Author: Vernon Gambetta
The First Step
Last night Venice Girls volleyball won their eighth straight district volleyball championship. This is the first step toward the state championship. We have had November 19 circled on our calendar for a year. This year these young ladies will not be denied. It was so cool just to be able to sit and watch as they clinically dismantled the other team in 55 minutes. It was really neat to see the speed and quickness that we had worked so hard to develop back in April come together now. In so many ways I am in awe of these young ladies focus and dedication. Everyone works hard, but they have worked with a focus and a direction for three years. For me it was all summed in one play where our setter, Taylor Capaso, all 5’21/2” of her went up and just killed the ball right between two girls who were both 6”1”. They were three to four inches taller than us across the front line, yet we consistently hit through and over them as well as consistently blocked their shots. Our girls can jump!First game of playoff is Tuesday – onward and upward.
“Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated”
Still alive and kicking despite rumors spread throughout the Track & Field community by a long time nemesis. Hope to be around for awhile, God willing and if the creek don’t rise. At least a couple of people picked up the phone and called me instead of spreading the rumor.
Venice Volleyball Senior Night
Last night was senior night at Venice. We closed out the regular season with a resounding win over a local rival to raise our record to 17 wins and 9 loses. 8 of the 9 loses came to teams ranked in the top twenty in the nation. This group of seniors is a special group of young ladies. In many ways they are throwbacks in terms of their commitment, focus and work ethic. The three years working with this group has been one of the highlights of my coaching career. It was a very emotional night for all of all of us. Personally it was very neat to sit on the end of the bench and watch them play and reflect on what had gotten them to that point. I will be graduating with this group, do to work and travel demands I will no longer be able to work with the team, but I cherish the memories these long ladies have provided. We still have three weeks left though to refocus and began the second season – the playoffs. Our record as of today is 0-0, playoffs begin on Tuesday and the State Championship is November 19.
Seeking Knowledge
My personal philosophy is that knowledge is power. Forty plus years ago the avenues to pursue knowledge were much narrower that they are today. Then it was the library, phone calls and letters. Today we have instant information (Notice I did not say knowledge) a world where anyone can be an expert with the click of a mouse. Ideas can go ”viral” and take on a life of their own in an instant. This is both good and bad. The upside of the internet is the access to scientific studies, papers, thesis and dissertations that in the past would have taken months of time and much expense to compile that I now can do online. This past week as I was doing some research for a project I have been working on I started thinking about why I selected certain sources and rejected others. My conclusion was that my past experience is what helps me keep my bullshit filter fine tuned, it was the things I had to do before the internet that gave me the tools to separate the wheat from the chaff. I also realized that that so much of my early learning and sharing of knowledge was observation, personal, and face to face conversations with colleagues. My concern is that we are getting away from that. I also think being a generalist is a terrific advantage. Today’s world seems to demand increasing specialization, a narrowing of knowledge into very specific channels. If you are in this trap break out, look outside your sport, look outside your discipline, you will find that other people in widely divergent fields are working on solving the same problems you are. If you are in a school, university or training center walk down the hall and talk to another coach in a sport as far away from your sport as possible. You will be surprised at what you will learn. Being a generalist demands big picture thinking, it is as far from reductionism as you can get. Pondering and debating if it is 3 x 5 at 95.345% or 5 x 3 at 96.897% is an exercise in futility. Step back, look at what you are trying to accomplish, have a clear picture of the end result and get started. It reminds me of the debate about the squat or the clean I saw somewhere. What difference does it make? What are you trying to accomplish? How do you want to get there? Then chose the appropriate exercise that will get the job done, it is seldom an either or proposition, it is definitely more than an exercise. It takes some knowledge coupled with experience to know what to chose. If I were starting out again the first thing I would do would be seek out someone with gray hair who had traveled the path before, had made mistakes and learned from them. This approach is much more productive than the mutual masturbation that passes for information exchange on many of the discussion groups and web sites today. Bottom line is, read a book, find a mentor and coach; there is no substitute for getting your hands dirty and practicing.
What is a good coach?
I saw something online yesterday, I should have saved it because now I can’t find it. The gist of it was why an athlete would leave a coach that she had success with for an “unknown” coach. Then there was a poll listing some high profile track and field coaches asking the reader to rate them. My initially response was how absurd was this on two counts. First there are many “unknown” coaches who do a great job, they chose not to have a spotlight on them or they coach at levels were they will not receive outside recognition. Second, rating coaches is a futile exercise, what is the criterion that makes a great coach? Some of these “great” coaches have millions of dollars of shoe company money to recruit athletes, the survivors run fast and you never hear of the ones they break. I know a whole bunch of relatively unknown coaches in clubs, high schools and even middle and elementary schools that I would go to before some of the high profile coaches mentioned in this list. Great coaching is what you do with what you have. I could go through a whole list of the characteristics; I really do not think that is necessary. All I know is that I have been fortunate to work with some great coaches and be coached by some great coaches, most of whom are “unknowns.”
Weight Room Injuries
It is certainly not my place to comment on the several high profile injuries that have occurred in the weight room over the past several weeks, I have learned that people are quick to judge without all the facts. What the attention on those injures made me think about is not how many injuries occur in the weight but how many injuries are caused by what is and is not done in the weight room? I do know that this is the 800 pound gorilla in the room that everyone is unwilling or afraid to talk about. My experience over the years is that improper exercise selection, lifting technique compromised by fatigue; poor program design and lack of integration of the strength training portion of the program with the total program are causes of injuries that occur outside the weight room. This is difficult to prove, because reporting and tracking methodology do not seek to find a cause effect relationship. Food for thought? This is not suggest abandoning the weight room, it does suggest that we take more of a comprehensive athletic development to the whole process.
National Applied Functional Physical Education Conference
This is a really cool conference/gathering this coming weekend. Hope you can join us. The focus here is reforming Physical Education. National Applied Functional Physical Education Conference October 24th, 2009 Farmington High School, Farmington, Mi 8:00-8:30 Registrant arrival and welcome 8:30-9:20 Frank Forencich Exuberant Animal: A primal, practical and playful approach to transformation Functional fitness is an exciting concept that's truly multi- disciplinary in scope. We begin by looking at the state of the body and modern challenges to health. We then turn to the elements of functional training: definitions, isolation v. integration, kinetic chains and neuromuscle. Then we explore applications and method, especially the power of play and the promise of the martial art model. 9:30-10:20 Vern Gambetta “ The importance of precision and mindful movement/Building from the ground up.” This session will demonstrate exercise progressions to develop the foundation of functional fitness; leg strength that is integrated with balance a flexibility. 10:30-11:20 Steve Myrland "Simple Tools – Complex Results: Creating Fitness and Health With Movement Part-1: Understanding Movement" Beginning with a few essential truths about how bodies move, we will explore the means by which you can create practical, portable and compelling training programs requiring no equipment. These movements can be layered to build stand-alone training blocks, and can also be the "glue" that permits you to assemble programs of greater complexity using equipment (on a minimal budget). Body-based movement is the necessary beginning point for truly living-happily, healthfully-in your body. 11:30-1220 Mike Meeteer/John Ditter Middle /High school connections: "Adding to the "New" Paradigm of Resistance Training: Going Back to the Future with the Train Station and Jungle Gym" Experience a return to the what use to make physical education class a great place to get functionally stronger. A simple tubing system that packs a punch, using the Train Station just might convince you to get rid of your bench press, , lat pulldown, multi-hip machine, etc. The Jungle Gym is a piece of webbing that is simply THE most effective piece of equipment for building pulling strength while using body weight as resistance. Participants will also try the new "Body Row Pulling Assessment", where everyone succeeds at their appropriate level of challenge. 12:20-1:00 Box Lunch/ Vendor Area 1:00-1:50 Frank Forencich: “Secret moves and games of the Play Masters” Play is not random. To make it work, we need a focused approach and a clear idea of what we're doing. In this segment, we begin by establishing the proper tone of gravity and levity. Then we practice the essentials of spotting and heckling. This leads into a broader exploration of highly physical and robust games. 2:00-2:50 Greg Thompson: 5 in 5 and 10 in 10, whole body exercises for warm-up or general fitness Using body resistance, walk with us through a program that was designed to use in both the gym and classroom. The program features a variety of exercises that are fun and interesting for your students. Be prepared to move and have your strength, balance and coordination challenged. 3:00-3:50 Steve Myrland "Simple Tools – Complex Results: Creating Fitness and Health With Movement Part-2: Connecting Movements" This is the rubber-meets-the-road portion of learning to combine body-based movement with a few simple pieces of training equipment to create endlessly variable and challenging physical puzzles for bodies to solve. Considerations of venue, available equipment, number of participants and time constraints will all be addressed. You will leave this session with the ability to design and build functional movement programs . . . anywhere . . . anytime . . . with anything . . . for anybody.
Anoint or Identify
So often today in youth and high school sports we tend to anoint a youngster as the latest and greatest. When we do this we set up unrealistic expectations on the part of the youngster and all those who surround them, especially the parents. It is certainly acceptable to reward and praise excellence, but it must be tempered by a clear vision of the big picture. It is just as important to be able to criticize when necessary, but that becomes tougher and tougher when the youngster is anointed early. The vision of the big picture must be clear to all involved including the athlete from the earliest days of identification as a ‘Talent.” Often they are a big fish in a small pond and that really does not mean too much. All these scouting services, web sites and showcases are doing a tremendous disserve to kids and parents. They are setting unrealistic expectations determined by evaluators that have little or no idea of what it really takes to succeed at the next level. If I hear one more high school coach here where I live in Florida say in their evaluation of a player that this guy has the talent to play on Sunday, I am going to puke. It is a long process to climb the ladder of success. The gap between Friday night and Sunday afternoon is a chasm wider than the Grand Canyon. I watched a high school game on TV Friday night where all the announcers could talk about were the number of Division I prospects on a team. I really zeroed in on one kid that they were particularly effusive about, no way. Many are called and so very few are chosen. Those chosen are truly special in terms of talent and giftedness but above all work ethic and character.