Author: Vernon Gambetta
Professional Development – Periodicals & Journals
Some of you have asked me to list the journals and periodicals I read for my professional development. The ones in bold italics are the one’s I subscribe to. The others I try to read regularly or at least read the abstracts to see if there is anything of interest. Right now I am behind. When that happens I usually take a weekend day and get caught up in a big chunk. The availability of abstracts through Google Scholar and Pub Med has been a big help. For those if you at a college, university or sports institute you should be able to access the full journals at no cost. I envy you. In November when I go to Australia again I am going to try to go to the AIS Library in Canberra. I think that is the best resource center in the work. I am going to try to block out a day there. Modern Athlete and Coach Techniques for Track & Field and Cross Country IAAF New Studies in Athletics Sport Coach American Swimming Leichtathletik Sports Medicine Medicine and Science in Exercise and Sport JOSPT – Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance Journal of Applied Biomechanics Strength and Conditioning Journal Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research European Journal of Applied Physiology Journal of Sports Sciences Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport Journal of Athletic Training British Journal of Sports Medicine (BJSM) Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports European Journal of Sport Science >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> I try to read other magazines to broaden my horizons, these are the ones read regularly. Atlantic New Yorker Fast Company Smart Computing Mac World
Fear of Success
Everyone talks about fear of failure. I really do not think that is what it is. It is really fear of success. I am convinced that coaches and athletes fear success more than they fear failure. With success comes pressure, the more success the more you are expected to succeed and the more pressure. Successful people do not fear failure, they use to learn, and it is a growth opportunity. They internalize it and use it to improve. Unsuccessful people avoid succeeding like the plague, they know that by succeeding expectations for success will rise. They are comfortable being mediocre and find ways to stay mediocre. If you listen to their self talk and chatter you will hear it. They usually have every excuse in the book why they can’t be better. They also can tell you a million reasons why others who are succeeding are doing things they can’t or won’t do. These are the people that Dweck has identified as those with a fixed mindset. Successful people have a growth mindset. They embrace challenges, look on failure as a growth opportunity. They understand there will be missteps, but each of those is a learning opportunity, embrace the pursuit of excellence, don’t be afraid of it. To be the best is not comfortable, everyday you have to go where few others dare to venture.
Potential into Performance
Early in my coaching career a wise old coach told me that many are called and few are chosen. We were talking about potential. In my 41 years of coaching I have seen so athletes with potential that has been unfulfilled. They were labeled early as the next great ones. What happens? How can we get that the athlete to realize their potential? In so many cases potential, especially to be identified as a prodigy early can be a curse. But isn’t it our jobs as coaches to help athletes understand and reach their potential. We can do this by focusing on the process rather than the outcome. We are better off praising efforts rather than results, which is right out the Carol Dweck Mindset playbook. I know over the years I struggle with athletes who have been identified early as the next great one. I guess I identify more with the average athlete who has to fight and claw their way for everything they get. Potential seems to dull the persistence. I saw this the last couple of years with the team I am working with now. The player with the most potential did not achieve at the same level as her less talented teammates; in fact they began to pass her. I am not sure what the answer is here. I do know that it is a major part of my job as a coach to help translate potential into performance.
The Secret to Fast Times
I have always maintained the secret to running fast times is to race. This is what happened yesterday when the American record in the 10 K was broken. Just race baby, just race – If you run to win then the times will come as the competition improves. Still on an adrenalin high, Solinsky was remarkably fresh after the end of his 25-lap race. “I really didn’t come here to run a fast time,” he said to the gathered media. “I came here to win. I knew the time would take care of itself.” A side stitch which came shortly before the halfway point caused him some anxiety, but after six or seven laps of deep breathing, the situation abated, “and with a mile to go, I knew I would finish.” “I had no idea of what would happen tonight. I felt that a time between 26:55 and 28:00 was possible for me. I’m still really a 5K guy. I’m just dabbling with this at the moment.” The affable Solinsky was quick to pay tribute to those who had gone before. “The old American record by Meb was really a solid one. As I traveled here, I was telling myself I would be quite content to run a 27:20, especially as a newcomer to the event. But all of this would never have happened without Galen and the pacemakers. I know I’ll take a lot of heat for letting Galen do all the work and then kicking at the end, but, as I said before, I never chase times. I just try to win. That’s our group’s philosophy.” Training under the tutelage of Jerry Schumaker ever since his student days at the University of Wisconsin, Solinsky has made an American 5000m record attempt (12:56.27) the big goal for this season. “I plan to run the event in Oslo in early June just to ‘get the kinks out’. But the big race is planned for the (Prefontaine Classic) in early July. The mission is to run a sub-13 on American soil.”
There is an American Dream
I love stories like this. To me it proves there is an American drive. I found it ironic that when I was reading this that the illegal immigration issue came to the forefront again. Henry’s mother and father were illegal immigrants. His father abandoned the family when he was five years old. His mother eventually got a green card through one of the amnesty programs. To say that this guy overcame every disadvantage possible to become an Olympic Gold Medalist does not begin to describe it. Not a particularly great book, but certainly an inspiring story. Certainly underscores a message that has driven me – Have a dream and pursue that dream, do not let anything or anybody stand in your way. Some quotes from the book: "To be the best, you've got to best the best, so why not start right now?" When learning that he was to face the 2006 World Champion in his first Olympic match. What his coach at the USOTC, Terry Brand, told him that inspired his post work-out routines that some times lasted an hour! "You've go to do something that nobody else in the world is doing," he told me then. "And you've go to do it everyday." Practice pays off, his comment on using the high crotch take down, the move that won him the gold medal. "The perfect high crotch take down. The approximately one millionth high crotch- crotch take down. It is a move I had been doing hundreds of times a week for four years in practice. I could do it in my sleep. Now I just did it in my dream." On the gold medal "Five Ounces. A dozen years of sweat for five ounces."
The Challenge
I woke up this morning reflecting on the workouts this week with the Venice Volleyball girls. It was perhaps the most impressive week of workouts they have done in the four years I have been working them. They are getting very strong. (All can squat 1.5 times bodyweight) Yet this is the time of the training year when I get uneasy. Why? Simply, because as I have said many times it is relatively easy to get strong, but more difficult transferring that strength to the game. That is our challenge going forward. I am thinking of many different ways that I can accomplish this with this group. I am going to use Myotest more to emphasize bar speed and power production on jumping (The problem is we only have Myotest). We have two more weeks of this phase where I will put the final touches on max power and begin transitioning to more specific movements. I am working on an individual player improvement plan where each girl will get specific homework to address individual needs. In the next phase we will have our biggest emphasis on jumping and on quick speed (court coverage). This is the only window of time when they are not practicing volleyball, so this offers the opportunity to work on jumping mechanics. I guess this is where the art and science get balanced out.
This Nails It
The evil empire. I saw this with my own eyes. The blame for disrespect of authority in sport falls right on their doorstep. All they care about is money! http://content.usatoday.com/communities/christinebrennan/post/2010/04/keeping-score-for-nike-its-all-about-the-money/1?loc=interstitialskip&POE=click-refer
The Training Session
The individual training session is the cornerstone of training. A long-term plan is a succession of linked individual training sessions in pursuit of specific objectives. It is the individual training session where the long-term plan is actually implemented. Therefore it is important to understand the necessity of adjustments and flexibility within the context of the plan, especially at the level of the daily training session. Contingency planning is a very important, and a necessary part of the planning process. Every component in the workout must be in pursuit of the specific objectives of the workout and follow the general theme for that particular session. The workout is not an end in itself, it is a means to an end, therefore it must be put in the context of the whole training plan, so it is important to not let the individual training session get blown out of proportion.