Author: Vernon Gambetta
Where are you looking?
A drunken man was intently searching the ground near a lamp post. My friend asked what he was looking for. The drunk replied that he was looking for his car keys, so my friend helped him look without success. Then he asked whether the man was certain that he dropped the keys near the lamppost. “No,” replied, “I lost the keys somewhere across the street.” My friend asked him “So why are you looking here?” The drunk quickly answered, “The light is much better here.” (I took liberty to paraphrase this old story that has many versions) Are you afraid to look in the dark? Where are you looking? Are you staying in the light where it is easy to see or are looking outside the light? Think about this today as you are coaching your athletes. See the world with new eyes, you will be surprised what you find.
Training Talk: Conversations with a Dozen Master Coaches
The following post is taken from the Foreword I contributed to Martin Bingisser's new book Training Talk: Conversations with a Dozen Master Coaches. Back in 1987, I took a leap of faith. After 20 years of experience as a track and field coach, I moved to a new town for a new job in a new sport as director of conditioning for the Chicago White Sox. I was confident I could handle the challenge, but in the back of my mind there was still some doubt. I had never worked in baseball before, and the profession I had entered, athletic development, hadn’t even existed a few years prior. After arriving, the doubt quickly faded as I took a look at baseball through the eyes of a track coach. Why didn’t my javelin throwers have the shoulder problems that pitchers did? It was simple: I started looking at the pitchers as javelin throwers in long pants. I took what I knew about preparing the whole kinetic chain to throw the javelin far and adapted that to the demands of pitching. To the surprise of many, we stopped having shoulder problems, and the pitchers became more durable. This was a lesson I was then able to apply many times over in other sports. Don’t look at the sport as a unique activity, instead look at the movements, and connect that to what is being done in other sports. This is a lesson you will learn from the coaches in this book. If they have one commonality, it is the ability to see movement with different eyes and make adjustments accordingly. No matter the sport, a good coaching philosophy must stay true to the same fundamental truths of coaching. In this book, Martin has sought to discover these truths through interviews with some of the best minds in coaching today. This book is a reflection of Martin’s intellectual curiosity and passion to learn. His probing questions allow you, the reader, to get to the essence of the concepts and training methods. I am honored and humbled to write this Foreword and to be included as one of the coaches interviewed for this collection. These coaches are an eclectic mix of experts from athletics and field sports, but the one thing they have in common is that they are the best of the best. Together, the interviews provide a comprehensive overview of the process of developing the athlete from many points of view. Most importantly, as I did 30 years ago, each of these coaches has gone outside their specialty and, in many instances outside their sport, to learn and challenge themselves to improve. This sends a powerful message about what it takes to be on the cutting edge. By selecting coaches that transcend sports and disciplines, Martin underscores the unity of training ideas and concepts. The need to communicate across sports to share knowledge and learn. This collection of interviews features coaches who are thought leaders that have produced results at the highest levels of sport using this approach. None of them is narrow in their areas of interest or specialization. They all go where they need to go to find answers. They all use lateral thinking to connect dots in seemingly unrelated manners. They did this, not by being followers, but by questioning and building connections outside their fields of expertise. All of these coaches share: deep knowledge; passion that fuels their drive to learn; coaching the athlete, not the sport or event; achievement at the highest levels; continued learning; and strength in getting better at getting better. Reflect on the ideas expressed here and each of these approaches. Think critically about the responses. Do not take any of the answers as gospel. Use the collective wisdom of these coaches to learn and grow. It may change your ideas, or it may confirm them. Regardless, the benefit will be improved coaching. Keep learning!
Perils of Reductionist Thinking
Focusing on muscles and isolated movements is mentally convenient. It is very easy to break the body and movements into parts and separate systems and focus on thus parts to the exclusion of the whole. It may be convenient and easy but is not right, it ultimately leads to confusion. The body moves and works through connections, chain reactions and synergies. The brain does not recognize individual muscles, it recognizes patterns of muscle synergies. To optimally prepare the body for the stresses of competition you must focus on enhancing those connections and synergies. Give the body credit for what it can do, it is smart, so coach it smart. Good coaching is giving the body increasingly complex movement problems to solve by putting the body in positions to solve those problems.
Some Food for Thought Regrading Functional Movement (From Athletic Development – The Art & Science of Functional Sport Conditioning)
As a coach, particularly as a conditioning coach, following the functional path has at times been frustrating but ultimately a very satisfying experience. The path has been narrow and very winding at times and clear and well-paved at others. Beginning on the path there were more questions than answers. I found there were not a lot of sources to go to initially. But the farther I got down the path the more I found signs that many people had been there before. I would see a concept here, a training method there, hear a presentation or read an article. All of them were on the track, but there was no unified direction. I realized that in athlete development there were commonalities that had to occur to achieve successful development. The people who were most successful knew movement. They could sense and feel and in turn articulate how the body moved. Most important, how the body moved efficiently. Some of these people were coaches, some were athletes, artists, dancers, physical therapists, sports scientists. What they all have (had) as I look back or through the prism of time was a feeling for body as a unit, a kinetic chain, where movement was more than just individual muscles contracting and relaxing. Movement was a beautiful flowing event that encompassed the whole body from toenails to finger nails. Each link in the chain had a specific role to play, each rule was part of an integrated whole, the end result being efficient flowing movement. Because the body was a kinetic chain movement was a flow. If there was a problem somewhere in the chain, it was easy to see the cause of the problem because you could go to the links above or below the problem to determine the cause.
EMG Studies and Muscle Action
Put a muscle at a mechanical disadvantage or isolate it and you will get high degree of muscle action on an EMG. Put that muscle into a movement where it is has to work with other muscles and now watch what happens. The pattern of activity will be quite different. In the first case the muscle is screaming at you to set it free to let it work to its fullest capabilities as part of a team. In the latter case the muscle is singing because it is being the used as part of a team to work to move or resist movement of a body part. It is doing what it is designed to do work together with other muscles to produce smooth efficient coordinated movement. Muscles work in synergistic patterns, it is too easy to revert to reductionist thinking and forget that. What is convenient is not always right. Think movements not muscles in evaluation of movement and in designing effective training programs. Ask yourself is the muscle screaming or singing?
Athletic Development – The Basics
When I was growing there was a TV program about two detectives on the LA Police department. It was called Dragnet, the main character was Sargent Joe Friday, Badge 714, his famous line was “just the facts” when talking to a witness. To paraphrase Sargent Friday in coaching athletes to be better it all comes down to “just the basics”. That being said I have come to the realization that there is often not a good understanding of what the basics are. What are the basics? What do you have to do to develop the physical qualities appropriate for the sport or activity you are training for? It starts with walking gait. In walking gait the arms and legs move in opposition along with a counter rotation of the hips and shoulders. Throwing, running, jumping, freestyle swimming is all based on gait. Therefore, when we look at what underpins the basics it is walking gait. The basics are the building blocks of the foundation! Here are the basic qualities that you must develop and components that must be worked on: Speed Starting Stationary Moving Acceleration To optimum speed to C of D sports To maximum speed in Athletics Maximum Speed Speed Maintenance/Endurance Agility Recognition & Reaction Starting Change of Direction Stopping Strength Relative Maximum Strength Endurance Power (Ballistic/Explosive) Plyometrics Jump Hop Bound Throws Endurance (Energetics – Anaerobic and Aerobic) Short Term (2 minutes or less) Medium Term (2 to 5 minutes) Long Term (5 minutes and longer) Flexibility/Mobility Static Dynamic >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Warm-up (Active/Dynamic) Appropriate for the activity being trained for. Recovery/Regeneration Sleep Nutrition Hydration
The Road Not Taken
I was just reflecting on the poem Road Not Taken by Robert Frost: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference." Personally, having taken the one less traveled it has been filled with rewards and surprises as well as disappointments and defeats. Above all it has been a learning journey that continues today. I would not do it any other way.
Efficient Running Mechanics
Efficient running Mechanics are a crucial aspect of running performance. Everyone pays close attention to correct mechanics up to the 400 meters and then it is as if it does not matter anymore, when in fact it actually it is as important. Good sound running mechanics can go a long way toward preventing injuries, optimizing stride length and stride rate for more efficient utilization of energy stores. Improving running mechanics involves strengthening of all the involved muscles, the postural muscles as well as the legs. Technique practice in the form of specifically prescribed drills done with precision should be part of daily training. Constant awareness of good running mechanics must be stressed during each run. What does good running mechanics consist of? It consists of good posture, which is erect carriage of the trunk. Then good arm action. The arm carriage should be low so as not to cause undue fatigue. The shorter the race the greater the amplitude of the arm action. The leg action should be short and controlled. High knee lift and excessively long strides are not rewarded. Efficiency is the end result of good distribution of effort and sound running mechanics.