Against the grain is the way.
“In today’s world there is so much garbage and noise out there most don’t know what’s right side up or upside down, anymore.
But here’s what I’ve found out:
If you’re trying to follow popular, world trends in 2024, you’re going the wrong way.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I am not the smartest guy in the room, but that’s exactly why I think I am relatively “dangerous”.
My lack of natural intelligence is precisely why I am a curious and “in-tune” person and working with thousands of families over my 15-year-career as a S&C coach, I don’t know it all, but I have paid attention.
I have gained some insight on not only training athletes, but on “the world” through the lens of the lifestyles, actions, & behaviors, of not only kids, but their family’s whom I love dearly.
What patterns do I see in the most successful?
I’m not just talking about “athlete development”.
I am talking about their overall approaches to life, school, sports, & church.
What strategies worked best?
Was it college or no college?
If it was college, which ones?
Do the degrees carry over or not carry over?
Could they have gotten to where they’re at and where they’re going at 25 without that piece of paper?
You get the point. I am paying attention.
And the reason is so that I can make the most informed decisions for my kids as they grow up and place them within the “systems” that will be most conducive to their growth.
It’s so I can do my best to put them on a path to ACTUAL (not perceived) success.
Is the “play year-round travel ball, take as many AP classes as possible to win the GPA game, to hopefully go to the same ‘prestigious’ in-state type schools as millions of other kids across the country, to eventually get the same type jobs they hate, and live the same type of life as the people who played the same game as them” the right game to play?
It might be for you, and I respect that.
But with the data I’ve acquired over the years (and continue to acquire) that’s not the game for me.
The more I study it, and I study it hard.. If you’re going with the grain..
You’re going the wrong way.
