Author: Vernon Gambetta
Critical Coaching Factors
Marjorie Brody in her blog post entitled “Presentation Power: Four Ways to Persuade” (http://bit.ly/h6e61C) identified four critical factors necessary to make a presentation persuasive. I have taken the liberty to translate those factors into the critical factors that a coach must do to reach their athletes. Logos – Simply logic. What we present to our athletes must be organized and systematic so that it makes sense. It must be “correct” and doable. The athlete must be able to relate to it, but it is our job to make to make the relationships by being clear in our message and instructions. Pathos – This is the emotional part. The tone and the feeling of what we present to our athletes. We need to find which buttons to push to guide and motivate the athlete. The message must be real and have feeling. We must recognize that everyone athlete is not motivated the same way. Ethos – These are your guiding beliefs. The core of your coaching philosophy who and what you are. Your actions will convey this as much as your words. This is your credibility, the cornerstone of the trust the athletes will have in you and your system. Passion – Wear it on your sleeve, live it, there is no substitute for passion. You better believe in yourself or those whom you wish to lead will not follow. This is the fire in the belly, let it show and let it flow. Ignite and inspire yourself and the athletes you work with. As you go about your coaching this week think about these four factors. Just by focusing on them for a few minutes will be a positive step toward being a better coach. Hopefully we all willing and able to take small steps daily to be better.
THINK
There are no switches in the body that turn muscles on and off. Nor is there a switch that turns the energy systems on or off. The body is not a machine; it is living, complex self–organizing system. We do not do it justice when we take a reductionist approach and try to focus on an energy system or an individual muscle. The body works as a unified whole, always seeking to maintain homeostasis. There is no posterior chain; there is a kinetic chain. Train the total chain. Don’t train the connectors or the links; rather look for every possibility to enhance connections and linkages. Stop trying to consciously fire individual muscles and work on movements that will ignite muscles synergies to produce smooth efficient movement. Stop trying to consciously dorsiflex the foot and learn how to use the ground and the foot will react accordingly. In a sprint stride there is simply not enough time to consciously think about dorsiflexing the foot. Look at Usain Bolt and other top sprinters there is no dorsiflexion beyond that produced by ground reaction forces. That is one example among many where we have been mislead and misdirected by gurus. Study the body and how it moves with efficiency, style and grace. Give the body increasingly complex movement problems to solve, with guidance (coaching) the body will solve the movement problem (self organize). Teach your athlete movement ABC’s (Pulling, pushing, bracing, squatting, reaching, running and jumping) so that they have fundamental physical literacy to be able to solve movement problems. Give the body credit for the intelligence that it possess, coach to enhance that intelligence.
Coaching Matters
As a coach you know coaching matters – you also know it is the matters of coaching that make a difference. The matters of coaching are the mundane, the administrative tasks, things you must do to prepare for the fun the stuff, the real coaching the interaction with the athlete. What really matters in coaching is how you communicate, how you interact and act. It is so far beyond X’s and O’s, that is the easy part. It is turning those X’s and O’s into people with emotions and feelings. There is no formula for doing this, you must follow your gut, sometimes it is saying nothing, other times it is being demonstrative, it really all depends on the individual athlete and the situation. Certainly each athlete is a case study of one. Each is a new canvas that requires a different pallet of paints to help make them better. Coaches do not make athlete’s better, athletes improve themselves with guidance from the coach, some require more guidance and direction others less. A few thoughts on improving yourself as a person and as a coach: Search anywhere and everywhere for ideas, inspiration and guidance. Borrow and connect seemingly unrelated ideas to create new ones. Look for surprises and uncertainty, get out of your rut and make yourself uncomfortable. Don’t be afraid to try new things, push the envelope Look at the same things with new eyes. Be a kid and see with childlike eyes and curiosity. Look for similarities and differences. No matter what you do as a coach keep it fundamental, basic, directed to the point and take the journey step by step.
Random Thoughts and Brain Cramps
No doubt about obesity being a big problem (pun intended) but maybe we are not looking in the right place for the solution. A big emphasis is placed on diet and food – How much and what. We need to put emphasis on the other part of the equation – movement. Movements burn calories. As a nation and throughout the world as technology has advanced we are moving less and less in our daily routines. Look for ways to move and modify the diet. A few examples: Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Use a push lawn mover. Stand instead of sitting. Rake the leaves instead of using a blower. When you go to the mall, park on the outside edge of the parking lot so you have to walk further. Look for movement possibilities. The calories expended will add up. Sure the diet has to change and yes you must workout, but start simple. Major league baseball starts spring training in two days. Already reading about getting the arms ready. The arm can be ready but what about the body that puts the arm in position? The arm and shoulder are the last links in the kinetic chain, not sure we still get this. Ever notice in professional sport how certain athlete’s are coach killers. Wherever they go sooner or later the coach ends up being fired? Ever notice how teams that have " a players coach" have no discipline. The inmates run the asylum. Sad to see Jerry Sloan resign. That truly represents the passing of an era. Don’t know him, but have always admired him as a coach’s coach. He did it his way and made it work. Old school maybe, winner yes. Are S&C coaches redundant? Why not have a sport coach who knows their sport be the strength and conditioning coaching for that sport? This is a radical thought that merits some consideration. I am seeing tremendous disconnects between what the S&C people are doing and the sport demands. As a profession we need to take a long hard look in the mirror and reevaluate what, how, when and where we are doing what we are doing. Fitness might be an industry, but caoching is a profession. That demands that we be professional. In both rehab and training focus on what the athlete can do, not what they can’t do. Don't forget to do the work. You can't taper off a taper.
Fitness Tests
For some reason at the beginning of the season coaches feel an obligation to impose a fitness test on their players. In some cases the fitness test is used to determine who will make the team and who will be cut from the team. This issue came up yesterday when I was having lunch with several of my colleagues who were relating how a local high school softball coach had the girls do a mile run test in August at the start of school and then again two weeks ago to start the season. The girls were given a time they had better or they were cut from the team. Apparently the logic was that that by setting this standard the girls would be motivated to do something to work on their “fitness” in the off–season. With everything we know about training and conditioning I amazed that this stuff still goes on. The simple question is: What are you measuring fitness for? There are so many implications and messages being sent by imposing this type of fitness tests. Let’s start with simple a simple question? What are demands of softball? The type of endurance demanded by the mile run is completely contrary to the speed, explosiveness and skill demanded by the game of softball. No player on a softball team will run a total of one mile (including running on and off the field) in the course of a season. The simple fact of the matter is that there is no methodological or logical explanation for a fitness test of this sort. In any sport if you are starting your season with “fitness tests” I urge you to strongly reconsider. If they are not fit by the measure of the test at the start of the season, what are you going to do now? The alternative is to test at various points in the season and during the off–season to measure progress and set appropriate goals. The key is that the testing must reflect the demands of the sport. It must provide meaningful information that can be used to improve the player’s performance
The Measure of a Coach
To me the best measure of the coach is what you do with what you have. They guide their athletes to reach their potential, nothing more, nothing less. Sometimes that potential is to be an Olympian or a world record holder other times it is just helping someone get a personal best. One thing I know for sure it is not somebody you have seen on the Internet or read about in USA Today. Coaching is simply getting your athlete’s better. Better physically and better as people, teaching good training habits and a compatible lifestyle. Good coaching is a process. It takes time. It is all about the athlete, with the spotlight and focus solely on the athlete. The coach should be in the background, be a facilitator, not someone up front taking the credit.
Medical Model versus Performance Model
Medical model or perfromance model? What’s the difference? Is there a difference? Does it matter? There is a huge difference. The medical model has gained a strong foothold in North America over the last 15 years. It is a vertically integrated structure driven by doctors and usually administered by an ATC or sometimes a physical therapist. There are silos, where narrow specialization is encouraged. Leadership is this model is by command. Everything is over diagnosed. If the player has a hangnail, an MRI is ordered. Of course if you look hard enough for injuries or dysfunctions then surely you will find them. In the medical model it is almost as if people are going out of their way to justify their existence. The S&C coaches are low on the food chain. They are given strict guidelines as to what they may and may not do in regard to training the athletes, even down to being told to include specific exercises and exclude others. They have little input in prevention programs, those are dictated to them from the medical side. There is an emphasis on corrective exercise to the exclusion of training. Much of what is done is protocol driven. They have little or no input in rehabilitation and returning the athlete to the sport after injury. The emphasis here is on what can’t be done, limitations, exclusion and panic reactions. The performance model is just that, it is a model driven by performance. The focus is on what the athlete can do, on training and preparation for the game. It is a model that is proactive, based on abilities not disabilities, it takes into consideration the big picture connections and provides a broad spectrum of care. The performance director is crucial. That person needs to have great communication skills, and be a consummate generalist in order to connect all elements that comprise performance. The performance director coordinates and facilitates in a horizontal structure where everyone has clear roles and responsibilities but is encouraged to interact with others outside their area of expertise. Everything is criteria based, with baselines established through a specific physical competency assessment that fits the sport. The premium is on cooperation and communication. It is clearly coach driven. It is a model that is robust and dynamic based on accountability for performance of the player in competitive arena. The team is designed to optimize performance, injury prevention is transparent, but a stated objective. If there is an injury the whole team is involved in the process of returning the athlete to full participation from day one. It does matter which model you choose. Look at where we are in the US. We have adopted the medical model and injuries are off the chart. The medical model results in everyone walking on eggshells, waiting for the next injury to happen and then pointing fingers to place blame when injuries do occur. We need to take a close look at the whole structure. I have a strong bias toward the performance model. I have seen it work. It optimizes the athlete’s abilities and significantly reduces injuries. It empowers everyone in the performance team because they all have a voice and a role in what occurs. It is not a power grab or who is in control; rather it is about producing results. Performance depends on a viable functional team behind the team with everyone on the same page. Bottom line that is what the performance model is all about.
More Than The Exercise
I can go YouTube now or any one of hundreds of sites on the Internet and you can find a plethora of exercises. In my estimation that is a big part of the problem we have in athletic development. It is so much more than the exercises. I see training programs built around exercises, in some cases the more exotic and bizarre the exercise the better. That is putting the cart before the horse. Don't get me wrong I love playing with new exercses, tinkering, seeing if I can improve what I have been doing, maybe find a better tool. Before I add a new exercise to my toolbox I test and prototype type extensively. It is not a frivolous process. That being said, the selection of the exercise is one of the last steps in the whole process. The exercises are determined by the demands of the sport, the position or the event, the characteristics of the athlete and the pattern of injury in the sport, it is no more complicated than that. Be specific and make the exercise fit what you want to accomplish in that cycle of training and that particular workout. After 42 years of coaching the number of exercises in my toolbox is huge, but in point of fact when it comes down to the actual workouts the selection is very narrow and directed. I know there are there are no magic exercises but I do know there some basic remedial exercises that I use to start each session that allow me to assess the athlete’s readiness for training and to tune up the nervous system. At that point become a skilled craftsmen, go to the toolbox and select the appropriate tools (exercises) for the task at hand. Certainly less is more. A few well-chosen exercises will that are measurable and manageable will get the job done. You don’t need eight exercises when two or three will do. Focus on the absolute need to do exercises and leave the nice to do exercises in the toolbox. Shift the focus from the exercise to the task at hand. Make the exercise fit the athlete not the other way around.You don't need to entertain them you need to coach them.