Author: Vernon Gambetta
Should We Listen to You?
It is uncanny how Seth Godin http://sethgodin.typepad.com seems to read my mind. His post today struck home with me. I have been thinking lately about paying your dues and how you earn the right to be heard. In today’s world anyone can get on the internet and start making noise, someone will listen to the noise and pass it on. The person who generated the noise is now considered an “expert.” The problem is that there is no substance, there is no there there, but now they are an expert. Just like you can’t enlist in the army as a general I think you have to pay your dues and earn the right to be heard. Here are Seth Godin’s criteria for earning the right to being heard from his blog post today. Be informed Be rational Pay your dues Have a platform where a lot of people can hear you Be an impacted constituent, not a gadfly Represent a tribe of people with similar concerns You've been right before You're not anonymous You have a previous relationship and permission to interrupt Listening to you earns something of value
Change & Innovation
After GAIN change and innovation is very much on my mind. Change is a constant, we are not the same now and we were minutes or even seconds ago. On a macro level change and its partner innovation can be uncomfortable. It is very easy to say you must embrace change but then actually doing is another thing. I have found that change for the sake of change ultimately does nothing. I think if we change with a purpose, then change can be lasting and meaningful. Innovation and change are closely related. To innovate you have to learn to see the world with new eyes. You have think like a child, wipe all those preconceived notions, and have a clean slate so to speak. So many people that claim to be innovators are really imitators. Imitation is not innovation. To quote Kelvin Giles “coaches are change engineers.” We must find ways to problem solve and lead change or we will not produce results with our athletes. To innovate you need to plant the seeds of innovation through deep practice and continual learning and upgrading your skills. Start with the basics, you can’t write the great American novel if you don’t know the alphabet. To paraphrase Gandhi be the change you want to be.
GAIN 2010 Summary
WOW! Simple word, not a bit of hyperbole GAIN 2010 was a great experience. I woke up this morning with GAIN withdrawal,back to realty, no morning session with the other professionals, no more stimulating and challenging presentations until next year. I am not sure where to start with a summary. Lets start with the students or delegates as Kelvin Giles calls them, they were very high level, professional and hungry to learn and share. The instructors, what can I say, what a special group they are, some of the best teachers, coaches and therapists in the world. In some ways the best people you have never heard of. You probably won’t see their names in headlines as a trainer of so and so superstar but they are producing results day in and day out in the trenches. No outsized egos. All willing to share successes and failures, exchange ideas and be challenged. I especially want to recognize Ed Ryan for all the work he did running the show so I could focus on the fun stuff, teaching and coaching. Also a special thanks to my beautiful wife Melissa who shared our thirty-ninth wedding anniversary with GAIN group. Also a special thanks to our sponsors who were so generous in their support. It wasn’t all work; the evening social interactions in the lobby bar might be where the best discussions take place. We did learn that a morning session planned over some glasses of wine does not work the same the next morning. In summary I would just like to emphasize that GAIN is about sharing and networking. For all of us it is the opportunity to meet other professionals and expand our horizons. I can’t wait for next year, though I must admit it is going to take a year to absorb all that I learned this year. (Over the next few days and weeks I will share some of the gems I picked up)
GAIN 2010 – Tuesday
What a day yesterday! Bill Knowles on Return to Play Strategies. He is a real innovator and forward thinker. Made some real good points on the healing process and neural component. Real stimulating discussion groups in the evening. Fun catching up with Victor Bergonzoli of Dartfish. New Dartfish Player is a real nice service and innovation. I love Joe P.'s perspective. He is covering trunk and upper extremity. Very practical. Kelvin has been great, he gets me fired up. Achieving physical literacy is what it is all about. This mornings field session with Frans Bosch was one of those moments when the lights went on for me and the group. It is one thing to read his book, listen to him speak and watch the video. It is another to to actually do the lead-up progression drills to learn and reinforce the concept of "whip from the hip." Getting to walk the walk brought it all together. This reminds that you can imitate or innovate. Innovation is not comfortable and you must see the world with new eyes. It is easy to criticize guys like Frans, but if you can keep an open mind there is a lot there. Looking forward to the rest of the day and tomorrow. Hope more of you will join us next year.
GAIN 2010 – Monday
What an experience! This is the best of the three years. Not enough superlatives to describe this expereince. Really cool when you get a group pf professionals like this together. We start the day at 6:55 with active learning field sessions. Thanks to Ed Ryan for taking over the operations and administrative part of this so I can focus on teaching and learning. Frans Bosch got us thinking yesterday. Kelvin Giles is taking us through Physical Competency Assessment as a step to developing physical literacy. Joe P. doing the trunk and upper extremity functional anatomy and exercise. Looking forward to the day.
GAIN Spelling Bee
We were thinking of having a spelling bee at GAIN, but I could not spell GAIN as you could see by my post this morning so we canceled it. For me a post without a spelling error is a rare. I get so psyched writing these things that my fingers cannot stay up with my feeble mind. Also wanted to let you know we kicked off with a BANG not a bong. We kicked off with a field session this morning at 7:00 AM. Then Jim Radcliffe – Always great. Followed by John Perry, another great session on Lower extremity functional anatomy and biomechanics. 5 in 5 session with Greg Thompson and Kelvin Giles on fire, a hellfire and brimstone presentation on developing physical literacy and introduction to Physical Competency Assessment (PCA). Tonight a case study assessing an injured athlete world class athlete.
Dartfish Player
I am a big fan of Dartfish. I was the first Athletic Development coach to use it. It is a great coaching tool. They are also a sponsor of my GAIN Apprentorship program, I want thank Victor Begonzoli for getting behind the GAIN Program. The addition of the player is great step forward, check it out. www.dartfish.tv/DartfishPlayer.aspx See a short clip about it http://www.dartfish.tv/Player.aspx?CR=p3c7285m119872