Author: Vernon Gambetta
Simplicity – It’s not Complicated
Simplicity is needed in a world that we have made needlessly complicated. Look for the obvious. You will be surprised when you realize how much you can see by looking. Step back and look at the connections and links, see how they coordinate. Think of the essence of what we are trying to do as coaches – help the athlete to discover and explore movement in order to test the dimensions of their abilities. Sometimes simple is considered simplistic, it is not. Complicated coaching is real uncomplicated, uncoach the athletes, sometimes they don’t need more coaching as much as they need better awareness of themselves and the movements they are trying to accomplish. Have the courage to direct them and then let go, sometimes that is the best coaching. The body is complex enough without adding unneeded complexity. Everything is simple and complex at the same time, so don’t try to make it more complicated. Simple is not stupid, it is brilliant. Run, jump and throw! Minimal will produce the maximum.
Proprioception – Use it don’t abuse it!
Ultimately the glue that binds movements together is proprioception. I like to think of it as lending quality to the movements we are using in training. Proprioception is awareness of joint position derived from feedback in the sense receptors in the joints, ligaments, tendons, and muscles. It is a highly trainable quality that we tend to take for granted. It is almost too simple. Perhaps to appreciate proprioception we should look at the extreme case of a stroke victim that is able to return to normal movement patterns and full function. Why can’t an athlete who has all their capacities enhance the quality of their movement by focusing on the same things that the stroke victim has to focus on to get back to function? The key to that is proprioception. I think of athlete's as high level stroke patients. Look at the classical work of Knott & Voss in PNF for guidance, remember that their original work was with polio victims who were paralyzed so much of what they did was is in prone and supine postures. Take those principles and adapt them to standing and moving postures and you will have excellent transfer to performance. The more movement pathways we can open and connect the more efficient the movements will be and the better transfer to skill. We can constantly change proprioceptive demand in a sensible manner throughout the training program in order to enhance the quality of movement. The actionable word here is sensible – no need to stand on a physioball or use other contrived positions, just use reciprocal and unilateral movements with resistance and assistance, close one eye, or turn your head away from the arm or leg that is moving. Simple modifications will heighten awareness and significantly change proprioceptive demand. Once again tap into the body's wisdom and learn to use it to improve quality of movement.
UKSEM Gambetta Presentation Abstracts
Keynote – The Necessity for Art & Science in Coaching Effective coaches must be equally conversant with the art and science of performance. The key to effectively apply sports science to performance improvement is a coach driven performance team where the scientist serves the needs of the athlete through the coach. The coach must be a generalist that can guide and direct the sports science to look for and provide the performance edge. Sport science can make a difference, but only if the coaches input is valued and respected. With the plethora of sophisticated monitoring and testing technology available there is more there than the coach can easily assimilate. The coach must know the science in order to pose the questions to the scientist in order to make the numbers and the data translate into performance. At the end of the process in the heat of competition it is the art of coaching that will make the difference. Sports Science is a tool whose effectiveness is determined by the skill, experience and knowledge of the coach & athlete using the tool. Workshop – The Training Session – Where the Rubber Meets the Road The cornerstone of an effective training program is the individual training session. The goal is to “win the workout” in order to be able to eventually win in competition. The sequence of the elements of the training session will ultimately determine its effectiveness as a component of the overall training plan. The session must be designed and implemented in the context of the whole plan. It is essentially a pixel in a huge picture that is the annual plan. That being said one training session cannot make an athlete, but one session can certainly break an athlete. The session must be manageable, measureable and motivational as well as practical, personal and proactive. To achieve this requires careful planning so that the theme of the session is consistent with the theme of the microcycle and there are specific measureable goals and objects that are carefully evaluated at the conclusion of the session. Ultimately it is the quality of the session that will determine the contribution of the session to cumulative adaptive response of the athlete or team. Workshop – Periodization – Nut’s and Bolts Periodization is a tool to effectively prepare the athlete or team for competition. Periodization is not a model, it is a concept that has traditionally been taught as a model based on time constraints rather than timing of the adaptive responses. There is no magic or crystal ball needed, just a good understanding of training principles coupled with sound pedagogy. Periodization is the timing of the application of the various training stimuli and their coordination into a coherent program that produces competition results at the appointed time.
Strength You Can Use
Certainly strength and its various permutations is a key performance factor. The question is how big a performance factor is it and how do you develop strength you can use in the particular sport? I have been struggling with this issue for 42 years of coaching and before that ten more years as an athlete. At various times I have over emphasized it and at other times I shortchanged it. Generally when we think of strength we think of measurable strength as expressed in a one rep maximum in a weight room setting. The one thing I know I have learned over the years is that is not the answer, it is not the answer in the throws, american football or rugby, definitely not the answer in tennis swimming, baseball or similar sports. The goal needs to be strength you can use and apply in the competition arena. Tough to measure, but easier to see if you have trained eye, this is where you need to be a coach. The trained eye is acquired through practice, observation and experience. Look at the time invested in the strength training area – Is the return commensurate with the time and effort? I recently saw a situation where a national record holding long jumper was made to take eight months to learn the double knee bend technique in the power clean! In my world more that eight minutes and I would have moved on and found another exercise that the would yield better return and that the athlete could master – hint how about trying a dumbbell jump shrug. Not complicated but possibly the return would be commensurate with the time invested. We need to redefine strength training. I have adapted Frans Bosch's definition of strength training as coordination training with appropriate resistance to handle bodyweight, resist gravity, optimize ground reaction forces & overcome external resistance. It is fairly simple definition with complex applications. If you parse out all the parts of the definition it will fit every sport and every individual. In addition we need to expand our vista in regard to mode of strength training, get out from under a bar and expand the possibilities of developing strength using a variety of appropriate modes. So what is the answer ? It is very individual and sport specific, I do know that if I analyze the trends over my 42 year career and what I have seen in the last six weeks of travels, less is more!
Quality
Quality is an often-used word in coaching. It is common to hear statements like “quality effort” or “quality session training.” I had not really thought about the definition of quality much until last week when Wolfgang Ritzdorf, professor at Deutsche Sporthochschule, Köln, spoke about the need to improve the quality of training. He defined quality as a percent of perfect, in contrast to intensity that is a percent of 100. Simple statement, but in reviewing my notes from the IFAC conference this got my attention. If perfection is what we are striving for in performance then it makes sense that training should be measured as a percent of perfection. Think about it and see if it makes sense to you. I know I am going reaffirm an emphasis on quality in my coaching.
Training – The Big Picture
Training and the adaptation to training is a cumulative process. No one workout or training method that will make the difference, but the total of all the training components blended into training over the long term is what determines the ultimate training adaptation. In fact training is synergistic so that in reality the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. That is why it is so important to plan and recognize that plateaus will occur as part of the normal process of adaptation. Use the plateau as a positive not a negative. It can and should be a springboard to further adaptation. Too often we take a microscopic approach that blows one exercise, training session or competition result of proportion with respect to the whole training program. A macro or global perspective will go a long ways toward putting each session in the context of the whole plan. It is important to never lose sight of the ultimate objective of the training, which is to prepare for the stress of competition. Play the way you train, so it is imperative to make the training demanding and related to competition.
The Technical Model
Yesterday’s post on Frank Dick’s seven principles for high performance underscored the need to establish a sound technical model as a basis for later performance excellence. That being said and understood it is important to emphasize that the technique fit the athlete. Too often coaches have one technical model that they try to impose upon all athletes. In building the technical model start with the physical and psychological capabilities of the athlete. Know their strengths and weaknesses, know how they learn, know their cognitive abilities and psychological maturity level. The biomechanical principles that determine what an athlete must do to run fast, jump high, throw far, or swim efficiently are known and irrefutable. They key is to determine a technical model that will allow the athlete to achieve the correct biomechanics within the context of their capabilities. From the very beginning stages it is imperative to construct a technical model that is robust and dynamic, not rigid. It should be flowing and easy not segmented and robotic. Teach the model through discovery activities and exploration that allow for individual expression. Then refine it and continue to refine it to meet the demands of competition and the athletes improving physical and psychological capabilities. Beware of cloning in search for a technical model, by cloning I mean blindly copying the technique of the current champion. The negative implications of this are obvious. Certainly study the current best in the event or sport, look at what you can use but don’t blindly copy them. Beware of too much drilling; remember drills do not equal skills. Drills make you good at drilling but often the transfer of the drills to the actual skills is negligible. It is important to build the physical capacities in parallel with the technical model to insure continued development. All else being equal in the heat of competition it is the athlete that can execute their technique under pressure that will prevail.
Frank Dick’s Seven Step High Performance Model
This model is elegant in it’s simplicity, yet as complex as it needs to be in application. I was first introduced to the elements of this model years ago in an article Frank had written. Back then it was four steps: Basic Technical Model Basic Conditioning Advanced Technical Model Advanced Conditioning Since then it has been refined: 1) Establish the technical model that fits the sport and event. Go back to it and keep refining it. In the refinement process never compromise the basic technical model. 2) Build fitness on top of the technical model and fitness that supports the technical model. This incorporates all elements of fitness including strength, power, flexibility and specific endurance. 3) Then look for speed. Find ways to get faster without compromising technique. 4) Look for optimal “cruising speed,” a speed that allows expression of technique with speed, force, changing rhythms and tempos. 5) Then and only then look for extremes, explore change of pace, crisis and chaos. 6) Learn to read “the game’ faster and quicker than the opposition. 7) Compete to win in the competitive arena! Thin is a highly adaptable model that can be applied in team and individual sports. Because the model is highly adaptable it will grow adaptable athletes who are resilient and most importantly athlete's who are prepared to compete to win!