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Camp Spotlight: Xavier University

May 2nd, 2011 by tom
Xavier Musketeers athletic logo

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Recently, EXACT sent a list of questions to Xavier men’s soccer head coach Andy Fleming. Here’s how Coach Fleming responded to our questions about his soccer camps:

EXACT (E): What are some of the things that happen at a typical day of camp?

Andy Fleming (AF): Obviously we manage and oversee each of the kids, yet we also put a lot on their shoulders as far as knowing where to be and when and waking up on time. We place itineraries and schedules throughout the campus and challenge them to see if they can get there on their own…similar to what college would be like.

As far as the day itself, we try to incorporate activities for each of our core developmental areas:

  • Physical development (speed, fitness, etc.)
  • Technical work (ball mastery)
  • Soccer IQ (tactical and situational teaching of game)
  • Personal (guest speaker, EXACT Sports workshops)
  • Fun (contests, etc.)

EXACT: What do coaches like yourself look for when recruiting talent? How do you spot that at camp?

AF: The main things have to do with TIPS. T is technique on ball and toughness (can you last through a week of camp and play in the heat, take coaching, etc.); I is intelligence and interest in our school, which can really be demonstrated to a coach during camp; P is personality, presence, the person and what “piece” you might add to our team; S is speed and social. Does the player mix in with other campers how does his personality come across when we interact in dining hall, dorms, etc.?

Much of this comes out on the field yet an overnight camp is unique because you are living near the coaches for 4 days and we can truly see what you are like as a person.

E: Tell me about the instructors involved in your camp? Where are they from? How do they support you and your goals?

AF: Our staff has a solid blend of personalities, age range, schools work(ed) at in some fashion, and will present a wide ranging network to help connect our campers with other colleges around the country.

I like to think that our coaches truly earn their money at the camp, while they also look to connect with the campers and take pride in teachable moments in soccer, academic and social situations.

Right now we will have Ohio State, Kenyon, Ohio Wesleyan, and the Xavier staff at our CS 101 camp. Our high school team camp will feature coaches from Indiana University and Northwestern University. I look at it that say five coaches at camp each know 40 college coaches and you might open the door networking wise to some 200 college coaches based on your performance and interactions at camp.

E: How does your team mentally prepare during the season? Training sessions demand mental quality. On the camp “field”, how do you help foster mental development?

AF: During the season we talk a lot about daily goals, daily victories and staying in the present, rather than looking back. Its important to revisit goals and know what you are working towards and why you are part of a cause (team). Individually, at the camp, we talk a lot about creating the “ideal you” and setting a brand for what you stand for. This helps one realize their strengths and role within a team and allows you to keep inventory on your development internally and towards your academic social and athletic goals.

Xavier University Men’s Soccer finished 2010 with an overall record of 12-8-4. Coming off a 2-win 2009 campaign, the Musketeers were Atlantic 10 champions (a first) and made their first ever appearance in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to West Virginia in the first round to cap Coach Andy Fleming’s first season at the Cincinnati-based school. Visit the official Xavier men’s soccer site.

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Camp Spotlight: Ohio Wesleyan

April 23rd, 2011 by tom
Shield of Ohio Wesleyan University

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EXACT works with hundreds of colleges and universities across the country, and plays a key role in various soccer camps. One of these camps is held on the campus of Ohio Wesleyan University.
Ohio Wesleyan Soccer Head Coach and Professor of Physical Education Dr. Jay Martin talked about his elite soccer camp. EXACT’s role in the camp is to help the players mentally focus on the game of soccer and be prepared to play  their best over a highly competitive weekend.  There are questionnaires to see how coachable a player is and their attitude towards themselves and their abilities or even their  personality traits–intangibles that may not be spotted on the pitch. Dr Martin has been coaching soccer for 34 years and his Battling Bishops are one of the top Division III programs in the country. According to bishops.owu.edu, one of Dr. Martin’s players made the prestigious Academic All-American list, and two were DIII All-Americans (from http://bishops.owu.edu/msoccer.html). We sent Dr. Martin a list of 4 questions and here is how he responded:
EXACT: What are some of the things that happen on a typical day of camp?
Dr. Martin: “There are no thrills in our camp. It is completely focused on soccer technique and fitness. There is an opportunity to get everyone on the ball with various games and arrangements.”
E: What do coaches like yourself look for when recruiting talent? How do you spot that in your camp?
M: “The game of soccer is always changing. It has become more competitive and more athletic, even over the last decade. It’s been very impressive watching their technique. We look for athletes who are competitive and tough.”
E: Talk about the instructors involved with your camp. Where are they from, and how do they support your goals?
M: “Our campers and our coaches come from all over the Mid-Eastern states and the Midwest. Some universities that come include Carnegie Mellon, Pitt, and my son, Ryan, who is the assistant coach at Wake Forest, comes as well.”
E: How does your team mentally prepare during the season?
M: “I’ve been coaching for 34 years. Success is more than just winning and losing. The game is 90% mental. We use mental imaging, and that gives us a good set up for the season. Mental preparation is huge. The difference is often that extra 10% of preparation.”
Additional comments from Dr. Martin: “EXACT has been a huge difference for us. We finished fifth in the country last year with a 19-2-2 record. I knew we had a good team, but I didn’t think we would finish that well. I really think our work with EXACT played a huge, huge role in that success.”
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How a Bad Memory Can Help on the Field

April 18th, 2011 by tom

Imagine for a moment you’re on the mound in game 5 of a 162-game season. You’re the road team, and your team is up 6-4 in the bottom of the 9h. The home team has the power threat coming up fourth in the inning.. You got the first batter you faced. You walk the second, and the third lauches a double deep into the corner, allowing the runner to score from first. It’s now 6-5 with a runner in scoring position and one out. You strike out the power threat, and breathe a sigh of relief. You’ve always had the next hitter’s number. In fact, that hitter has only had one hit against you, and that was 5 years ago before you were the team’s closer. After you work the count full, you throw a curveball, but there’s a problem. It doesn’t break properly, it ends up being ht over the centerfield fence, and the game is over.

Our hitter has what everyone hopes you the closer have–a short memory. Numerous articles have been written about why it’s important to have a short memory when it comes to sports. For example, the Seattle Mariners have been struggling, but as this article says, pitcher Jason Vargas was able to make an adjustment.

In sports, be it baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, lacrosse, even darts, one has to remember that each incident is independent of the other. In baseball, when the at-bat is over, it is in the past. Of course, it is necessary to learn from the mistakes, but the blown save cannot loom for the next time your manager or coach makes the call to the pen.

In soccer or hockey, it could be a missed goal or a missed save on a penalty shot or shoot out. In football, it can be blowing a coverage assignment that leads to the game winning touchdown. In lacrosse, it can be allowing a last minute goal. Or, an athlete could have had a bad practice the day before or a bad pregam warm up. As Zach Daw says, sometimes it is best to simply not think and let them be.

Peyton Manning, Tim Thomas, and Jay Cutler are examples of athletes who have all had incidents where they have made a big mistake and have been able to leave it in the past.

For tips on how to leave a bad mistake in the past, this link is very helpful. While the author deals with more personal experiences, many of these can be applied to sports, especially in baseball, or any sport where there is a “sudden death” ending scenario.

EXACT can recommend a mental coach to help the athlete leave those mistakes in the past. No athlete is perfect, but sometimes being forgetful is incredibly useful!

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Adam’s 5 Most Confident Athletes

April 3rd, 2011 by Adam

 

 

 

Barcelona's Lionel Messi was voted as man of t...

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EXACT Sport’s commitment is to develop athletes to their full potential.  By using a foundation of research, scientific principles and sports psychology while utilizing resources from established relationships with the NHL, MLS, division 1 collegiate athletics among many other notable partners in the sporting world, EXACT continues to give clients the most cutting edge athlete development service product.

Here is a look at my top 5 most confident athletes.

5. Derrick Rose, the Bulls starting point guard and pride of Chicago, appears to be the clear favorite to become the youngest ever recipient of the MVP at 22 years old.  In large part due to Rose the Bulls have been able to overcome significant injuries that held stars Joakim Noah and Carlos Boozer out of the lineup for 48 games combined.  They currently lead the Miami Heat and Boston Celtics in pursuit of the coveted number one seed. Rose has done the heavy lifting all season posting averages of 25.1 points 7.9 assists and 4.1 rebounds a game. His confidence is essential to any success the Bulls have because he handles the ball on every position.

4. Cliff Lee is once again a member of an outstanding starting rotation in Philadelphia. In fact, he is now back with the same team he almost singlehandedly led through the 2009 playoffs before the Phil’s finally ran out of steam in the  World Series against the New York Yankees. Lee’s confidence was on full display on the biggest stage as he posted two wins, a sparkling 2.81 ERA and 16 total innings including a complete game in Game 1.  The former Cy Young award winner relies on pinpoint accuracy and an innate ability to keep hitters off balance with a wealth of pitches and speeds.

3. Lionel Messi is an Argentine soccer player and is currently a member of the prestigious international soccer club FC Barcelona.  In a sport that requires more endurance and perhaps more skill than any other, Messi finds a way to separate from the field.  It’s not uncommon to find him dicing up the competition and sending it into the back of the net on game day. At the age of 23 he has received the FIFA World Player of the Year award and other international honors.  During the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Messi helped his Argentine team win the gold medal.  Messi’s mental toughness and confidence may propel him to become one of the greatest soccer players to ever live.

2. Albert Pujols is the best player in baseball and has been since he stepped onto the diamond as a rookie in 2001.  “The Machine’s” confidence is illustrated by his career averages which have occurred with more symmetry every season then a mirror image: 331 batting average, 123 runs, 128 RBIs, 44 bombs, with a .426 on base percentage. Many players, for obvious reasons have had a difficult time performing consistently over the course of a 162 game season. Albert has managed to perform at the highest level throughout his career. His confidence and mental toughness are unmatched in the MLB.

1. Sidney Crosby is currently sidelined with a concussion but no injury can keep “The Next One” off the list of most confident athletes. Since coming into the NHL Crosby has become the most dominant force in hockey.  In addition to leading the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup championship in 2009, he has also won; a scoring title,  the NHL’s MVP equivalent, the Hart Memorial Trophy, and scored the game winning goal against the U.S. as a member of the Canadian team in the 2010 Winter Olympics.  Crosby is one of the most feared players in all of sports and he has the confidence to match.

Now who’s on your top 5?

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Personality and Sports

April 2nd, 2011 by tom

In any sport, and at any level, there are generally four types of personalities: the star mentality, the hard worker, the average player, and the bench player. These types are by no means names given by clinical psychologists–we’ll get to those in the conclusions–rather they are a generalization and layman’s terms.

The “Hard Worker”

This individual is extremely coachable and will take everything the coach says to heart. S/he is the first to arrive and the last to leave the weight room or practice field. S/he is working diligently in the off-season doing all of the conditioning regiments. These players are a coach’s dream. Often, the hard work pays off and leads to great success. As long as that success does not affect the player’s work ethic, s/he will continue the hard work. Conversely, some of these individuals are never satisfied with their performances. Generally, this player may not be the most confident, but is the most competitive and most coachable.

The “Average Player”

These players can be a dime a dozen. They are (mostly) on time to practice, weight room, and games, and they leave on time. They are generally happy with performing at their best and confident in their abilites. Once in a while, these individuals will step up and have a big game. The rest of the team will congratulate them. These players know their roles, take a coach’s advice, and come to play on a daily basis. This player is fairly confident, competitive, and usually as coachable as the hard worker.

The “Star Mentality”

Every team has a star player or two. And there’s nothing wrong with that. However, there are some who think they are the best and beg to be placed on a team of their choice at the higher levels. Some have the skills to back that up, and some will sit with an undisclosed attitude and often be a burden to the rest of the team. Sometimes, these players are the coach’s nightmare. The player will often be very confident in his/her abilities, and is usually very competitive, but they are not always the most coachable.

The “Bench Player”

These are the players who are quite content on the pine and get in the game for just a moment. In high school sports, these players are much more likely to occur. However, that aside, there are players that always have the burning desire to get better so they can play. At higher levels, the bench player mentality begins to fade away and they get anxious to play. While ability may keep them on the bench, this player can quickly become the hardest worker on the team in a fight for playing time. The high school bench player may not be the most competitive or the most confident. However, these players-at any level-can be coached into gaining confidence and competitiveness.

Diagnostics and Conclusions–How EXACT Can Help

With EXACT, a coach can use the tools they have to their disposal. These tools include personality testing. There are literally hundreds of personality tests available on the Internet at varying costs. EXACT’s Competitive Athlete Psychological Inventory (CAPI) questionnaire .The test measures eleven domains including Confidence, Competitiveness & Coachability. This survey is used by EXACT with clients such as various colleges, MLS, the NHL, and many more. The test can tell the coach precisely the types of players s/he is dealing with.
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