I'm not advocating for a sunshine and lollipops approach to coaching. Some athletes need a good "talking to" to get their head on straight. I, myself, have found the need to yell at some of my athletes to light a fire under their tush. However, coaches shouldn't assume that all of their athletes, or even a majority of their athletes, would thrive best in an environment that is so high-strung.

Sitake and Co. understand that you shouldn't use a sledgehammer to do a scalpel's work. That's all my friend was trying to tell me.