Mentor tip: Find your trademark

I began coaching athletes in 2001. I will be the first to admit that I wasn't great at it. I was nervous, scared, shy and not very confident (as I talk about in

So You Want To Be a Strength Coach). As the years went on, my knowledge grew and so did my confidence in coaching it. For 8 years I coached college athletes. I still have some today that reach out to me because of the things they learned, the way I coached and the impact I had on them (which as I write this I realize how old I'm getting as they are all having kids now!) As I transitioned to youth athletes, I realized how different the mindset of the two demographics are. When you develop your coaching skills, you find things that work with different age groups. And then within that, you find different tactics that work with guys and girls and then within that, you find strategies for certain teams and personalities. I've been working with a 10U travel baseball team for the past 3 months. They are good kids, a few a tad rowdy, but what else can you expect from that age group. After the first couple weeks, we had developed some jokes and funny stories among the group. One kid answered a question correctly that I'd been asking them to learn for weeks now. I was PUMPED!! I high fived the kid and then everyone else started chiming in with statements and answers, some with their hands up wanting a high five. That's when the joke began.... the elusive high five was something these kids wanted from me. As the weeks went on, the high fives were few. If a kid did an excellent job, BAM - high five. Pretty soon, the other kids were trying to slap my hand when I wasn't looking. Before you knew it, they were pushing harder, trying hard, giving more effort, paying attention better.... all for the sake of Julia's high five! And those that got one, felt proud that they had earned it. Earned it? Yeah. Not handed out like a participation award. But earned it. What a simple concept. With a high five. That became that team's thing. That was our joke. That was my art in coaching them. That was our trademark. Some coaches have nicknames that stick for years. Some coaches have jokes, or songs or other antics that the athletes not only look forward to, but become a part of. With all of this comes a sense of trust from the athlete. And once that is built, you've created an environment for success.