"That's you!"

I'm reading half a dozen books right now and will probably finish one of them in the next 12 months and start at least 2 more. Does that sound like a formula for book accumulation? Just take a look at my nightstand... Anyway, one of the books is Tony Dicicco's Catch Them Being Good. It's got a little part where he talks about coaching your own children and what a delicate balance this is. I agree whole heartedly. My little girl is quite the player and people probably think I spend hours every week working with her. The fact is, I do so little coaching at home, that I may as well call it zero. I do play with her at home, but if I offer up the smallest piece of "advise", it can very quickly go from having fun to throwing a fit. When I say "quickly", I mean instantly.

Anyway, Tony's story is one where he mentions the difficulty he's had coaching one of his older sons. The boy takes coaching as a personal attack from his father. In the story, Tony is playing basketball at home with his sons and offers a nugget of advice to his youngest son. The youngest son throws a fit and quits. Tony looks at his older son with whom he has had the same struggle and says, "That's you!". He goes on to say that at that moment the boy realized his dad had not personally insulted his younger brother, but had only offered a valid bit of coaching. He says that it triggered a new perspective in the older son's mind that led to a much smoother coach/son relationship going forward. I read this section to my daughter. She laughed and said, "I know." I still don't coach at home, but hopefully it will help us at our team practices.

-Bill