Why SFF is “FACTS”.
The world is getting more and more costly. Time for families is at a premium and to make matters worse our society has developed an addiction to busy. Where to find the time? The time for what you may be asking? For the purpose of today’s writing, let’s focus on the time for athlete growth.
Take for instance, Large Group Team Summer Programming with no specific individual development plan and elite development personnel. The result? Zero individual summer improvement for a ton of athlete and parent hard work. Zero ROI. Not Good. Like the kids are saying nowadays “Facts”.
As a result of our ever changing and fast paced “addicted to busy” world, more and more development organizations in a variety of sports are adopting “short cut” programming to cater to their “addicted to busy” clientele. The problem? It doesn’t work. “Facts” It’s convenient and non-committal but guys, it just doesn’t work. A bunch of you might be saying, “Yeah…well, doing something is better than nothing.” And while this can be true to novice development thinkers, true development programming doesn’t take short cut routes to cater to convenience. Real programming caters to progression and athlete performance. And here it is…progression takes a systematic, focused and followed-up effort. “Facts”.
Imagine trying to learn a technical piano concerto and just dropping in when it fit your schedule. Imagine trying to learn a complex dance routine and dropping in every couple of weeks. Imagine learning to try to hit a 90 mile an hour fastball with a different coach each session. Imagine trying to learn a new soccer route with an associate skill with no continuous development progression. And how about trying to learn a new deke on the goalie with 30 kids out on the ice. Good luck in all of those endeavours. True performance takes SFF. “Facts”.
The solution you may be asking? Get on train #SFF. Because that systematic, focused and followed up train is going up the mountain. Systematic where there is continuity in programming. Systematic where teachers abide by a proven method. Systematic in the sense that programming builds off foundational layers of training and grows as the athlete progresses in contextual demands. Focused so it’s customized to your athlete. Focused in the teachers details and correction. Focused in the sense that there is a goal to achieve specific for each individual athlete. Followed up so the athlete has the ultimate connection with his/her coach. Followed up so there is a clear flow of communication between the coach, the athlete and their family. Followed up so that real relationships are built, the trust needed to be able to challenge and hold accountable athletes for true performance growth. Man, as a parent, sign me up for that. Drop Ins just can’t compete. “Facts”.
So, next time your evaluating your athlete’s development options, value consistency over convenience. STOP and say NO to short cut programming. Value SFF. Commitment to true progressive programming takes sacrifice for both parent and athlete. From working on my own game, learning from the best development minds in the world and challenging hundreds of NHL athletes as their personal coach, Systematic, Focused and Followed Up is you guessed it… Big Time “Facts”.
