Coaching The Big Game Of Business

Imagine the football coach leading his team on the road to victory. Imagine this scene plays out in a movie. Music accentuates brave sound bites as men with black stripes under their eyes slam their hands against helmets and shout their agreement wit the coach. The music rises until the coach says, “Now, get out there and make me proud.”

The camera pans the expectant crowd that erupts as their team files from the tunnel. Men in face paint begin to roar and the crowd is on its feet as their team takes to the field with the sounds of doubt-filled announcers pronouncing doom.

There are tense moments as the challenging team always seems to be ahead and the home team tries valiantly to come from behind. This mental theater continues as players huddle and talk, then the coach places a hand on the shoulder of the quarterback and says something only he can hear.

The crowd is tense as the quarterback takes a few steps back and surveys the field. It seems an eternity passes and the defenders are losing their grip on players who want to pound the quarterback. At the very last second the ball is lofted toward the end zone and the quarterback is left breathless on the ground, the recipient of a brutal hit. What he can’t see from his position on the ground is that the ball was caught and his team wins the game by one point.

Battered and bruised the quarterback stands and is carried off the field by screaming teammates. Cameras snap pictures, the crowd goes wild and the other team slowly leaves the field having been denied the spoils of war.

This is a common theme in sports movies. Pick your sport and infuse the particulars in the above description. We’ve all been there rooting for the underdog and cheering for the team with the most heart.

Ecommerce is not easy. It relies on equal parts skill, hard work and some intangible things that are only understood with an entrepreneurial heart.

If you are a business owner you are the coach calling in the plays and working to defeat whatever it is that is in opposition to your winning the game. This could be working through your business plan, working through marketing issues, hiring new staff, developing new product lines and realizing that you are responsible for calling the plays – you can’t simply sit on the sidelines and hope things turn out all right.

Being the coach involves risk taking and play making, but that’s what you do. This is a role you signed up for when you took to the field of business ownership. The final play in any game comes back to you.

And the team that trusts you looks to you and says, “What’s it gonna be coach?”

An awesome responsibility? You bet, but that’s why this team calls you coach.

Chiropractic - An Adjustment In Your Game

Chiropractic care is standard for many pro golfers and increasingly for many Senior Golfers as well. Professional golfer Lori West attributes the reason she’s playing today to chiropractic. Nearly two decades ago, she began visiting a chiropractor for pain in her shoulders and neck. According to West, the care has infinitely improved her golf game.

According to Dr. Travis Ruda, chiropractor and golf enthusiast, the golf swing in and of itself isn’t conducive to having a healthy back. To have a good swing you create tension in your spine. (this enables you to get good distance). The tension comes from the hips stopping and the shoulders continuing to rotate. Basically, be a legend soccer hack you make a coil. You’re uncoiling when you start your downswing. Since that’s an awkward movement for your back, many golfers end up with lower back problems.

Here’s some chiropractic advice.

• Before your game, do some basic stretches. Stretch out hamstrings and groin area.

• Put a club across your shoulders and lean left and right.

• Get in a position of where you would be in a swing and bend left and right.

• Grab a club behind your back and raise it up, stretching your shoulder muscles.

• Grab the club backwards – so if you normally swing right-handed, you’d grab it like you’d be swinging left-handed- and take 10 practice swings that way. You’re stretching different muscles and it will help you loosen up considerably.

• You can do neck stretches if it’s tight. Stiff neck muscles inhibit the rest of the body from turning freely.

• Golfer’s elbow is a painful condition in which your arm bone becomes sore and tender. Chiropractors can adjust the over-rotated bone.

• Orthodic stabilizers for your shoes can help improve balance so your swing is better.

• Anything that helps your flexibility eventually helps with your game. As you get older, your swing naturally shortens since the muscles aren’t as supple. Flexibility is very important for older golfers.

• You have to have good balance if you want to hit the golf ball consistently. A healthy spine is paramount to proper balance and posture. Improve your balance and you’ll improve your consistency.

• During the winter, work on stretching the muscles of the arms, shoulders and back.

Chiropractors care for your body structure overall, not just the back. So if your muscles are feeling out of sync, chiropractic may be just the very adjustment that your body and game needs!

Do Violent Video Games Increase Aggression?

There are several age-appropriate video games that provide hours of fun while at the same time providing practice in logic and strategizing as well as problem solving. However the growth and rising popularity of video games has been riddled with controversy as younger and younger children get exposed to the subset of video games that feature antisocial behavior, violence and gore. There is rising concern on the effects of violent video games on children. The increasingly realistic nature of these games makes them extremely popular among children of all ages, but it is this very same realistic nature that is the cause of great anxiety.

Apprehension about violent video games is based on the assumption that they promote violence and aggression amongst young players. Extensive research has proven beyond a doubt that television violence increases aggression and violence among the children who watch it. Concern regarding violent games was originally based on these studies. However later studies show that violent video games may be more damaging than violent television primarily because of the interactive nature of video games.

Studies show that playing violent video games tend to foster aggressive behavior, thoughts and feelings in young people in laboratory settings as well as in actual life. Moreover, violent games are riveting and extremely interactive. They compel the player to identify with the aggressor, making them more vulnerable to the aggression-enhancing effects exposure to violent games. It is not only the habitual players that are affected; even those who are briefly exposed to violent video games are inclined to display aggressive behavior, even if the increased aggression was only temporary.

Extensive studies on the cause-effect of playing video games showed that junior and high school students who reported played more violent video games tended to display more aggressive behaviors and were generally more violent. The amount of time that they spent playing video games had a direct impact on their academic grades in college. Those who spent long hours playing video games almost always had lower grades.

Not only did violent video games provide a conducive environment for learning aggressive solutions to conflict situations, they also offered ample opportunity to practice and hone this particular trait. Playing violent video games for a short period augmented aggression by priming aggressive thoughts. Long-term playing had longer lasting effects as long-term players were inclined to learn and rehearse new scripts related to violence. The active learning environment of violent video games makes them potentially more damaging than exposure to violent television and movies.

Social scientists hypothesize that there are four main reasons why video games have such a profound impact on children.

Children are more likely to mimic the behavior of any individual or character that they identify with. Most violent video games require the player to take the point of view of and enact the role of the perpetrator.  

As opposed to passive observation; the active participation that is required in violent video games fosters aggression as second nature.

The repetitive nature of the interaction, which provides ample opportunity for learning violent ways of thinking and acting. Violent games are in effect a rehearsal for violent behavior and actions in real life.

Exposure to violent video games increases aggressive thoughts and emotions as well as aggressive actions.