Today, I want to do a deep dive into one of my favorite books that inspired the creation of CoachNow, The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle.
Coyle clearly illustrated that the best in the world had 3 core developmental elements that separated them from the rest and the more they were connected to them the better they got.
- Deep Practice
- Ignition
- Expert Coaching
After learning this I immediately understood why my athletes made huge strides when we were together but struggled to maintain momentum when we were apart.
90%+ of your developmental time is not spent in person with a coach. So how could we solve this problem?
We needed to create a virtual environment that would allow athletes to stay connected to expert coaching, allow them to record their deep practice, and provide them with a level of ignition and excitement around their development.
That’s why we have training “Spaces” - virtual spaces where you can train and stay connected and therefore have all three elements that Daniel Coyle mentioned.
This book gave me tons of insight into how athletes can reach their full potential, so I wanted to share some of those learnings!
Deep Practice
At its core, The Talent Code focuses on three elements that are necessary in order to for you to enhance your innate talent as an athlete.
Daniel Coyle had traveled the world and wondered why certain parts of the world seemed to produce more talent than others; he refers to them as “talent hotbeds”.
Here’s what he found.
First, we’ll dive into deep practice. Essentially, this refers to a highly focused and intentional way of learning via feedback.
Daniel Coyle argues that talent isn’t just about putting in time but about how we use that time to improve.
Deep practice is all about working at the edge of your current abilities, making mistakes, and then fixing those mistakes.
This type of practice engages the brain in a way that leads to more effective learning and skill development.
He found that in the “talent hotbeds”, people weren’t afraid to make mistakes. It was precisely because of their lack of fear that they could practice outside of their comfort zone, ultimately leading to accelerated skill development.
Expert Coaching
Additionally, you need a way to get expert coaching. You need to be able to meet with your coach, stay connected with them, and have a consistent relationship.
Coyle refers to this as Environmental Reinforcement.
He provides an example of KIPP schools, where low-income students visit college campuses as soon as they’re enrolled. From as young as fifth grade, students will meet with KIPP alumni who come from the same background as them and attended schools such as USC and UCLA, instilling the belief that they can do the same.
But it doesn’t end there. KIPP classrooms are named after various colleges, further reminding the students of every single day that attending college is within their reach.
Coyle found that every “Talent Hotbed” is loaded with environmental cues that reinforce the belief of what’s possible and what’s important.
It’s essential to your growth and development to be reminded of how important (and achievable) your athletic goals are outside of practice. This is why documenting progress over time is so powerful. Doing so inside your CoachNow Space is super easy, saves time, and keeps everything important in one place.
Ignition
Finally, every athlete needs ignition to achieve their highest potential.
As Coyle describes it, ignition or a “Revelatory Moment” is when somebody experiences a fundamental change in what they thought was possible.
For example, a South Korean golfer named Se-ri Pak became an LPGA Champion in 1998 and became the first Korean ever to win a professional golf tournament.
This win planted seeds in the minds of other similar golfers, inspiring them to ask, “If she could do it, why can’t I?” Her win became a Revelatory Moment for many.
Over the next 10 years, South Korean female golfers dominated women’s golf, winning a third of all ladies' professional golf tournaments.
Athletes succeed largely because they’ve got like-minded people around them, giving them ignition.
A big part of the development of CoachNow was realizing that if I wasn’t gonna be with my athletes, it was gonna be really difficult to give them that ignition. But, if we had a technology that kept us connected, they would have constant access to all of their data and more importantly, all of their people.
When you use CoachNow, you’re always surrounded by ignition, with coaches and peers offering support and reminding you that anything is possible.