Recruitable Episode 5: Year-Round Athlete Development; A path toward athletic recruitment

Talent may get an athlete noticed—but skill development is what prepares them to compete at the next level.

In this episode of the Recruitable Family Podcast, host Donald Robinson sits down with veteran coach and athletic performance specialist Dennis Robinsonto explore one of the most overlooked parts of the recruiting journey: developing athletes the right way.

Drawing from more than a decade of coaching experience, USATF Level I and Level II certifications, and years of developing athletes across multiple sports, Dennis explains why science-based coaching, long-term athletic development, and mindset are the true foundation of athletic success.

Whether your child plays football, basketball, soccer, volleyball, baseball, softball, lacrosse, or track & field, this conversation will help parents and athletes understand what separates average training from purposeful development.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

I'd like to welcome you to uh episode five of Recruitable Family Podcast. And I have a very special guest here with me, my uh twin brother, Dennis. And I will say, more than a twin brother, he's been a major part of uh Daniel Robinson, my son, his development athletically, and so I'm glad to have Dennis here with us. Hey man, thanks man for sitting in on this uh conversation. Look, I'm honored to be invited to recruitable. Yes, yes. Recruitable. I made the show. You made the show, yeah. You mean you made the cut? The cut. And it was uh it was it was definitely a a difficult decision to make. All right, let's get started. So in a previous episode, I talked about uh three things that make for a good athlete as a prospect for recruitment. And those things were opportunities. So having the right opportunities being featured on your team no matter the sport. We talked a lot about football, but it really has to do with any sport that you're in. Volleyball, soccer, you name it. Okay, so these things I think are are critical. And so opportunities was one, the second was skill development, and then the third was recruitment support. And what I meant by recruitment support, I meant uh the support you're gonna get, hopefully, from your high school as it relates to positioning yourself for for college recruitment. And so I brought you on, I asked you to come on because obviously you were a major part of Daniel's development. Uh and I just think it's good to give the audience insight of like the value that skilled development plays in this overall process for recruitment. And so again, thanks man for agreeing to do this. I appreciate it. I kind of twisted his arm for it, but but that was a choice. No, not at all. Okay, well, check this out. I would like for you to share kind of the backstory uh in terms of how you got involved with coaching, how long you've been coaching, things like that. Tell us about yourself. Yeah, so I've been coaching for more than 13 years now. I think I started in, if I'm not mistaken, 2014. Okay. And one of the stories that led me to coaching, I think I shared this before, uh, my son Brandon was part of a local Pee-Wee football team. And yeah, that was it, it was a wonderful experience. I remember that, to say the least. Um one of the competitive teams, and you know, Brandon was new to the sport of football, and and he yeah, before he moved up to elevation, there were some good coaches, and then he moved up to the next level, and then there were some not so good coaches. Right. And when I mean not so good coaches, it had everything to do with uh how they set the team up for success and failure. Right. And so uh it just happened to be one of those games. I don't know if you know about pop morning football, uh every athlete has to play a certain percentage of the time on the field. And it was this one particular game where the game was close. And personally, for me, I don't know, I don't believe in that pop born rule, really, that everyone should play. Everyone should play, right? I I I mean, well, so you don't like to kind of everybody get a trophy kind of deal. Okay, I get it. Yeah, I think that it you know, football and sports, there's there's a legitimate, it should be a legitimate meritocracy, right? If you if you have the skill, you're performing well, you're you're competitive in practice, you earn the right to play on the field. But with Pop Warner, that's not the case, right? Every athlete gets an opportunity to play. And the kids are very aware of that that rule. That everyone gets an opportunity to play. Everyone gets an opportunity to play. Okay. So in this particular case, uh, not everyone received the opportunity to play. Okay. And it was particularly because the game was really close. The coaches were really overzealous about making sure that the best players were on the on the on the football field. They wanna win. They want to win. Can't blame them. You can't blame them. Now, the only thing that made it an issue for me was at the conclusion of the game. The team lost. Okay. But at the conclusion of the game, the coaches rallied the teams together, and the coaches started to dig into their pocket and they grabbed out dollar bills, and they started naming the players that play that had committed the best play during the game.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

Okay. So, Jimmy, you had that, you know, fourth and two tackle for a loss, and you saved the touchdown. Here's $5 to you. $2 to you.

SPEAKER_01 4:49

And, well. What was wrong with that? Can you imagine what that did for the kids that they didn't play? They didn't play. They didn't even have an opportunity. Didn't have an opportunity to make that play. Okay. Right? So, you know, just using m money as a way to kind of motivate the players is obviously like like a bad, in my opinion, a bad path to go.

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:08

And uh, you know, so I I I said something. So, so so so you think it was a bad path to go. Is there an alternative path that you would have liked to see have seen? Well, the alternative path was to, you know, you can talk and discuss, share the successes of the team. Right. Right? And you can recognize the players that have contributed to where the team ended up in the game. And that's fine, right? But the most important path is really create an environment where the athletes want to be a part, where they want to learn, they want to develop the skill in the sport. Right. So, and and that wasn't the case. It wasn't a nurturing, supportive environment in that sense. And needless to say, I confronted the coach and it ended up being a heated discussion after their gathering. And you know, I reflected, I left and reflected on that moment, and I thought that, you know, if I'm gonna complain about the situation that it was, then what am I gonna do to contribute to a better outcome?

SPEAKER_00 6:10

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 6:11

And maybe it's not in football, but what other areas could I could I be of in tracking? So I considered track and field because you know it was one of the I think it was probably the least involved at the time, so I thought. Right. I thought it was the most least least involved, and so I got in the track and field. Okay, so you got in the track and field because you you recognized that the way the adults were going about culture, it was more than just that. I think I was at that game, there was some other things that was kind of like uncouth that the adults were doing, uh, that didn't create for a supportive environment. So it from what I remember, it was more than just it was like you said, creating an environment where kids want to be there. Yeah, but you was you were more interested in kids growing and developing as young at that age, and and they weren't doing it. Not only they weren't doing it, they weren't following the rules that they so that if you think about that, teaching kids. That's right. Like if you the adults and you've stated the rules, and then all of a sudden you don't follow it, the kids know you haven't, and then all of a sudden the kids who were impacted, they know they were impacted. It just doesn't make them probably want to be a part of it, want to show up to be their very best. That's right. So I get that. So, but you got involved with track because you thought it was going to be least involved, but then you learn later that it's way more involved. But I'd love to hear more about and for the audience to hear more about your 12, 13 years' history of coaching. But tell us about your credentials around coaching. What have you gained over the years that have made you a better coach to the athletes that you've worked with? Yeah, so you know, thanks for asking that question. So, you know, when I got into coaching, like most coaches, I rely on my experience as an athlete myself. So, as you know, we were both football players and track athletes in high school and in college. And, you know, that first year of volunteering with the Zephyrs track club as a jumps coach, you know, I realized that there's some, you know, I observed some things in practice that I thought could be different. But who am I to kind of judge that without having the background or certifications around it? You know, I like to think I'm a pretty smart guy. You know, we took a bachelor's degree, uh, wasn't in exercise physiology or any of the sports science, but you know, bachelor's, master's. But I I felt like if I wanted to really make an impact, I needed to learn the sport, get an in-depth level of the sport. And so I went off and got a USATF level one certification in track and field. And the funny thing is, a lot of the content that I learned at USATF level one, we learned in high school. Yeah. I had a phenomenal high school coach. We had a phenomenal coach coach. We had a phenomenal high school coach Ed Wallace. Coach Ed Wallace. Yeah, God wrestlers. So he was instrumental in really setting us on the path to athletics and ensuring that we understood enough about human physiology and movement to be able to train. And so fast forward, what, I don't know, like 10 years, maybe 10 or so years. Um yeah, being exposed to level one, I it just brought it all back. It's like, wow, this is all the stuff that I learned at exercise physiology in high school, right? And so it just crystallized for me the things that we had been applying when we were athletes in college. We were in college, you know, not every college experience is gonna be for most people, for a lot of people aren't necessarily the best experience. In our case, you kind of coach yourself in college. So that level one training you had, well, you got that later, but I'm just saying that training you had from Coach Wallace. Yes. And then coaching your own self in college, and really became an all-American. What's it called? What does it call it? Triple jump. Yeah, but what was that? It was association uh because you was an all-American, you qualified with them. Yeah, I think you was like number 13 in the country or something like that. Yeah, I just fell below. I was tempted going into the national competition. Right. Kind of fell below there, but I'm sorry, man. But but yeah, you know, things happen. I didn't even make it. Yeah. But continuing that, you know, uh yeah, level one was the first step, and then then I went on and decided to get a USATF level two certification, which required as a prerequisite to take 25 hours of sports science, sports science, which is a really uh online version of the subject. Uh, but then there was a classroom set segment where we spent more than 40 hours in the classroom with coaches all across the country. You met some incredible people, too. I met some incredible people as part of the level. Yes, coaches. Mondo Mondo, the world record holder in the pole vault, his mom who coached them, right, was in my level two class. Yeah, that's incredible. Yeah, which which emphasized the importance of continuous learning, right? Even in the sport. Right. And so I appreciate that. I appreciate the the way the class was structured. Uh, the fact that, you know, they they obviously gave you some a lot of the science and other different event groups. For for me, it was horizontal jumps, vertical jumps, and so forth. But more importantly, it was a way to be challenged. Like you had an opportunity to kind of create your plan and then have to support your plan through legitimate arguments, if you will. You have to reason. You have to reason why are you doing what you're doing? Why does it work for that? And what what what outcome you expect it to achieve? Yeah. And so you you that was that was a bunch of testing going on in that environment that really that really helped you grow and develop. And what's interesting about this is that level one wasn't enough for you. You would only get level two. And what you've learned in just in the coaching world, not every coach is motivated to grow in their sport. Absolutely. And this is one of the a significant areas that matters the most. If if you want your your child to become a better athlete, you want to make sure you be a part of a program whose coaches believe in continuing education. Absolutely. And willing to be challenged and critiqued around it, and use willing to do that. So you you started out coaching as a part of the Chicago and Zephyrs. And when you you started back, it was like 2014. 14. I remember when you first when you first like kind of somewhat took over. That year you took over. That was crazy. Like the Zephyrs kind of catapulted from virtually, you know, at that time not really performing at a national level to we had several, several all-American relay teams that were like competing against Texas and all that. They were top seven in the country. You know, well, in fact, the men's four by four was number three in the country. And that was the year that you took over, and all of a sudden we started seeing all this major change. And it's as if God had called you to coach. Yeah. Because the impact was like immediate. Yeah, I think the the yeah, I think it definitely was um a calling you know that brought me to Zephyr's at the time. And not only me, I think it was another cohort of coaches. Coach that was part of it. And we had multiple locations where we had a pool of athletes to draw from, right? We had the South Side segment of Zephyr's and obviously Proviso Township area where we uh trained at Proviso East High School. And that was in 2018, right? I think 2018, Kansas, Kansas City, Kansas. It was Kansas, University of Kansas, my goodness. And and I and we we had a group of guys, I think it was they dropped a 314, 314 tomorrow. No, no, no, no, no. It was 313. 313, phenomenal. And I remember their coach telling them, uh, the athletes that are from Proviso East. East, yeah, that they were not gonna be able to uh break a certain time because they had already peaked at their state high school. And I pulled one of the athletes aside and said, hey, uh, don't listen to that. Uh we're gonna get you ready uh to run. And he opened up, he led that four by one team. I think he ran like a 46 or something like that. Well, not no, that was not the leadoff leg. But he he he did go sub-49, which is as fast as he could. Easy, he wouldn't be off 49. If you look at do the math. Yeah. 313. Well, the leadoff leg. Okay, yeah, all right. The other guys were really good. But that was what we needed to be able to be competitive. And the only reason why we lost that race is the forage, the last, the anchor leg. Had just ran a 400 meter. Just finished the finals before in the hurdles, and it just wasn't enough time. It wasn't enough of his legs. Yeah, so we ended up third place. That was incredible, that's incredible. So I brought up that just to knowledge that you have been a part of Shaverland Zephyrs for some time. Yep. And it's come a long way as an organization with a lot of community support, and the numbers have grown in terms of participation, but you also do something else. I'm looking at the hat. Oh yeah. Nice set. So Zephyr Strength and Performance, ZSP. Tell us about that. What is ZSP? So ZSP is focused on athletic development and performance. Started last year. We started last year. It was formed over Breakfast of Champions, Steak and Eggs. Okay. And so me and our partner, Warren Archer, we were talking about the you know, what could we do to better support athletes, not just in track and field, but in other sports. And, you know, former athlete himself, Warren Archer, uh, you know, he's done some incredible work. And he got some additional certification himself. Yes, absolutely. He's level one as well. You know, we knew that you know there's a lot of learning that goes into performance training, there's a lot of um, you know, access. We had access, obviously, to equipment and things of that nature to kind of help support us in that training. And so we launched the business. We launched the business, and the goal was to really support our Zephyrus athletes uh during the offseason. Uh, but we've extended it well beyond that, and we train athletes in many different sports. So I bring that up because I think just us starting out with this conversation, people might be thinking, well, he's a track and field coach. Yeah. Right. But I would say, like, Daniel has been with you since he was six years old. Absolutely. And what you did for him was foundational to all the things that he things he's been able to accomplish, both on the track, in the field. Like when I say field, I mean like field events, long job, and also in football. And I would say my son is an elite athlete. I would say that. You know, I'm not ashamed to say it. I think he's earned that because he's put in the work. And he's demonstrated that by his performance. And you've had some challenges along the way. But I think ZSP and your influence have affected a number of athletes, not just in track, but in other sports. You know, any any stories of athletes that you've touched that have made a difference in other sports at a high level. And which is why I think your ability to develop overall athleticism is important to note. Yeah. And should be like some translated for other people to do for their own kids and get them ready for other sports. Yeah. So, you know, I I obviously we talked about Daniel, and you know, people don't know this. Daniel started out in eighth grade playing basketball. Right. Actually, before that. No, it was fifth grade. Fifth grade, yeah. And uh, you know, he's has shown and demonstrated some athleticism that I know was foundational from the training that we had done over the years on building, you know, fast twitch muscle fibers, working on decelebration work, and just really coordination and proprioception so that he's a more effective athlete. Uh, but we worked with other athletes as well, as you mentioned. Um, you know, Zawadi Brown is one key athlete that I like to call out. You know, of course, there's a lot of hands uh involved with the the build development of Zawadi. Right. Uh but we played a role in that in her development as well, and particularly her speed development. Because she started out as a middle distance runner. Yeah, she's running 800s and yeah, yeah. And she's a fierce competitor. Yeah, phenomenal horizontal jumper. Mm-hmm. All right, exceptional. That's what I'm saying. So, like, like you cannot look at that and not say that this kid is, well, she's an adult now, is an overall talent. Overall talent. She could pretty much have, she could have picked her sport. Any sport. Right. And that and and that a lot of that came out of your guidance around that, right? Yeah. I know a lot of hands, other hands were involved. There's a lot that goes into that. Nutrition, all that kind of stuff, mental performance, all that kind of stuff. But I'm saying the foundational things you did that that turned this young woman from being what people perceive as a distance runner to someone who could run distance if she chose to. She chose to. But but she became a fierce sprinter and jumper. Yes. Yes. Now, there's certainly things that I push for and challenge as it relates to the science of athlete athletic development. Right. Right. But beyond that, I think it's most important, which gets lost in in all of training in a lot of cases, is the mental aspect of performance. So Zawadi starting out as a middle distance runner and being intrigued by the idea of being a jumper, right? Right. Is a first good start. Yeah. The other piece is supporting her and encouraging her that that is a real possibility. Now let me help you lean into the science and the technical technical aspects of training to get you there. Right. Right. And so you need both, right? And so that that piece was given the belief aspect of it was really what you know took it off, took it off for uh for Zawadi. Right. And she became a she's an exceptional athlete. Yeah, exceptional, meaning that she's playing lacrosse at the SEC level at Vanderbilt University. So that how high can you get? I mean, that's that's the highest of heights. And so I say this to say this is this is the reason why I brought you on, because I think parents, uh it's it's beneficial for them to be made aware of resources that exist that can help create the foundation of athleticism that is by if we be honest, you know, if you look at most athletes, whether you look at pros, soccer, or whatever, a lot of them have come from track and field first. Absolutely. Absolutely. Other sports have stolen track and field athletes. Yes. Right? And and and and so that that skill is important to a lot of sports. And so you've been able to help. So ZSP is a great resource for helping kids no matter what sport you're in. Absolutely. Because you understand the science behind it. Yep. Foundation we haven't started with Coach Wallace. Yes. Then going to level one, level two, all that stuff is giving you intel, wisdom. And it's still more to learn, yeah. And it's still more to learn. See, that's what I like about it. That's what I like about kind of your approach to things. So, uh, so you've said something already. I was gonna ask a question. Tell us how you've helped youth become successful in the sports. You pretty much answer that question by using and talking about Zawadi as an example of that. Is there anything more you would add to that? How you help kids become successful in other sports? Well, so one of the things I think is most important is belief. You know, Coach Wallace, many years ago, right, one of the things he said is, you know, this sport, it was tracking the field, right, the context of which I think applies to any sport, right, is 90% mental, 10% physical. Right. Right? And so when we look at an athlete and an athlete's development, what is the difference between an athlete that performs well on a consistent basis and one that doesn't, when they've gone through both similar training, right? When they've been uh making progress, but when the big competition comes, right, one excel, the other falters. Right. Right? And then there's exceptional athletes that just they just never get to that level. Right. And what I would argue is is because they they suffer from a chronic state of unbelief. Chronic state of unbelief. Chronic state of unbelief. So I'm going to have another episode where I'm going to bring on a mental performance coach. Okay. So I won't go too far in that. You don't have to. You can't say give a nugget, but it sounds like you've dabbled into that. And and I think every coach who does skill development should have a little bit of that. But if you want to be advanced, having a person who masters in that's right. Could be very beneficial. Yeah. I think that's a secret power for coaches. Yeah. If you can get athletes to believe, you're well in your way. And if you have the science behind it, then you're good. Obviously, there's other components that make the difference. And you've touched on it briefly, right? Nutrition. Right. How they care for their body, sleep, and rest. Yeah. But that getting them to bleed, right? Reinforcing athletes through positive reinforcement. And then using certain key tenants, right, to help guide how they view their activity within the sport as a developer. So what's the guiding philosophy of key tenants? Well, so you know, yeah, getting back to Coach Wallace, right? Okay. Those four principles that he used to tell us. Do what you have to do. Do what you do it when you're supposed to do it. Do it the best you can do. And do it all the time. Let's say it again. Do what you have to do. Uh huh. Do it when you're supposed to do it. Uh-huh. Do it the best you can. Okay. And do it all the time. In reality, you have to be kind of obsessive about that. You gotta be obsessive. But now, this generation, they have a hard time remembering those four principles. Okay? And so what do you distill it down to? I distill it down to two. What's the two? Be present. Best effort. Now listen, like to me that's simple. It is. And it's no pressure. Yep. Be present. Yes. Take in the smells, take in the sounds, take in the people around you, right? Feel the blocks, feel the ground. You know what I'm saying? Like be present. Yeah. And then just give your best. Give your best. That's pretty cool. So the only judgment that a kid would have to do at the end of a performance is what? What's the assessment that you want to ask? Did you give your best? There you go. Right? And in the activity, did you execute in the way that you were required to execute? Well, that's part of doing your best, right? Yeah, being your best but being present.

SPEAKER_02 24:24

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Right? So, like some athletes get distracted. You know, if you're in a race and someone beside you and they're they get out faster than you, maybe you don't execute the drive phase in the way that you should. I see that all the time. You see it all the time. In track and field. Yep. Yeah. Oh, it's like a someone who's, you know, football. Like you have a receiver that is rushing to run up the field before he catches the ball. Right? Because he's thinking about all the stuff around. He's not being present and completing the fundamental of that. Yes. That movement of catching the ball, looking it through. Absolutely. Okay, so two principles. I like that. Yeah. And notice it, yeah, science of training. Uh-huh. Not involved with that. It's not involved in the kids' performance. In the kids' performance. But that's pre-kids' performance, right? Pre-kids. That's in the daily things that you do. Yes. The fundamentals that you teach, the skill that you develop, right? That will show up at competition, but all you say in competition, be present. Yeah. So what does that do? Take away from, you know, I need to break this record or I need to finish first. The one thing that separated Daniel, I believe, for many athletes, and I don't know if many people would say that. If Daniel was here, he would say it, right? You know, someone would say, Well, Daniel, how did you like, oh, I had a horrible meet. I lost this, I didn't get finished first place, or I didn't get a P PR. And Daniel would say, What is wrong with you? I spent the better part of six years losing. Right. Well, no. Daniel would say, he says it's longer than that. Yeah. He said he lost for like 12 years. Yeah. And it felt like that for him, though. It felt like that. But the reality is, he was a very good loan jumper. He was a good lone jumper. And so he won a lot long jump. He just lost in a lot of run races. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't think he managed to being president at the time. He didn't. But but he trusted in the process. Right. And he was committed to, when he was in practice, being present and giving his best. Oh, he did. Yeah. And that's what set stacked the stage, the cars in his favor. Stacking days. Stacking days. Of being present best, present best life. Gotcha. Gotcha. So here's what I like to ask. Because I'm sure you've seen like what would you say have been like a barrier to a student athlete's success? You know, I one of the the major challenges, what the number one and most important barrier is this idea of comparison. Okay, that's rough. Because I got social media that that's what it does. Yeah. I mean, if I'm an athlete and if I'm a parent, and I know this is a a bold statement to make I would really do the best I can to not permit access to social media. Wow. Well, that's gonna be hard for the the the teenagers who are actually trying to get recruited for their sport. Yep. Yep, but so but you're saying you put some parameters around that. You gotta have some parameters. Say more about that. So so again, we talked about being present, best effort. Right. Right. And if an athlete buy into that, then they're gonna constantly focus on all that all that they need to do to get better. And then when they go to the competitions or game, they're prepared to accept what the outcome was. Because they can feel confident in that they did those things. Right. Right? They were there in the game, they were there in the tracking, and they gave their best effort. But the challenge is social media and this constant comparison and also happens in a lot of sense from the parent, right? So when a parent comes in, I say this a parent's talk becomes a child's self-talk. A parent's talk becomes a child's self-talk. When a parent tells an athlete you're not good at that, right? Or Johnny gets out of the block faster than you. Why can't you do what Johnny does? Oh yeah. Right? Right. Now the athlete goes into the competition, that's the only, or training for that matter. I can't get the best out of you in training because all you're thinking about is the fact that you're not able to keep up with Johnny and your parents have put that judgment on you. Right. Right? Yeah. So so the challenge is being able to block all that out. Focus on what is in front of you and giving the best that you can and then trusting that in your best you're gonna achieve results. Those results can come. They're gonna come. Right. So when you say that, you know, that you're not there yet. You're not there yet. So, and I think some people might walk away from a thing too soon because they don't see instant results. Yes. I think that's the problem with America in general. Yeah. Like, there was a study done. What's the author that did the study about Asian families and and math? Uh Malcolm Gladwell. Malcolm Gladwell. I think this applies to sports as well. Yes. Because people would think, I've heard people say this, and it rubs me the wrong way, and you probably argue differently. People have said to me that Daniel is just born that way. Oh. He's genetic, right? Yes. And then I'm like, okay, so that that would suggest that anyone who's trying to do what Daniel has accomplished won't be able to do it unless they have a sudden certain genetic makeup. Well, I say, well, maybe not to the same extent, but it's time invested in a thing that makes a difference. And so, like with Asian families and math, what we learned from Malcolm Gladwell's study is that they don't do a math problem and can't figure it out and say, This is I'm just not good at it. That's right. Gotta do something else. Instead, they say, I don't know this yet. That's right. So just changing that frame, spend more time with it. Spend more time with it. Yeah. It's unfamiliar. Right. Make it more familiar. Right. And you get to get there by spending more time. Right. Yeah. So you're saying parents, that talk, parents, if you're the type of parent that is comparing your child to another child, know that it's going to have an effect on their ability to be present and learn the things they need to learn that will make them better. Like there isn't like this race to get to a certain destination, like now.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:35

Yeah. And then just because your athlete is maybe in your opinion is underperforming. In your opinion, yeah, in your opinion, doesn't mean at some point they'll become better performing. Right. Right? Um, it takes time. And you have to be patient because every athlete is on a different journey. Right. That's a different path to success. Okay. Right. When we talk about Daniel, or even Zawadi for that matter, right? Both of those athletes were seen as slow athletes. You think the people thought that? I know they did. That's increasing. That's crazy. Yeah, they were slow athletes. Um, but because we knew enough about training theory, training theory, to know we spend time developing fast-twitched fibers, and we do that through you know, sprinting, building foundational strength, working on proprioception, and for the most part, teaching them how to move. Right. The science of movement. Right. Right. And in that, that's gonna transition over into better outcomes in the sport. Right. Focusing your training on developing the central nervous system. Right. Right, which a lot of it gets lost. Right. A lot of old school coaching, right? Yeah, yeah. Old school coaching was the death of a lot of people. Like I think back back to how we were, we didn't know any better. I mean, Coach Wallace did a great job giving us a foundation. Yes. But, you know, once we left him and went to college and the coaching wasn't as, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of support around that. We just grind, grind, grind, grind. And I think about that, and I think a lot of adults, parents, they project it on their kids. When they're seeing them doing certain things in practice and they don't think it's enough, that they want them to do more. Yes. And it's because they have not caught up with the times. That's right. They don't realize that what we did, and we did some great things back when we played football and track. But I think we could have done even better had we knew known the science that you know now. That's right. More is less. More is less. Less is more. Less is more. Less is more. Less is more. Right. Yeah. The opposite. So more is not well, more is less though. More is less. But less is more. Stop it, man. Alright. Alright, so so basically you say parents um quiet the talk. Quiet to talk. I think the parents' job is to find the right skill development. But you should they should do that by looking at someone's record. Yes. Like what have they produced? Yeah. Track record. That you can prove. Like, you know, I'm thinking about like a basketball trainer. We know a good person I would like to bring on, uh, I think Vincent Harper, uh Thomas. Uh Vincent Thomas, uh, great basketball coach, skilled developer. And you a great athletic developer. That's why I asked you to come on. And so there's other people that we want to bring on, hopefully, that can talk about what they do to help kids get better. Because you need that in order to position yourself to be a better actor. Because you're not going to always have that in the in the high school coaching experience. Daniel's fortunate. Daniel was very fortunate in track and field.

SPEAKER_02 33:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

Daniel had you for all that time, a long time, and then he went to Nico Valley High School track and field team and had these exceptional men who was who what they did was grounded in science. Yes. It wasn't just anecdotal. No. You know? And they were collaborative. Yeah. And they would they would ask for feedback. It wouldn't make the difference. So I just want to kind of before we wrap it up, is we acknowledge that there are barriers to this thing. One is belief, what kids believe. A lot of times what kids believe comes from what parents are saying, and then also from what they're seeing on social media where then they are trying to compare. I'm not doing that. So therefore I m I must not be good at it. Right? Okay. So I guess I would ask you to wrap this up. What advice would you give to the teenage athlete? What advice would you give to the parent to help them be successful? Yeah. So key advice for the teenager, and you and I recently talked about this. It's like how serious is an athlete towards developing themselves for a future beyond, like, say, high school, going to the next level. And one of the most important things is attitude and mindset, and a lot of that is influenced by the content that you consume. Okay. So be just be mindful of that. If you're consuming a ton of negative content, the impact that it has on your brain and white matter and in development, it's going to play out in your performance and your development. So just be mindful of that. You know, if you surround yourself by a bunch of you know buffoons, you become a buffoon. So your circle is very important. If you have friends that are not as driven and focused as you on achieving, then you should probably look for another another friend sign, right? Yeah. So that's that's a hard one for a lot of kids, right? Yeah. But that's the that's the mindset piece of it. The other part of it is how you care for your body. Right. And we can't understand downplay this enough or emphasize this enough, right? If you're not eating three square meals a day. More than that, though. And two snacks in between, right? And and in a pre pre-workout and a post-workout, you're not as serious as you could be in terms of getting the best outcomes for yourself. Right. Right? Um, so that that diet and the discipline of eating, even though you may not feel like it, right? Is gonna be the thing that keeps you uh healthier, right? It's gonna be the thing that adds the fuel you need to be able to perform at your best. Right. So uh those those two, right? The people you're around and how you care for your body, and lastly, rest. Rest. Hey, so there you go. You gotta rest. Yeah. Now for the parent, you asked about like what's the advice for the parent. Right. You know, the parent, support your athlete. Uh, I've seen so many athletes that have fallen through the through the cracks. I mean, athletes that that could have gone far, far. I mean, especially in this day and age, right? There's so many opportunities for athletes that are performing. Uh, and we say athletes, we mean student athletes. Right? So they gotta be doing it, not killing it in the classroom. They gotta be doing the work in the classroom. Yeah, gotta do the classroom. If you if you're not doing that, then you're not an athlete as far as I'm concerned. Right. Because you you're not you're not earning yourself the the opportunity to participate in a sport. But as student athletes, right? Um, parents supporting them, and also just being excited to watch them compete. Right. Versus being so quick to judge every scenario and outcome that occurs. Yeah, I tell you, that's tough though. That's tough. It's tough, and it's good good advice. Yeah. And I got to a place where I was able to just be a part of it, just watch, you know. And what I'm fortunate enough is that I had such a big, Dale had has such a big support system, which was a support system to us too as well. Having you, having Mark Anderson, his major performance coach, having his his high school coaches uh on the track side. I didn't coach Daniel, but Daniel, with his coaches and you guys, it made the difference. So uh that that is great advice. And and I hope this has been beneficial to you guys. Um we just want to continue to to give you content that's gonna help your child develop, okay? And then be positioned to be recruited. And so I would say that this is like critical for the could-be elite athlete or the scholarship ready athlete. You know, not every kid who gets a scholarship is gonna be elite. But by implementing these ideas, you can definitely set yourself apart to be recruited. If your child is in a certain sport, whether basketball, softball, track, I would say uh someone like Dennis, you know, if you're trying to develop your child, they're young, they're trying to develop their overall athleticism. Start with someone like like a dentist at ZSP because they're gonna help them become developed overall in such a way that they can choose whatever sport later. Yes. I would discourage specializing your kid too. Yes. Let your kid do a variety of different things because it's gonna it's gonna help, like I say, then the ability to move, create balance, stability, all that kind of stuff, you know, by doing a lot of things. But just be mindful, because one of the things you said was rest. Rest is important. So rest and recovery, which a lot of us who were in sports back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, even before, didn't believe in it. Yes. And so now we think our kids are supposed to do the same thing, and we're saying less is more. Yes. In the next episode, we'll well, in an episode in the future, we're gonna bring on someone who does mental performance. Yes. And we can talk about the all that would be a good one. Yeah. Yeah. So until then, we thank you for joining us, and this is recruitable.