Author: Vernon Gambetta
Science and Simplicity
I posted this a couple of years ago, I thought it would be worth posting again in light of a conversation over lunch yesterday with Frans Bosch. Stephan Wolfram http://www.stephenwolfram.com asserts that all complex phenomenon are produced by simple rules. Scientists, he says should be striving to uncover the underlying simplicity – not just searching for explanations by carving complex phenomenon into smaller and smaller digestible pieces. I might add that it is easey to make things complex to create an aura of mystery, what is difficult is to make things simple.
England – UKSEM Conference
Have enjoyed my time here. UKSEM was very good. More oriented to sports medicine than most conferences I attend, but still very good. Some thought provoking presentations, some challenged my ideas and other were reinforcing. As always I need to time to reflect on what I saw and heard. It has been great meeting people. It is the discussions with other professionals at these affairs where you learn and exchange ideas. Just getting to spend extended time with my colleagues Kelvin Giles and Frans Bosch was worth the trip. The more time I spend with them I realize how little I know and how much there is to learn. They are great minds, analytical and creative, it is so stimulating to be around them, I am overloaded. Then on top of that, yesterday afternoon I had coffee with one of my mentors and a giant in coaching, Frank Dick. Frank was the Chief National coach for Athletics during Britain’s heyday in the sport in the 1980’s. He was and is a real visionary, passionate about the role of coaching and coaches. So wonderful to get see him after fourteen years and catch up. He has a new book that I will review when I get a chance to read it. It just reminded me how much of an influence Frank has had on my thinking and my coaching career. Today I am just spending the day getting caught up and doing some reading and writing. Feel guilty about not touring, but it is too cold for this thin blooded Floridian. I know I will be back over here soon. I fly home tomorrow, only one more trip in 2010 to US Track & Cross Country Coaches Association in San Antonio. Looking forward to that. I will finish with a thought for the day from Tommy Lasorda, former manager of the LA Dodgers: "About the only problem with success is that it does not teach you how to deal with failure."
Gadgets and Toys
There is a plethora of training equipment on the market today. Some of it is very fancy, very “high tech,” and expensive. My experience has shown that equipment is not the answer, no matter how fancy and high tech. You quickly become a slave to the equipment; the focus shifts off the athlete you are coaching and squarely on the equipment. Once you pay top dollar for a piece of equipment or a gadget there is a subconscious obligation to use it and you end up using it even if it is inappropriate to use. A group that I worked with purchased (Against my advice) a cold laser device that cost $20,000 soon everybody was hooked up to it whether they needed the treatment or not. It may have been appropriate for one person; it certainly was not for everyone. Another team I consulted with installed a $350,000 underwater treadmill before I was consulted. They used it for everything; they had to justify the expense. It was inappropriate for many of the situations it was used for. It was forced into the program to the exclusion of more effective methods resulting in prolonged rehab and inhibiting return to play. Stop to think and analyze before you purchase. Get beyond the hype and marketing. Does the equipment do something significantly better than you are doing now? Don't be swayed by those who endorse it, they were either paid or got the equipment free. Over the years I have found less is more. The farther away you get from the body the less effective the training, that is the bottom line. All the random number generators, machines with dials and alarms that go beep are no substitute for an experienced coach with a good eye and a feel for movement. I am a minimalist, start with the bare minimum and build from there as needed. Instead of putting money into facilities and equipment, invest in human resources; good coaches will produce good athletes. Athletes will get better with good coaches that implement a well-designed systematic program to fit the sport the athlete!
Flexibility & Performance
Flexibility is an important quality that must be trained daily. Flexibility is often a limiting factor inhibiting other qualities. Here are two references on stretching and warm-up that I have found informative: The Effects of Stretching on Strength Performance. Rubini, Ercole C; Costa, André L L; Gomes, Paulo S C. Sports Medicine. 37(3):213-224, 2007. Warm-Up and Stretching in the Prevention of Muscular Injury. Shrier, Ian. Sports Medicine. 38(10):879, October 1, 2008. Some thoughts on flexibility, it’s place in warm-up and it's role in athletic performance
Athletic Development – Fundamental Concepts
There are some simple unifying concepts or rules that must be followed to effectively build the complete athlete. The rules are not complex in themselves, but the are complex in their application. The Fundamental Rules of Athletic Development are: Train Linkage – The body is a link system. Movement occurs from toenails to fingernails. Reinforce connections and linkages at every opportunity. Think & Train the Big Picture – Training is essentially assembling a jigsaw puzzle. If you do not have a clear picture of the completed puzzle then it is impossible to know where the pieces fit. To build the complete athletes never lose sight of the big picture! Have a Plan – Have a plan with clearly defined goals and objectives. Clearly define the detail of the means of achieving those goals. Have checkpoints to determine the progress of the plan toward the stated goals. Work the plan! Spectrum Train – To effectively train any of the physical capacities the whole spectrum of each capacity must be trained and they must be trained at all times. Know the Sport – You must thoroughly understand the sport you are training for. It is imperative to know the physical demands and the basic movements in order to effectively prepare the athletes for those demands. Don’t repeat the demands by artificially imitating the movements of the sport. This just adds stress to stress. Know the Athletes – Each athlete brings unique qualities to their sport. Every athlete is a case study of one. Know those qualities and help the athlete fit those qualities to the sport. Training is Cumulative – The adaptive process takes is accumulates day-to-day, week-to-week, month-to-month and year-to-year. No one workout can make an athlete, but one workout can certainly break an athlete. Context is King! – Everything you do in training must be in context of the plan, the sport and the athlete. Training out of context is not effective training. These guidelines have stood the test for me in my system. They have produced consistent results in a myriad of sports and disciplines. It has worked because of the simplicity. There is no magic, no hype, no smoke and mirrors just the basics of training consistently applied. If you are interested in learning more and seeing how these principles apply join us at the 2011 GAIN Apprentorship June 17 to 22 at Rice University in Houston Texas. For information email me at gstscoach@gmail.com
Thoughts On Experience & Learning
Aldus Huxley said: “Experience is not what happens to you; it’s what you do with what happens.” How long have you been doing what you are doing? What kind of experience do you have? Are you challenging yourself on a daily basis to get better? How are you challenging yourself? What are you doing to get out of your comfort zone and move into the performance zone? Are you having experiences or are you repeating the same experience? Are you making mistakes and taking calculated risks? Are you learning form your mistakes and improving? Experience is a great teacher. Jerry Garcia said: “You do not merely want to be the best of the best. You want to be considered the only ones who do what you do.” To achieve that demands an incredible focus and commitment to gaining experiences. It is so easy to talk about excellence, but to walk the walk is a different story. Many are called and few are chosen. Take advantage of the “Medici Effect,” connect seemingly unrelated ideas by connecting different fields, disciples or cultures. You gain experience by seeking out new ideas and new approaches, you rediscover old approaches that previously did not work, but will work now under different circumstances. Go outside the coaching world and sports science, there is wider world of ideas and excellence out there waiting to be tapped into. Learning and having experiences makes each day exciting! If you are not sure where to go to learn, find a Yoda, find someone who has been where you want to go, someone who has made mistakes, had success and failures and acknowledges both. Know where you are going. Have a specific destination and a clearly defined plan to get you there. Last but not least make sure there is a there, there. Aristotle summed it quite nicely: "Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act, but a habit." Make excellence and the achievement of excellence a daily habit for yourself and those around you. Start today, November 20, 2010 – it is the only November 20, 2010 there will ever be. Make it special!
Not Like We didn’t Know This
This study further reinforces the role of an active dynamic warm-up. This is one of many recent studies that contraindicate stretching to warm-up. Stretching is very important to improve flexibility. It demands it's own place within the training plan to insure it recieves proper attention and is individualized. Stretching Before Running May Lower Endurance Reports The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Stretching Linked to Shorter Running Distance and Higher Energy Expenditure Philadelphia, PA (September 10, 2010) — Distance runners who stretch before running may not be able to run as far-and yet spend more energy doing it, according to a study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. "Our results suggest that stretching before an endurance event may lower endurance performance and increase the energy cost of running," write Jacob M. Wilson, PhD, CSCS, and colleagues of The Florida State University, Tallahassee. Static Stretching Leads to Decreased Running Performance Ten male collegiate runners performed a 60-minute treadmill run on two different occasions: once after stretching and once without stretching. The 16-minute stretching regimen consisted of static stretching-stretching a muscle to its maximum length and holding it-of the major muscles of the lower body. The sessions were performed in random order. At each time, the runners were instructed to run as far as possible; however, they were unable to view their running distance or speed. Running distance was actually shorter without stretching. When the runners stretched, their average running distance was 3.4 percent less than when they ran without stretching. Even though the athletes covered less distance, the energy cost of running was significantly greater after stretching. On average, the runners burned about five percent more calories in the run performed after static stretching. Stretching has long been a part of the warm-up routine for runners and athletes in other sports. However, recent studies have suggested that static stretching may actually have some negative effects. These effects-particularly reduced muscle-tendon stiffness and reduced muscle strength-could have a negative impact on running performance. The new results suggest that stretching before running reduces endurance while increasing energy expenditure. The differences may not seem great-on average, running distance decreased by 0.2 kilometer after stretching while energy expenditure increased by 20 calories. However, for highly trained runners, those differences are more than enough to affect competitive performance. Building on previous studies showing negative effects on muscle strength, the new results suggest that static stretching may reduce endurance performance as well. "Therefore, static stretching should be avoided before endurance events, at least for young male endurance athletes," Wilson and colleagues write. They call for more research to clarify how static stretching affects muscle performance, as well as to evaluate the effects of other types of stretching-particularly dynamic stretching.
Win The Workout
Here are some ideas on winning the workout. You must win the workout bewfore you can win the game, match, or race.