Author: Vernon Gambetta
Catching Up & Catching My Breath
I left home on September 23 to do a seminar in Seattle and then go onto Australia. Since then it feels like I have been traveling nonstop. I certainly have accrued some significant frequent flier miles. Now that I am home for seven straight days and my body has some idea of what continent it is on I will get back into he routine of regular posts. Since September 23 I have met some amazing people with whom I got to share ideas and learn. I will share with you some of my observations and things that I have learned in future posts. Something that was continually affirmed is that you can’t stray very far from the basics if you want to be the best at what you do. This is probably not what a lot of the younger generation of coaches want to hear but it is a fact. Not real complicated, simpler seemed to be better. A sound technical model coupled with good consistent training and a healthy lifestyle is a common thread I heard from the best coaches and athletes I observed and interacted with. I must admit that it was no surprise, but I was surprised at how often it was verbalized. A pearl that I culled from the past few days at the USATF convention is that the art of coaching is nothing more than organized common sense.
Fire in Babylon
Last night I watched “Fire in Babylon” an excellent documentary film. To call this a documentary about the great West Indies cricket team of the 1970's and 80's does not do it justice. It is a classic example of sport as metaphor and also a window into society. In the West Indies in the 1960’s the former British colonies where all achieving their independence from Britain, it was a time of social and political ferment, sport, cricket was not isolated from this. The rise of the great Windies (The Windies comprise an all-star team of the best players from all the islands of the West Indies, hence the name Windies) team that eventually went undefeated in international test Cricket for fifteen years from 1980 to 1995 is chronicled in this excellent documentary. The vintage game action footage and the training were excellent. The Windies where were one of the first international squads to actually do conditioning, a fact that gave them a huge edge. I thought the interviews with the players on the team were outstanding. These guys were real class individuals who elevated their region, their race and the game to the status it enjoys today in spite of deep racial prejudice. This is a terrific insight in the culture of the region and the culture of the sport, a sport that is exploding in popularity worldwide. It is good to see them get the recognition they deserve as pioneers in their sport and as agents of social change.
Drills
The goal is to put drills or exercises into a context to optimize their effectiveness by choosing the correct drill to use at the correct time and place in the overall training program. To do this consider using the following evaluative criteria: Why are you doing the drill? Is it just a time filler or does it serve a specific purpose. What particular athletic component does the drill enhance? Sometimes there is a tendency to try to have a drill will try to do too much. Be very specific in designing the drill to address specific components or athletic qualities. What is the actual drill? You should be able to describe it in detail in terms that everyone that you work with can understand. Do you need specialized equipment to do the drill? If so, how specialized? Do you have time within the context of the workout to use this specialized equipment? I know personally that there are many things that I can do using equipment or apparatus that I can do with an individual or a small group that will not work in the context of team training. How is the drill performed? Correct execution is essential in order to elicit the optimum training adaptation. What are the ranges of sets and reps? This should be congruent with the purpose of the drill. Quality is more important than quantity. It is doing what you wanted it to do? Mastery is the goal, so correct execution must be stressed. Mastery entails correct execution of the drill within the context of individual variability and sport demands. When and where in the program does the drill fit? This is essentially the periodization aspect of the whole process. The timing and sequence of the application of the drill can often be more important that the actual drill. What level of development is the drill best suited for? Certain drills , by their nature are better suited for the developmental than a more advanced athlete.
Curt Gambetta’s Art Exhibit – Office Light
Parenting is much like coaching. You teach, you encourage, you guide, you get frustrated and then you turn them loose to spread their wings and fly. It was so cool to see my son Curt spread his wings and fly Friday night. Curt presented his art project at the Lawndale Art Center in Houston Texas. It was so neat to see his ideas come to fruition. From when he initially got the idea it was at least six years in the making. Curt is a 2002 graduate of Vassar College where he majored in Political Science. In 2009 he got his masters in Architecture from Rice University in Houston. He is now the Peter Reyner Banham Fellow at the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning for the academic year 2011-12. This project titled “Office Light” is an outgrowth of some initial work he did with light in 2005. Here are some pictures:
Resistance
If in doubt add a load and slow the movement down! If a ten-kilo weight vest is good for weighted sprints then a thirty-kilo vest is obviously three times as good. Why? Adding load is very quantifiable; it makes it easy to measure progress. Adding load slows movement down and makes it easier to see, but does it transfer? If I can perform the run, jump or throw with more resistance certainly there is measurable progress in terms of handling the task with additional load, but what is really happening? There is definitely a point of diminishing returns and a trade-off. Ultimately performance is about expressing speed within the constraints of the technical demands of the skill. Certainly force is part of the equation, but very slow heavy overloaded movements serve to dull the nervous system and interfere with the high speed coordination demanded in performance. Seek optimum loads that match the dynamics of the sport or event, not maximum. Beware of the old beat your head against the wall syndrome – it is hard when are doing it and it always feels better when you stop. Rather than having your athletes feel like elephants after they do a session of sled pulls or harness running they should feel like big butterfly's, light explosive and FAST! Find a load that achieves this. There are no magic formulas; just a good coaching eye and a heavy dose of common sense. Once again are you making them tired or making them better?
Work
Work is a four-letter word. Some people avoid it and other are consumed by it. Anyone can work, but can you translate work into results (performance)? You can if you start with a clear vision of the end result you want to achieve and then delineate the steps necessary to achieve that result. Recognize then that it is a process that systematically masters those steps. It is a process that takes time because training is cumulative. Always keep the work in context, the context of your current stage of development and stage of fitness reconciled with where you want to be. Make sure the work has a purpose. Anyone can make someone tired, but is it advancing your athletes to their goal? Consistent quality work is rewarded over spectacular inconsistent work. Spectacular get attention, consistent gets results.
Jargon
Avoid the use of confusing jargon in coaching and presentations to other coaches. I personally am not impressed with someone who is trying to show off their knowledge, because they are actually showing their ignorance. In coaching and speaking we need to remember the focus is on the athletes and the audience, not on us. Reach them in as few words as possible so that the message is clear and the words evoke action. Be conscious of who you are speaking to and be sensitive to their familiarity with the terms. You may think using big words and obscure technical and scientific terms impresses people but it does not. You are actually confusing them. Pseudo science-speak helps no one. Don’t over complicate, simplify, that is the mark of great teacher or coach. Use clear language that conveys what you need to convey, nothing more or nothing less.
The Movement Symphony
It is easy and convenient to take a reductionist, mechanistic viewpoint that separates the body into parts and systems. We are continually bombarded with this type of reductionism. The problem and it is a big problem is the failure to recognize that for the body to execute movement, whether it is a sustained endurance activity, explosive busts or fine motor skill that all parts and systems must work together in harmony. Movement is s symphony not a solo. You can’t do a “cardio” workout; just like you can’t do a “neural” workout. You better hope every workout has a cardio vascular and a neural component, because all systems of the body work at all times with the demand on a particular system determined by the intensity of the activity. To continue the symphonic metaphor a section of the orchestra will be featured or highlighted but the other parts of the orchestra are still playing, albeit in the background. Let's also give credit to the conductor, the brain, the muscles and all systems of the body are slaves of the brain. It is the brain that drives, connects and controls movements to enable us to accomplish the desired task. To use Tim Noakes term the brain is the"central governor." So don’t lose sight of the whole, the big picture in the desire to understand the parts. Give the body credit for it’s inherent wisdom and learn to link, sync, connect and coordinate in order to play the beautiful movement symphony we call sports performance.