Unable to regularly meet with your athletes over the summer? You can still significantly improve your athletes’ skills, conditioning, and strength while coaching/training remotely using sportsYou.

‍As we have witnessed over the past few months, coaches may not have the same opportunity to meet with their athletes to train, teach, and motivate as they used to. When unable to meet face-to-face with your athletes, here are some ideas on how you can implement these four strategies - motivation, workout plans, accountability, safety - to successfully improve the outcomes for each of your athletes.

1. Motivation

To keep athletes dedicated to the real work it takes to improve, it is crucial to effectively motivate.‍

“Each person holds so much power within themselves that needs to be let out. Sometimes they just need a little nudge, a little direction, a little support, a little coaching, and the greatest things can happen.”
Pete Carrol, Seattle Seahawks Head Football Coach

Each day, try to send a daily quote to your athletes that relates to their sport, position, role or goals. Quotes can come from famous people or may be something original by the coach.

A coach or athlete can also create a brief video - let’s say 10-30 seconds - and post it to the team feed to pump up your athletes. Other options include links to YouTube videos from an individual, game, or movie that gets your athletes motivated to do their strength and conditioning work, perfect their skills, and take care of their bodies.

How to use sportsYou to motivate.

• Post a Color Text Post in the team feed with a daily motivational quote
• Post a daily 10-30 second video to send a positive message
• Select a different athlete each day to post a motivational quote and/or video
• Post a video of different athletes working hard

2. Workout Plans

Want to get results out of your athletes? Provide a written plan for each athlete to follow.

“Failing to plan is planning to fail.”
John Wooden, Legendary UCLA Basketball Coach, 10 NCAA National Championships

Athletes look for guidance on what to do and how to do it. Use exact workout plans for your athletes to follow that includes: stretches, warmups, exercises, number of sets, number of reps, and a post-workout cool down.

Include the reasons for the workouts and the associated benefits that may include advances in skill, speed, strength, explosiveness, injury prevention and the like. Note that when things are written down, there is a significant increase in rates of completion - so create a specific daily workout plan and share it with your athletes in the team feed or attach to a Calendar event.

How to use sportsYou to share workout plans.

• Post daily workouts in the team feed
• Pin a weekly/monthly workout PDF to top of the team feed
• Post a Color Text Post and/or a video to emphasize core workout goals e.g. increase explosiveness, improve lateral quickness
• Attach workout PDFs to Calendar dates with notifications

3. Accountability

To hold athletes accountable, provide pathways to record their work.

“A lot of people want to win, but they won’t do what it takes. When your best players are your hardest workers, you have the chance to be very good.”
Tara VanDerveer, Stanford Women’s Head Basketball Coach, 1,042 wins, Naismith Hall of Fame

Coaches want to know that their athletes completed their workouts - and athletes need to share that they completed their workouts. Using sportsYou, players can inform their coach on whether they completed their workout for that day by simply checking a “Yes” or “No” answer on a Poll in the team feed. This way, coaches know who is getting things done, and who is not.

And for those not doing their workouts, the coach can have a conversation via Chat to find out how to help their athletes move forward.

How to use sportsYou for accountability.

• Post a daily Poll with “Yes” or “No” answers on whether the workout was completed
• Have athletes send the coach a Chat with a 10 second video of them during or after completing workout
• Have athletes send the coach a Chat with words such as “Falcon Pride”, “Stronger”, “Faster”, “Dedication”, “More Skilled”, “Perseverance”, etc. to signify completion

4. Safety

Keeping athletes safe and healthy requires education.‍

“When you teach an athlete how to take care of their body, it leads to improved health and a better performance.”
Jim Gossett, Columbia Lions Head Trainer

Convey knowledge to your athletes that teaches them how to safely train in order to prevent injuries. Teach training techniques, stretching methods, rest requirements, and good nutritional practices that all combine to prevent injuries while maximizing successful outcomes.

Communicate with your athletes to provide balanced workouts so that there are not different trainers/coaches requiring athletes to complete multiple workouts that leads to overuse and potential injuries.

How to use sportsYou for safety and health.

• Post documents with safe training practices related to physical and nutritional topics
• Post a daily Color Text Post with nutritional tips
• Post daily videos on proper techniques related to running, bodyweight exercises, lifting, and stretching
• Create Calendar events to remind athletes to eat healthy and hydrate while training