Choose wisely.
“As an adult, you have a choice.
You can help kids positively associate with health & training..
Or you can use them as forms of punishment.
If you choose the former, you increase the quality of an existence, if you choose the ladder, you do the opposite.
Choose wisely.”
-Ray Zingler on X
The longer I train young athletes, the more I think about them when they’re going to be 34 years old. My age.
And to take it steps further, 44 years old. 64 years old, too.
“What? Why?”
“Why not live in the moment?”
I do live in the moment, but I also think about the bigger picture.
We know the vast majority aren’t going to make a living playing sports.
So the “training” that we do has a heck of a lot more to do with “life” than it does “earning a contract”.
This means I must be extremely calculated and strategic with 14-year-old’s.
I can be a wanna be Billy Badass, asshole all I want.
Or I can be extremely cognizant of the fact that how they associate with this “training” thing, initially, will formulate their overall perception with it, that will stick with them for life.
Did you know that one “fat kid” whose (fat) coach hounded him until he was sick with with endless, worthless conditioning in an attempt to develop “mEnTaL tOuGhNeSs” is still fat today because of the way he associated with fitness at a young age?
That “coach” had a chance to positively influence the trajectory of that kid’s life, but didn’t. Because of that immature coach, that kid, still big today, doesn’t exercise because he does not positively associate with it.
He sees fitness as punishment.
Not the blessing that it is.
It is important to live in the moment with kids and help them get results today.
But as a coach, you must have a macro mindset and approach.
How does the way I behave today impact them 25 years from now?
I think the true mark of a great coach is not found in how you can reach kids right now, but how your mentorship resonates with them, when you AREN’T there.
A lot of people think being able to force compliance in the moment is “impact”, but it isn’t.
Do you get those texts 5, 10, 15 years later?
From the kids, now adults, telling you about their work out regiment they are performing on their own?
That’s what I’m after.
That is the game I will forever play.
