Athlete Player Development | Hanson Coaching

Click below to inquire about our Pro-Player Leadership Development Package and Career Development Package.

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12 year NBA veteran and All-Star Jamal Mashburn speaking on my influence on him and how to carry yourself as a leader.

Billionaire entrepreneur Jay Z speaks on not being taught emotional intelligence as a youth as the reason for his struggles growing up.

University of Colorado Head Coach, NFL and college Hall of Famer Deion "Coach Prime" Sanders accepting my Athletes Emotional Intelligence Assessment.

Playing against NBA Hall of Famer Shaquille "The Diesel" Oneal.

Playing at the University of Kentuicky

Head Coach of a professional team in Japan

Leadership Development & Career Consulting

As a former college and professional athlete and coach with vast experience nationally and internationally, I offer professional coaching services for college athletes as well as current and retired professional athletes.

University of Kentucky basketball player 1986-1991
Team MVP 1990, 1991
ALL- SEC 1990, 1991
UK Male Athlete of the Year 1991
Score over 1000 points and ranked 43 on the ALL Time scoring list
Played professionally in Japan 1992-2000
Played with the Boston Celtics 1998
Coached at the University of Kentucky 2000-2007
Coached at the University of South Florida 2007-2013
Head Coach of a professional team in Japan 2014
Elected as one of the Top 25 Recruiters in the country 2004 & 2006 by Rivals.com
Arthur of "10 Life Lessons: Learned as a Student-Athlete
Had the privilege of coaching former NBA players: Tayshaun Prince, Rajon Rondo, Chuck Hayes, Keith Bogans, Keleena Azuibuike, Jodie Meeks, and Dominique Jones.

The University of Kentucky is a high-pressurized university when it comes to athletics, so I get it when athletes feel the pressure to live up to high expectations they put on themselves and the high expectations bestowed upon them from other sources that are out of their control. The social media effect is where they can lose themselves.

Communicating, connecting with and motivating today's’ athletes can be challenging. My experience as a player and coach in a high-pressure environment gives me a great understanding of what athletes go through and how they think and feel as I have been on both sides of the game.

I know the daily grind and needs of someone who dedicates there life to sports. I will also help them stay connected to the person on the inside while managing that person on the outside. The "Public Eye Person". This is where "code switching" skills are needed.

Just as they need to work on their athletic skills, they also need to work on their transferable life skills and mental well-being.

Athletes feel there is no other layer to them outside of their sport and they also feel they don't have transferable skills that will allow a company to hire them or for them to become entrepreneurs.

I am a strong believer that sports is the greatest metaphor for teaching transferable life skills. The problem is athletes are so caught up in the daily grind that they are not able to apprehend the life lessons they are learning in "real time".

I help them think beyond their workout, practice and games to better focus on what their future life will look like outside of their sport. I teach them to live life on life's terms.

Develop leadership skills through Emotional Intelligence (Strong EI will help an athlete maximize their potential, while weak EI will do the opposite) They learn how to be great leaders and great teammates. EI helps athletes mature at an accelerated pace, have a better understanding and awareness of self and others. It also gives them enhanced reasoning capabilities to think before reacting which allows them to make more informed decisions. Lastly, EI will help solve problems before the athletes know they exist. (On the college level the Transfer Portal has caused programs to assemble an entirely new roster each season. Emotional intelligence will allow rosters to come together as a team at a much quicker pace)

Career consulting to discover their next career path after sports (Sets the foundation and gets the needle moving on the future life and career athlete's desire after sports). Athletes feel there are no other layers to them outside of their sport and feel they don't have transferable skills that will allow a company to hire them or to become an entrepreneur. This workshop helps them discover their next career, recognize their current skill set, and discover the skills they need to develop for the type of career they desire. Companies are always looking for athletes to hire because of the team culture they come from. They must be prepared when those opportunities come. They will also discover their entrepreneurial dreams and goals.

Mental well-being coaching- Athletes need to know if you truly understand them and been in their shoes before they will trust you. Mental well-being challenges consist of difficult home life, pressure to succeed on the field /court, peer pressure, internal pressure, family pressure to succeed and take care of their family, academic pressure (college athletes), and of course social media pressure. Athletes have so much to deal with on a day-to-day basis. I was a high-level athlete and high-level college basketball coach, so I’ve dealt with all the different pressures, experiences, and challenges that they go through during their athletic career. Not having an outlet to discuss those challenges can make their athletic experience very difficult.

Develop Character and Integrity- They will learn how to design and define how they want people to view them. They will also learn how to earn respect from others.

Develop goal setting skills with my 8-Step Goal Setting Plan- They learn to set goals, create action plans, measure success and build in accountability in preparation for their future endeavors. This will help align and promote their vision as well as establish a sense of self mastery. They can't manage what they don't measure and they can't improve upon something they don't properly manage.

Setting Boundaries- They will learn what their values are and set boundaries accordingly. This will help them stay focused on their goals and protect their space from outside distractions.

Next Life- Navigating life's transitions. This workshop will teach them the mechanisms of navigating life's transitions from accepting it to telling it.

Athletes have the need to always be challenged and held accountable. I will challenge them every step of the way while giving them the GPS to that winning edge for life.

Click below to inquire about workshops for your teams or 1:1 sessions with your players.

Problem Worth Solving

Many athletes have difficulty transitioning back into “civilian” life. When leaving their sport, they go through what I call, “a personal Life Quake or Pandemic”. This is a forceful burst of change in one’s life that leads to a period of upheaval, transition, and renewal. Athletes live in a fantasy world while playing sports.

They go through a transition and a change.

The Transition- is internal, the mental. It is what happens in the minds of the newly retired as they go through the change. Fully processing is very difficult and creates anxiety and stress. This can take years to process. They must find something in life that is Meaningful and Purposeful again. Transition is a vital period of adjustment, creativity, and rebirth that helps one find meaning after a major life disruption.

The Change- is the physical or mechanical- is what happens to the newly retired. Here today, living somewhere else unknown tomorrow. It’s a period of starting life all over from the beginning again in a different climate they are not accustomed to.

Change can happen very quickly, while transition usually occurs more slowly.

The player is not the person. They feel they are taught how to turn it on, but not turn it off. They are programmed a certain way for so many years and when the programming abruptly switches to off they don't know where to turn because they are not prepared.

There is no balance and without balance the athlete takes over the person. There are certain things with life that athletes don't see or realize when they are playing. But after retirement, their antennas pop up and they are like "oh shit", what is all this about? They must now learn how to reconnect with family and deal with issues they really were not aware of because they were caught up into their sport. Life just got real!

They don't know how to balance the different relationships they have between spouse/girlfriend, children. parents, teammates, coaches, agents, business associates, friends, and extended family that includes relatives. One must be great at "code switching" to have a good balance with all of these relationships.

They need help with the transition because it's hard for them to be vulnerable and speak on tough times they are going through. They are battling a lot of life's demons each day and don't know how to handle them. Those demons are pride, lack of confidence. doubt, insecurities, trust, and not living up to the performance expectations bestowed upon them by others. The main demons are the people they looked out for or thought they were "close" to that were showing them a lot of "love" and "attention". These people left their life after their playing career was over.

How Athletes are Built

Athletes are built on short term goals, not long term goals. Starting in college and into the pros each season the goal is to win the championship which is not really a long term goal. It's the "end game" to each season. So every game played becomes magnified in the "short term". Gotta win this game now! Gotta win the next game now! This is done every game until the end of each season. So athletes are focusing on short term goal success, not long term goal success.

This creates and builds short term thinking for the athletes. This is why most athletes don't think about life after sport and the main reason they struggle with life after sport. Their focus is on just trying to get through each day.

Athletes feel the pressure where they always think i have to accomplish the goal now , be great now, or it’s a failure. This pressure is multiplied 100x's with Social media.

So when they retire or leave from sports and looking at "what’s next" they feel the pressure that something has to happen now or they are failing in life and their life has not even really started yet. They are thinking "I have to be achieving in my next life right now or I am failing".

When that next life doesn't happen right away and they don't have any plans or life goals they are attacking to keep those competitive juices flowing they get depressed.

The mindset of athletes is ok sports is done, let me find something to do. Where as their mindset while they are still playing should be let me find someone that can help me with my "what’s next" move now before my time is up.

After retirement from or leaving sports athletes seek and still need to be on a daily schedule for structure, discipline, motivation, and goal achievement.

They need to be prepared for their "what's next" move now and be made aware that even when they prepare ahead of time, the next move can take time to come to fruition. But the key is they will know what that next move is because they have started working on it. Having the "what's next" in place frees up mind space to be more productive in their sport and life while also keeping depression from taking up that mind space.

If they are trained mentally year round on the short term with all they do it becomes ingrained in them and they must be re-wired to include the long term.

They need a mentor they can trust, understands the position they are in, listens with a non-judgmental mind, can go on that transition journey "with" them, and give them the direction they seek.

Hanson Coaching & Consulting LLC can provide these services for them.

The Athlete's Mindset