Author: Vernon Gambetta
Symmetry
This past weekend when I was on a panel at the Perform Better Summit in Chicago several of the presenters referred to symmetry in the body. I left with the impression that when they detected asymmetries then they would then correct those. (Please keep in mind this is my interpretation and recollection of what was said) I have been down that path and it ended up in a very frustrating dead end. I think we need to remember that the body is fundamentally asymmetrical. We have the heart on one side body, both lobes of the brain are not equal size, in females one breast is lower than the other, in males one testicle is lower than the other. Even in elite sprinters step length is not even. There is a slight difference left to right and right to left. All of that being said, then should we try to make the body symmetrical and balanced? I really don’t think so. We need to look at proportional development and decide what is acceptable for the person relative to the task they are performing. A right handed tennis player who has played for a number of years will have a significantly bigger right wrist and forearm than the left. The body will adapt to the task demanded. As professionals we have to observe how it adapts and make sure all the parts are timed up and working in harmony. In my opinion the goal should be proportional development, otherwise we may be seeking an unattainable goal. Remember we want to create fully adaptable athletes not robots.
Seth Godin’s Post Today
Seth Godin always seems to start my day out on a up note either by challenging my thinking or inspiring me. http://sethgodin.typepad.com Each of us does matter. We can change, inspire and lead and any number of ways. I hope this post from Seth Godin touches you like it did me: When you love the work you do and the people you do it with, you matter. When you are so gracious and generous and aware that you think of other people before yourself, you matter. When you leave the world a better place than you found it, you matter. When you continue to raise the bar on what you do and how you do it, you matter. When you teach and forgive and teach more before you rush to judge and demean, you matter. When you touch the people in your life through your actions (and your words), you matter. When kids grow up wanting to be you, you matter. When you see the world as it is, but insist on making it more like it could be, you matter. When you inspire a Nobel prize winner or a slum dweller, you matter. When the room brightens when you walk in, you matter. And when the legacy you leave behind lasts for hours, days or a lifetime, you matter.
Good or Great
“Good is the enemy of great” said Jim Collins author of Good to Great. It is easy to be good, which to me is average; it is not easy to be great. Greatness takes a deeper commitment, a narrower focus, a willingness to be uncomfortable all the time. Many are called and few are chosen. We all have the opportunity to be great, it is not about talent, it is about mindset. A growth mindset gives you the opportunity to be great. I find it especially interesting that the great ones are always looking for way to be better, to grow. The good ones are satisfied. Take a chance; be great at what you do!
Periodization is Passé’
Good now I got your attention. Classical periodization as most coaching education programs teach is history. The classic X curve of high volume work developed in a preparatory phase of training then crossing and moving to a high intensity low volume phase during competition is gone. Why is it still taught? Periodization is about the timing of the application of the training stimuli, it is not about time. What we are really doing with periodization is managing the process of continual adaptation. It is all based on sport science principles coupled with proven pedagogy. I just saw a coaching journal put out by US Swimming devoted to periodization. It was vintage Russian training porn from the late 1960’s and early 1970’s; the only thing missing was a coupon for a Jefferson Airplane vinyl album. Let‘s get real we have learned a tremendous amount in the last thirty years. We need to get past Bompa, all he has done is recycle the Russian stuff of Matveyev from the 50’s. Read it, but keep it in context, that is the past, we must build on that to move forward. On this one we need to get contemporary. The competition environment and schedule at all levels of competition has significantly changed, classical periodization does not come close to addressing those changes. Ultimately periodization is planning. Dwight D. Eisenhower summed the value of planning quite nicely: “In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
Where do you start?
Where do you start? Probably the most simple and direct answer is at the beginning. I say this not to be flippant, but to emphasize that a heavy dose of common sense goes a long way. Carefully study the sport you are working with. Know the differing demands of each of the positions or the events. Get to know the athletes by thoroughly profiling them so you completely understand what physical qualities they bring to the table. Understand the pattern of injuries in the sport and design a transparent injury prevention program for that sport. Now you are ready to begin. When you begin don’t imitate, innovate. One coach recently told me he was using the Virginia Tech program, I looked at him and asked him if was coaching at Virginia Tech. He answered, no of course not, I am Losers Tech. My retort was then develop a Losers Tech program, you don’t have the same objectives, the same athletes and the same competitive schedule. Common sense goes a long way, but it is not common. Whatever you do should be based on sound training principles that are consistently applied.
Strong for what?
Some things that I have seen the past couple of days brought to forefront again a conundrum that I have wrestled with for over 40 years. When you get in the weight room and get “strong,” you can lift more weight, it is measurable, but how does that strength transfer into performance? I am convinced it is not a matter of how much strength is enough, which is what I used to think it was. I really think it is about what strength you can use and how you apply the strength. I guess you can call it functional strength, but I try to stay away from that term because of all the negative connotations of standing on physio balls and juggling flaming swords. I am thinking it is more about getting parts of the body talking to each other, creating a better system of linking the parts. I think Frans Bosch came close when he called strength training – coordination training with resistance. I would say it is coordination with appropriate resistance. Appropriate for the sport you are training for, for the time of the training year and for the individual athlete. The way I view it unless you are a weight lifter or a power lifter how much you lift is not that important. In many ways it is how you move the resistance regardless of the mode. Some movements with heavier resistance are slower and more deliberate and other are faster and more ballistic. Movement in sports covers a spectrum of speeds; therefore it is important to train across those spectrum's. That being said I think sometimes the weight room in a traditional sense can be a trap where we get caught up chasing numbers and lose sight of the application of the strength to the activity.
Sweet Melissa
Melissa is my wife. Today is her 60th birthday. Happy Birthday to the one I love, a special wife and mother. We are getting to spend the weekend celebrating with our children, that makes it even more special.
40 Years Later
I realized yesterday when I was reading about this years California State High School Track meet being held in Fresno county for the first time in 56 years, that it was 40 years ago today that I coached my first and only California state champion. I am not sure how much I coached him, I realize now looking back how little I knew about the shot put, it was more a matter of getting him to the meet on time. That young man was Sam Cunningham who went onto star in football as a running back at USC and with the Patriots. Sam was a great athlete, 6'3" and 220 pounds who could run 9.7 for 100 yards. Sam threw 64"9" to win that day. He was a tremendous competitor who won his last three meets by a sum total of 8 inches! He just knew how to win. I know now what an accomplishment this was. I realize after 40 years of coaching that many coaches never get to coach a state champ or an athlete the caliber of Sam. In many ways it was a blessing and a curse. It gave me an inflated sense of my knowledge and value as a coach. That was my first year coaching and I had so much to learn, but his win in some ways stifled my development because I thought I knew more than I actually did. Eventually I learned after being humbled a few times. I am so thankful to Sam for being the person he was and is, to one of my mentors Bill Crow (Another great coach most of you have never heard of) the Head Coach at Santa Barbara High School who turned his best athlete over to a rookie to coach. To Red Estes who gave me the foundations and principles in his theory of Track & Field class at Fresno Sate and who encouraged me to go into track coaching. I sincerely hope that you young coaches get to have the same experiences that I have had and get to meet some of the great people I have met along the way. It is funny how the perspective of time and experience has allowed to me enjoy this championship more now than I did at the time. I was too young to appreciate what Sam Cunningham had accomplished!