Lindsey 00:12
Welcome to the Mindset Coach Academy Podcast. I'm Lindsey Wilson. And I am a high performance mindset coach, a mom, a former professional athlete and an entrepreneur. I help coaches and high performers optimize their mindset to improve their coaching their performance and those other athletes and their lives. Here you'll learn all about mindset, how to live it, how to teach it, and how to sell it.
Lindsey 00:37
Hi all and welcome to the Mindset Coach Academy podcast. My name is Lindsey Wilson. And today we have a very special guest, one of our certified coaches, Keenan Curry, who's going to talk about how he's used mindset coaching, and all the learning the certification with his existing business. Hi, Keenan.
Keenan Curry 00:52
Hey, how are you doing? Great to be here.
Lindsey 00:54
All right, thanks for taking the time. I'm so excited to just pick your brain. And I really want to start with just like the 32nd, who you are, what you do, where you're at the whole deal.
Keenan Curry 01:02
Cool. So I'm in Tulsa, Oklahoma, right in the middle of this beautiful country. And we have it Player Development Academy called feature game Academy, and we specialize in focus on basketball player development, in within that skill development, development, mental development, and just trying to help players get better from youth all the way to professional and focus on a lot of the females on the female side of the game. So that's been great for us. But yeah, that's what we've been doing for the last three years.
Lindsey 01:40
But you know, I heard you say that you're helping them on the mental side of the game. So we're gonna go right into that. Okay, before you join the certification. Tell me what problem you are trying to solve with your business with yourself. Why do you join?
Keenan Curry 01:52
Yeah, so I joined because I coached college on the men's side for almost 10 years. And so at the time, I felt like I had a good hook on the basketball side of things, if you will, which I didn't, by the way, I didn't know anything I thought like it.
Keenan Curry 02:15
So I knew there was more to it, I knew, you know, the reason why we started this thing, it was to really help our players and serve our players in a way that pushed them to the edge and found different ways to make them better. And so that obviously started with the indoor game as what we call it. And so I just need to, you know, for me, you know, built my confidence in it.
Keenan Curry 02:44
And it's crazy how like, sometimes I say, built my confidence. I probably had more experiences just within my experiences, and my game and the things that I went through, that I was able to share. And learning some of the stuff was in the certification just reminded me of that and brought that stuff out. And so it was great to, you know, get that from the certification.
Lindsey 03:13
Yeah, well, I'm so glad to hear that. Because I think that's one of the things that we really try to emphasize is, we have tools and everything, but like you have a lot of experience. And hopefully, that translates to how you deal with your athletes to be an expert. But people when you're talking about people's personal growth, they can be an expert, too.
Lindsey 03:31
So I'm really happy to hear that. Okay, so tell me like so I imagine you were like, in the gym with an athlete, and I don't know, working on their crossover into the middle for a jump shot. And they would get frustrated or something like talks me through like what problems you were seeing, like, were they not able to bounce back from mistakes?
Lindsey 03:48
Were they struggling with competition and calling you during tournaments? Were they nervous about scouts? Tell me what sort of when maybe just one example of like what you were seeing from a skill development standpoint that you were like, Oh, this isn't about skill. This is about mental and I want to get build up my toolbox.
Keenan Curry 04:05
Yeah, no, I think the mental side of things is starts. That's where it starts. Anyway. Like, it starts with the inner game. And that's what we believe and preach on it. So we see it in everything from the youth all the way up. It doesn't matter what age how long you've been playing, what level you are in your game, you know, you could be one of the best players in the country, that few players that we work with, you can be, someone that just starting and so yeah, we've had, new numerous of players where, you know, let's say for example, where they're in the session and they're doing the shooting series, and in that shooting series, we want to challenge them to really focus on one concept of their shot.
Keenan Curry 04:58
And so it might be their footwork or it might be, let's just say they're following through. All right. And so if they're doing that, and you'll see a lot of kids, they'll start missing shots. And so their focus goes directly to that it goes to the outcome that goes to me, I missed shots. Now I suck, man, you know, this and that. And so, one thing that we really talk about is refocusing.
Keenan Curry 05:21
Alright, what are we focusing on? And then your mind is going to get off into other things, and it's natural, you're a human being, but how can we refocus and get back to what's important? So for that player, it might be again, their feet? How can we go right back to focusing on our feet, and focusing on focusing on the behaviors that we need to have within our footwork to make sure that we're doing everything possible to be as efficient as we can in that shot?
Keenan Curry 05:50
And so just communicating them through that, and challenging through that supporting them through that. And yeah, that's been, that's probably been the most fun part of what we do. Is it just really showing players that they have the power? And making sure that they're empowered to make those decisions for themselves. Because at the end of the day, is this a choice of what you're focusing on? And refocusing on.
Lindsey 06:22
Absolutely. So tell me how that sort of evolved for you as a coach? I mean, you got certified what, a year ago or so? And I know you have also employees, how is this? You know, let's say the certification and the tools and your evolution as a coach, and just your emphasis on the mental side? I know it's impacted, you know, we talked about this already, like it's impacted every facet of your business. But do you have any examples of where you're using it in a different way, maybe then you were before, and when what that looks like and how it's impacting your, your clients results, your athletes results,
Keenan Curry 06:58
though, I'm using it with myself every single day. And I'm using it with myself and in the sense of Sunday's is hard Sunday, you know, I have a one-year-old now, on Daddy daycare during the day, which is new. You run into business, it's the entrepreneur side of things. Then I'm a basketball through I'm a basketball guy through and through like this is who I am, is what I do.
Keenan Curry 07:27
And so just the love of the game, I just want to do that if I could just just be in the gym and not have to do the business stuff that would be my life, right? And so that's not the case, you got to build build a business. So just going through that daily process. And a big thing I tell myself, every single day is this is what I want. This is what I want, this is what I want. And especially when it gets hard.
Keenan Curry 07:52
So the other day, my accountant called me and she gave me some news of like, okay, you gotta get this triggered out, you gotta get this organized, you got to do this, you got to do this, and like, Oh, my God. But this is what I want. This is what I signed up for. This is I'm built to do this. And so just making sure I'm really conscious about my language to myself. And empowering myself, to make sure I'm taking the steps every single day.
Keenan Curry 08:19
So I think, as much as we want to help players and help other people, it starts within us first. So really developing and coaching ourselves every single day. So that's probably been the biggest thing and the biggest help for me.
Lindsey 08:36
I hear that I mean, managing your thoughts as a human takes work. But especially as an entrepreneur, we're all biased, because that's our experience. But I would say as an entrepreneur, and as a parent, like being able to manage your thoughts is like, I mean, that's richness right there.
Keenan Curry 08:56
I was just telling the parent the other day where I've almost gotten to the point where I try not to give advice because, at the end of the day, everyone's different. Everyone's experiences are different. Everyone's journey is different. And so if I give you the advice of what I think is right, that might not fit you.
Keenan Curry 09:18
And so just giving people my perspective and my experiences, and see if they can take anything from that, and applying it to what they're going through and how they're going through certain things. And so really, I've gotten a way of saying, Hey, I think you should do it this way.
Keenan Curry 09:35
Now that might not fit you and so really just encouraging not only our players, I think go back to your other question was, we talked to our parents just as much about the language and how they communicate with their players and how they talk about mindset stuff with their kids, because they're the number one influence.
Lindsey 09:57
Absolutely!
Keenan Curry 09:58
If they're in our gym for twice a week, three times a week, and we're working on this stuff, but then they go home and, you know, they're going right back to their old ways of, you know, talking negatively to themselves or their parents or talking negatively wherever the case may be.
Keenan Curry 10:14
Now, is that contrast that, yeah, back and forth to you having a fight with. And so we really, really spend a lot of time really talking to our parents just as much as our players. Because, again, the parents are the number one influence. And so if they can, if we can all be aligned, as coaches as parents, as trainers, then we're only going to help the kids help them be better.
Lindsey 10:39
I love that. Okay, so tell me then sort of like, I don't know, 30,000 foot view, like if someone's coming into your program, and I know, there's a lot of people doing basketball training in Tulsa, or Oklahoma in general, right. And so I know part of it was you really want to distinguish yourself from competition.
Lindsey 10:54
So talk me through, like, let's say, I'm a parent of a teenage girl basketball player, right? Talk to me about how you're emphasizing the mental component from the time that I call you and say, Keenan, my daughter is struggling with XYZ. Can you get her in the gym a couple days a week? Talk to me about how emphasizing the mental component from the start all the way through.
Lindsey 11:16
If you could, like do you do parent meetings, like what does that look like from the beginning on how you're talking about, I'm sure a lot of it is just sort of interweaved with what you're talking about already. But if you could just give some because like I said, I some people are listening to this that already have some sort of full time gig doing skill training, or more personal training, or they have a side hustle. And they want to know, I mean, some of your peers in the group are that way too.
Lindsey 11:38
Like they want to integrate it into what they're already doing. They don't want to start a whole new business. They want to integrate into what they're doing. So if you could, how does that work from? I'm calling you up saying Keenan, my daughter needs help.
Keenan Curry 11:49
So the first thing is crazy that you asked that question, because I was just talking to a parent about this yesterday. And she was talking about, how these next two years for her kid were so crucial. So crucial, and so important. And so the first thing that we're going to tell them I'm going to tell them is, first of all, there's nothing wrong with your kid at all.
Keenan Curry 12:17
There's nothing wrong with them. They're in they're in a process in their journey. You guys have happened to we've happened to connect, which is great. And now we're going to come together as a, we call it the home team, the parent, again, the coach, whoever else, they feel like it's in their team.
Keenan Curry 12:37
And we're going to come together, and we're going to figure out different ways, and we're going to work through it. And we might go through one way and then work and then go to the next thing. So we're just going to go through it one day at a time, one week at a time, one month at a time, I cannot put a plan together. Because we don't know it all everything changes every day it changes.
Lindsey 12:58
And so many of them are coming because their daughter or son is struggling with pregame nerves, right? Or, I mean, isn't like 90% of them, like not just needs to work on our left hand, but like they're not able to perform?
Keenan Curry 13:10
Yes, it always comes down to you know, man, my kids working so many hours they're in the gym doing is that the 10,000 hour rule? Yeah, that doesn't work. Because it doesn't work, like, gotta stay consistent. Gotta keep on fighting the good fight. And so after we met had that initial conversation, we'll just I'll really just sit down with the parent and the player and just get a feel of where they feel like they're at.
Keenan Curry 13:43
And, again, I try not to give advice, I asked a lot of questions. My one of the things I really practice as a coach is be a world class listener. So I tried to listen as much as possible and asked, and a lot of times players and parents alike. And why are you asking all these questions? A lot of it for me is like, you have the answer already. So you'll say something like, oh, shoot, okay. I understand now.
Keenan Curry 14:13
And so, we just go through that process throughout the whole time is really repetitive. It's simple. We don't do anything sexy. Every kid is different. And so it might be a kid that really is, working on their confidence in their jump shot. And so we had the kid who's here recently, she's division one player. She had an ACL tear. And she wants to come, she's coming back, in the middle of her for recovery. And so we're doing a lot of mental reps visualization.
Lindsey 14:49
Ah, nice.
Keenan Curry 14:50
You can buy the reps in that.
Lindsey 14:52
Yeah, absolutely.
Keenan Curry 14:54
That's exact same thing is.
Lindsey 14:56
So that's the performance visualization specialists we spent all month to and the certificate doing that. Or how are you doing that? Are you doing that with her in the gym? Are you recording it? And how we're using it not just with her but other athletes, if you don't mind kind of going into that a little bit?
Keenan Curry 15:09
Yeah. So we'll do it in the gym. She'll come in and the first 10 minutes, we don't take long, we'll go in the room. And we'll really talk about, what does it look like to be at your best? Yeah, shoot the ball lights out, you're in the biggest game of your life and you want to perform and not only see it, but feel it.
Keenan Curry 15:34
See yourself every part of what you're doing and how you're doing your footwork, your the way your hair is the color jersey is the the lights who understands who you want to hear, you know, we just really get really, really detailed with it. And, you know, we have them see it and visualize it and fill it. And then we go right to the court.
Lindsey 15:56
And is that like an everyday thing? Is that like every athlete, like, how is that baked into your existing training?
Keenan Curry 16:07
It depends. We won't do in every session, we'll show them and then we encourage them and support them to do it at home.
Lindsey 16:18
But that's an part of what you learn when you come to feed your game.
Keenan Curry 16:21
Yeah, I mean, they're 15,14,16,17 year olds, I'm not gonna, sometimes I'm not going to do this every single day. I'm not, you know, trying to get them to, you got to do it this way. Like, yeah, if you feel like it's great for you, and it really works for you. Let's do it. So yeah, that's, that's how we're doing it.
Lindsey 16:42
Good. Nice. I'm so glad to hear that. I mean, it's, it's an awesome tool for young people to learn.
Keenan Curry 16:49
Is really important. And you'll be surprised where like, the kids will come back. And they're like, Oh, my God, that really worked. That really worked. That was That was so good. And it is different stages to I think there are different ways to go about it. Sometimes it's, you know, really simple. As far as just doing it in this something the built confidence. Some of our players use it for pregame rituals.
Lindsey 17:16
And are you recording them for them? Are you using scripts? Like, what are you? Are you just having do raps? Like, how are you actually doing visualization? You lead them through it?
Keenan Curry 17:27
So depending on the age group, but depending on the maturity depending on who it is. And if they've had experience, sometimes we'll video for them, sometimes we'll do, I'll do a guided visualization with them. If it's a group, we'll do like a guy that some of our one on ones will just do one or two times together, and then they know how to do it.
Keenan Curry 17:49
They may go off on their own, and we'll talk about it and we'll texts about it. And we'll talk about it before games and after games and different like different things like that. So it depends on who are these and what group and what's the best way for them.
Lindsey 18:04
Absolutely. So talk me through it. Are you using any other tool? So visualization is obviously a big one that we go through in the certification? Are you teaching like mistake rituals or pregame routines or highlight reels or post-game or you know, any of those things? Or are you just kind of using them as needed? Are most of your athletes learning? It depends on the age, like talk to me about any other tools or any tools that you know, we're in the certification that you're using.
Keenan Curry 18:27
Yeah like the mistake ritual? Most kids, every person is gonna make mistakes, right? So, again, a lot of things that we do is, depending on the person now, if it's a small group, we're going to talk a lot about that. So we'll do it where it might be the monthly conversation, you know, of the or the topic of the month.
Keenan Curry 18:54
And that might be mistake rituals, really, really dive into it. We try to be, excuse me, we try to be very seasonal conscious, meaning we're writing. We're in the preseason. Gonna work on, you know, pregame pre-workout rituals, if you're in season, we're going to work on different things like that, and try to give them that type of stuff within the environment they're in on a daily basis.
Lindsey 19:25
Yeah. That's a nice thing about having a sport that everybody shares.
Keenan Curry 19:29
Yeah, because like, sometimes we'll do that stuff. And then they're not really in the mix of planning right now. Right? And so they'll they just won't do it anymore. Right? You know, then you have those mature ones who know college players or high-level players, that they're like I need this all the time.
Keenan Curry 19:47
And so they're working on it all the time. So we're talking about it all the time. So mistake rituals, pregames, visual rituals, negative self-talk, positive self-talk, things like that. So yeah, we're, again, I keep repeating it depends on the person depends on the player. It depends on the group. But all that stuff, it all works. And it all comes together.
Lindsey 20:13
So it sounds like though that it's individualized. But you do have some sort of programming that's every month is that like their weekly meetings? You said, there was a theme. So talk to me about, again, I'm a parent, I come in, we get a plan together for my daughter.
Lindsey 20:27
And then we start whatever, work. One-on-one or small group, the physical side, right. And then from a mental standpoint, if I'm working with you for a few months for my daughter is what those are then there's like a monthly theme that they have, like, training on what, tell me about that a little bit. Im interested in how you're sort of integrating these two.
Keenan Curry 20:46
So one of the biggest things that are most players deal with, and a lot of our players deal with this is confidence. And so that's a big thing that we talk about, at least a lot of our parents are coming to us about, you know, our kids not very confident. And so I can have a plan of okay, we're going to work on this, we're going to work on that.
Keenan Curry 21:08
But I tried to go into every session every month, asking the players no matter again, no matter if it's a group or individual, hey, what do you feel like, we need to really lock in on? And they will, they will tell you, right. But sometimes, again, you know, I'll have something planned. And that's not really where they're at, it's not really what they feel like they need to work on, or we might get ahead of ourselves.
Keenan Curry 21:37
So let's just say that it's confidence. And I'm asking them a bunch of questions. And like, man, every time I shoot, mentally, I'm just, saying I can't shoot, and so, okay, that's what we're gonna work on. We're gonna work on positive self-talk. And so we'll go that we'll use that for everyone in the group. Because if one person in two or three people are doing it, and so then that will be our focus.
Keenan Curry 22:02
And then we'll go on to the next month, depending on how we've gotten through that maybe we still stay in that realm of positive self-talk or move on to the next thing. So that's how we'll go about it. If it's an individual's a little bit more, obviously personalized, and we're talking more about it and things like that. But yeah, it's one of those deals of I try to stay in the moment and not get ahead of myself and think I know it all because I don't. And I'm still learning it myself. So I hope that answers your question.
Lindsey 22:37
Oh, no, it's, it sounds like you're you're really customizing it. I'm just trying to get an idea for people that are listening that have the skill training, how they just all the details on how you're integrating it, but it sounds like you're doing a lot of visualization at various times for various people, but you're well trained in that and you know, how to do it, whether that's a guided or if it's just sort of getting the mental reps.
Lindsey 23:02
And then it sounds like depending on what they need, they're learning some of these other tools like mistake rituals, and negative and positive self-talk and all that. And then is that like, do you have like classroom sessions? Did the parents get any, like, gives or workshops? Or is this like before and after? Workouts kind of thing?
Lindsey 23:20
How official is it? You know I mean, like, is it just ingrained in practice? Or are there like, sort of breakout sessions where we just the mental stuff?
Keenan Curry 23:28
No, we have different ways to go about it. So I would say different programs or different packages to go about it. A lot of our stuff is just ingrained into what we do on the natural in session, before session after session within a session, just naturally just going in flow with.
Lindsey 23:47
Absolutely yeah.
Keenan Curry 23:49
And then we also have some different programs where, with specific groups, were we really, really focusing on the parent and really talking to the parents about so we'll meet with them once a month. And we'll talk about some of the things that we're talking about in our sessions, because parents are on the sidelines or not coming into the sessions.
Keenan Curry 24:13
So then not necessarily hearing everything that we're talking about, nor the player always going back to play the parent what we're talking about. And so we'll meet once a month, and that is the is the parent in that athlete within that meeting. Everyone's together, everyone's on the same page. And we're just talking about what we talked about that month.
Keenan Curry 24:37
We're receiving a lot of questions about what you guys are hearing at home, what you're feeling at home, what you're dealing with, and we'll work through that. We'll talk to them, we might give them some tools and some things to work on.
Keenan Curry 24:49
Sometimes we come up with different tools and different things right then and there as a parent, we've come up with different ways to go about things for example, We had a group of parents where, after every game, they would text their kid and why not this?
Keenan Curry 25:07
Why didn't you do this? I mean, why you can play. And so we came up with an after-game protocol of you can't talk about the game. You can't, you know, get in the car and, you know, talk about how you did give him an eval about the game.
Keenan Curry 25:25
And that is something really, really cool that the parents really loved. And then they found different ways to communicate with their kid, a day later, two days later, which is made the parent athlete connection a lot better.
Lindsey 25:41
Yeah, absolutely.
Keenan Curry 25:42
In that relationship a lot stronger, where now when the kid comes in, I dealt with my mom and dad, they were great. They didn't really, dive into, you know, that type of stuff of really, asking wired, or this, you need to go talk to the coach about playing time. But I remember one time, my mom saying, you know, she'd given me some advice. And she's not a basketball person, she gave me some advice.
Keenan Curry 26:06
And it kind of went in and out the other year. And that's what most kids do, I come from mom, it came from that, I ain't trying to hear from it. But if the parent has a good understanding of what they play, or what their child is going through, and it has a way of communicating, now the athlete can feel like it's not coming.
Keenan Curry 26:25
It's not condemning, or they're not trying to come, I'm not trying to be the parent, it's more of a, hey, we're trying to do this together, we're all chatting up, you get somewhere. So just really helping them do that communication. So that's a program that will do once a month with a certain group of our clients. That's really fun, and really, really cool to experience and go through.
Lindsey 26:48
So what do you, so this is all just gold, I imagine someone listening that has their business and is thinking how to integrate it. So this is thank you for taking the time. I'm also interested in like, from a business standpoint, how has this like, what are what's the feedback you're getting in our people in Tulsa, like, oh, Keenan does the mental, you need to go to him, one of the parents saying, How is this like a competitive advantage for you, whatever, there's lots of skilled trainers out there,
Keenan Curry 27:16
Yeah know, we've, it's been really great. We've got a lot of great feedback from that. And it's probably been the one thing that I guess separates us a little bit. And I'm not saying that other people don't do it. And I'm not saying other people are, it's not a who's better, who's not better thing. But it's one thing that we focus on, is what we believe in.
Keenan Curry 27:40
But we've tried to make it really fun. So what we've done with it is we have a I guess a saying that our whole kind of family tribe has really dove into and really kind of put out there we got gear behind it. It's called Jungle mentality. And jungle mentality means everyone is lives in their own jungle. Everyone has their own jungle, everyone has their own life and experiences and things that they're going through.
Keenan Curry 28:13
And I can't walk through your path of your jungle because if I walk Lindsey's path of your jungle, I might get ate up, I might, I might get killed. I just can't do it. It's your journey, your path, and you can't walk mine. But we can help each other through each other's jungle, and path to ultimately get to where we want to get to. And so we really talk a lot about that.
Keenan Curry 28:37
And so it's something that our players love is like Jungle mentality, something that they just dive into, and it's become something we're now in Tulsa, Oklahoma, wherever they're starting to spread it out is something every time you see somebody, they're like jungle mentality, it's awesome. But then that is, it's become, I guess a tribe is the best way to put it.
Keenan Curry 28:58
And so we got gear behind it, you know, everything we put on social media, all that good stuff. And so that's something that's I think it's kind of separated us from just the skill base stuff. And it's been something really fun. And I guess a edge that we've been able to create.
Lindsey 29:20
Yeah, well, and I imagine also with that sort of like even just saying mentality over and over again, I imagine that creates a space for your athletes to not feel so alone. I mean, it's not what so much of us are doing is like, everybody struggles with confidence. Everybody struggles with pregame nerves. Everybody struggles with dealing with failure.
Lindsey 29:38
And it's like, I don't know it used to be like this thing where it's like everybody was just it was in their little silo, struggling with it alone. And now you guys are talking about it and making jokes about it and embracing it and what a beautiful experience for them.
Keenan Curry 29:51
Yeah, no, it's, I feel like it's really opened up the pyschological safety of our environment is the ability to come in and talk about it naturally. Or parents just naturally call up and say, Hey, I think she struggled with confidence. Like, she gotta get that jungle mentality. And they're like, Yeah, I got you. Let's go.
Keenan Curry 30:18
And so it's been something where we've made it worse. Look, everyone's going through this, I'm going through this right now, we got to work through this together, like, and so it's been really fun to see that and to go through it with them. And they'd go through it with me again, like, and then the parents are buying into it to like jungle mentality.
Keenan Curry 30:43
You know, it's so yeah, it's really created an environment. And I'm really big on that, like, creating an environment of safety creates an environment of, we're all together, we, you know, we kind of get away from it takes a village, you know, and but it really, truly does. And so I think that's what we've been able to create, which has been awesome.
Lindsey 31:05
Three things I want to emphasize is one, I love that idea of the home team and that village, and you know, bringing it all together. But I think the other thing and of course we talked about this all the time and the certification and you embrace it is that vulnerability to say I'm working on this too, I think that is so crucial, instead of us sitting here and like the expert chair saying you all need to work on your mindset.
Lindsey 31:25
I mean, how many coaches, you probably see it all the time, like, my team needs to be more mentally tough. And it's like, do you have to work on that yourself not to say you're not mentally tough, but when you are working on it, they see you doing it, and it's like, wow, walking the walk. So I kudos to you for that. And I would say the third thing, just for everybody listening, one very small thing that you said, when a parent calls you is that there's nothing wrong with your child.
Lindsey 31:49
And I imagine on the other side of that phone is someone that just takes a deep breath. And I just want to bring attention to that. Because I think that is like when someone's in pain, especially a parent, you know, now more than ever, like, they want to know that it's going to be okay, and what a gift even if they never work with you, right? That like what a gift you're giving them.
Keenan Curry 32:10
Yeah, you know what, because what happens is, when you think something's wrong, you have that type of language, and then you put that anxiety and worry yourself as a parent, and then you basically give that to your child.
Lindsey 32:26
Crucial two years, right? No pressure but crucial two years.
Keenan Curry 32:30
Yeah, you create that like that environment where it's like, I gotta, I gotta do this, I gotta get better. And like, no, just relax. This is a journey, right? get through this together. Because here's the deal, like, when you're in sixth grade, and now you're in ninth grade, you're not the same person, you're not the same player.
Keenan Curry 32:50
You're more talented, you have more knowledge, you're completely different. So what do you think is going to happen on your 10th-grade year, you're going to be a different person, a different player, you're gonna grow, and then you're 12, great year, and so on. So you've another thing on top of that is, I've told parents, you know, I was just talking to a parent about this other days.
Keenan Curry 33:13
And this is probably the first thing I say to a parent. This is probably the first sentence I say to a player, a parent, and the player when we get on the phone with them, and I believe these 1,000% trainers are overrated. We are overrated. And the reason why is because you feel like you got to come to us to get to where you want to get to.
Keenan Curry 33:37
We're there are things to some things that we are specialized in, that we can help and support and guide you in. But truly, and honestly, you have the answers. You just need a different perspective. You just need someone to help you pull it out. You just need somebody that say, Hey, you got it, but what about this? What about that?
Keenan Curry 33:56
And so if you get if if you get them to think that way, now it's not on the coach or the trainer all the time. It's, on you, you have the power you are in power to be whoever you want to be. And when you can look from that lens. And from that perspective, it really takes a load off of like, okay, this I just gotta get after this is what I want. This is next thing next step. I'm gonna keep on going for it. Keep playing. I mean, keep fighting the good fight.
Lindsey 34:24
I think that's so true. I mean, I think it's like it's one thing to get help, which is on your path, your jungle path, but it's still them going through it and you're helping them develop those skills. I will say like What am I say? I say the a good coach gives great advice, a great coach, ask great questions. And I think you're embodying that really well and holding that space for them because especially as they get older, you know, you talk about someone in 10th grade, like how many games that they played. They know they definitely know what has not worked. They probably also know what has worked.
Keenan Curry 35:01
Exactly? Exactly no doubt about it, that plays into the skill side of things and to the mental side of things. And so like, one thing that we really talk about, and I've learned this probably in the last three years, and I've really, really been obsessed about is probably the best word to beat the say, is, as coaches as trainers, we've, we go straight to the scale, we go straight to what you know, we think is the sexy stuff, or what I call the sexy stuff.
Keenan Curry 35:33
But first is the perception is what you see. And that's on the skill base on the basketball side. And that's on the mental side, if you see yourself as a horrible player, a horrible shooter, that's how you're going to feel, that's how you're going to talk. That's how you're going to go about your daily, you know, daily life. And then there's the decision making.
Keenan Curry 35:53
So if you see that, you, you see yourself as a horrible player, then your decision-making is going to repeat that. And so reflect that best word. Yeah. And so you got a kid that, you know, just the other day, you know, that he they lost a shot by a buzzer be there, and it's all over social media. And so he's like, coaching him. He's just so bad suck. I should have been there, I should have made this player.
Keenan Curry 36:19
And so I called him this day at one o'clock, and he's in bed. He's asleep, because he's so down on what he saw about himself and all the given the I'm like, do, there's three different people that came from that game. So one is all the excited people and they're all talking about out what a great game.
Keenan Curry 36:40
And they're looking at all the social media posts and talking about man, I was so good. And they're sitting at home, and they're chillin', because they're excited. And they felt like they did a great job. Then this, the second people second person that is sad, like you depress whatever you want to call it, and they're laying at home, and they're chilling and not getting better.
Keenan Curry 37:02
And as the third person, no matter what, when our lose, they said it's a new day. Isn't this the next day? I gotta get better. And that's jungle mentality is on to the next day. You gotta, you gotta rise and you got to find a different way that to kill the day that killed this moment. And we say killed because we want to dominate and when this moment, and then you eat and you get to have fun after that. And so, yeah, that's the beautiful thing about this process and journey that I'm experiencing.
Lindsey 37:39
Yeah. And it's interwoven with everything that you're doing. And I think that's just so cool. I got five rapid fire questions. Are you ready?
Keenan Curry 37:46
Boom, let's go.
Lindsey 37:47
Okay. What info are you consuming? Podcasts, reading books.
Keenan Curry 37:54
Everything. Podcasts reading...
Lindsey 37:58
Anything in particular?
Keenan Curry 37:59
Yeah, a lot of Kobe Bryant stuff. I'm Kobe Bryant. So everything that I believe in this kind of came from that tool. So a lot of Kobe stuff. coaching and teaching books language about language, you know, how you communicate things like that? Yeah.
Lindsey 38:20
What are you creating?
Keenan Curry 38:23
We're creating right now, we're creating a app. It's gonna have some skill development stuff on it. Some mental stuff on it. Hopefully create a podcast soon I've been trying to hold back and I've been it's probably been my mental game where I know what to do it but it's probably something that needs to be done a lot of people saying we need to do it so we have that and some cool camps coming up this summer.
Lindsey 38:52
Nice. What's one healthy habit you're doing daily?
Keenan Curry 38:57
Working out, going to Asana steam room.
Lindsey 39:00
What's your next big leap?
Keenan Curry 39:03
Big Leap that's a really good one. Hey, big leap as a coach or in as an entrepreneur just saying...
Keenan Curry 39:23
The next big the next big leap is to really expand our academy from the youth and all the way up and really really focused on the women's side of the game and so just taking another more punches at it and finding different ways to you know, get out to not only Oklahoma but scale it and to surround the air areas and nationally and all that so yeah.
Lindsey 39:53
What is bringing you joy or wonder right now?
Keenan Curry 39:56
Oh, my baby boy.
Lindsey 39:58
I knew that was coming.
Keenan Curry 39:59
Yeah.
Lindsey 40:00
We haven't even heard them.
Keenan Curry 40:01
Yeah, yeah. I locked them up somewhere.
Lindsey 40:06
All right, Keenan, I so appreciate your time. I know people were probably scribbling notes, especially people that have an existing business and want to integrate the mindset piece into it. And like I said, I just feel you're living it, you're teaching it and you're just bringing such hope and amazing tools to these young people that are lucky enough to work with you. So keep going.
Keenan Curry 40:27
I appreciate that. Thank you for having me.
Lindsey 40:29
Absolutely. Thanks so much, Keenan. And where can people find you?
Keenan Curry 40:33
All social media, Keenan Curry Jr. or feed underscore your game, so Yep.
Lindsey 40:40
All right, guys, go find them. Thanks so much, Keenan.
Lindsey 40:45
Hey, if you love this episode, make sure to check out all of our free and paid resources over at positiveperformancetraining.com You want to take mindset training to the next level we got you. But here are three more specific ways.
Lindsey 40:57
If you want to take mindset training and live it more in your life. Definitely subscribe to this podcast. We send out bonus episodes, we have our mental Mondays, we have interviews and training episodes, definitely subscribe. If you want to teach it, meaning taking it to your athletes or your clients. I highly recommend the Psychology of Competition.
Lindsey 41:15
Again, you can check that out at positiveperformancetraining.com It is a great course that will teach you and your athletes how to have pre, during, and post-competition routines to up your performance. And if you want to learn how to have a mindset coaching business in order to sell mindset coaching, highly recommend signing up for our waitlist for our next certification cohort, which usually opens about once a year, but in the meantime, go to positiveperformancetraining.com.
Lindsey 41:40
And check out our Ultimate Mindset Coaching Toolkit which will show you exactly how to get started with your first mindset coaching clients. Again, go to positiveperformancetraining.com for all of our free and paid resources.
