Latest / The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast / #98: Gill1918 Presents Jamal Moore “Relationships” Powered by Coach O

Transcript

#98: Gill1918 Presents Jamal Moore “Relationships” Powered by Coach O · The Gill Athletics Track and Field Connections Podcast

• 0:00
  Welcome to the Gill 1918 Project, a podcast series by
• 0:03
  coaches for coaches, powered by Gill Athletics.
• 0:05
  Think of it as the Ted Talks of track and field coaching.
• 0:08
  Short, insightful, and packed with valuable strategies to help
• 0:11
  you grow as a coach. This episode is part of the
• 0:13
  Youth and Beginner Series, brought to you by Coach O.
• 0:16
  In this series, we focus on topics relating to coaching
• 0:19
  youth athletes, coaching beginner athletes of any age,
• 0:21
  and supporting brand new coaches as they find their way.
• 0:24
  With that in mind, let's grow. Hey guys, it's Coach Jamal here,
• 0:29
  speed and performance coach at PAP Sports.
• 0:31
  I just wanted to take the time to say thank you for listening
• 0:34
  in on this podcast. Today we're going to talk about
• 0:37
  the relationship between athletes and coaches and why
• 0:40
  it's important in athletics. Just wanted to let you know a
• 0:44
  little bit about myself. I am local to the Greenville, SC
• 0:48
  area. I grew up here pretty much all
• 0:50
  my life and I graduated from Coastal Carolina University.
• 0:54
  This is about to be my first year in the athletics field
• 0:57
  officially. I have played sports all my life
• 1:01
  being football, tracks, basketball, pretty much you name
• 1:05
  it at this point. I just wanted to say a little
• 1:09
  bit about myself to let you know who I am.
• 1:12
  I've worked in many different sorts of styles and variations
• 1:16
  when it comes to coaching and group fitness training and
• 1:18
  personal training and especially speed training as of now.
• 1:24
  Just wanted to let everyone know the role of a speed and
• 1:26
  performance coach in case you were unaware or unfamiliar.
• 1:29
  So my role at Pat Sports is to develop athletes.
• 1:33
  We use science based training programs to boost athlete speed,
• 1:36
  strength, power, and even their agility as well.
• 1:41
  Since we just went over my role, I just wanted to take a little
• 1:43
  deep diving about speed as well. So a lot of people have a
• 1:47
  misunderstanding about speed. So they might see their
• 1:51
  eight-year old somewhere and just say Oh my kids fast because
• 1:53
  he's outrunning everybody. But it's really a battle between
• 1:58
  fast versus efficient. So fast is about speed in
• 2:02
  general. So being fast is about
• 2:04
  completing something very quickly while as being efficient
• 2:08
  is about having a certain outcome.
• 2:10
  So say a 40 yard runner for the NFL combine, They're very
• 2:15
  efficient runners that get the really high time.
• 2:18
  So it's about using every ounce of power or force that you can
• 2:23
  generate to get to point A to point B without using a waste of
• 2:27
  your resources. So let's talk about my favorite
• 2:31
  topic and it's about being a coach.
• 2:33
  So being a coach is more than just simple drills and just
• 2:38
  teaching exercises. Granted, that is a big part of
• 2:40
  it, but being a coach is also about being a role model to your
• 2:45
  athletes. So if you have a, what I like to
• 2:49
  call it, loser mindset. So, you know, every time you go
• 2:53
  down in the game by like 14, your heads hanging low, what do
• 2:57
  you think a high school athlete is going to do?
• 2:59
  They're going to do the same thing their coaches do because
• 3:01
  kids are very impressionable these days.
• 3:04
  They look up to you. And I feel like I didn't even
• 3:06
  notice that until I started here at PAP, where their parents were
• 3:12
  telling me, this kid always talks about you, this kids
• 3:15
  always looking up to you. And I feel like I can kind of
• 3:18
  see that now more now than when I first started.
• 3:22
  When I first started, I was like, man, these kids probably
• 3:24
  don't even care like who I am or what I'm about, but they
• 3:27
  actually look into you and like take a deep dive into who you
• 3:32
  are as a person. And I feel like that's why we're
• 3:34
  having this podcast today is because the relationship between
• 3:37
  me and my athletes or something that I feel like is more
• 3:40
  important than the athletics itself.
• 3:44
  The same way you want your athletes to show up for you in
• 3:46
  the game or whatever competition it is, that's the same way you
• 3:50
  have to be for when they come to their practice, their training.
• 3:54
  If I have a bad day, I can't allow my athletes to see that
• 4:00
  for me at least, it's nothing wrong with being vulnerable at
• 4:03
  all, but I have to be the best I can for them.
• 4:06
  It's not Even so much for me because if I feel like I'm not
• 4:09
  at my best, I can't help anybody get to the best.
• 4:12
  Have you ever heard of like the phrase is like, I can't help the
• 4:16
  world if I can't help myself And that's kind of how I see it when
• 4:19
  it comes to athletic training. Another thing that I've noticed
• 4:23
  in this past year is that you can't develop all athletes the
• 4:26
  same. I already knew that there was
• 4:28
  different types of learner where there was visual learners,
• 4:30
  auditorial learners or even kinetic learners.
• 4:33
  So it's just it's really difficult to coach different
• 4:39
  ages of athlete, like age groups of athletes.
• 4:43
  So let's say for example, I have a 7 year old, I can't trust a 7
• 4:47
  year old to do a back squat like I could a 18 year old, you know?
• 4:51
  So it's just taking that into account and a lot of times it's
• 4:55
  keeping their attention for when it's a lot younger athletes.
• 5:00
  Granted, all my coaching styles are relatively the same.
• 5:04
  I kind of put my own little swag on it.
• 5:05
  So you kind of just have to know what works for you and you can't
• 5:10
  really copy another coach and expect it to work for you
• 5:14
  because what works for them, it's probably not going to work
• 5:16
  for you. You could take ideas and
• 5:20
  theories from other coaches and, you know, put your little spin
• 5:23
  on it. There's nothing wrong with that
• 5:25
  because a lot of the things that all coaches do is they take from
• 5:30
  other coaches. So no coach in the world has
• 5:33
  invented a back squat. Let's let's keep it that way.
• 5:35
  So it's just you kind of have to learn who you are as a coach 1st
• 5:41
  and then also throw yourself in that fire and learn like how
• 5:45
  does this athlete react to this certain exercise?
• 5:48
  How do they react to when I say this cue?
• 5:52
  I know for one thing is when you when it comes to like queuing
• 5:55
  different athletes is that one cue might work for one athlete
• 6:00
  and they might and another that same cue might not work for the
• 6:03
  same athlete. And it's just, it's really a lot
• 6:06
  of trial and error. And then once you learn the
• 6:08
  athlete as a person, then you get what works for them.
• 6:11
  Let's drive right into it. Let's talk about the
• 6:13
  relationship and it's importance with your athletes are.
• 6:17
  So your athlete has to be able to trust you.
• 6:20
  No matter what type of coach you are, whether it's a speed and
• 6:23
  performance coach, strength and conditioning coach of football
• 6:26
  coach, basketball coach, volleyball coach, they have to
• 6:29
  be able to trust you. If your athletes don't trust
• 6:31
  you, then it's hard for them to perform at their best for you.
• 6:37
  It's not only that, but it's more for for me, it's more for
• 6:40
  the psychological effect is that like I said earlier, is a loser
• 6:44
  mentality. If you as a coach have a loser
• 6:47
  mentality, that may instill in your athletes.
• 6:49
  So be kind of careful about what you say around your athletes
• 6:55
  because you don't want to impact their life in a negative way.
• 6:58
  You always want to be the positive coach.
• 7:00
  So you always want to be someone that they could look towards.
• 7:03
  At the end of the day, every time they see you, they're
• 7:06
  excited, ready to go. It's about and sometimes you
• 7:10
  just have to meet athletes where they are as well.
• 7:12
  So, so you might have a kid that comes in real raw potential, but
• 7:18
  doesn't really know a lot about the type of training that you
• 7:21
  do. You kind of have to meet, even
• 7:24
  if it means kind of regressing down to where they should be
• 7:27
  just to rebuild the foundation that they could be at.
• 7:30
  I feel like a lot of coaches are very quick to discard an athlete
• 7:35
  based on where they are already. A lot of coaches don't develop
• 7:39
  or don't want to develop. They kind of just want someone
• 7:41
  who's already pre made as I like to call them.
• 7:43
  So a pre made athlete is just someone with natural athletic
• 7:47
  ability. But it's really easy to train
• 7:50
  the pre made athletes because they already are where they need
• 7:53
  to be. You're just trying to amplify
• 7:55
  that. In my past I've even seen
• 7:58
  coaches discard me for where I was at athletically, but I ended
• 8:03
  up growing into where I needed to be.
• 8:07
  I would say you should never count out an athlete.
• 8:09
  You always kind of want to believe in them.
• 8:12
  The more you believe, then they could be great.
• 8:14
  Not everybody's an athlete. I get it, but you never know who
• 8:18
  could be an athlete who's just not ready to bloom yet.
• 8:22
  And from another standpoint, it's important for our athletes
• 8:25
  mental readiness. Their mental readiness is
• 8:28
  crucial for their peak performance and their resilience
• 8:31
  against tough times. Because there are a lot of kids
• 8:34
  out here who've never been through a tough time.
• 8:36
  And then when they're approached with one, they don't really know
• 8:39
  how to react. And, you know, everybody is
• 8:42
  built in different ways. So a lot of kids might not react
• 8:46
  the same way that you would in a certain situation.
• 8:49
  You know, pressure makes diamonds, but not everybody is
• 8:52
  mentally ready to handle that pressure.
• 8:54
  A lot of kids feel like they have the weight on the world on
• 8:57
  their backs. And that's something that's
• 8:59
  super important to me. And not all kids respond to
• 9:03
  coaches that just yell and scream at them, begging them to
• 9:06
  do better. You know, some kids fold under
• 9:08
  pressure like that and that's normal.
• 9:11
  Said you need to encourage them and build their confidence back
• 9:14
  up to overcome challenges like an injury or you know, maybe
• 9:19
  they can't catch a ball and you got to help them learn how to do
• 9:23
  that properly. If you're just yelling at them
• 9:25
  and they're not getting anything positive from that, then they're
• 9:29
  probably going to have a very negative viewpoint of view.
• 9:34
  Everyone has different personality types, so it's also
• 9:37
  very important to understand the athlete that you're dealing
• 9:40
  with. Some athletes like to be very
• 9:44
  relaxed, not going, but work very hard.
• 9:46
  Some athletes like to, I don't know, feel lazy at points.
• 9:51
  I get it. So understanding who your
• 9:54
  athlete is as a person, I feel like can make or break you,
• 9:57
  honestly. So it's just knowing who your
• 10:01
  athlete is and building on top of that.
• 10:05
  As a coach of any kind, you really want to stress the
• 10:09
  importance of just listening to your athletes, listen to how
• 10:13
  they feel, because you never know what a kid could be going
• 10:16
  through at home. You never know what inside
• 10:20
  battles they're struggling with. So it's important to listen to
• 10:23
  your athletes as well. Let's talk about different ways
• 10:28
  or methods, as you could say, to building a relationship with
• 10:30
  your athletes. So as a coach, at least for me,
• 10:34
  it's important to have a certain type of demand from your
• 10:38
  athletes, a respect, as you may say.
• 10:41
  I feel like that is a great way to start off because if your
• 10:46
  athletes not respect you, then there's probably not going to be
• 10:49
  much productivity getting done. But in the same breath, you also
• 10:53
  have to be vulnerable enough to let your athletes know who you
• 10:57
  are. So I I'm a strong believer of
• 11:00
  having fun while working hard at the same time.
• 11:03
  So my athletes will always tell you that is never a dead moment
• 11:09
  with me. So I joke with them, I race them
• 11:13
  in practice, I show them what I can do to see if they could beat
• 11:17
  me. They always try to beat me.
• 11:18
  I, I am not scared of the smoke as they would be say one of the
• 11:23
  ones all that like they know what I can do as a coach.
• 11:26
  So they kind of want something to build towards.
• 11:29
  Another way that I developed my relationship with athletes is
• 11:33
  just by simply showing up. So this past year is probably
• 11:36
  the first time ever that I've been to a high school football
• 11:40
  game in a long time that I wasn't playing in.
• 11:43
  So I've been to multiple football games, volleyball
• 11:46
  tournaments, just showing up, showing them who they are and,
• 11:50
  you know, trying to get their their names out there.
• 11:53
  So that's a great way to start. That also helps you build a
• 11:56
  relationship with their parents when you sit beside them at the
• 11:58
  games, talk about how well they're doing, seeing your
• 12:01
  product as well. So I like to see what I helped
• 12:05
  build. I don't take credit for
• 12:07
  everything that they do, but I will say I like to be like, Oh
• 12:10
  my gosh, that's that kid came in the pop, you know, and that's
• 12:13
  why he's doing the 60 yard touchdown or whatever it may be.
• 12:18
  And I'm proud of them for that. I know how hard they worked for
• 12:21
  it. So it's just simply giving back
• 12:23
  to them in a sense. I've also noticed they
• 12:27
  appreciate when I show up, they're excited to see me.
• 12:30
  And we always take a picture, you know, we always got to flick
• 12:32
  up at the end of the game or tournament or championship,
• 12:35
  whatever it may be. So I just want to have a little
• 12:38
  quick story time. So let's talk about Mason.
• 12:42
  Mason's one of my guys like me and go back as far back as over
• 12:47
  the summer, he came to me as a 8th grader and watching him
• 12:51
  progress to from 8th grade to 9th grade, it's been like a wow
• 12:56
  factor. Like when me and Mason first
• 12:58
  met, he was around the same height as me.
• 13:01
  Now he's like two or three inches taller than me, but he
• 13:06
  grew so much just over this that one season.
• 13:10
  And we have have yet to have a full offseason with Mason.
• 13:13
  But just watching him grow and develop has been almost life
• 13:17
  changing for me. And it's been amazing to see him
• 13:21
  go from where he started to where he's at.
• 13:23
  And I actually have a lot of faith in him of making it to
• 13:27
  wherever it is that he decides to go one day.
• 13:29
  He's only in 9th grade so I know I've kind of put a lot on his
• 13:32
  shoulder, but I know Masons work ethnic and he works very hard at
• 13:38
  everything that he does. He never does 1/2 Rep, or at
• 13:41
  least he tries not to. And sometimes I do have to call
• 13:44
  him out on it when I feel like he's giving me half effort.
• 13:48
  But again, there are times where he might go too hard and I'll
• 13:52
  have to reel him back in like, hey, it doesn't have to be that
• 13:55
  heavy, you know, I know you want to squat, you know, 265, let's
• 13:59
  say. But today we're just going to
• 14:01
  need to squat like 225. And there's nothing wrong with
• 14:03
  that, but we're just we're working on this specific
• 14:06
  movement. So I need your legs good to go.
• 14:08
  So that's one thing. So me and Mason, I'm pretty
• 14:13
  locked in. So another kid that I like to
• 14:15
  talk about is Jayden. Jayden's in 11th grade or no,
• 14:20
  he's in 10th grade. He's about to be an 11th grader.
• 14:22
  Time flies. But me and Jayden, he's about
• 14:26
  the same as me and Mason. Go back over the summer and I've
• 14:29
  been to both of these guys games.
• 14:31
  Of course I forgot to mention that about Mason, but I've been
• 14:35
  to both of their games. They started on JV.
• 14:37
  Jayden actually started on varsity this year, but he wasn't
• 14:41
  getting any playing time. So we had like a one-on-one
• 14:46
  conversation with me, him and his dad.
• 14:48
  And we were, I think we were out working out near his high school
• 14:52
  at one point. I don't remember.
• 14:53
  But we just had that conversation with him like, hey,
• 14:56
  would it, is it worth staying on varsity if you know you're not
• 14:59
  going to play? And he was just like, probably
• 15:01
  not because I want to play. And so I was like, maybe it's a
• 15:04
  good thing for me and his dad were just like, maybe it's a
• 15:07
  good thing that you drop down to JV because then you have the
• 15:09
  opportunity to show your worth to your varsity coaches.
• 15:12
  And I told him right before the game, I was just like, make sure
• 15:18
  that you show them who you are. And literally the very first
• 15:21
  play they put him in, he runs past his defender, goes and
• 15:25
  scores a 70 yard touchdown. And he sent it to me and was
• 15:28
  like coach from I can't believe I did that right.
• 15:31
  And that's just something powerful to me.
• 15:34
  And you know, his, he invites me out to his family outings and
• 15:38
  stuff like that. And his dads like, yeah, you
• 15:39
  need to come. So it's just like we got a
• 15:41
  really close relationship and that's just so cool for me.
• 15:44
  Same with Mason as well. So it's just like it's a great
• 15:47
  experience. Thank you guys for having me.
• 15:51
  Shout out to Coach O shout out to David for actually giving me
• 15:54
  the opportunity to be on today's podcast.
• 15:57
  If you guys ever want to reach out to Pap Sports, we have
• 16:01
  Instagrams. My personal Instagram is coach
• 16:03
  Jamal under score PAP sports and my Twitter handle or X as they
• 16:09
  call it now is going to be at Coach Jamal Moore.
• 16:12
  So I'm not hard to find. Find me anywhere and thank you
• 16:15
  guys for having me. Love you.
• 16:17
  Hey gang, Mike Cunningham here. Thanks for joining us for this
• 16:20
  episode in the Youth and beginner series Powered by Coach
• 16:23
  O Powered by Coach O is more than a platform.
• 16:25
  It's a movement to benefit track and field by supporting coaches,
• 16:28
  athletes, parents, officials and event directors in countless
• 16:32
  ways. Find out more and get yourself
• 16:34
  plugged in to the Powered by Coach O by visiting coacho.com
• 16:38
  today.