Author: Vernon Gambetta
Rules
Rules to guide training certainly are important. But as a wise man once said, rules are made to be broken. No rule is etched in stone. Use rules as guidelines, not strict boundaries that hold you back and stifle spontaneity. Use just enough rules to get you pointed in the right direction. The body is not a machine, get it going and let it do it’s magic. Think of movement not as a carefully orchestrated symphony but as a jazz piece full of improvisation and riffs that take advantage of the energy and creativity of the musician (body). The great Miles Davis said it quite well: “There are no mistakes in Jazz – only opportunities”. The same is true in movement. Give your athletes the opportunity to explore the dimensions of movement; don’t restrain them with artificial rules. Push the envelope of function, explore the boundaries, and see where they can go given their current movement competencies.
Seesaw Principle
In training every component cannot receive equal emphasis each session or each training cycle. Nothing occurs in isolation. You can write it that way in the plan, but on the track, field, pool or weight room one training component always affects another. In fact there are many co-dependent relationships. In addition every physical quality has different a time to adaptation. For example adaptation to work on flexibility occurs much more rapidly that does adaptation to speed training. When designing training program I visualize the relationship of one component to another as a seesaw. When one side goes up the other side goes down and unless there are two people on the seesaw there is no movement. The seesaw principle in training represents this reciprocal relationship when one parameter goes up the other goes down. There are times where you want balance, but just as on the seesaw that is very brief and precarious. To help make your training effective look for and train the relationships and connections. Some are very linear and direct and others are very non-linear and transparent, but they are there. The more you can connect the more effective the training.
Building Excellence One Step at a Time
Forget benchmarking and adhering to best practice, if this is your standard you will reach the same level of mediocrity as everyone else. If you want to achieve excellence don’t follow the pack, lead the pack. Raise the bar and forge a new path. Don’t dumb down your expectations and goals and the means of achieving those goals. Increase the demands on yourself, your staff and your athletes; raise expectations and the measure for achievement. In high performing teams there is a high level of discomfort. It is OK to be uncomfortable. To be the best is not always a warm fuzzy feel good environment. High performance is pushing the envelope; you must constantly operate outside your comfort zone. As soon as you allow yourself and your athletes to get comfortable, to be satisfied, the competition will sprint past you. So how do you do it? You must have a great routine, bordering on ritual. You train with precision and exactness, with attention focused on Key Result Areas (KRA). KRA’s are the tasks that yield results. You don’t have to outwork the opposition; you have to outsmart them. You need to focus on your athletes, not the competition. It is only your athlete’s and your situation that you can control. Focus on what they can do. Optimize their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. Fit the training to the athlete and the sport demands rather than forcing training on them that does not fit either them or the sport. You certainly can’t do it alone. Assemble the best performance team possible and let them do their jobs. Make sure they know what their jobs are. Set measureable standards for them. Praise effort and process, the outcome will follow. Focus on goal achievement, not goal setting. Make sure it is not a team of clones and drones. Include people with varied skills and different ideas who will speak up and challenge each other to achieve at a higher standard. Forget facilities, gadgets and machines, put the spotlight squarely on people who can do and want to. Use technology to support what you do, not to supplant what you do. The eyes, ears, and feelings of good coaches, administrators, physio’s, sport scientists, groundskeepers, and receptionists – all contribute. Value all of them. They all help make the athlete better and create an environment where champions are inevitable. Doing all this can be lonely at times. There are times in the journey when you and your team will doubt. The athletes will doubt. Acknowledge that doubt, address the doubt and move forward to toward the goal. Baby steps are OK, just do everything in your power to insure that the baby steps are moving forward toward the destination. If you do all of this at the culmination of the journey, regardless of the result you can rest assured that you and your team did everything in your power to achieve the ultimate goal. No regrets, no second thoughts, no looking back, that is how you build excellence step by step.
Good Training – Bad Training
Good training is elegant in it’s simplicity. Everything is planned. The execution is crisp, clear and focused. There is no fluff. The emphasis is on the need to do exercises, drills and movements that produce results and meet the objectives of the workout. Everything is manageable, measureable, and motivational. Manageable in that it can be done efficiently in the time available. Good training will effectively use the personal and facilities available. Good training is measurable in that results are recorded, what can be timed and counted is counted. The results are evaluated to gauge progress and adjust volume and intensities. It is motivational in that the athlete and coaches see the results and are driven to go forward in pursuit of the training and competition objects. They know what they are doing will produce results in the competitive arena. It is not entertainment. Each workout has a clearly defined specific goal and objective. Each workout is in context with the workout that preceded it and the one that will follow. Last but not least the training session is coached. This clearly implies that the coach is active in the process, providing clear concise instructions, correcting when necessary and praising when warranted. Evaluate your training or that of your colleagues in this context, it will be very clear if it is good training or bad training. Good training works, it produces results where it matters, in the competitive arena.
March 1, 1996 – Start of a New Journey
15 years ago I started on a new journey in professional soccer with the Tampa Bay Mutiny. Not only was soccer new for me, the Mutiny were one of the inaugural teams in the new US professional league, Major League Soccer (MLS). March 1 was the first day of workouts. It was exciting for me and all involved. I have many fond memories of that team, the coaching staff and the front office. Thomas Rongen was the coach; he was one of the best coaches I have ever worked with. I learned so much from him about coaching, communication and the art of it all. The Mutiny were a veteran team, average age 28 years old. Our star player was Carlos Valderrama from Columbia, a veteran of several world cups for his country and in his time one of the top players in the world. El Pebe’, as he was affectionately know by his fans was past his prime, but he could still do magic things with the ball. (Carlos might be one of the most recognizable players of his era because of his distinctive blond fro) Because we had a veteran team and we were training and playing in the heat of Florida, training had be spot on, nothing extra, no fluff. It was always a challenge, but fun and a daily learning experience because the players were so professional in their approach. It was great to be around players who were hungry and wanted to prove something, there was not the sense of entitlement that I had seen creep into baseball my last couple of years. They had a vested interest to make professional soccer in the US work. They all knew that they were pioneers. No one but EL Pebe’ was making much money, but there was bond there, a collective mission to build the league. I really think because the way they played and conducted themselves that first year, they made a major contribution toward what the MLS is today. My soccer journey continued for another year in 1997 with the Mutiny. In 1998 I was reunited with Thomas Rongen with the New England Revolution. Also in 1998 I was also the conditioning coach for the 1998 World Cup team, a less that great experience, but a time of learning what not to do. In 1999 I was back again with the Mutiny. Since then I have consulted with various professional and college teams, nationally and internationally. Soccer is great sport, which at the professional and amateur level presents many challenges in preparing the player. The challenges are not insurmountable, but they demand a creative approach to keep the players fit and injury free while playing multiple games in a week for as long as ten months a year. It is gratifying to see the growth of the MLS and soccer in the US. I am honored and proud to have been a small of the start of the league. My connection with the MLS continues today on a personal level through my daughter Kristen, who is the Direcor of Clent Services with the Houston Dynamo.
15 Years Ago and 20 Plus Years Ahead
15 years today was my last day as Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox in MLB. I started in August 1987. The previous two years I worked for Al Vemeil who had a contract to provide the conditioning for the White Sox and the Bulls, so I split my time between the two sports. When I started fulltime for the White Sox I had a leg up because I seen from inside what needed to be done. In essence I had two years of evaluation before I took over. The majority of those two years had been under two different general managers. The new general manager (third in two years) Larry Himes and his right hand man, the farm and scouting director Al Goldis were who hired me. They were baseball people who were innovators and visionaries. They wanted to create a model program to identify, sign and develop the best baseball athlete’s possible. They gave me a unique opportunity and I seized the moment and did not look back for nine years. I focused on the minor leagues, the developmental system. I knew that this was where we could change the culture, establish sound habits and grow the players into productive major players. The stated objective was to establish a system where physical preparation was part of each player’s daily routine both in-season and off–season. I had no assistants, but I was in charge of the minor league trainers. None of whom were certified as ATC’s when I took over. They were given two years two be certified or they would be released. They also became the conditioning coaches for each team; we had six teams. I did not have any help until I got an intern in the summer of 1991. In 1995 I was able to add three interns for the whole season that was a huge help. We set-up a minimalist weight room at each teams clubhouse. I did not want them going to health clubs, that would just add time to their day and give people an excuse to not train, not to mention the distractions. Each position player was required to weight train. The number of days changed depending on the time of season. During the season before games at 4:00 PM everyday there was a structured warm-up and then a specific workout emphasis either linear speed, agility or core for six days a week. The pitchers had a comprehensive program that included weight training. The pitchers program was based on their role as either a reliever or a starter. Everyone, including the pitchers did their weight training before the games. The players would come in the morning and pitchers would come at 2:00 PM. Here are some of the things we did that were pioneering at the time: As Director of Conditioning I was in charge of the minor trainers and oversaw the rehab. Mandatory supervised in-season training. I was involved in scouting potential draft choices to evaluate their athleticism and potential for physical improvement. Set up a sport psych program that involved psychological testing and training programs. We tested and trained vision. Established a comprehensive testing program to establish baseline measures of athletic performance and measure progress. Set up a teaching model for the coaches in terms of teaching baseball skill. Set up a summer intern program. Designed position specific training programs. We brought all our rehab in-house. Injured players were brought to our minor league complex in Sarasota where if they were not working with the rehab trainer, they were working with me. Each player was given a comprehensive off-season program they were held accountable for. We started pitchers mini camps in 1989 to check on the off-season progress of our pitchers. We did biomechanical analysis of our pitchers, base running and running mechanics. Set up a system of tracking injuries Determined a productivity metric to measure the effects of the program in terms of player and pitcher days available. In essence what I setup was what I would today call a Performance Model based system. The focus was on building the complete baseball athlete and rebuilding them in a systematic manner. The system worked. The players got faster, stronger, more explosive and they were injury free. Most importantly they became better baseball players. It was an amazing time. As I look back at what we were able to do I see teams today just starting to implement programs that we did twenty years ago. We were ahead of the game in so many ways. There are still three players in the major leagues today who came out of that program: Maglio Ordonez with the Tigers, Carlos Lee with the Astros and Mike Cameron with the Red Sox. So why did I leave? There had been a change in administration. The new administration was more “old school” baseball; they did not value the innovations, so there were some fundamental philosophical differences. It was time to move on and looking back I think I was a bit burned out. The year around volume of work and travel wore on me. I needed a change. Symbolically I closed the door to my office, walked out the front door of the complex and got into my car and drove home ready to embark on a new challenge, a new adventure, Major League Soccer. I started with soccer the next day and hardly ever looked back. I am so thankful to Larry Himes and Al Goldis for giving this incredible opportunity to innovate and learn, I also want to thanks the great coaches and trainers I worked with, but most of all the players who did the work. Thanks guys.It was an experience for all of us.
It’s That Time of Year – Making Numbers Lie!
The NFL Combine is going on now. I have mixed feeling about this spectacle. Most of them border on deep cynicism and skepticism. This event has now taken on a life of it’s own, it is another part of the “roman circus” spectacle of the NFL. It is just a marketing event. I was channel surfing last night and came upon the NFL network coverage of the combine. A scout was showing the players the start of the Forty, explaining the timing procedure. The statement that blew me away was: “ the watch starts on first movement”, the first movement of what? Give me a break, this is 2011, why not use a touch pad to start and truly time electronically? (They use sensors at ten yards, twenty yards and the finish to time what they consider “electronic") I think I know why, it is because electronic timing is considered “slower.” Yes it is, because it is accurate, you take out the subjectivity, inter tester reliability is no longer a factor. There is no subjective judgment of what first movement is, it is cut and dried, the times are accurate. This why I call it the CONbine. If you watch some of the position drills, it is borderline ridiculous. Any resemblance to what happens in the game is pure coincidence. It is a big con job and I am not sure who is being coned. I have my ideas that I have shared at various times, some are quite old school and some are high tech. The key is to have a system for evaluation where any measures made are precise, accurate and meaningful in the context of the game. Anytime electronic timing can be used, it should be used, that eliminates bias and human error. There are very good systems available to accurately time and measure all the combine tests that are currently used. When I was playing in college at Fresno State circa 1966 I distinctly remember the Dallas Cowboys scout coming to test some of our players. The scout had a Dekan timer that was activated by a touch pad. They timed electronically in the 60’s and we are fooling ourselves in the new millennium! The Cowboys found athletes and made them players. They had a plan and system and they knew what they were looking for. If you want to do it right and truly evaluate the player’s ability to play football, their aptitude for learning, their injury history, the whole nine yards, it can be done. You would need to challenge conventional wisdom and take a close look at the game. If anyone is interested, my consulting services are available. I am not into guarantees, but I do know if you listen and implement the concepts I have developed you will find football athletes who will have a chance to be injury free and adaptable. It demands getting far out of the comfort zone of accepted perfromance measures. I know, we did it in baseball over twenty years ago. Look at the 1988-90 CWS MLB draft and you will see the results. After you draft them you must have a program that will make them better, that is another story for another day.
Practice
Practice, you better do it. You can debate whether practice makes perfect or makes permanent. It does both depending on the person’s stage of development, maturity, degree of physical competence and emotional control. The fact of the matter you must practice to get better. Last week I heard an interview on NPR with Jeff Beck, one of the greatest guitar players in the world. He is obviously an accomplished musician who has been playing the guitar for well over forty years. It would be easy for him to skip a practice, surely no one would notice. He made it clear that he would notice! The interviewer asked him if he practiced? His answer: “Oh yes I practiced one hour this morning. I practice one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. The more you practice, the better you get.” As coaches we expect our athletes to practice, but do you practice? What do you do each day to make yourself as a better coach? How do you prepare. You cannot expect more from the athletes you coach than you are willing to give yourself. They might not notice if you did not prepare, but you should. Do something everyday to make yourself better. Practice, practice, practice, with a purpose and direction.