I know a coach who likes to ask players a question at random times. The coach walks up to a player and asks, “What did you do today to reach your goal?”
The athlete’s answer usually begins with a couple Umms and causes the player to scramble for something to say. The message behind the question was a bit subtle. Asked frequently enough, though, it served as a reminder that accomplishing goals requires a daily commitment, and goals can’t be just an entry on a wish list.
Setting goals is easy. The path to accomplishing those goals is what matters most. James Clear, an author, photographer, and weightlifter focused on habits and decision making, explains what’s needed in an article on his website.
“The real challenge is not determining if you want the result,” writes Clear. “But if you are willing to accept the sacrifices required to achieve your goal. Do you want the lifestyle that comes with your quest? Do you want the boring and ugly process that comes before the exciting and glamorous outcome?”
And this is where the most growth can occur for athletes. The coach who gave subtle reminders about the everyday process needed to accomplish goals was really helping players create a system, a lifestyle or maybe just good training habits. The goal was a tool to teach a bigger lesson. The system the athlete creates and the process they follow becomes their roadmap of how to accomplish something.
DRIVN offers a way for coaches, trainers or parents to help athletes create that system. DRIVN’s calendar is extremely flexible, allowing coaches or administrators to add entries into one calendar that the whole team uses. But they can also add something to one particular player’s calendar and neatly fit it into a time of day that doesn’t interfere with training, classes, tutoring, weight-training, or any other appointment.
If you have a player that needs to improve an aspect of his or her game, you can simply schedule extra work that progresses logically to the goal – 100 grounders after practice, three miles on Tuesday, 50 crosses after the game, 30 receptions before practice each day, etc.
The same can be done with the team’s calendar. Coaches can set benchmarks, indicating where the team should be in any specific category at any given time during the season – daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.
DRIVN also helps the athlete answer the question of what they did today. They can just pull up the DRIVN app on their phone and show their coach.