I sat down at the table in the boardroom. I was always nervous for this portion of interviews, you never knew who the people were asking you questions, if they already had a candidate in mind, etc. Had I drank too much water? Would I need to run out to the bathroom first? Did I not drink ENOUGH water? Would I run out of breath talking and start coughing. The rep from HR started with her question.
"As a coach, have you ever talked to a student-athlete about something other than their sport"
Looking puzzled"...um. Yes?"
She looked back semi-shocked that I answered in the affirmative, "Well, why?"
Laughed, looks at her semi accusatory"You've never coached college athletes before, have you"
I didn't get that job, but would still respond the same way. As college coaches actual "coaching" is a small percentage of what I do on a daily basis. Sure there is recruiting, travel, budget, equipment, the meetings, checking grades, more meetings, facilities, meetings about the facilities etc. I'm referring more towards the growth of the student-athletes and more specifically their social and psychological growth.
30% of college students have reported depression in a 12 month period and at least 50% have reported a high amount of anxiety (Ann Kearns Davoren and Seunghyun Hwang, Mind, Body, and sport: Depression and Anxiety Prevalence in Student-Athletes). As I coach at a University where a vast majority of students are also Student-Athletes, these percentages ensure that a large number of these athletes will have some mental-health issues at some point in their careers. As coaches we are told on an almost daily basis that "They are STUDENT-athletes, make sure to emphasize the STUDENT", which is true. In a sport like track and field where there is not much money to be had post-collegiately, and a very small percentage of student-athletes actually move on to the Olympics and sponsorships, a degree is very important. However, many student-athletes will tell you that part of the anxiety that comes from college life stems from them feeling "alone". Not just alone because they are away from home the first time, or maybe they have never been too social, but alone from the stand-point that no one listens to them, and they feel as though they cannot communicate to anyone how they are feeling. Being someone they can talk to often falls on being the responsibility of the coach.
Do not get my statement confused, however, this doesn't mean to become a "Friend Coach", because anyone that has spoken to me knows how I feel about that particular breed of coach, but it means to make yourself available if any issues arise. And trust me, issues will arise. Look for a few warning signs,
Suddenly tired and fatigued
Injury prone or seeming never ending soreness
Suddenly irritable or mood swings
Sports Performance dropping off
Tardiness, both at practices and classes
There are others as well, but these are generally the ones I see pop up. And I know, some of these behaviors an athlete might exhibit every single day because, well, that isn't a mental health issue, it simply is someone that isn't mature enough yet to be a student-athlete. But if someone on your squad suddenly starts exhibiting these qualities try to set up a time to talk to them. Most of the time they won't seek you out for a conversation, so you need to be vigilant and patient with them, and that all begins with trust-building. During one of the coaching courses, building trust was listed as one of the primary focuses of early season training. The main logic at the time was to establish trust so that if you change training one day, or ask them to do a very complicated or difficult workout they will "buy in" without arguement, but in terms of establishing yourself as a trusted member of the college community to confide it, it works the same way.
I could drone on about this topic for quite some time, but I wanted to keep this post brief, so now I will just touch quickly on mental health of you, as a coach, also. A coach whom I greatly respect talked about this topic at the end of a presentation and it perfectly described me sometimes. He stressed how stressful it is to be a coach. Apparently only nurses have a higher amount of anxiety and stress in their lives according to one study (couldn't find the study so take it with a grain of salt, that is just what was told to me). He described how some of the best coaches end up gaining weight, abusing substances and/or alcohol, falling into depression and having relationship issues because of the pressure they feel to make a positive impact in their student-athletes lives. I have noticed (and let's face it, experienced) the same thing. Sometimes the happiest coaches are the "worst" in terms of actual coaching for this very reason, and the most irritable, most stressed coaches are the best. An athlete asked me once if I enjoy meets now because I don't compete, I said no. I told them...
"Imagine how much emotion you put into your event, and how much emotion you go through after your event depending if you do well or poorly...now imagine having to go through that 100 times for different athletes every meet". Sounds a bit over-dramatic but it's true. Most meets, I will fall asleep around 7:30pm afterwards just from the amount of stress and how drained I feel afterwards, and a huge amount of coaches I know and respect are the same way. It is terribly draining to be the rudder for a ship, making sure everything stays on course. So for 2018, as well as making sure your athletes are mentally healthy, take care of your own mental health as well. Know when to slow things down a bit, set aside time for your own workouts, training, entertaining. And sometimes, most importantly, know when to just turn it off and step back for a bit. The #1 factor that student-athletes said affected meet and practice performance was the mood of their coach, so sometimes it isn't the athletes mental state that is hurting things, it's yours. Happy New Years!!!!....PS...Go Eagles...Dallas Sucks.
Sunday, December 31, 2017
Monday, July 18, 2016
The Value of Failure
A flaw in our society as I see it is the insistence that success and winning are the only options and that falling short of that goal makes you worthless and weak both mentally and physically. There is the old saying "failure is not an option" that people love to put on pictures and memes, posting them on their facebooks like badges of honor. Well, I hate to tell everyone, but not only is failure an option but many times it is the most likely option. And that isn't a bad thing, in fact it is a very good thing. This entry I will examine what makes failure good and why it should be embraced rather than feared or, even worse, completely ignored.
I could reference the numerous TV, Political, Scientific etc personalities that failed before they every made it big, but that has been done to death. A good quote I've read referencing these people, however, is that, "Instant success isn't the only kind of success" (http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-who-failed-at-first-2015-7) and that really strikes to the root of the problem. It seems in our modern society, many people want instant success and want things to work out perfectly otherwise they figure "What is the point?". Especially with the sports that I coach, most athletes will fail much more than they succeed especially at first. I've yet to meet an athlete that will be able to perform a snatch perfectly the first time they see it done, or be able to have a perfect plant and drive swing in pole vault; it just doesn't happen. The athletes that master these skills are the ones who learn from these daily failures and improve themselves in those areas. The ones that aren't successful are those that look for scapegoats or reasons why they aren't having instant success, usually blaming the coach, or other outside factors that really have nothing to do with why they aren't succeeding. Still other athletes will quit after they fail initially, which unfortunately I am noticing to be an other increasing group. Some people won't let themselves accept that they have lost, that they have failed at something and run away from it rather than embracing it and growing. To give an analogy I will step into the realm of 'video games.
I've been playing a game called Overwatch lately. It is a team based game where 6 people choose different characters to defeat another team in a specific goal (capture the flag type stuff, moving a payload, etc). It can be fun and almost like a game of rock-paper-scissor in determining what character counters another character. A few weeks ago the company that makes the game, Blizzard, released a new game mode that is competitive, where players are ranked and compete against a team of an equal ranking. A problem that has arisen, however, is that many players quit if they feel they are going to lose, thus stranding the rest of their team and basically screwing up everyone's fun. This is analogous of some of the issues I run into with athletes as well. Rather than live in the moment of failure and trying to grow past it, some will just turn and run away from it, never actually experiencing failure and growing as a person and athlete. Well, now that I have listed the problem it's time to list some ideas of solutions, and in terms of athletes it will have to start with the coaches.
Most of the time, the first area an athlete will experience failure will be in actual competitions. Stepping into the circle or runway in a track meet, or on the platform for weightlifting. Some athletes naturally shine in these moments. They have no fear of embarrassment or nervousness and in some cases compete much better than they perform in training. However, sometimes more frequently, and athlete will step into competition for the first time and instantly forget everything they are supposed to do. While this is painful to see an athlete go through this, one of the worst things a coach can do is be apologetic, emotional, and coddling. The athlete needs to know that this result can happen, and you sometimes need to experience failure and live in that moment to realize that it isn't the end of the world, it doesn't lessen you as a person and it helps you grow.
Aside from dealing with failure at that specific moment, your practices and training can help as well. One thing I love the Olympic lifts for is for helping with mental toughness and dealing with adversity. At a certain point it doesn't matter how strong or well trained you are, that bar will always feel heavy. Olympic lifting is all about trusting your technique and going through with the same focus regardless if you are at 60% or 100%. Many times athletes early on will "quit" on a lift halfway through simply because the bar feels too heavy. Staying with the athlete in these workouts can help them not only complete the workout but learn how to stay focused under pressure and block out the noise of their inner thoughts telling them they can't complete what they are starting. As a coach you can use these times in training to help with competition in the athlete's individual sport or event. The better they adapt in training situations, the better they will perform in competition.
Feel free to comment with how you as an athlete or coach deal with failure yourself or for your own team. Failure is going to happen, you can either run away from it, or treat it as a necessary part of your own growth and learn from it.
I could reference the numerous TV, Political, Scientific etc personalities that failed before they every made it big, but that has been done to death. A good quote I've read referencing these people, however, is that, "Instant success isn't the only kind of success" (http://www.businessinsider.com/successful-people-who-failed-at-first-2015-7) and that really strikes to the root of the problem. It seems in our modern society, many people want instant success and want things to work out perfectly otherwise they figure "What is the point?". Especially with the sports that I coach, most athletes will fail much more than they succeed especially at first. I've yet to meet an athlete that will be able to perform a snatch perfectly the first time they see it done, or be able to have a perfect plant and drive swing in pole vault; it just doesn't happen. The athletes that master these skills are the ones who learn from these daily failures and improve themselves in those areas. The ones that aren't successful are those that look for scapegoats or reasons why they aren't having instant success, usually blaming the coach, or other outside factors that really have nothing to do with why they aren't succeeding. Still other athletes will quit after they fail initially, which unfortunately I am noticing to be an other increasing group. Some people won't let themselves accept that they have lost, that they have failed at something and run away from it rather than embracing it and growing. To give an analogy I will step into the realm of 'video games.
I've been playing a game called Overwatch lately. It is a team based game where 6 people choose different characters to defeat another team in a specific goal (capture the flag type stuff, moving a payload, etc). It can be fun and almost like a game of rock-paper-scissor in determining what character counters another character. A few weeks ago the company that makes the game, Blizzard, released a new game mode that is competitive, where players are ranked and compete against a team of an equal ranking. A problem that has arisen, however, is that many players quit if they feel they are going to lose, thus stranding the rest of their team and basically screwing up everyone's fun. This is analogous of some of the issues I run into with athletes as well. Rather than live in the moment of failure and trying to grow past it, some will just turn and run away from it, never actually experiencing failure and growing as a person and athlete. Well, now that I have listed the problem it's time to list some ideas of solutions, and in terms of athletes it will have to start with the coaches.
Most of the time, the first area an athlete will experience failure will be in actual competitions. Stepping into the circle or runway in a track meet, or on the platform for weightlifting. Some athletes naturally shine in these moments. They have no fear of embarrassment or nervousness and in some cases compete much better than they perform in training. However, sometimes more frequently, and athlete will step into competition for the first time and instantly forget everything they are supposed to do. While this is painful to see an athlete go through this, one of the worst things a coach can do is be apologetic, emotional, and coddling. The athlete needs to know that this result can happen, and you sometimes need to experience failure and live in that moment to realize that it isn't the end of the world, it doesn't lessen you as a person and it helps you grow.
Aside from dealing with failure at that specific moment, your practices and training can help as well. One thing I love the Olympic lifts for is for helping with mental toughness and dealing with adversity. At a certain point it doesn't matter how strong or well trained you are, that bar will always feel heavy. Olympic lifting is all about trusting your technique and going through with the same focus regardless if you are at 60% or 100%. Many times athletes early on will "quit" on a lift halfway through simply because the bar feels too heavy. Staying with the athlete in these workouts can help them not only complete the workout but learn how to stay focused under pressure and block out the noise of their inner thoughts telling them they can't complete what they are starting. As a coach you can use these times in training to help with competition in the athlete's individual sport or event. The better they adapt in training situations, the better they will perform in competition.
Feel free to comment with how you as an athlete or coach deal with failure yourself or for your own team. Failure is going to happen, you can either run away from it, or treat it as a necessary part of your own growth and learn from it.
Friday, July 1, 2016
Preserve Our Present
Well it's July and you know what that means? It's all about Independence days. Canada Day, U.S. Independence Day, along with Algeria, Bahamas, and a whole list of others. One of the best things about our history in this country is that it is so easy to see and experience. Being from the Philadelphia area, I can drive to Olde City and visit the old exchange building, liberty bell, Ben Franklin's office, the old tavern where the founding fathers used to drink their ale, etc. Aside from these tangibles, there are so many documents still surviving of daily lives of both the founding fathers and just ordinary citizens of the time. This fact brings me to the main thesis of the blog entry. Writing the everyday events, feelings, thoughts was commonplace back then and sadly it has almost completely disappeared nowadays. Not only will this have ramifications on our future and how future generations will not be able to relate to our daily lives, it also can affect athletes.
For this month I'm going to ask everyone that reads this post to keep a journal every day for the month of July. Each entry doesn't need to be long, or profound. Ken Burns won't be creating a documentary about your thoughts like they are old Civil War letters "My dearest Agnes, it has been a fortnight since I heard from you...etc", however it will be a good account of your observations as well as a log of your training. There are a host of things happening in the world right now between UK leaving the EU, 2016 election, upcoming Olympics that you may forget about in the next 20 years or so, or you may want to pass on to your children/grandchildren to give me an idea of what was happening. Along with the historical benefits, there are a number of benefits specific to athletes also.
Journal-ling for athletes can help in a number of ways. For one, a day to day account of training, and how the athlete feels and responds to training can benefit not only the athlete but the coach as well. The coach can notice a trend in training (both positive and negative) which can help when programming future programs. This will also help the athlete in turn by increasing the athlete's awareness of the program design.
Another benefit is to be able to recognize over-training before it becomes a problem. An athlete logging their thoughts, feelings, and stressors can help show symptoms of over-training which can lead the coach to backing off of the training, or adjusting it to better help future workouts. Going in the same vein, a journal may also show a lack of sleep, warm-up, flexibility training and other things that may hinder athlete performance. In closing, try to take the month of July and keep a journal of all things athletic and otherwise. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't but give it a shot.
For this month I'm going to ask everyone that reads this post to keep a journal every day for the month of July. Each entry doesn't need to be long, or profound. Ken Burns won't be creating a documentary about your thoughts like they are old Civil War letters "My dearest Agnes, it has been a fortnight since I heard from you...etc", however it will be a good account of your observations as well as a log of your training. There are a host of things happening in the world right now between UK leaving the EU, 2016 election, upcoming Olympics that you may forget about in the next 20 years or so, or you may want to pass on to your children/grandchildren to give me an idea of what was happening. Along with the historical benefits, there are a number of benefits specific to athletes also.
Journal-ling for athletes can help in a number of ways. For one, a day to day account of training, and how the athlete feels and responds to training can benefit not only the athlete but the coach as well. The coach can notice a trend in training (both positive and negative) which can help when programming future programs. This will also help the athlete in turn by increasing the athlete's awareness of the program design.
Another benefit is to be able to recognize over-training before it becomes a problem. An athlete logging their thoughts, feelings, and stressors can help show symptoms of over-training which can lead the coach to backing off of the training, or adjusting it to better help future workouts. Going in the same vein, a journal may also show a lack of sleep, warm-up, flexibility training and other things that may hinder athlete performance. In closing, try to take the month of July and keep a journal of all things athletic and otherwise. Maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't but give it a shot.
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
So you think you're ready to compete?
A quality that is unable to be quantified and measured in athletes is the ability to "show up" and be competitive. There are a number of terms used for this trait, competitiveness, being a 'gamer', mental toughness, focus, and the list goes on. But what is it exactly? Can it be trained? Is it a situation where you are a product of your environment? I wanted to provide my own take on the issue, so travel along with me as we board the magic school bus towards being a competitor...wait...wrong show...wait...this isn't a show...just keep reading.
Just about every athlete has been there. You have trained well, you are killing it in practices and training, you get onto the track, field, platform, circle, etc and you forget just about every doggone thing that is generally second nature to you. I call this behavior "fear of embarrassment". It could be different for everyone, but in my experience all of these nerves and negative actions come from the (sometimes subconscious) mindset of "oh god, I hope I don't screw up, everyone will look at me like I'm a failure." Or even "If I screw up, I'm letting my entire team, coaches, family, species down". So Number 1 on my checklist of things to help you become a focused competitor...
1. Stay focused only on what you can control for yourself
I say this a lot during practices and competitions. It might be raining out, you might be needing to step up because another teammate is having an off day themselves, there may be scouts watching you. None of those factors can you control. The only actions you can control are your own.
A feeling that adds to the anxiety of competition and contributes to a lack of focus or competitiveness is that you are completely alone, on an island all by yourself. It's obviously not true, but in that moment you feel as though it is you against the world, nothing anyone is saying can help so why even listen to them. So...
2. Use self talk
No, it's not crazy to talk to yourself, it can actually be very beneficial. "Good point, Gregg", why, thank you Gregg. See! Using self-talk can not only help you while you are stressing during competition, it can help you re-focus, reinforce some cues that you need to work on( more on that later) and cause you to relax. If, for instance, you feel pain, soreness, discomfort. Rather than focus on the pain and how it will affect you negatively, talk. Say "ok body, I know you are giving me pain as a warning that something is wrong, but I need to finish this competition". Yeah yeah yeah, it sounds weird, but can actually help you to settle and re-focus your energy and thoughts. Try it a few times.
Another form of "self talk" may not even be considered self talk to some. It's form of meditation and relaxation but also self talk. Before competition (even during competition sometimes), get in a relaxed mode, find your "happy place". Imagine yourself in a place where you are your happiest and most relaxed. While there, imagine talking to someone that you look up to, and who's input you really value. Could be a parent, coach, teammate, even someone you may have never ever met. Whatever your current concern is, ask them about it "Why am I over-rotating; why is the bar too far out in front, why aren't I posting up properly". From there, wait for your answer from that person. Obviously you are answering your own question, but coming from someone you respect and value, it can hold a great deal of importance and do a lot to relax you.
3. Use cues and phrases
This tip may be the most common. "fast pull", "Drive!" "PUSH!", "Accelerate!", "Keep it close!". Any of my athletes have heard these terms many many times. Problem is, sometimes they go in one ear and out the other. During a competition, repeating this, even out loud, can help your focus. Phrases can also be beneficial, and even be repeated on a daily basis. Sometimes these are more difficult to come up with, some coaches and athletes like them to rhyme, but that is up to each individual.
4. Realize that confidence is not a constant state of mind.
This one might be the most difficult for a number of athletes. Sometimes as an athlete you will feel like because something didn't go well, and as a result your confidence has suffered, it can never be regained and you are just having "a bad day". This whole line of logic is entirely fallacious. Realizing that your confidence, as well as your performance, not only fluctuates, but are part of a symbiotic relationship and can be changed in an instant. The best way to regain confidence is to focus on what to correct, correct it, do well, and regain your confidence. On the flip side, using some of these tools to help regain your confidence will also result in an increase in your performance. To put it simply, realize that your situation CAN be improved and work to improve it rather that just accepting that things "aren't going well".
5. Develop a routine and log your focus/attitude
Along with being prepared, having a set routine can help focus and relax you for your competitions. How long you are awake for before you compete, what your warm-up routine is, what music you listen to; all of these things can help you focus and treat your competition as though it is just simply another day of training. Try to come up with a set schedule of what you will do before each competition and stick to it. Use this schedule the week leading up to, day of, and during your competition. I also am a firm believer in athletes logging and keeping journals. Log not only what you did in training and at competitions, but also your emotional state, level of focus, excitement level and other factors. Don't only describe what you are feeling, but evaluate yourself. Were you impatient and combative at practice? Give yourself a poor evaluation. And from there list the steps needed to correct these dysfunctions.
In closing, not everyone will be born with the necessary genetics and skills to become an elite level athlete, however every single athlete can reach their own individual potential. A huge portion of reaching this level is your daily training, but in order to truly excel and improve the athlete needs to spend just as much effort working on being focused and competitive in their competitions. Rare is the athlete that can just show up and put everything on the line, for a majority of athletes great care and preparation need to be spent taught how to compete. I'm bad at conclusions so that's the end of this blog article. Bye. Oh yeah, and try some of the things I recommended here. Hopefully they help.
Just about every athlete has been there. You have trained well, you are killing it in practices and training, you get onto the track, field, platform, circle, etc and you forget just about every doggone thing that is generally second nature to you. I call this behavior "fear of embarrassment". It could be different for everyone, but in my experience all of these nerves and negative actions come from the (sometimes subconscious) mindset of "oh god, I hope I don't screw up, everyone will look at me like I'm a failure." Or even "If I screw up, I'm letting my entire team, coaches, family, species down". So Number 1 on my checklist of things to help you become a focused competitor...
1. Stay focused only on what you can control for yourself
I say this a lot during practices and competitions. It might be raining out, you might be needing to step up because another teammate is having an off day themselves, there may be scouts watching you. None of those factors can you control. The only actions you can control are your own.
A feeling that adds to the anxiety of competition and contributes to a lack of focus or competitiveness is that you are completely alone, on an island all by yourself. It's obviously not true, but in that moment you feel as though it is you against the world, nothing anyone is saying can help so why even listen to them. So...
2. Use self talk
No, it's not crazy to talk to yourself, it can actually be very beneficial. "Good point, Gregg", why, thank you Gregg. See! Using self-talk can not only help you while you are stressing during competition, it can help you re-focus, reinforce some cues that you need to work on( more on that later) and cause you to relax. If, for instance, you feel pain, soreness, discomfort. Rather than focus on the pain and how it will affect you negatively, talk. Say "ok body, I know you are giving me pain as a warning that something is wrong, but I need to finish this competition". Yeah yeah yeah, it sounds weird, but can actually help you to settle and re-focus your energy and thoughts. Try it a few times.
Another form of "self talk" may not even be considered self talk to some. It's form of meditation and relaxation but also self talk. Before competition (even during competition sometimes), get in a relaxed mode, find your "happy place". Imagine yourself in a place where you are your happiest and most relaxed. While there, imagine talking to someone that you look up to, and who's input you really value. Could be a parent, coach, teammate, even someone you may have never ever met. Whatever your current concern is, ask them about it "Why am I over-rotating; why is the bar too far out in front, why aren't I posting up properly". From there, wait for your answer from that person. Obviously you are answering your own question, but coming from someone you respect and value, it can hold a great deal of importance and do a lot to relax you.
3. Use cues and phrases
This tip may be the most common. "fast pull", "Drive!" "PUSH!", "Accelerate!", "Keep it close!". Any of my athletes have heard these terms many many times. Problem is, sometimes they go in one ear and out the other. During a competition, repeating this, even out loud, can help your focus. Phrases can also be beneficial, and even be repeated on a daily basis. Sometimes these are more difficult to come up with, some coaches and athletes like them to rhyme, but that is up to each individual.
4. Realize that confidence is not a constant state of mind.
This one might be the most difficult for a number of athletes. Sometimes as an athlete you will feel like because something didn't go well, and as a result your confidence has suffered, it can never be regained and you are just having "a bad day". This whole line of logic is entirely fallacious. Realizing that your confidence, as well as your performance, not only fluctuates, but are part of a symbiotic relationship and can be changed in an instant. The best way to regain confidence is to focus on what to correct, correct it, do well, and regain your confidence. On the flip side, using some of these tools to help regain your confidence will also result in an increase in your performance. To put it simply, realize that your situation CAN be improved and work to improve it rather that just accepting that things "aren't going well".
5. Develop a routine and log your focus/attitude
Along with being prepared, having a set routine can help focus and relax you for your competitions. How long you are awake for before you compete, what your warm-up routine is, what music you listen to; all of these things can help you focus and treat your competition as though it is just simply another day of training. Try to come up with a set schedule of what you will do before each competition and stick to it. Use this schedule the week leading up to, day of, and during your competition. I also am a firm believer in athletes logging and keeping journals. Log not only what you did in training and at competitions, but also your emotional state, level of focus, excitement level and other factors. Don't only describe what you are feeling, but evaluate yourself. Were you impatient and combative at practice? Give yourself a poor evaluation. And from there list the steps needed to correct these dysfunctions.
In closing, not everyone will be born with the necessary genetics and skills to become an elite level athlete, however every single athlete can reach their own individual potential. A huge portion of reaching this level is your daily training, but in order to truly excel and improve the athlete needs to spend just as much effort working on being focused and competitive in their competitions. Rare is the athlete that can just show up and put everything on the line, for a majority of athletes great care and preparation need to be spent taught how to compete. I'm bad at conclusions so that's the end of this blog article. Bye. Oh yeah, and try some of the things I recommended here. Hopefully they help.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Improvement Vs. Maturation: Long Term Development of Athleticism
Yeah I went all fancy with the title for this blog. I often say to coaches and athletes alike that they need to be able to recognize the difference between improving in their sport/event and simply just maturing. What I mean by that will be the overall thesis of this post, of which I could go on for pages and pages but House M.D. is on and I've never seen this episode so I will keep it brief.
One of the main goals of a coach is to help each athlete reach his/her individual potential. Now, potential can be a very broad and general term. For me, potential is an all encompassing word that means their potential as an athlete. This potential will include basic athleticism (depending on their sport that could include strength, power, endurance, flexibility etc) as well as their technical potential for their individual sport and also their specific intelligence in the aforementioned sport. When you really think about all of that, it's quite a bit. For example, if I am coaching a jumper (pick a jump, any jump at all) that means not only do they need to reach their individual level of technical mastery, but also improve in all of the areas of athleticism and conditioning that pertain to that event. This way of training can take years and at first improvements may come slowly (and in some cases performances may take a step backwards initially), but once everything falls into place those improvements begin to accelerate and become more frequent in nature. This, to me, is the definition of "improvement". It's a very beautiful thing.
Maturation is what occurs simply by getting older and more experienced. The best metaphor I have is a basketball player with an awful jump-shot (let's call him Craigg Smit). If he continues to utilize his full body heave beyond the arc on a daily basis, his shooting percentage will increase. He will become more used to his unorthodox style and over time, it will work better than when he started. He did not "improve", his statistics simply got better. This is what I refer to as "maturation". The problem occurs when coaches and athletes mistakenly think that maturing is equal to improvement. Is there anything "wrong" with maturation? No, not at all. In fact, it happens in conjunction with improvement. Along with improvements in technique and athleticism, maturation will add even more. However, without improvement there will be a diminishing return on performance. So how does this all come into play with long term development in this day and age? Well, there's good news and bad news...
Unfortunately, our society has gone competition crazy. There is an overemphasis on competition and long term athletic development has taken a back-seat. Improvements alone aren't the only thing suffering as a result. A lack of proper development has lead to an increase of injuries due to poor deceleration technique, landing mechanics, bad quad to posterior chain strength ratio, etc etc. With an overemphasis on competition, maturation is becoming misconstrued as improvement more and more. A coach or athlete will see an increased statistic or performance and immediately think an improvement took place and assume, wrongly,that their training was sound. From there it continues until the athlete finishes their sports career never truly reaching their full potential, and potentially having a few serious injuries along the way. OK that was a bit of a downer...so what do we do?
Well, from my position, I receive athletes later on in their careers, once they are becoming adults. Many coaches in my position fall back on the old tired platitudes of "it's too late at this point, let's work with what we've got, can't teach an old dog new tricks". These cliches say more about the coach than they do the athlete. With a systematic approach and proper planning and programming the athlete can still improve. Will they improve as much as they would have if the process had began in their youth? Well no, but as coaches I feel we have a duty to the athlete to make sure they are on the path to reach their potential in whatever current state they are in when you receive them. So to the coaches an athletes out there, recognize if your performance increase is due to improvement or maturation, and if it is the latter, come up with a plan to take the next step in your athletic development. Set up a plan with a few things in mind...
1. The plan is based on evidence
2. Are practices geared toward development over a period of time in a number of areas...
a. General Prep
b. Training
c. Competition
d. Recovery
3. Is the plan systematic with both long term and short term development in mind
4. What is the ultimate end result.
Every coach can't be an expert, and specifics in training will vary based on philosophy as well as limitations that each athlete and coach face. However, each coach owes it to their athlete(s) to take the time and consideration to plan for their overall long-term development. And now, I have to go, Dr. House just said something witty and I missed it.
One of the main goals of a coach is to help each athlete reach his/her individual potential. Now, potential can be a very broad and general term. For me, potential is an all encompassing word that means their potential as an athlete. This potential will include basic athleticism (depending on their sport that could include strength, power, endurance, flexibility etc) as well as their technical potential for their individual sport and also their specific intelligence in the aforementioned sport. When you really think about all of that, it's quite a bit. For example, if I am coaching a jumper (pick a jump, any jump at all) that means not only do they need to reach their individual level of technical mastery, but also improve in all of the areas of athleticism and conditioning that pertain to that event. This way of training can take years and at first improvements may come slowly (and in some cases performances may take a step backwards initially), but once everything falls into place those improvements begin to accelerate and become more frequent in nature. This, to me, is the definition of "improvement". It's a very beautiful thing.
Maturation is what occurs simply by getting older and more experienced. The best metaphor I have is a basketball player with an awful jump-shot (let's call him Craigg Smit). If he continues to utilize his full body heave beyond the arc on a daily basis, his shooting percentage will increase. He will become more used to his unorthodox style and over time, it will work better than when he started. He did not "improve", his statistics simply got better. This is what I refer to as "maturation". The problem occurs when coaches and athletes mistakenly think that maturing is equal to improvement. Is there anything "wrong" with maturation? No, not at all. In fact, it happens in conjunction with improvement. Along with improvements in technique and athleticism, maturation will add even more. However, without improvement there will be a diminishing return on performance. So how does this all come into play with long term development in this day and age? Well, there's good news and bad news...
Unfortunately, our society has gone competition crazy. There is an overemphasis on competition and long term athletic development has taken a back-seat. Improvements alone aren't the only thing suffering as a result. A lack of proper development has lead to an increase of injuries due to poor deceleration technique, landing mechanics, bad quad to posterior chain strength ratio, etc etc. With an overemphasis on competition, maturation is becoming misconstrued as improvement more and more. A coach or athlete will see an increased statistic or performance and immediately think an improvement took place and assume, wrongly,that their training was sound. From there it continues until the athlete finishes their sports career never truly reaching their full potential, and potentially having a few serious injuries along the way. OK that was a bit of a downer...so what do we do?
Well, from my position, I receive athletes later on in their careers, once they are becoming adults. Many coaches in my position fall back on the old tired platitudes of "it's too late at this point, let's work with what we've got, can't teach an old dog new tricks". These cliches say more about the coach than they do the athlete. With a systematic approach and proper planning and programming the athlete can still improve. Will they improve as much as they would have if the process had began in their youth? Well no, but as coaches I feel we have a duty to the athlete to make sure they are on the path to reach their potential in whatever current state they are in when you receive them. So to the coaches an athletes out there, recognize if your performance increase is due to improvement or maturation, and if it is the latter, come up with a plan to take the next step in your athletic development. Set up a plan with a few things in mind...
1. The plan is based on evidence
2. Are practices geared toward development over a period of time in a number of areas...
a. General Prep
b. Training
c. Competition
d. Recovery
3. Is the plan systematic with both long term and short term development in mind
4. What is the ultimate end result.
Every coach can't be an expert, and specifics in training will vary based on philosophy as well as limitations that each athlete and coach face. However, each coach owes it to their athlete(s) to take the time and consideration to plan for their overall long-term development. And now, I have to go, Dr. House just said something witty and I missed it.
Monday, March 30, 2015
Beware the Sports Sophists
This blog post is a bit of a list, a "You May be a Redneck" style list, if you will, regarding Sophists in the realm of sport. Sophist is another name for a pseudo-intellectual, however the term pseudo-intellectual sounds pseudo-intellectual in itself. I believe that's an oxymoron, like rain on your wedding day, or swiss cheese. Basically, I become frustrated when I see status posts, tweets, blogs, articles and other such writings by people who like to inflate their ego by thinking that they know exactly what they are talking about, when much of what they write is complete bunk. So here is a list of warning signs that the post you are reading is by a pseudo-intellectual.
1. Flowery scientific-y language
Now don't get me wrong, proper language is important when discussing things related in the field of exercise science. The problem comes to be when you are incapable of writing a post without showing off some of the jargon that you have in your arsenal. The bigger problem comes into play when you use this vocabulary with your athletes when they have no background in training or exercise science. That is when their eyes gloss over and the hamster in their brain falls out of their wheel and everything you said is all for naught. Albert Einstein put it best...
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
2. Angry, aggressive points
Confidence is awesome, however I believe that it is also circular. As an example of this point, I feel that if you become over-confident you begin to border on false confidence coming from insecurity and self doubt. We all know people who talk incessantly about how awesome they are. Think back and you'll realize that these people are some of the most insecure people you've known. If someone is trying to convince you of a point regarding sports or training and they can't write without angrily speaking about what frustrates them about other coaches and athletes and what they do wrong, then you should start to look a little deeper and ask "well, why are you so angry about it?"
3. False equivalencies and other fallacies
Bit of background. In college I was required to take philosophy as a general education course. Due to an issue with the registrar I was accidentally placed in a high level advanced logic course instead of an intro course. I did not realize this fact until later in the semester. It was the only college course I failed. That summer I re-took the course at another University with actually a more strict professor but one who knew the material much better. I got a 4.0 which replaced my F. One of my favorite parts of philosophy was how to label and discover fallacious arguments. Put on one of those 24 hour news networks and you'll hear a whole gaggle of them! I read a huge number of posts that try to equate two things that really have no bearing on one another; sometimes even making analogies that make no sense whatsoever. Be sure when reading a post to scrutinize over the conclusions being made and ask yourself "Is what he/she is saying making logical sense?", if it doesn't then their whole argument will be flawed.
In conclusion, as a group I feel that those of us involved in athletics,sports,and coaching do a poor job of scrutinizing the information that we pass on to others; and athletes do a poor job of really researching whom they trust to learn from sometimes. The next time someone on your Facebook wall, or twitter feed posts something look a bit deeper into the presentation and try to figure out if they really know what they're talking about, or just pretending to.
1. Flowery scientific-y language
Now don't get me wrong, proper language is important when discussing things related in the field of exercise science. The problem comes to be when you are incapable of writing a post without showing off some of the jargon that you have in your arsenal. The bigger problem comes into play when you use this vocabulary with your athletes when they have no background in training or exercise science. That is when their eyes gloss over and the hamster in their brain falls out of their wheel and everything you said is all for naught. Albert Einstein put it best...
"If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough."
2. Angry, aggressive points
Confidence is awesome, however I believe that it is also circular. As an example of this point, I feel that if you become over-confident you begin to border on false confidence coming from insecurity and self doubt. We all know people who talk incessantly about how awesome they are. Think back and you'll realize that these people are some of the most insecure people you've known. If someone is trying to convince you of a point regarding sports or training and they can't write without angrily speaking about what frustrates them about other coaches and athletes and what they do wrong, then you should start to look a little deeper and ask "well, why are you so angry about it?"
3. False equivalencies and other fallacies
Bit of background. In college I was required to take philosophy as a general education course. Due to an issue with the registrar I was accidentally placed in a high level advanced logic course instead of an intro course. I did not realize this fact until later in the semester. It was the only college course I failed. That summer I re-took the course at another University with actually a more strict professor but one who knew the material much better. I got a 4.0 which replaced my F. One of my favorite parts of philosophy was how to label and discover fallacious arguments. Put on one of those 24 hour news networks and you'll hear a whole gaggle of them! I read a huge number of posts that try to equate two things that really have no bearing on one another; sometimes even making analogies that make no sense whatsoever. Be sure when reading a post to scrutinize over the conclusions being made and ask yourself "Is what he/she is saying making logical sense?", if it doesn't then their whole argument will be flawed.
In conclusion, as a group I feel that those of us involved in athletics,sports,and coaching do a poor job of scrutinizing the information that we pass on to others; and athletes do a poor job of really researching whom they trust to learn from sometimes. The next time someone on your Facebook wall, or twitter feed posts something look a bit deeper into the presentation and try to figure out if they really know what they're talking about, or just pretending to.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Use Your Flippin' Head!: Common sense training
Bruce Lee quote to start off this entry : "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times"
I'm not going to footnote or end-note this post. I COULD cite sources, studies, scientific journals, etc; however that would defeat the purpose of this entry. Athletes routinely send me videos (both current and former athletes) asking for input. Much of these videos have huge amounts of flaws. I am realizing, however, the athletes don't want input, they want a pat on the back for doing things wrong and improperly/unsafely.
Like I said, I am not going to cite sources in this entry but rather use a common sense approach. I have had a number of athletes humbly brag to me that they are squatting 700lbs. When I open the video file what I see is not a back squat, but more akin to someone trying to get the underwear out of their bum while a loaded bar is on their shoulders. My athletes know that sometimes (depending on the phase of training) I will program squats less than full once in a while (not often, but sometimes) however I will never program extremely shallow squats with a huge amount of weight. To put it bluntly, no Virginia, you cannot squat that much. As a common sense approach, take Xiaojun as an example. One of the best current olympic weightlifters. Take a look at this clip of him squatting 280kilos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmM-jR77SkY
By saying that you can squat more than him, you are telling me that you are on par with him in terms of strength and (most likely) athleticism. Which no, you aren't. Like I said, just being brutally honest here. Anyone whom I have coached knows how slowly I progress my athletes early on. So it breaks my heart when I see all of my hundreds of hours of work fly out the window, just so they can put more weight on the bar. Now I know how that guy from that movie felt, yeah THAT guy...
So all of this background just leads me to the title of my post...use your flippin' head! Just use common sense for a lot of these issues. I spoke before about how athletes need to stop viewing squats as a lift and start viewing it as a body movement. The technique for one style of squat should be the same as any other (front squat posture and stability should be the same as back squat, should be the same as body-weight). Back squats are a tool, they are not the competition. And the way to best utilize that tool is to perform it correctly regardless of the weight attached. Take another tool, for example, a hammer. What is the best way to use it? Well, the flat metal end hits the nail. Could you smack the nail with the claw end? Or the handle? Sure. Would it knock the nail in? Yeah kinda, but it wouldn't be pretty. Think of squats along the same lines. COULD you barely move with any range of motion with a gabillion pounds? Well yeah. Would part of your legs get a workout? Meh, somewhat, but it most definitely ain't pretty, and it most definitely ain't productive, efficient, or the best way to utilize that movement.
My high school track coach said a bunch of times "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing" and boy was he right. Nowadays, anyone who lifts a weight considers them an expert and feels they have carte blanche to instruct others about their methods. I understand what happens during a quadruple bypass surgery more or less. Does that qualify me to not only perform one, but also instruct others how to perform one? Boy I hope not, I can barely sew up a hole in my pants. Why do we allow unqualified people to tell young athletes what to do in terms of weightlifting, strength training, and other areas of sport? I really have no idea, but that is where it falls upon the athletes' to use their heads, use some common sense and realize that what they are doing is wrong, dangerous, and needs to stop. If the workouts that are being given to you were found on some message board on the internet, you probably need to say something.
In closing, weightlifting is a great tool for adding strength, flexibility and training the nervous system; however it can also cause a lot of injury and inflexibility if performed improperly. Use some common sense, be careful who you listen to regarding training and try to educate yourselves. Anyone who knows me knows I am always available for input and I have no issues telling someone what they're doing is batcrap crazy. Focus on proper technique, admit your flaws (very important) and then correct those flaws. And above all, lift safely!
I'm not going to footnote or end-note this post. I COULD cite sources, studies, scientific journals, etc; however that would defeat the purpose of this entry. Athletes routinely send me videos (both current and former athletes) asking for input. Much of these videos have huge amounts of flaws. I am realizing, however, the athletes don't want input, they want a pat on the back for doing things wrong and improperly/unsafely.
Like I said, I am not going to cite sources in this entry but rather use a common sense approach. I have had a number of athletes humbly brag to me that they are squatting 700lbs. When I open the video file what I see is not a back squat, but more akin to someone trying to get the underwear out of their bum while a loaded bar is on their shoulders. My athletes know that sometimes (depending on the phase of training) I will program squats less than full once in a while (not often, but sometimes) however I will never program extremely shallow squats with a huge amount of weight. To put it bluntly, no Virginia, you cannot squat that much. As a common sense approach, take Xiaojun as an example. One of the best current olympic weightlifters. Take a look at this clip of him squatting 280kilos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmM-jR77SkY
By saying that you can squat more than him, you are telling me that you are on par with him in terms of strength and (most likely) athleticism. Which no, you aren't. Like I said, just being brutally honest here. Anyone whom I have coached knows how slowly I progress my athletes early on. So it breaks my heart when I see all of my hundreds of hours of work fly out the window, just so they can put more weight on the bar. Now I know how that guy from that movie felt, yeah THAT guy...
So all of this background just leads me to the title of my post...use your flippin' head! Just use common sense for a lot of these issues. I spoke before about how athletes need to stop viewing squats as a lift and start viewing it as a body movement. The technique for one style of squat should be the same as any other (front squat posture and stability should be the same as back squat, should be the same as body-weight). Back squats are a tool, they are not the competition. And the way to best utilize that tool is to perform it correctly regardless of the weight attached. Take another tool, for example, a hammer. What is the best way to use it? Well, the flat metal end hits the nail. Could you smack the nail with the claw end? Or the handle? Sure. Would it knock the nail in? Yeah kinda, but it wouldn't be pretty. Think of squats along the same lines. COULD you barely move with any range of motion with a gabillion pounds? Well yeah. Would part of your legs get a workout? Meh, somewhat, but it most definitely ain't pretty, and it most definitely ain't productive, efficient, or the best way to utilize that movement.
My high school track coach said a bunch of times "A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing" and boy was he right. Nowadays, anyone who lifts a weight considers them an expert and feels they have carte blanche to instruct others about their methods. I understand what happens during a quadruple bypass surgery more or less. Does that qualify me to not only perform one, but also instruct others how to perform one? Boy I hope not, I can barely sew up a hole in my pants. Why do we allow unqualified people to tell young athletes what to do in terms of weightlifting, strength training, and other areas of sport? I really have no idea, but that is where it falls upon the athletes' to use their heads, use some common sense and realize that what they are doing is wrong, dangerous, and needs to stop. If the workouts that are being given to you were found on some message board on the internet, you probably need to say something.
In closing, weightlifting is a great tool for adding strength, flexibility and training the nervous system; however it can also cause a lot of injury and inflexibility if performed improperly. Use some common sense, be careful who you listen to regarding training and try to educate yourselves. Anyone who knows me knows I am always available for input and I have no issues telling someone what they're doing is batcrap crazy. Focus on proper technique, admit your flaws (very important) and then correct those flaws. And above all, lift safely!
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