Author: Vernon Gambetta
Coaching Specialization
In the whole athlete development process we are very aware of the dangers of early specialization and even over specialization in young developing athletes. I was thinking yesterday after my interaction with some young coaches over the past couple of months that one of the biggest changes I see in the current generation of coaches is very narrow specialization. I see coaches who are incredibly knowledgeable in a very narrow area, but have no idea how their area fits into the bigger picture. As far as I can see this poses as much danger for the development of the coach as early specialization does for the athlete. My generation of coaches out of necessity had to be generalists. We could not afford to be narrow in our interests and specialties. I know personally this has served me well in my career. It has enabled to move from being a track field coach who coached all events into work with a variety of sports. I think this worked because I was able to look for commonalities in movements and make connections that I would not have been able to make had I been a specialist. One of foundations of this is pedagogy, the science of teaching. We were taught how to teach, how to make connections, this is not stressed any longer in the training of coaches, and the emphasis is on the technical nuances and sport science to exclusion of teaching methodology. If you are considering being a coach or just beginning you career I urge you to broaden your interests. Look outside your sport and specialty within that sport. You will discover a whole new world that will enhance your specialty and broaden your interests and knowledge. Study the great generalist coaches across sports. Look at the work of John Wooden, Bill Bowerman, Tom Tellez, Frank Dick, Dean Smith and Doc Councilman. Talk to coaches of other sports and other events and find out what they are doing. Take an old coach of my generation to lunch and pick their brain you will be surprised at the practical points of coaching you will learn. There is a big wide world out there waiting for you generalists who can connect seemingly unrelated areas to make the athlete better. Enjoy the process you will never be bored.
Mental Toughness Training
First of all as I have said several times over the years in this blog mental toughness is a figment of the imagination. Throwing a bunch of exercises together in a circuit and calling it mental toughness training is just an excuse for doing stupid stuff. Getting tired is not training. Those kinds of workouts teach the athlete to go through the motions, to click their brain off, actually the opposite of what you want mentally. Because you see it all the time does not make it right. Training must be mindful not mindless. A good training session demands mental concentration, intensity and focus. Anyone can make someone tired but that is not training. Focus on what the athletes needs to do to get better to perform at their optimum in competition.
Training Essentials – The E’s
Energy – Coach and expect high energy from your athletes.Expect high energy do not be willing to settle for less. Enthusiasm – Genuine enthusiasm for what you do is contagious. Show your enthusiasm in tone of voice and body language. Excitement – Look for what is exciting, recognize it and build upon it.In coaching exciting things happen every day. Excellence – The standard we must go by, accept nothing less.Excellence must be woven into the fiber of the whole program Effort – It takes no talent to give effort.A high level of effort is expected, nothing less.
Dear Coach
The following are two letters to coaches. They are not actual letters rather they are composites of letters. The first letter is from 1970 to me in my first year coaching, the second letter is from 2013 that a colleague shared with me. Compare and contrast the content and tone of the letters. 1970 – Dear Coach (Letter) Enclosed in the insurance form for Johnny’s participation in track. Also enclosed is a check for $9.95 for the shoes you were able to get at a discount for the team. Thank you for your help with Johnny he is looking forward to track. Please contact us if there is anything we can help with. Sincerely Mr & Mrs. Smith 2013 – Dear Coach (E mail) I just wanted to inform you that we cannot sign the insurance form until it is approved by our attorney. Because Johnny can’t practice without the insurance form we will continue to have him work with his personal trainer and personal jump coach. When our attorney approves the insurance Johnny will only be able to practice with the team one day a week. In addition after reviewing the meet schedule and consulting with his doctor, massage therapist, psychologist and personal jump coach Johnny will only compete in three meets. He is only allowed to compete in one event in those meets. Our advisory team feels this is best for his long term development. We do not want to compromise his DI scholarship opportunities or his Olympic berth in 2020. If you need any coaching advice please feel free to consult with Johnny’s personal coach. He is available by appointment at 11:00 am on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Athletes like my soon are very special you are very fortunate to have Johnny on your team. Mrs. Jones You might say this is is an exaggeration, unfortunately it is not. It is becoming the norm. Coaching today presents some unique challenges that did not exist in 1970. There are no quick and easy answers to the problems presented by the second letter.
Training Essentials – The P’s
Progression – It is a building process where each step is dependent on the step before. Practical – Get training and preparation done within the context of the time, personnel and facilities available. Personal – The training must fit the individual; one size does not fit all. Above all make the training yours, own it. Patience – It takes time to grow as an athlete, allow for adaptation and growth. Planning – Be proactive, planning allows you to bring the future into the present so you can do something about it. Practice – This is where the rubber meets the road; it is where the plan is put into action on a daily basis. Without purposeful directed practice it is impossible to improve.
Rewards of Coaching
There is no doubt in my mind that the rewards of coaching are the intangibles. I know it is not championships and records, those quickly fade away, the real rewards of coaching are seeing young boys and girls grow up to be responsible self sufficient men and women. Some of those young men and women when they were athletes could not remember their shoes, or their shot put but over time they learned. Now those young men and women are parents, some are coaches, some are professionals and they are applying the lessons they learned in sport. Yes as coaches we coach a sport, but more importantly we coach people who do the sport. Coaching gives us an opportunity to influence young people like no other profession because of the intensity of the competition and the demands of day-to-day training. Don’t get so caught up in the technical aspects of coaching that you forget to enjoy the growth you see in your athletes as people. Just like we ask them to focus on the process we also should focus on the process.
Numbers
In today’s world of high performance sport we have the potential to bury ourselves in numbers. There is not much we can’t analyze, measure or monitor. In many ways this is a positive step forward and it some ways it can be negative. The key is keeping the numbers in context. If you are letting the numbers dictate everything you do and don’t do then it is time to reconsider. This is where I weigh in on the human element in coaching. We coach people who do the sport not machines, there is a huge about of individual variability to the same training and competition stress not to mention the emotional and psychological factors that weigh in. Talk to your athletes; closely observe their body language when they come to training and during warm-up. Find out about the rest of their lives, remember they are athletes only two to four hours a day the other hours of the day can and do have more of an impact than the training – the twenty four hour athlete. In short sharpen your observation and communication skills. It will add a dimension to the numbers, sometimes it will validate the numbers and other times it will dictate throwing out the numbers and following your coaching instincts. I cannot help but think how we did it before we had the ability to gather the numbers we have today. After all in high performance sport the only number that counts at the end of the competition are those numbers on the scoreboard.
Traveling Companions
I have two traveling companions that go with me everywhere I go. They are the realist and the idealist. The realist focuses on the task at hand, the way things are. He helps keep me focused and in touch with today. The idealist focus ahead, on the way things should be. He keeps me in touch with the ideal. These traveling companions keep me balanced. They have served me well on my journey through life.