Author: Vernon Gambetta
Quality Training
The distinguishing factor of an effective training program is quality. Quality is defined as a measure of perfect. Each training session in pursuit of competitive excellence must strive to be as close to perfect as possible. Winning the workout is the precursor to winning a competition. The best place to start the emphasis on quality is to focus on “perfect effort” the concept popularized by De La Sale High School Football team (http://perfecteffort.com/). It does not take any special talent or ability to produce perfect effort. Perfect effort in every training session will insure quality. Quality training will produce an adaptable athlete ready to thrive in any competitive environment. Without a stress on quality your athletes will just be doing work without direction and purpose.
Sport Performance – Tangible Intangibles
You can measure it; you can define it with precise algorithms – But then there is competition day. Competition is random and chaotic; there is the human element that adds tremendous variability and unpredictability to the equation. This all creates a gap between the numbers, the analytics if you will and the final outcome. The human element is highly trainable but very unpredictable. Measure what you can measure. Sense what you can sense and then coach!
Monday Meditations on Excellence
Hard smart work is the price of admission for a chance to be the best Potential & talent is meaningless unless you do the work to fulfill it Wise words from Seth Godin: “Don't try to be the 'next'. Instead, try to be the other, the changer, the new.” Toughness is how you handle your experiences & what you learn from them “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway” John Wayne Each of us as coaches has a chance everyday to change our world. You can YOUR world by doing something that no one else in your world is doing and doing it better. Be a change agent through words, actions and deeds.
Youth Sports Problems – Some Solutions
Here are the conclusions to my presentation on LTAD at the 2015 NSCA Convention in Orlando. We know the problems we need to focus on solutions, here are mine: Reinstitute mandatory daily physical education K – 12 NOW! Stop trying to identify the athletically gifted instead lets give them all the gift of athleticism Declare “Adult Free Zone” where kids can just play More play days – Les structure along with fewer leagues and tournaments Some final thoughts: DO participate in a variety of sports and activities DO NOT try to “hurry up” the development process DO NOT specialize too early DO NOT lose sight of long-term objectives What is the final goal? Were good life skills taught?
“The Wrecking Crew”
The Wrecking Crew is an amazing documentary http://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/ about change, innovation, humility, teamwork and sacrifice. This is not a sports documentary, but it very well could be, rather it is a documentary about a group of back-up musicians who changed the game. The old studio musicians were not adaptable. They played the notes as they were written and trained to play. They were very formulaic, stuck in their ways, why should they change it had worked before, but music was changing and the demands were changing. So along came the so-called “Wrecking Crew” a group of younger musicians many of whom had backgrounds in different genre’s of music who were completely adaptable and willing to push the envelope. They went beyond the notes as written, they made connections, looked for rhythms and tempos that other either ignored or had not seen. They realized that they could not change music by playing the same. The results were nothing short of amazing. It was the music my generation came of age on, it was what has become the classic sounds of the rock era. They were Phil Spectors so called "wall of sound." Unbelievable! These guys and gals changed music and they did this all with out public recognition or acclaim. Watching the documentary it is clear that these folks had a real passion and a bond for each other that comes through loud and clear in their music. I found this documentary very inspirational, I could not help but think of all my coaching colleagues who labored in the background and changed sport without recognition. I tip my hat to them and the Wrecking Crew as I listen to the Beach Boys station on Pandora. These are songs that some of the Wrecking Crew members recorded in Los Angeles in the 50s, 60s and 70s: 5th Dimension Let the Sunshine In/Aquarius Stoned Soul Picnic Up-Up and Away One Less Bell to Answer Association Windy Never My Love Beach Boys California Girls Don't Worry Baby Fun Fun Fun God Only Knows Good Vibrations I Get Around Sloop John B Byrds Mr. Tamborine Man Glen Campbell By The Time I Get to Phoenix Galveston Gentle on My Mind Wichita Lineman Captain and Tennille Love Will Keep Us Together Carpenters Close to You We've Only Just Begun Cher Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves Half-Breed Chipmunks Chipmunks Theme Nat King Cole Ramblin' Rose Sam Cooke Twistin' the Night Away You Send Me Crystals Then He Kissed Me Da Doo Ron Ron He's A Rebel Bobby Day Rock-in Robin Defenders Taco Wagon Shelly Fabares Johnny Angel Richard Harris MacArthur Park Jan & Dean Dead Man's Curve Surf City Little Old Lady (From Pasadena) Gary Lewis and the Playboys Everybody Loves a Clown Sure Gonna Miss Her This Diamond Ring Barry McGuire Eve of Destruction Mamas & Papas California Dreamin' Creeque Alley Dedicated to the One I Love Monday, Monday Henry Mancini The Pink Panther Theme Marketts Balboa Blue Outer Limits Surfer's Stomp Dean Martin Everybody Loves Somebody Scott McKenzie San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair) Monkees Mary Mary Valleri Chris Montez Let's Dance Ricky Nelson Fools Rush In Wayne Newton Danke Schoen Jack Nitzsche The Lonely Surfer Harry Nilsson Everybody's Talkin' Partridge Family Come on Get Happy Elvis Presley A Little Less Conversation Viva Las Vegas Paul Revere & the Raiders Indian Reservation Righteous Brothers Unchained Melody You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' Rip Chords Hey Little Cobra Johnny Rivers Poor Side of Town Tommy Roe Dizzy Ronettes Be My Baby I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus Routers Let's Go The Sandpipers Guantanamera Lalo Schifrin Mission Impossible Simon and Garfunkel Mrs. Robinson Frank Sinatra Strangers in the Night That's Life Nancy Sinatra These Boots Were Made for Walkin' Drummer Man Sonny and Cher The Beat Goes On I Got You Babe T-Bones No Matter What Shape (Your Stomach's In) Nino Tempo & April Stevens Deep Purple Tijuana Brass The Lonely Bull Spanish Flea Taste of Honey Whipped Cream Zorba the Greek Ike and Tina Turner River Deep Mountain High Ritchie Valens Donna Bobby Vee The Night Has a Thousand Eyes Ventures Hawaii 5-O Mason Williams Classical Gas Roger Williams Born Free
Lessons from GAIN 2015 – Randy Ballard on Trainability Assessment
Randy Ballard is an ATC who works with Volleyball and Track & Field at University of Illinois. Over the past three years Randy has taken elements of Kelvin Giles PCA (Physical Competency Assessment) and combined into a trainability assessment he calls I-FACTS – Illinois Foundational Athletic Competency System. It is a trainability assessment because it is designed to do just that, determine the athlete’s ability to train – where on a continuum of progression will you find kinks in the amour and adjust training accordingly. It is a reference to determine an entry point for programming training. A statement that Randy made in his presentation really struck home with me: “Once overspecialized, always overspecialized.” The implications of that statement are wide ranging. The athlete will be at University of Illinois for four years, they are expected to compete and achieve at a high level, but so much time is spent in damage control that was done before college that is presents a real dilemma. The whole I-FACTS is process oriented. Randy stressed that the “Data does not give you answers, rather it helps you ask better questions.” The process consists of the ATC, S&C, and sport coach all working to together to answer the questions and keep asking smarter more pointed questions. Because it is process orientated it is not a “one-off” testathon with the results filed away and forgotten. It is a living working part of the athletes training to constantly improve their athleticism. It is a vehicle to open and maintain lines of communication between the whole performance team working with the athlete. To get the athlete performing at their optimum requires cooperation and communication. It is important to emphasize that Randy has worked hard to involve the sport coach in this process; because of this the buy in has been significant.
Commonalities in Sports
In designing and implementing training programs for the various sports certain commonalities between sports are apparent. In fact once you get away from the nuances of the sport and focus on the movements there will be more similarities than differences. Squatting movements, bending movements, reaching movements are universal. Look carefully for commonalities in movements between sports before looking for differences. Once you find commonalities find as many ways to link them. You will find more commonalities than you thought. By looking for commonalities the differences will be very apparent. The system of sport classification into Sprint Sports, Intermittent Sprint Sports, Transition Sports and Endurance Sports will point you in the right direction. This is the first step that dictates the selection of the training methods. In selecting exercises for training there may actually be similar exercises or even the same exercises. Even though the exercise may be the same, it can be performed at a different tempo, with or without resistance to adapt the exercises to the respective sport. The message is that it is more than an exercise; it is the context that the exercise is applied that ultimately will matter the most.
The Comfort Zone
The comfort zone is just that a very comfortable place to be, it is a nice warm and fuzzy place that puts no demands on the person. Not much excellence is accomplished there precisely because it is very comfortable. To achieve a high standard of excellence in performance you cannot afford to be in the comfort zone. It is necessary to get uncomfortable, to test yourself and recognize that there are no boundaries. Boundaries and barriers are artificial constructs imposed by those who are comfortable and heavily invested in the status quo. Being limited by boundaries and barriers is letting others define your potential. Working to be the best demands being comfortable with being uncomfortable all the time.