The most important thing is to create a training, diet and mindset that enables players to be as effective as possible.

As for players who are not “properly” employed by the rules, but may be effective in training and dieting, it’s even more important to create the proper mindset. Athletes can’t be just their own coach and coach their own team. You have to have a mind/body/spirit program. When in doubt, “put your players at a disadvantage” and make them play to the best of their ability, in a training session or on a court.

Because players are on edge during these critical times in their careers, most coaches have little patience for them and tend to lose their minds. So, what can you do to help your players have the focus that will lead to success? The key is to identify where your young athletes have “foggy judgment,” or are not as sharp as they should be, so that you can get the best out of them.

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Many athletes have not been exposed to the correct mindset for success. Even after years of experience it is hard to know whether an athlete is a “perfect athlete” before he or she is given a chance to play. At that point, you want to take a look-see and you want to know, ‘Is this an athlete?’. Is this an athlete with the right mentality? The kind of mindset that will help you win in the long run? And if not, what do you need to fix? One thing you can do is to identify what, in essence, sets a ‘perfect’ athlete apart from a great athlete.