Tag Archive: Coaching

1. 10 questions you should ask before training

   21st November 2014 4:15 pm Leave a Comment

   “What should I be asking to get the information I need?”

   This excellent question came from Mark, one of the coaches on our last CPD workshop in Devon. You have a blank sheet of paper, you have a new group of athletes: where do you start?

   Here are 10 questions you might want to ask (in no particular order).

   1. How much time do I have with them?
   2. What is their current level and volume of training?
   3. What else do they do (outside of the sport)?
   4. What facilities/ equipment do I have available (available is different from mandatory)?
   5. What are the Needs to do vs Nice to do for their age/ stage and sport? (from Gambetta).
   6. How can I integrate training into other aspects of their life?
   7. How can I organise the session to minimise down time (different from rest time which is necessary)?
   8. Where do I want them to be in 12 months?
   9. Where are they now and how can I measure that?
   10. What unique aspects of the sport are there that might influence my session? (e.g. trampolinists & cricket fast bowlers do repeated movements on one side which affect their back).

   This is a start and then you can plan from there. I work from the ground up, rather than try backwards from the “ideal situation”.

   It is also important to remember that change takes time: sports coaches, athletes and parents need to be nudged and trust allowed to develop.

   Has anyone got any other good questions to ask at the start?

   Further reading:

   • How to plan your team’s fitness training 
   • How to take charge of your fitness training 

2. Coaching the Millennials

   6th October 2014 2:51 pm 4 Comments

   Generation Y Me?

   Sometimes known as Generation Y, this group of people are the ones coming into the workplace since the Millennium.

   A bit different from the Generation X “slackers”, the Millennials have been hot housed, nurtured and been led to believe that they can achieve anything.

   Massively full of self confidence (or something) they have yet to fail at anything in their life. They expect to be able to run their social life through work or through their sport.

   Well, welcome to sport. Failure is a part of it, as is hard work, as is realism.  If you are unaccustomed to failing and working at something to improve, then the first time you get a B-  or are unable to get it right straight away- it is a massive shock. 

   Two things happen here- they quit, or someone else is to blame. The problem with super high self esteem is that in order to protect it, you can apportion blame elsewhere. This is a poor starting place for performance improvement.

   The other side is mixing the social life into work and sport- well it is alright being best friends with everyone in the squad, but you are competing for places with them.

   The Millennials in team sports appear to be more worried about the social than the performance- and I am talking about funded players here. 

   My 3 tips are:

   1. Be a bit more forgiving in attitude: introduce adversity training gradually. 
   2. Allow time for social engagement at the start and end of the session.
   3. Set guidelines on how to interact with each other: no phones in the session or at meal times!

   However, this is still a work in progress!

   Further reading:

   Getting teenagers to take charge of their sporting preparation

3. “The true Art to what, how and why we do”: Jim Radcliffe

   21st July 2014 3:16 pm 2 Comments

   What it takes to be a successful strength and conditioning coach.

   “People in support positions should be seen and not heard” Jim Radcliffe at the beginning of his presentation on successful S&C coaching.

   (By successful, he means producing extremely fit, agile and fast athletes that then produce results on the field, court, track or pool. Rather than how many twitter followers you have got!)

   Successful coaches explain the “Why”

   Most coaches are good at telling athletes the what to do, some are really good at explaining the how, but very few are great at understanding the Why.

   Radcliffe explained this at the outset, based on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle, coaches need to understand why they are doing things, before they start just doing exercises or drills.

   His #1 factor of great or elite athleticism is acceleration or burst. The more people in the team who can do this, the better. This is the why.

   Rehearse consistently is the “how”

   In an average football practice at Oregon, they have 90+ acceleration reps for the exterior positions and 65+ for the interior positions.

   This includes burst requiring decision making. An example was his Punt Returners hold lacrosse balls when about to return a punt. This forces them to have correct body alignment and position when they do catch, which then facilitates a burst upfield (a great example of task constraint for you motor learning buffs).

   Negative practice drills which detract from the ability to burst must be eliminated. This includes the butt kick drill which just encourages a pendulum swing action and overstriding when running: failure practice!

   Thwe warm up is an opportunity for rehearsal, rather than just getting warm. Radcliffe teaches and reinforces  push mechanics in every warm up.

   “Agility is about efficient transitions”

   Agility progresses through these stages:

   • Start
   • Acceleration
   • Deceleration
   • Change of direction
   • Reacceleration

   This requires the ability to maintain correct posture as the body flexes, extends and rotates (pic of Excelsior athlete Sean Clifford).

   One great tip was to emphasise knee seperation over foot seperation. If the feet are getting further apart than the knees, then it shows poor hip projection.

   Ladder drills are redundant because they do a lot of footwork, but do nothing for knee seperation and hip projection.

   This can easily be seen in drills such as the one pictured with mini bands. The athlete at the front as feet coming out wider than the knees (poor hip projection) the athlete behind has knee above foot (better hip projection).

   Every drill and every athlete must be coached to ensure consistency.

   The 2 key points to be emphasised here are

   1. Body posture cues.
   2. Increase strength- power-impulse.

   How to develop explosive power on the pitch

   Being able to apply and strength and power develeoped in the gym onto the pitch requires the ability to apply great force over a small base of support and great righting and tilting reflexes.

   Radcliffe said that explosive power can be borken down into 3 areas as shown in diagram below.

   

   This requires practicing fast, explosive intense movements. Another key point was “The more time spent on the ground =the more BAD things happen than good.”

   Here Radcliffe was talking about an athletes’s ability to negotiate the ground. The ability to turn and run fast is a sign of efficient quickness and correct mechanics. There is a need for fast response to a stimulus.

   Placing the feet outside the knees is a sign of the less agile athlete:  (I question the transference of ultra-wide squats to agility work: hence my athletes squat with feet under hips).

   One of the ways to get the athlete to improve mechanics is to train barefoot. This give better immediate sensory feedback about the ability to have a spring loaded foot, rather than a flat foot.

   The whole foot lands on the floor, but only a tiny heel mark is left on the grass or sand. A spring loaded foot is essential for running fast and quick turns/ reactive jumps.

   Agility drill progressions

   Radcliffe spent some time going over how he progresses his agility work with his athletes.

   Starting with the two basic actions of:

   • Speed cuts: Pivot action, rolling off the inside foot.
   • Power cuts: The sit, dip and drive action, pushing off the outside of the foot.

   He then progresses to the Sway drill, lateral starts, backward starts and then elastic lead-ins to the the speed and power cuts. This could be stepping off a chair and landing on the outside edge of the foot to push sideways for a power cut.

   This then leads to to reaction drills (with directional components such as a clock drill) to a games related skill or drill.

   Summary

   From Day 1, practice 1, Radcliffe emphasises the “Go as fast as you can go” approach to training. Initially this may only be 1/2 steps in different directions, but they are FAST.

   This seminar showed how Radcliffe has a truly great understanding of Why, brilliant progressions of how, and then practically he can do the what.

   What is really refreshing about Jim Radcliffe, is that he is at GAIN to learn as much as to teach, he is always writing notes, or asking the different presenters questions so he can improve his own practice (see pictures of him sharing with Vern Gambetta and Finn Gundersen).

   This is the 4th year in a row I have seen him present, and I always get something new. I have completely changed how I coach agility and pliometrics as a result of seing him in action. Highly recommended.

   Further reading:

   • Train the way you play: Jim Radcliffe
   • Strength and Power concepts: Jim Radcliffe
   • Pliometrics and agility: Jim Radcliffe
   • Agility with a purpose: Jim Radcliffe
   • Principles of Training (overload variations): Jim Radcliffe.

4. Developing young athletes: Jonah Barrington

   12th May 2014 2:57 pm 1 Comment

   “Kids are brittle and fickle”

   Jonah Barrington, squash legend. I worked with Jonah for 5 years when I was Head of Athletic Development at Millfield school.

   He was always a great sounding board on things to do with coaching, squash and life.

   He gave a heartfelt presentation to all of the coaches at the school, and I have just uncovered the notes I took. Here are some of his insights:

   Growing Up

   Jonah was born in a small village in Cornwall. There were no organised activities, so the kids sorted themselves out.

   He then went to a small school in Ireland from ages 5-9,. There he had one good teacher (with whom he is still in contact 60+ years later) who got the best out of the youngsters.

   Jonah then moved to a private school in England which was a disaster.He was small and nervous playing rugby, but forced into it. He never played again.Jonah uses this experience to help identify with young kids who may falter at the first opportunity.

   It is important that coaches recognise this and provide further opportunities for success.

   “Adults too often impose adult thinking/ training on children. We always need to be conscious we are dealing with young people.“

   Build confidence in youngsters

   Jonah used Kevin Pietersen as an example of a senior International player who has publicly lost confidence.

   If it happens to adults of his ability, then it must happen to children: even faster, even more often.

   “We need to build it up.”

   Jonah loves his sport, and he tries to impart this passion and enthusiasm to the youngsters.

   “Kindness is a part of it. It is important that you like young people.”

   (Compare that to a 21 year old coach who told me hated kids, but coached them because “that’s where the money is”!)

   Coaching Integrity

   Jonah stressed that coaches need to be seen to be fair. They provide fun and enjoyment. However, there is a correlation between fun and discipline. But, “sport is not the classroom, so it shouldn’t be an extension of the classroom.”

   Kids do respond to being organised: otherwise you have mayhem!. Sport does involvbe winning or losing.

   “By nurturing the kids and their competitive instincts, we can provide a supportive and enjoyable journey for all.”

   I really enjoyed working with Jonah, we could have an open, frank (and sometimes heated) discussion about what we were doing. We both knew that we had the kids’ best interests at heart. One of the reasons why he has been successful as a coach.

   • Fitness training for squash
   • Playing squash in the USA

5. How to acquire skill in strength and conditioning

   28th February 2014 1:08 pm 8 Comments

   “Skill learning isn’t just skill learning, it’s preparation”

   John Brierley in his skill acquisition lecture on our level 3 coaching strength and conditioning for sport course.

   Ever see the 5 sets of 5 programme for squats, power cleans and bench press? Dull as dishwater!

   If we want our athletes to develop, we need to challenge their skill. If we fail to do that they get bored.

   John’s theme was how can we make ourselves redundant as coaches: “It’s not our responsibility to keep control of their learning.”  Instead, we need to “Get people to be in love with the activity” and then that stands them in good stead later on.

   That’s coaching. How do you coach in the gym? Is it just handing out sets and reps and increasing the weight?

   Do you crank up the music to create “atmosphere” and remove the human contact between coach and athlete?

   These were the questions John was asking us as coaches. If we are to be successful (and by that I mean getting our athletes performing in the arena) then we need to improve our coaching, including motor skill acquisition.

   Motivation and motor skill acquisition go together

   

   Juggling is fun

   If we get the athlete motivated, then they are more likely to acquire the skill.

   This comes down to structuring the practice well, using the right level of task difficulty and then using the correct cues and feedback.

   We spent some time doing this as a group as John broke out his Mary Poppins bag of coaching aids.

   We had to perform a juggling task, test it, then do 2 minutes of practice with some video feedback, rest, then practice more. We then retested at the end.

   There was minimal chat, some cues such as “think drainpipe rather than teapot” and short focussed practice. The idea was that by looking at the video, and trying 1 or 2 cues, we could improve.

   (Duncan proved to be a juggling whiz, so whilst we were dropping tennis balls, he was progressing from 2 to 3 balls, to mishaped objects, to juggling clubs: John was well prepared with stuff!).

   This structure was similar to the micropractice work we did in December.

   “People are never as physically tired as they are mentally“. We can give the athlete breaks in practice when the skill is hard to achieve. Rest them physically, but work on something else.

   I apply this with athletes as just when they are looking comfortable or familiar it is time to move on (temporarily) to something else. Boredom sets in otherwise, and the learning stagnates.

   Decision making counts

   Skill rarely happens in isolation in sport. Instead, it is the decision making that counts. “Don’t take the decision making out of it“. Practice needs to be variable:

   • Short, long or medium length.
   • Shooting/ rehearsing dominant/ non-dominant.
   • Slower vs faster.
   • Change the environment and context.

   As we set down our learning pattern, we won’t remember the rep, but we will remember the context in which we practiced.

   • How do you structure your practice?
   • Is it the same every time?
   • Are your athletes getting better at some pre-programmed activities?
   • How do you know if that can then be applied to the sport?

   I left the course with a lot of questions I have to ask myself, and I was the lead tutor!

   Summary

   John’s wealth of experience working in football and athletics enabled him to share practical examples of challenges within teams and high pressure situations.

   His approach of “how to get everyone working together” was insightful and useful for all the coaches.

   “Less is more” seemed to be one of the themes of the course: simpler, more effective cues. Have fewer exercises, but coach them really well, and change the context and environment in which we practise them.

   Marius and Andy had emphasised this on the first weekend of the course too.

   The rest of the weekend was spent looking at how all the pieces of the puzzle fit together: planning the year, the month the week and the individual session.

   I wanted the coaches to be asking the right questions of themselves and of their athletes; perhaps most importantly

   How can I help my athletes improve their performance where it counts?  The competitive arena.

   If you would like to host a course at your school or club, please see what we offer here

   Further reading

   • In pursuit of excellence 
   • Training design do’s and don’ts

6. An important lesson from the Navy Seals

   11th October 2013 2:35 pm Leave a Comment

   “If you know how to ‘shoot, move, and communicate’ the rest will fall into place.”

   Mark Owen, in “No Easy Day” the story of the Osama Bin Laden mission.

   Owen talks about the planning and preparation that goes into a mission like that.

   An immense amount of training of the basics of close quarter combat, and then more training in pressure situations.

   However, when you have no idea what is behind that closed door, or behind the next hedgerow “the plan always changed, so it was easiest to keep things simple.”

   Too much time spent on the plan leads to the appearance of “The Good Idea Fairy”, whose basic premise is to weigh the Seals down with too much kit by trying to account for every eventuality.

   We see this in sport a lot with ovecomplicated play books or training programmes, but the athlete can only shoot with one foot and has trouble getting out of a chair hands free!

   Owen says combat becomes more like “pick up basketball” and the team who shoot, move and communicate the best are able to adapt.

   Rather than fuss about miniscule matters and burden your athletes with pointless information (I guarantee no fighter in the last round is worrying about his AMPTk protein affecting his endurance) try working harder on the basics.

   Then challenge these basics in imaginative and stressful situations.

   As Vern Gambetta says “We want adaptable athletes, rather than adapted ones”

7. Hope, mindfulness and compassion

   18th July 2013 11:00 am 3 Comments

   “Do you coach with compassion or for compliance?”

   Effective leaders bring out the best in people, they do this through inspiring hope,being mindful and coaching with compassion (1).

   That was one snippet from my recently completed 6 week course led by Richard Boyatzis called “Inspiring Leadership Through Emotional Intelligence”.

   The premise of the course was to make us more aware of our own emotional states and how it impacts our decision making and interactions with others.

   It showed ways of creating true empathy which genuinely opens up to the other person which is very powerful (The less effective empathy is seeing the other person through a reflection of yourself.)

   It showed how inspiring hope and dreams are important coaching tools. Athletes respond to that and sometimes get caught up in what other people think they “ought to do” rather than what they “love to do” (2,3).

   It showed how being mindful is important for my relationship with athletes (I can respond better to their needs and desires) and also for my own benefit (clarity of thought, renewal).

   It was tough, with a bigger workload than expected, but well worth it.

   “When we use the term compassion, we go beyond the typical Western interpretation to one coming from Confucian philosophy. Compassion is the experience of benevolence, of being open to others. It is caring for others who might be in pain (more hedonic) or those in joy (more eudemonic) or those in search of growth (eudemonic) (4). 

   Who has inspired you?

   Try this simple exercise: take 5 minutes out and write down a list of people who have inspired you throughout your life: Family, teachers, coaches, colleagues, friends.

   Think about what was it they did that inspired you? Remember as much detail as possible, again write it down.

   If you have done the exercise, well done. How did you feel when you were doing it? You will probably be feeling pretty good now.

   You have activated the parasympathetic nervous system by thinking of positive emotional attractors. You are now in an open state of mind and have experienced some “Renewal“.

   Our daily lives are filled with encounters and events that are quite stressful: being held on the phone, dealing with the National Governing Body that wants meaningless reports, stuck in traffic etc..

   This activates the Sympathetic nervous system which is good when you need to focus on an essential task or deal with an immediate event. The downside is that it limits access to all of your neural networks and the excess cortisol produced hinders your immune system.

   You become narrow minded and risk illness.

   A daily dose of Renewal helps counter this: play, moderate exercise and learning new things are examples of how to activate your Parasympathetic system.

   One of the discussion points on the course was what ratio do we need to have between the Positive Emotional Attractors (PEA) and the Negative Emotional Attractors (NEA)?  We need to consciously build in PEA time due to the amount of NEA we experience (5). For me, it was about 5:5 normally and 8:2 if I am thriving.

   Hearts, Minds & Bodies

   As a coach do you activate the PEA in your athletes or the NEA?

   I have found myself in the past looking to “fix weaknesses” in athletes.

   By focussing on their “problems” it means that I am less tuned into them as people.

   I have tried now to win their hearts first by inspiring hope, then explain why we do what we do, then get their bodies to follow.

   Some coaches are very good at this (e.g.Clay Erro) and create an environment where “eyes are shiny with the art of possibility“. 

   If you think of how NGBs often try to get their athletes to get fit, you will see how flawed it is.

   • They put athletes through a series of fitness tests and then tell the athletes what they are bad at (NEA)
   • They give out a bit of paper with some exercises with funny names on it. Give a quick demonstration (often by sports coaches who are poor at them) and say “do these at home “(compliance).
   • See the athletes again in 6 weeks and tell them off for failing to do their homework! “They are not engaged“.

   They test the body, confuse the mind, and then break the heart! (This is why I refuse to work in that type of environment and have resigned from some contracts).

   The key to sustaining good effective coaching is building relationships. One way to do that is to focus on what people love to do rather than need to do. Find out what the athlete is good at and buiild from there.

   Once trust is established, a shared vision can be created that is very strong and will lead to success (6).

   Summary

   I learnt huge amounts on this course. It enabled me to deepen my relationship with a lot of the athletes and coaches I work with. That has had immediate results in their performance which was unexpected.

   I have also ditched some work that was just too negative. Life is too short to be dragged down by trolls!

   The course had a balance of:

   • video lectures
   • extensive reading
   • essay writing
   • group discussion
   • quite tough self reflection exercises

   All of these were very useful, except the group discussions which were unwieldy due to the sheer amount of people involved. That could have been better structured.

   I would recommend the course to all coaches: in fact it should be an essential part of every coaching course/ pathway. Far too many “coaches” are in fact “instructors“.

   This course was hosted by Coursera and was my fourth MOOC follo

   wing “Crash Course in Creativity”, “Data Visualisation and Infographics“, “How Things Work”.

   I start “Exercise Physiology: Understanding the Athlete Within” next week.

    References

   1. Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R., & McKee, A. (2001). “Primal leadership: The hidden driver of leadership. Harvard Business Review, December.
   2. Smith, M., Boyatzis, R.E. & Van Oosten, E. (2012). Coach with Compassion. Leadership Excellence, 29:3, 10.
   3. Boyatzis, R.E. & Yeganeh, B. (2012). Mindfulness. Leadership Excellence, 29:3, 4.
   4. Boyatzis, R.E., Smith, M. & Beveridge, A. (in press). Coaching with Compassion: Inspiring Health, Well-Being and Development in Organizations. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
   5. Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C. & Vohs, K.D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323-370.
   6. Van Oosten, E. (2006). Intentional Change Theory at the Organizational Level: A Case Study. Journal of Management Development. 25(7), 707-717.

8. Team building: a different approach

   26th June 2013 9:42 am 2 Comments

   “Pretty much everything we do in life is a co-operative endeavour”

   said Clay Erro at the beginning of his inspirational talk at GAIN. Clay is a recently retired Californian High School teacher and football coach.

   He was kind enough to share some of the lessons he has learnt over his career.

   The main thrust of the lecture was in creating a culture and philosophy that gets young people excited. This is done by developing and nurturing relationships.

   “We’re in the people business.”

   What is your coaching philsophy?

   Whatever your philosophy is:

   • Believe in it.
   • Sell it.
   • Teach it.
   • Adjust.

   We are naive if we assume that an autocratic approach will create a lasting legacy. That is coaching through compliance. Clay is all about coaching with compassion (1).

   This manifests itself into a different kind of philosophy:

   • Question common practices and traditional beliefs.
   • Emphasise the mental approach, as opposed to the physical.
   • Emphasise relationships more than rules.
   • Put philosophy into action daily.
   • Focus on the process, rather than the outcome.

   “The difference between good and GREAT is consistency.”

    Mind is the key, not the body

   We have all been there with our spreadsheets of super duper sets and latest periodised training plans. But, without the mind, the body will stay behind. The mind has more potential, is the most powerful and leads the body.

   “What’s the quickest way to get better? Get smarter!”

   Clay has a few coaching behaviours that are unique to him. He gets everyone’s attention by getting them to clap in time: “give me one, give me two, give me three, give me none.” He starts sentences and expects the group to finish them: “Rules are made to be …..”

   These are designed to get the players actively involved in learning and speed up their response times.

   “It is more important to understand your subjects, than to be an expert in your subject.”

   Rules or Relationships?

   Belief in the team comes from the strength of relationships, more so than the rigidity of rules.

   “Relationships are like a savings account, you deposit daily and then you can draw upon them in critical times.”

   A lot of teams have rules, but Clay talked about the “paradox of rules”:

   • They are made to be broken.
   • Limit the coaches power and flexibility.
   • Usually punish the team more than the individual.
   • Turns the coach into a policeman.
   • There is always an exception to the rule.
   • They elicit excuses.
   • Create a false sense of security.

   Relationships on the other hand are the glue that hold the team together (2).

   We, not me

   The three most important words in any successful relationship are “We, not me.” (Paraphrasing Muhammed Ali’s famous “Me, We” poem?)

   The basis of team building is inclusion, the basis of competition is exclusion. If you think of the best teams that you have been involved in, the people work together and feel part of the process. Think of the worst teams you have been involved in and it is like a sack full of cats trying to get on top.

   One way of building inclusion is to get the players to teach other (Show, Do, Teach as Ed Thomas said last year). This helps build relationships and improve performance because:

   • It builds respect and self-esteem in all members.
   • The quickest way to learn something is to teach it.
   • Rate of improvement increases rapidly.
   • Everyone is a valued member.
   • Builds bonds amongst all players and between all players and the coaches (3).
   • Focuses the teaching on shared terminology and coaching points.

    Summary

   Clay is a shining example of a coach/ teacher with integrity who is making a real difference in young people’s lives.

   He shakes everyones hand at the end of each session, he gets everyone to praise another team mate. Simple things that make his pupils feel welcome and worthwhile.

   Clay was present throughout the week, and it was great to be able to chat and bounce ideas off him.

   A wealth of experience in the trenches, humble, but gritty too.

   A welcome antidote to today’s “get rich quick” pseudo gurus.

   (Disclaimer: I had severe jet lag and kept nodding off, so any errors are mine alone.)

   Further reading

   Clay did things from his perspective and experience, but there is also some interesting research around this subject.

   1. Smith, M., Boyatzis, R.E. & Van Oosten, E. (2012). Coach with Compassion. Leadership Excellence, 29:3, 10.
   2. Boyatzis, R.E. (2012). Neuroscience research shows how resonant relationships are key to inspirational leadership. Ivey Business Journal, 
   3. Van Oosten, E. (2006). Intentional Change Theory at the Organizational Level: A Case Study. Journal of Management Development. 25(7), 707-717.

9. Heart rates, wattage and VO2 max testing.

   20th June 2013 9:41 am 1 Comment

   “Heart rate should be an indicator not a dictator”

   says Bryan Fish the Development Coach for the US cross country ski team.

   This nugget of information came out at a breakfast conversation at GAIN. I know very little about the long endurance sports, so was fascinated to hear what Bryan had to say.

   He expands further here.

   Using Heart Rates

   We have gone up and down through the trials and tribulations of heart rate, lactate, and RPE testing.

   Our challenge is that our sport is so dynamic that we can’t use pace like running and swimming.  The stop watch is ultimately the “tool” best utilized if we could but variability is too great from one day to the next.

   The wattage meter in cycling is ultimately where our sport would like to go.

   The cool thing about wattage is it demonstrates a consistent physical output that is effective in the direction of travel.  I can put forth a lot of energy but that doesn’t necessarily mean it is down the track or down the road. Output plus pace provides that.

   GPS has become popular because of that.  As you know our mantra for tools – “indicate not dictate” is key.  We encourage athletes to use and NOT use them at times.  The goal is to learn pacing and energy output without having a monitoring unit all the time.

   Some workouts are about speed and need not be monitored, since the neural system is the target.  Other times we want athletes “individually controlled” but the heart rate still remains a guideline and remain in a general output.

   An athlete needs to push, hold back and explore pacing strategies and technique modifications to become ever more efficient.  The heart rate monitor can mindlessly dictate a session OR be a mindful tool to make an athlete more independent and more efficient.  The devil is in the details.

   VO2 Max Testing for skiiers

   We have a high tech facility with 2 skiing treadmills and the ability to provide athletes oxygen supplementation to simulate a variety of altitudes.  We do all max VO2 tests at sea level conditions.  We test our athletes rollerskiing for specificity.

   That being said – our coaches and athletes look at how long they last on the treadmill as probably the most significant factor of success from the test.  Why – because the length of the test means you are going the fastest.  Our athletes have high VO2’s.  There is a baseline amount of capacity that is necessary to be a World class endurance athlete.

   Our sports science coined it the “cloud of success.”  Many of our developing athletes are in this “cloud.”  That being said, you wouldn’t be able to point out the most successful to lesser success by looking merely at VO2 results.  This is true both with our World Cup & development athletes.  There are many capacities that make up an athlete.  

   Another important point is that VO2 CAN and DOES change slightly throughout the year and it CAN improve like any physical capacity.  There is certainly diminishing return with World class athletes.  It takes A LOT to move a LITTLE, but we can all improve.

   I have been involved with or personally administered over 450 VO2 tests.  I am suspicious with anyone who uses averages.  Each athlete is unique and responds in a unique way.  I could explain this but my fingers would be bloody from typing so long.  Bottom line – if you are going to test then make it personalized and repeat it looking at the personal results from the past tests.

   Other fitness tests for skiiers

   We have tests that compliment and verify one another.  For example, we have VO2, hemoglobin mass and blood testing.  A low VO2 might be due to low ferretin.

   The hemoglobin and blood testing will catch that and a lowering VO2 will likely result in lowering performance in this specific situation.

   The basic premise is, like the heart rate monitor, VO2 testing is a tool that can be effectively used or grossly abused.  The latter is often the case unfortunately.  There is no ONE validating test.  The test should be utilized to track and steer training for the individual.  FMS, strength, etc testing should not be substituted for VO2 testing.  They are different tests and should be considered important factors as well.  Secondly, testing is limited in its capacity, so know what it tests and know what it does NOT test.

   Vern’s presentation nailed in on the head.  What is your objective for the test? Bryan Fish.

   (More on fitness testing here)

10. “It’s the people business stupid”: GAIN 2013

    17th June 2013 3:17 pm 3 Comments

    Coaches are in the people business

    I have just returned from another fantastic GAIN (Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network) in Houston, Texas.

    The 5 day event was full of ideas, tips and sharing of coaching philosophies.

    This year Vern Gambetta opened the conference with a quote from Frank Dick “We don’t coach javelin throwers, runners or jumpers. We coach people who happen to throw, run or jump”.

    This idea occurred time and time again throughout the conference. There was plenty of whys, whats and how tos, but it all means nothing if you fail to bring the people with you.

    I shall be reporting on the nuts and bolts in more detail in a few weeks time. I need to reflect on what we did, review my notes and then practice some of the things. It’s all too easy to come back with “Monday’s workouts” written down.

    Cross Pollination of Ideas

    This conference is unique in my experience in that it brings people from different nations, different sports (e.g. lacrosse, cricket, track and field, soccer, gridiron, ice hockey, field hockey, wrestling, Aussie rules, rugby, cross country skiiing, downhill skiing, swimming) and different practices (sports coaches, chiropracters,athletic development coaches, physiotherapists, athletic trainers, strength and conditioning coaches) and puts them together to share knowledge and practices.

    We all tend to be a bit bunker bound within our own sport, country or profession. Looking at an athlete from all these different view points enables us to step back and see with fresh eyes. This was true interdisciplinary learning.

    It is refreshing to see people like Jim Radcliffe and Bill Knowles sat through lectures furiously writing notes down.

    Highlights

    

    • Some highlights for me, in no particular order:
    • Every day is pancake day at GAIN, meal time conversations is where the real learning takes place.
    • Andy Stone skipping master class (not on the agenda, but added bonus).
    • Land training for swimmers by Nick Folker, learnt more from this hour and chats with Nick than I have done in last 3 years observing “dryland training”.
    • Clay Erro on coaching young people in a school setting. “Everything we do in life is a cooperative endeavour”.
    • Olympic Panel: lessons learnt from the past Olympics and ones before, including how to get the athletes self reliant and their warm ups robust.
    • Greg Thompson’s P.E. class one morning: every kids should benefit from this type of teacher and session content.
    • Cross country skiing chat with Head Coach Bryan Fisher: learnt more about Heart Rate training at breakfast than I have in my life. Gold dust.
    • Steve Magness on applying science in the coaching environments: YES he gets it and does it.
    • Jim Radcliffe’s practical sessions in the gym and out of the gym: this guy is outstanding and he works hard at being able to do it.
    • Vern Gambetta on coaching pedagogy “Know the basics, master the basics, don’t deviate from the basics”.

    But the overall highlight is having great people, who are all trying to get better, sharing ideas and inspiring each other to do the same.