you guys send me
something about trust and building with an athlete.
And you know this as an athlete,like they don't trust easily.
And I don't blame them. You know, sometimes they don't
(28:27):
say anything for a week or two, especially Jalen.
And you? Don't know.
You don't know what he's thinking.
I don't know if, but whatever. It's my job to coach him.
And then, you know, he would just kind of shake his head.
And then eventually we got to the point, said, all right, I
need to hear you less because I'm hearing everything you're
saying. I need to start being able to
(28:47):
apply it be like, OK, it's really cool.
You know, so he'd. Have a Rep and he's like, just I
want to hear I want to hear you less today.
And Andrew would say that sometimes like give me a give me
a point every five throws or something.
And then but the rest of it, let's just hold it to the end,
especially with I'm with my guys, I'm working on something
specific, something that you. Guys can maybe help me unlock is
(29:09):
that we know from a performance standpoint, from a psychological
perspective, is that we want theathlete to focus their attention
externally and for the most partnarrowly.
So if you think about there's four ways you can place your
attention, two of them are internal and two of them are
external. When your attention is external
(29:29):
broad, it's like as a quarterback, you're picking up
the big thing, like what's the whole field unfolding?
And then you go to route one andyou you want them to narrow down
to like the chin strap or the numbers or whatever, as narrow
as they can get. You have to go internal, though.
You have to think that's part ofthe internal attention.
You have to kind of feel your body.
That's internal as well. And then quickly you want to get
(29:51):
it out. OK, so or external attention.
How do you, when you this is this is, I'm confused by this.
When you ask a question like, did you feel your front foot?
Did you feel your rotation of your hips?
You're asking them to go internal, and then you want them
to think about flipping their hips at a certain point in the
(30:12):
sequence while they're doing it so they can get better.
But if they're not looking externally at the target and
they're focusing internally on their hips, their mind is not in
the right place. So I'm confused how coaches are
able to do help the athletes gettoday external narrow focus and
at the same time focus on hip rotation.
(30:33):
I guess again I'm. Not a quarterback expert, I
think just to answer your quarterback and you can give a
little bit more of a quarterbackperspective.
I I think to me, the the heavy coach directives is very age.
There's an age element to that, right?
There's an experience component.The the less experienced you are
in the skill that I'm trying to teach you in the more you're
(30:56):
gonna depend on me for external feedback pointers.
Fix your front foot pick up, youknow, control your front side.
You're dropping your OK? Yeah.
I think the. Hope in these drill sessions,
I'll be curious what your take is, but my guess is in those
individual drill moments in at ateam practice, that's what
individual periods all about. It's it's focusing on your craft
(31:18):
to do your position, whether it's footwork in the run game or
how to work under center drops, gun drops, play action, wide
receivers catching the ball. But whatever the skill set is,
that's your time to just go internal.
You're not relying on anybody else.
You are developing muscle memory.
You are laying down layers and layers in your neurological
(31:39):
system of patterns, right? And you're just laying that down
reps after reps after reps. The hope is when it's time that
your focus has to be external onthe quarterback.
Now, you are not gonna in a game, sit there and say, OK,
front side, keep it stiff, keep your shoulder slightly open,
step just to the left of your target.
(31:59):
Make sure I'm delivering the ball.
That needs to be now in those individual sessions with Adam.
You can afford to go internal there and really hyper focus on
controlling that because the idea is the more you do it
right, your body doesn't know how to do it wrong.
And when it's time to just let it loose, that muscle memory and
stuff will go from just time andtime and 10.
(32:21):
So the training is internal, theexecution in a competitive
moment, you have to be an externally focused and any of
your inner workings need to justcome out naturally.
Yeah, that's the bridge. That Adam, for you to sequence
here or to address is that when you're like we've talked about
this Greg a bunch, the way you practice is the way you play.
(32:42):
And if you're doing the individual work, practicing
focusing on the internal, you'lllikely play focusing on the
internal, which is a disaster. We all agree with that for the
most part. I mean, sometimes you can get
away with things. So how do you how do you help
them? I'm thinking there's like every
fifth ball. Maybe it's like how you doing
and then you're helping them getexternally focused at the same
(33:02):
time or on a different queuing. But take it take us home.
Well, everything you said is. Right.
And, and similar to, you know, once you paint the picture of
what you're looking for, and then we were to take them out to
the field and they, you're struggling with it, It's, it's
OK, you're not, you're not thereyet.
I'm not expecting you to be there 20%.
Just you feeling a little bit better is all we're looking for
(33:23):
today. But as time goes on and you've
put together, that's why those patterning periods are so
important. That's where we're literally
building your body, throat. Unrelated.
To a ball or anything, we're just manipulating your body,
giving you the flexibility and the mobility to do it.
And you know, as coach, we need to see what that looks like is
there is no ball yet. We're just getting the body
(33:45):
prepared to do it so that when we get on the field and we've
built enough reps doing it that it starts to trickle over.
It starts to trickle into those workouts.
And when we're asking the question, did you feel this?
It's I want you to go back to the patterning period.
Remember what that felt like with that, You know, because I'm
telling you that looked right. Are you feeling that now in the
(34:08):
space of throwing or, you know, in performance?
But when they're in a game, no, we're not thinking about any of
this stuff. Now when a guy leaves after an
offseason and he's been with us,OK, you've spent a lot of time
with me. What?
Two or three things can I do that fixes me if I'm ever having
(34:29):
a problem or I'm, you know, what's most likely to be the
thing I need to do better. And that goes back to Brady.
He had had the three notes on his, you know, his wrist
wristband, his three mechanical notes in training camp.
Go fast front shoulder, firm front side.
So it was just what was most particular to him to make sure
(34:52):
like as a reminder if he had a ball that was a little, but
like, that's it. Keep it as simple as possible.
But it's not nothing. It's just enough like a good
reminder. Oh yeah, just go faster.
Sometimes going faster is all I need to do If you were to write.
Those 3 on an athlete, would they be technical skills 'cause
that's what he just wrote that you just described Technical
(35:12):
skills for the most part. Or would you write cut it loose,
trust your stuff more, more psychological stuff?
Where would you or like pick my spots, which is that narrow
external focus? What would you write?
I think? Again, it's specific to the
athlete themselves. It's like if I've spent six
months with them and I think about what were the most
(35:33):
important three things that we talked about, it could very
easily be the mental side. It could very easily be a
trigger word that has nothing todo with mechanics.
And it's just that trigger word that literally triggers a
mechanical adjustment. You know, it like stay
aggressive, right? Or, you know, if if a guy's
going slow, like, you know, you know, play free.
(35:56):
I was talking to a quarterback who's getting ready to play a
big game tomorrow and he's, you know, just like I, I just got to
cut it loose. Like that's I, I got, I got to
cut it loose. And I said I love it.
I love it. Go out there and cut it loose.
What a great conversation. What an ending.
Yeah. What?
A great leave. It right there, Adam.
Thank you so much man. That was for sure.
That was. Awesome.
That was awesome. Thank you.
Thanks for listening. Let's recap some of the key
(36:18):
points from our discussion. Today we discussed the right
balance between skill development and gameplay, how to
create an environment where athletes feel both challenged
and supported, and the importance of building not just
skills, but also confidence and a true love for the game.
Adam shared why practice is morethan just repetition, it's about
purpose, progress, and making every Rep count.
(36:41):
Until next time, thanks for joining us here on Youth Inc.
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