As a grade-schooler in the San Francisco Bay Area my first basketball coach was a man named Jim Knecht. A kind man, he was short, wore glasses and despite a hunched back, was quite athletic. Though not a great physical specimen he had a strong interest in sharing what he knew about a game that he loved and was good at. He wasn’t forceful or arrogant, his style was gentle and hands-on, tinged with lots of humor, encouragement and plenty of hustle.
He’d show us kids how to shoot a free throw. With his big calloused hands on either side of the leather ball, he’d toe the free throw line, legs apart, knees bent, relaxed and confident. He’d twirl the ball in his hands, and then flip it up to the hoop, underhand. It seemed to always go in with a “swish” of the net!
He’d show us how to dribble and pass, and then get us involved in drills and exercises to perfect our ball handling skills and team play. Basketball practice was fun; the coach allowed our openness and inherent athleticism to propel us—he simply observed, gave pointers and encouragement. After all, he’d been playing the game for quite some time, before we were even born, and had made it a part of his life. We looked to him not to tell us how to play basketball, but to show and guide us and then leave it up to us to practice and perfect the skills and drills we’d become more familiar and confident with, taking our ‘game’ to where we got pretty good at it—for ten year olds!
The reason I mention my old basketball coach is to illustrate what can happen when a coach is a helpful, practiced and intuitive guide, rather than an inflexible, hard-driving authority. The style in which Annrika and I coach is similar to Jim’s. There is very little instruction (even though we are Sedona Method Licensed Instructors), rather a guidance, a pointing-to, that is underpinned by our 45+ years of ‘playing the game of releasing’ with The Sedona Method. Through our own personal practice and direct experience we’ve honed our natural ability to let go, making it an integral part of our lives, benefitting every area. We don’t simply talk about it, we live it. We invite you to take advantage of the coaching we provide through an on-going series of private one-on-one sessions. So, when you bring releasing to the free throw line of life, no matter what the score, you’ll have the confidence and relaxation to play the game with ease and grace!