Lee and The World Champ...

I know this is a big family and friends weekend and it should be. Memorial Day is a wonderful time to remember all the individuals that fought for our freedom. But I had to share with you my time with the MMA Champ, Randy Couture. Listening to him talk about how he prepares himself to compete was inspiring. To be honest with you, what inspired me more was how he prepares for business. He is swamped by offers to promote this widget and that widget, but he sticks to his principles and go with what is right. I respect this about Randy.

Randy spoke about how he made a come back at the age of 43-44 to become the heavy weight champ. Talk about having a plan. He spent months preparing to fight Tim Silvia, a much taller and bigger man. He brought in other fighters that were tall. This forced him to learn how to negotiate around Tim's length. The point is, Randy had a plan and he worked his plan. I admire that so much from people that figure out what they have to do to be successful and then ACT ON IT!

I have tried to live my life, and more recently my business life, with this philosophy. I find out from other people what works and then I make it my mission to adapt it to my life and business. I would much rather learn from other peoples mistakes then to have to go through all the mistakes myself. Although, I do believe we learn a lot more from the mistakes and failures we have then our successes.

I still can't imagine going back into the ring and fighting age his age- really awesome stuff. Heck, I hate fighting traffic at my age, I can't imagine fighting someone a lot bigger at 44.

You Must Attend!!!!!!

I am hosting a REAL important teleseminar Wednesday Night, May 28 at 7:15 pm -8:15 pm EST. I am revealing three of my most important training principles and concepts that can make you a super star coach in your niche. Regardless of if you are a PE teacher, strength and conditioning coach, personal trainer or a youth coach, this teleseminar will help you make a HUGE impact on the lives of the athletes you train. If you are a athletic development business owner.. you will blow people away knowing these three key athletic speed concepts.

I will be putting on this seminar on my one night home this coming week...I am traveling between the West Coast and the East coast. I think it is important that coaches are prepared to use this information for their summer speed and agility program! You definite must attend!

As a bonus, I will be answering a few of the many questions I received this month from my exclusive Speed Insiders Members. Each month they benefit from sending me their questions and I answer them in depth. This is a great learning tool for everyone, not just the ones asking the questions.

This call is only an hour. So, it will be to the point with the most important immediately usable information. What you will discover from this teleseminar will get amazing results if you apple them the very next day. I am really excited for this teleseminar.

OK. Here is the deal, If you are a Speed Insider http://www.speedinsider.com/ or in my Platinum Exclusive Coaching and Mastermind group you can attend the teleseminar for FREE. If you are not , then you will have a small investment of $27.00. If you would like to attend for FREE and want to try my Speed Insider program simply go to http://www.speedinsiders.com/ and try it out free for two months.

If you want in on this teleseminar go to www.TheSpeedGuy.com/techniquesteleseminar. Don't forget about the special bonus of listening to some great questions that will be useful to all.

Strength versus Multi-directional Speed- are they equally important?

There are many schools of thought when it comes to making an athlete faster. There is the strength crowd that feels as long as they are strong they will develop the ability to move faster. There is the speed training crowd that feels if you improve their neuromuscular training and improve and athlete's technique they will get faster more quickly this way. Then there are variations of both of these schools of thought. Here's what I think...

I have no doubt that if I can increase the force output and the time it takes to do so- I can make a faster athlete. So I know the wt room is the foundation of speed. But I also know that if you approach multi-directional or athletic speed the correct way, strength alone won't improve great movement skill.

What do I mean? When an athlete develops great strength and power and now moves faster when force is applied to the ground it doesn't say anything about body control and movement strategies. The athlete must be taught to position the body (center of mass and legs) in such a way that they quick force being applied can be directed correctly into the ground and therefore causing efficient movement. So the strongest man in the world doesn't earn the right to be the quickest mover on a field or court. He, just like everyone else, has to learn to negotiate his body so quick movements can be common. Most track athletes that I have worked with that primarily train for linear speed don't innately understand the "feeling" of preparing to re-negotiate the bodies position in an instant.

When you as a coach or an athlete begin to understand the role of technical efficiency during multi-directional speed you now can assess movement and increase its value.

The answer is... neither is more important than the other from a global standpoint. But without the technical efficiency of movement and negotiating the bodies position at any given time- all the strength and power in the world won't make you a better athlete. Think about that...

Yours In Speed,

Lee

PS: Don't forget to jump on this Live Teleseminar Wednesday the 28th from 7:15 pm-8:15 pm EST. Go to www.TheSpeedGuy.com/techniquesteleseminar You really don't want to miss this one!!!

PSS: If you want me to personally answer your questions on a monthly basis, join my Speed Insiders Program and get the insider information. http://www.speedinsiders.com/

It was a Huge Success!

It's been a little while since I have posted my blog. As you know I had my second Athletic Speed Formula Seminar in New York at the Lee Taft Speed Academy. It was a jam-packed 3 days of information.

I was so thrilled to have people from around the US and Wold spend 3 to 4 days (some came for the FREE Speed Insiders http://www.speedinsiders.com/ night) with me and learn my systems and coaching styles.

Not only was I thrilled and honored to have them attend my seminar but I was extremely proud of them for investing in themselves to take their knowledge to a new level. You see, not everyone gets the big picture. Most people find the reason NOT to do something rather than find the reason to do it. Some of the attendees overcame some difficult situations to attend my seminar and some even gave up some vacation time to be there. I am so proud of all of them because they really get it.

Some of the real big breakthroughs for the attendees came during the additional business session on Sunday afternoon. It was so great to see them have huge breakthroughs and know that they now have a strategy to take their business to a new level.

So Congratulations to all of the attendees and I look forward to watching your success.

Concepts Learned

One of the big concepts that was learned at the ASF seminar was the concept of creating better movement angles by positioning the body better during multi-directional speed. I use a term called "Stay in the Tunnel". This was impactful for many of the attendees because it made them see how movement mistakes occur when an athlete is out of the "tunnel."

What this concept covers is the ability of the athlete to quickly make directional changes and immediately re-accelerate because of the proper angles from being in the "tunnel." When an athlete stays low they create immediate angles when the body repositions the feet during directional changes. This is a tool I use to evaluate an athletes movement. It is a great assessment tool for a coach to have.

Let me give you an example of how powerful this tool is. One of the sessions during the Athletic Speed Formula Seminar was the attendees had to teach several of my athletes that attend the Lee Taft Speed Academy http://www.leetaftspeedacademy.com/. The coaches work with each athlete on specific skills and techniques for about 8-10 minutes and them we rotate athletes. This way the coaches get to see how the coaching strategies might change according to the athlete individual abilities. Once this exercise was over we had the coaches take a turn at getting in front of the group and discussing an issue they saw with any of the athletes- they would bring the athlete out and demonstrate the movement issue and how they tried to fix it. This was a powerful session. One athlete came out and the coach was having difficulty getting him to use a retreating skill called a hip turn. This coach went through many potential adjustment of the shoulders, hips, and feet- which were all good adjustments- but there was one adjustment that was being missed. I asked the athlete to get into a lower stance and stay in it through the movement and I increased his awareness and intensity with a couple cues- when the athlete performed the skill he was struggling on he nailed it.

My point with this story is how powerful coaching can be when you are armed with the tools to make change. The Athletic Speed Formula Seminar is about making change in our coaches and athletes for the better.

Breaking the BASE myth

In my next blog I will be sharing a breakthrough that one of the attendees had about how athletes are being cheating out of better performance because their skill work is being substituted for another form of training....

This was a special unannounced session that really was powerful and made everyone think about how athletes are being cheated out of success because of old methods not being challenged enough. I shared with the attendees my philosophy and how I have approached this issue and they were shaking their heads in because it was such a big breakthrough. More to come in my next blog on this topic.

Yours in Speed,

Lee

PS: If you want to get your hands on the raw un-edited version of the Athletic Speed Formula Seminar go to www.LeeTaftSeminars.com/seminar_special.htm

What A Great Day, My Father and Son....

I can't even begin to tell you how much joy I had today when I brought my son Brennen to see my father for the first time. You see, Brennen is only 31/2 months old and we live in Indiana. My father lives in NY. I am in NY this week for my Athletic Speed Formula Seminar. Jenn and Brennen came with me. Obviously, I haven't had a chance to bring my son to see my Dad yet. It was a great experience.

My Dad is will be 89 years old this summer and his health has been failing for several years and you just never know when his time will pass. I was so afraid he would never get to see my son. Well, today was a great time for us all.

My father's eyes light up so much when he say Brennen. Boy, was that a great feeling. Brennen stared at Dad and he gave my Dad one of his quick little smiles- it was almost like he knew it was his Grandfather. Wow! What a neat moment.

I placed Brennen on my fathers stomach and chest and he layed back into my father's left arm and was just so content, at least for a few minutes. See, my Dad has little use of his right arm due to a stroke he suffered this past winter- but he tried his darnedest to bring that arm over to Brennen so he could touch him.

This was time with my Dad and son together was especially important to me because when my youngest daughter, Bailee, was born in December of 1999, my mom passed away the summer of 1999. She never got to see Bailee. Having my Dad meet my son was extra special to me because of that.

It's funny, I have a huge weekend coming with my seminar and for that time I was with my Dad and having him see Brennen, my seminar was the furthest thing from my mind. It is amazing how we become caught up in the day to day of running our lives and business- yet the time I spent with my Dad and Brennen made everything seem so unimportant.

I know this blog didn't teach you anything about speed or strength development or give you any business advice or goals to strive for to improve your business, but hopefully it inspired you to go visit someone special and spend some quality time with them. I am sure glad I did!

All the Best,

Lee

A Rainy Trip To The Zoo- What Did It Teach Me?

OK, the animals seemed fine. The giraffe's were licking the trees, the elephants were playing in the water, and the lions were lounging around. The fish were doing, well, fish stuff! The zebras looked a little irritated, and the rhino's were slopping in the mud. For the most part the animals didn't care one bit that it was raining- then there was us.

This was one off the first field trips I have been able to go on with either of my daughters and wouldn't you know it was lousy weather. Even though I was irritated about the rain, because my shoes and socks were soaked, I watched all the kids run around in awe of loving seeing the animals. I tried to think back to when I was young and if it would have bothered me to be wet. I can honestly say it wouldn't have bothered me at all. My friends and I would have probably jumped in the puddles and loved just being out of school.

It is really amazing how our attitudes change as we become adults. Luckily we were able to get out of the rain on occasion. As I sat on a bench inside one of the zoo's exhibt with my son, Brennen, and nephew, Cody, I watched all the kids run around with eyes wide open. For that small period of time, I felt pretty good about being there because I knew how much the kids were enjoying there field trip.

Then we had to go back outside again and walk in the rain and my feet were getting wetter by the second. So much for thinking like a kid. All I wanted to was to get warm and dry and take my stink's socks off. Hey, but if I were a kid, I would have loved every second! To be honest I did love being their with my daughter on her field trip.

The Mastermind Concept

I have written and spoke frequently about being in a mastermind group and the importance of it for personal and business growth. Over the past month or two I have received many emails with people asking more about them. I can honestly say; not only has my business model grown and taken on a new approach, but my mental approach has become so much stronger and directed. I don't care who you are, you need help and support from one or more people. The mastermind concept is one of the ways to get the support you need to go to the next level.

There are many kinds of masterminds. You can simply form one with other professionals you know. Ideally you want to be involved with people that are successful and will force you to stretch yourself. You can also join coaching mastermind groups which are run by a coach. You will bet taught new information and have access to the coach's knowledge and experience, not to mention the other mastermind members.

You want to be in a mastermind group that is positive and proactive. DON'T ALLOW COMPLAINERS AND NEGATIVE PEOPLE IN YOUR GROUP. This will surely destroy the effectiveness of the mastermind concept.

I personally have been in mastermind groups with people I know and we simple hold an hour long call once per week and discussed our goals and issues we were having. It was pretty good and I received some good ideas.

The most effective mastermind group for me is the one I am in currently. I pay one of the best marketing minds in the business a good sum to participate in his mastermind group. It is definitly worth it. He makes sure i get results. He uses his experience, knowledge, and contacts to give me and the other members huge advantages.

The way I look at things now, compared to a couple years ago, is that I want answers and help from those that have been there and acheived success. I want them to tell me what to avoid and what to attack. I want them to make the mistakes and show me what to avoid.

You see, most people are not willing to spend the money on a coach or Mastermind group because they feel they can do it themselves. This is a big mistake. Like I have said before, even Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods have given credit for their success to the coaches that have helped them.

Because you work so close in your own business you can't always see the obvious mistakes you make. While others, who do not have the same personal attachment, can see things that will help you. Don't be foolish and think you don't need help. We all need it.

Here is the difficult part for most people to overcome. They would rather have FREE help then to pay someone for the help. It theory it might make sense. But, when you are paying someone to get you results they are going to work their tail off for you or you will fire them. Many times their business success relies on getting you results- so you bet they will. On the other hand, when you ask a friend or someone you know for help and it is free- there is really no sense of urgency on their part. Not only, might they give you wrong information, certainly not on purpose, but what is their motivation to really delve into your problem when they have issues of their own to deal with.

This is a complete mind set change for most people. It was for me. But once I realized the power of having a coach and/or being in a mastermind I can't imagine going it alone ever again.

The best way to begin is to start small and then increase your trust in a coach and get more involved. This is why I started the http://www.speedinsiders.com/ membership program. I coach people who want help at a low level of entry. They can see the power of having someone else help them, but yet the http://www.speedinsiders.com/ membership is not a big financial commitment at all. Those that want to take it further and increase their knowledge more or grow their business more will go to the next level of personal coaching.

What ever you decide to do, at least start out on a low level where there isn't a big commitment. This will allow you to become comfortablewith coaching and then you will realize the power of using other peoples resources and knowledge to get ahead in life and business.

Hope this blog answered some questions. I will go into Masterminding a little deeper in the future.

Yours in Speed,

Lee

PS: If you want to start out at a lower level of coaching, then join my http://www.speedinsiders.com/ membership for two months FREE. You will see the power of what a coaching program can do for you. Then you can decide to move into more serious coaching to sky rocket your business- It really works!

Surround Yourself With Like Minded People...

Family Update

Brennen is getting so big. He is three months old now. I was recently out of town for five days and when I came back it seemed like he grew a ton. It is amazing how fast kids grow up. He is starting to giggle when you tickle him and he Coo's all the time-- fun to listen to.

Jae and Bailee are really growing up quickly as well. They are saying and doing things that make me realize they are getting older. Even little things like making their own breakfast or helping out with the business. They helps us with our mailings and a few other tasks. It is really a fun time for us all.

People You Surround Yourself With

If you want to learn a skill or trade. then you should find someone that is good at it and model them. Learn what they have learned, study who they studied, and take lots of notes.

Sometimes it is human nature for us all to want to "be trail blazers." We want to go it alone, we can figure it out on our own. Then at some point in our lives-,usually when we have failed miserably several times, we realize we need help. At that point it is when we really start to grow as a person. We begin to realize we all need help. All the successful people in the world relied on the help of other successful people. We all need to model this behavior.

It is often said; "We should learn from our mistakes." I agree with this, but I agree more with the statement; "We should learn from other peoples mistakes." It is much easier to learn from others who have made mistakes then to make them all on our own.

It is funny how things work in this world. The minute I decided to surround myself with successful people the better I became. When I wanted to be a better coach, I asked questions to all the good coaches I could find. When I wanted to be a better strength and conditioning coach, I sought out all the best strength coaches, read their books and asked them questions. When I needed to improve my business knowledge and skills, I went after the best in the business.

I just spent five days in Las Vegas listening to one of the best marketing minds in the business speaking industry. He learned from many of the top people in their industry (so indirectly I get the knowledge he learned from others by him passing it along to me). I have let it be known many times that I have hired business coaches to help me learn and grow. I have a fantastic coach in Indiana that is always hard a work learning from others so he can pass that knowledge on to me. I also hired a coach from Las Vegas who has done the same thing. I recently spent five days in Nashville learning from the best marketing people in the world. I also listened to Gene Simmons talk on marketing. You see, I don't want to be coached by coaches who think they know it all. I want coaches that continually learn and better themselves. This is how I know they are serious about what they do.

The point I am trying to make is; if I want to be successful and achieve things that are presently out of my reach I have to stretch myself and my belief system to a point that allows me to constantly grow. If I were to do this on my own I would get confused and not know where to turn. I would probably lose motivation and eventually fade away into my old habits. Just by being surrounded by successful people and people who think like I do and strive to always be better pulls me into their way of doing things. I can't tell you how powerful that is. While in Vegas, Randy Couture, the "Natural", was speaking on how he became the champion of the UFC at age 44. His talk was extremely motivational and uplifting. That is why I surround myself with these people.

Energy Suckers

Have you ever been in a job or a situation where the people you hang around with on a daily basis are negative? They complain about everything, they talk poorly about everyone, they don't strive to achieve anything worthwhile, and they do it day after day. Eventually you become just like them. You must break this state. Sometimes it mean finding new friends. This can be difficult for some people, but it is the only way you will ever develop new thoughts. If you want to be positive and successful, then you need to surround yourself with people who are.

Over my lifetime, I have made many decisions which took me out of an environment that was depleting my energy so I could move on to higher successes in my life. When you move on from "energy sucking" friends it doesn't mean you don't like them or you can't speak with them. It just means you are not going to follow their way of thinking and acting. Find the people you want to be like and model them.

My time in Las Vegas has given me so much life in my personal and business affairs. I was surrounded by successful people who have made mistakes and figured out how to fix them. So, I found out what they did right and will begin to model those behaviors. You see folks, it is all about making good decisions. You will make some bad ones along the way- but when there are obvious advantages sitting right in front of you, thenmake the right decision and act on those. All I did was make the right decision to surround myself with like minded people and do what they do.

Spend some time thinking about how you would like all aspects of your life to be, find people who have what you want and model them. It is really simple when you break it down. I will tell you this, you have to be willing to make some decisions that will stretch you and be uncomfortable at times. I have truly gone out on a limb many times just trusting my decisions were correct. What I learned is the most important step was just taking action.

Finally, don't ever be afraid to make mistakes. If you are you will never reach the levels you want because you will hold back. I have made so many mistakes but them I learn and grow from each one. Mistakes are great teachers in life, but like I mentioned earlier, start to learn from other peoples mistakes!

Go make your move!

Yours in Speed,

Lee

PS: If you want to start changing your business life by becoming a Speed Insider, then go to http://www.speedinsiders.com/ and sign up for a two month FREE trial.

PSS: Last chance to take part in one of the best Athletic Development Seminars in the country this year. Go to http://www.leetaftseminars.com/ to join the Athletic Speed Formula Seminar starting May16th.