Hayden Mitchell

Thoughts from the Trails.

When will we stop nocebo-ing and fear-mongering women. Movement is a natural inheritance. Anatomy and the endocrine system for all people. Level up your ability connect with people while leveling up your practice design and programming.

Seriously, I don’t like politicians so don’t try to guess my political leanings. Be a good human. Thems the rules. I question anyone pursuing nothing but power and prestige. What an unmitigated disaster this administration has been. As a former teacher of social sciences/history, this is unprecedented incompetence in the modern era.

Eww gross. Be rugged. Be chic. Don’t be trendy.

Big time dreaming of this for me and my people.

Demonizing aggression in the name of social and emotional learning is antithetical to social and emotional learning.

Hottttttt or you’re wearing half pants

I’ve been in the game of teaching and coaching long enough to know that methods come and go and no model is the perfect model.

These are principles born from over two decades of trying to get a little better as a teacher and coach every day.

They are not all I think about coaching, performance training, athlete development, sport pedagogy, and movement education. But I think them useful for me and you.

They function as an orientation when the clean solution gets messy in contact with a human being.

1. Train for something beyond the training itself.
2. Measure what matters when measurement improves the decision.
3. Do not confuse the metric with the human being.
4. Build general capacities that preserve options.
5. Develop attunement: teach people to sense effort, position, rhythm, fatigue, and readiness.
6. Let play and sport reveal qualities the gym cannot fully reproduce.
7. Use the minimum complexity required to solve the actual problem.
8. Remember that everyone has everything going on all the time.

I expect some of these to change as I keep coaching, teaching, reading, listening, paying attention, and inevitably getting things wrong.

For now, they help me decide what deserves my attention.

What is the person actually being prepared for?
What information would meaningfully change the decision? What are they learning to sense for themselves?
What does the environment allow for, or prevent, from emerging?
What might sport or play reveal that I have not been able to manufacture in training?
How much complexity does this particular problem actually deserve?

And, most importantly, what else might be going on in the life of the person standing in front of me?

If you coach, teach movement, or work in human performance, I’m curious where you agree, where you might push back, or what you think is missing.

I’d genuinely like to hear it in the comments.

And if you’re trying to think through a coaching problem, I offer coaching consultations through the link in my bio.

Pilgrimage through the ancient mountains of Appalachia. The Great American West has filled my cup so much but this region is like a cozy blanket. I reckon the Scot in me feels right at home.
So here’s a little Misty Mountain Hoppin and Tom Selleck-in.
One hike with all the views and one that destroyed me. Planned for 12 miles and ended up at 22.
DO get lost kids. Just bring enough provisions to survive.
Great songwriters accompanying me on the road and bird song on the trails.
More to share but here is a little photo dump for my most avid fans 😘