Here’s what Tony told me:
“We are an athletic performance society who is fixated on nuance.
We have so much access to information, we often feel as if the only way is ‘the next thing.’
The next thing ain’t it.
Especially for our kids.
Show up.
Get strong.
Run Hard.
Play with passion.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I was on the phone with one of best performance coaches in the world the other day, Tony Villani.
To tell you what type of guy he is, he answered (and always does) my call without even me scheduling it.
He picks up and he’s never in a hurry. I fu*kin’ love him for it. It’s guys like him to drive my desire to never be too busy for anybody.
I had some questions for him that I wanted to ask because I truly felt there wasn’t a more qualified candidate on earth (I’m serious) to answer my questions.
If you don’t know who he is, a google search will quickly shed some light.
I got to talking about training, organization, setting up this and that and blah blah blah.
And he politely stopped me.
He essentially told to me stop overthinking it and that “I already knew what I was doing.”
Talk about affirmation, especially coming from a guy like him.
We ended the call, and like after every call with him, I am rejuvenated knowing that what I deeply love and believe in (the fundamentals) is still the way.
This is often the case for beginners starting out and those at the highest levels.
It’s a shame what social media and the illusion of options will do to our psyche.
Especially if we don’t know any better and aren’t willing to question what we do or (especially) don’t know.
When we don’t know what we don’t know, we tend to gravitate to what is often the shiniest.
This is because when we have a limited scope, we have limited perception. And when we have limited perception, instead of gaining knowledge, we jump to trends because, well, that is much easier than taking the time to educate yourself.
This is disastrous for anybody seeking improved athletic performance, but especially disastrous for our kids who are going straight for the nuance without any resemblance of a foundation.
Our world is getting more advanced every day, but for our kids, when it comes to athletic performance enhancement, the formula is still crazy simple.
1) Show up. (Nothing will ever trump attendance.)
2) Get strong.
3) Run hard.
4) Play with great passion.
Sell out on 1-4.
A lot of good will come from it.
