Punishment Is Not Coaching

Lisa wrote the following and asked me to comment: “I wondered if you
had a comment on the HS coach charged with reckless homicide in the death of
his player from hyperthermia? Reckless homicide maybe going too far, but there
is a huge responsibility on head coaches (not just ATC, strength coaches) to
know how the body responds to physical stressors placed upon it. (Some) coaches
need to understand that "punishment" is not the same as performance
training.” Lisa I will refrain commenting
directly on the Kentucky situation since none of us know all the facts, rather
I will comments globally on what I have seen. As an athletic development coach,
sport coach or physical education teacher I am not a believer in physical
exercise as punishment. I feel very strongly that if we are trying to teach the
athlete how to be fit and learn an appreciation for exercise as a means to
fitness that using laps or “gassers’ as punishment is in appropriate. My attitude
is to take away what they most want to do – play or practice. I am not a punishment
coach, I make that clear to everyone I work with. The program will be demanding
enough without adding that element. Each athlete regardless of their level of development
must be taught that they have certain responsibilities to learn to take care of
their bodies. We can only train them a limited number of hours each day, what
they do the rest of the time is their personal responsibility.

We also need to get away from this
idea that pre-season training is the time to get in shape. You can’t get in
shape in ten days or two weeks. More players are injured and games lost during
this period because coaches hammer the athletes and they NEVER recover. This is
2009 we should understand adaptation and proper training and preparation.

Heat is a whole other matter.
Universally stress from heat is the single biggest factor in limiting performance
and training. Heat stress is dangerous and must be recognized as such. Even
today we have too many coaches who think they need to have the players sweat
the weight off. Look at the coaches, many of them wear rubber jackets to take
weight off. What an example. We know that just drinking water during practice
is not enough. We must drink an electrolyte solution and be well hydrated
before practice starts. Train and practice away from the heat of the day. In other
words just use good common sense.

There is another area that coaches
do not understand, that is exercise induced asthma. It is very prevalent in today’s
youth. I have been around too many coaches that think the athlete is just being
a wimp – they are not. It is a condition that is dangerous and potentially life
threatening, it must be recognized and dealt with on an individual basis.  We need to reach the athletes to communicate
with the coach if they have this condition. I feel that the athlete has responsibility
in this regard.

After coaching forty years and
being an athlete longer, it is amazing to me that we are still talking about
this kind of stuff. I somehow survived two and three a day practices in college
football with two Dixie cups of water, and not being allowed to take our
helmets off. When I think back on that I realize how lucky we were that no one
died. I vowed after that experience to never put any athlete that I worked with
through that kind of abuse. It was abuse not training. Training is preparing
the athlete to thrive in any environment and just survive.