“Most people get ahead during the time that others waste time.” ~ Henry Ford

Can “Dancing With the Stars” and “The Biggest Loser” offer something for coaches?

Both reality TV shows offer the same model: a contestant forms an objective, has a finite amount of time to achieve the objective, and then works with a coach to reach it.

It sounds a lot like what goes on in the gym or on the field. If there’s a game next week, you have a certain amount of time to prepare. Whichever team does the most with the amount of time enters the game with an advantage.

So whether it’s “Dancing,” “Loser,” or your gym, the time is precious. The coach must be careful to select the right training activities, and make sure they are done correctly. Either one of those tasks is enough to challenge any coach.

“Some people try to find things in this game that don’t exist but football is only two things — blocking and tackling,” football coach Vince Lombardi said.

Lombardi’s quote offers a success clue. Too many coaches are so busy trying to re-invent the game that they forget about the basics. And in any successful practice, doing the basics, and doing the basics correctly, leads to success.

Anything else is wasted time. And as the contestants on the reality shows know, there just isn’t any time to waste.