the ball . We eliminate the noise . Athletes , dancers , writers , they all perform their best when they ’ re in the “ flow state .” When everything slows down and they are fully immersed , energized and focused . On the other hand , noise is a distraction , it slows down your brain ’ s ability to process information and it destroys the flow .
“ It ’ s the same way in the game of life ,” I said . “ When someone has blinders on , their field of vision is going to be narrow and they ’ re going to miss out on so much information . As a result , their decisions are going to be narrow , too . Only by opening their eyes , scanning and shifting their lens will they have the capacity to gather relevant information and learn . As they learn , they change . And as they change , they grow .”
The more I spoke , the more Glenn leaned into the whole philosophy of vision training . It was a breakthrough moment , the proverbial scales falling from his eyes . As we touched down at JFK Airport , I told him I ’ d come to his first training session of the spring season . He couldn ’ t wait to get started .
Fast forward again , six months this time , to the end of the ’ 99 season . The combination of vision training and talented new recruits had given the Lady Blackbirds their first winning season . Not only that , if they won their last game of the season , they would go through to the finals of the Northeast Conference Tournament and have the opportunity to punch their ticket to the NCAA tournament . They did just that .
The Lloyd story is a good one . But any time Glenn is asked about his favorite example of vision training , he goes to a player named Nicole , who he had at Rutgers around the same time as Carli . She didn ’ t get a lot of playing time , in part because she never really got behind the vision training . She ended up quitting the team before her senior year .
About a decade later , Nicole contacted Glenn out of the blue . She was living in Tennessee , where she worked as the director of a youth soccer club . She wanted to know if Glenn could send her some materials on vision training . “ I remember how impactful it was at Rutgers , and I want to share it with my kids ,” she told Glenn . Glenn sent the materials to her right away . And today , some of the best players in the country are coming out of Tennessee .
Like I said , the people who end up getting the most out of vision training often start out as its biggest skeptics . You just have to get them to pick their heads up , look around and see the possibilities . n
Glenn ended up writing a column in the New Jersey Star Ledger about that game and the impact vision training had had on his team throughout the season . To this day , the article is one of my favorite testimonials to the power of vision training . Here ’ s an excerpt :
“ With five minutes remaining in a scoreless match , our center back directed a pass to our striker , who approached the ball with her back to the goal as she looked over her right shoulder . Seeing a defender moving in fast , she eliminated the opponent by taking her first touch to the left . Her next touch was a 22-yard shot that settled into the back corner of the goal . We won that match and eventually the NEC championship . Not one teammate told our striker which way to turn to goal . She made the decision on her own by looking .”
Glenn admitted in the article that he had his doubts at first about vision training . By the time his team lifted the NEC trophy in the fall of 1999 , he was a true believer . As he put it , “ a goal in training vision is to make ‘ looking around ’ a habit for each player … The most effective first-touch decision is made by the player receiving the ball , not by a player standing 20 yards away and yelling ‘ turn ’ or ‘ man on .’ Speed of light ( vision ) is faster than speed of sound ( verbal ).”
Unfortunately for LIU , Glenn left the program the following year to take the reins at Rutgers , where he imparted the benefits of vision training to an elite crop of women players , including Jonelle Filigno , a standout on the Canadian National Team , and of course , Carli Lloyd , whose 55-yard wonder goal in the 2015 World Cup finals I talk about in an earlier chapter . “ It was a split second ,” Lloyd told reporters in her post-match interview . “ Every single game I play I ’ m always checking to see where the goalkeeper is . She was really off her line .”
TJ Kostecky is the lead innovator of Vision Training for Life , a leadership developmental program which empowers individuals to discover their full potential and form meaningful connections through subtle shifts in perspective . In an academic career spanning three decades and six universities , he has served as a coach , athletic director , professor , and entrepreneur . TJ is currently the head men ’ s soccer coach and assistant athletic director for leadership at Bard College . He resides in Tivoli , NY , where his play involves longboarding through the village streets , hiking the Catskill Mountains , and engaging everyone he meets in conversation . He is the proud father of two young women who both work at the Savannah College of Art and Design .
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