Functional Path Training

Level Of Expectation

I have long believed that you level of expectation determines your level of achievement. Set the bar high and do everything possible to prepare yourself to clear that bar. Prepare to clear it not once, but continually because once you break through you can do it again. Raise the bar and raise the level of expectation. As a coach, don’t coach to the least common denominator; bring everyone up to the standard of your most proficient athletes. Demand that of them and yourself. It so easy to give in and regress towards the mean where everybody average and everybody is comfortable. I don’t know about you but I cannot recall being around anyone who was successful in any walk of life but especially sport who was comfortable. If they got comfortable they stopped getting better, if they stopped getting better the opposition passed them by. Do something today that gets you and your athletes changing, growing, knowing learning, questioning. Find a way to keep clearing the bar and raising it. Live in a culture of high expectation and achieve, get in the peak performance zone and revel in the challenges that exist there. Don't wait, do it now. Strike while the iron is hot, get out there and start making yourself all those around you better. Raise the level of expectation.

2011 Books

These are my favorites of the 107 books that read in 2011. The first three are my top picks.

Great By Choice:  Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite them All By Jim Collins and Morten T. Hansen

Challenging Beliefs: Memoirs of a Career By Tim Noakes

That Used To Be Us _ How America Fell Behind In The World It Invented and How We Can Come Back By Thomas L. Friedman and Michael Mandelbaum

Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights by Alex Hutchinson

Sway – The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori and Rom Braufman

The Mechanics of Sprinting and Hurdling by Ralph Mann

The Extra 2% - How Wall Street Strategies Took A Major League Baseball Team From Worst To First by Jonah Keri

The Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History  By S.C. Gwynne

I’M Here to Win: A World Champion’s Advice For Peak Performance by Chris McCormack

I Was A Horse in Bryansk by George V. Gemer

The Wave – In Pursuit of The Rouges, Freaks and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey

Authentic Happiness By Martin E.P. Seligman

Heroes, Villains and Velodromes – Chris Hoy and The British Cycling Revolution By Richard Moore

Winning Matters by Frank Dick

Bossypants By Tina Fey

Los Angeles Stories by Ry Cooder (Fiction)

The Drop by Michael Connelly (Fiction)

The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly (Fiction)

Cutting For Stone By Abraham Verghese (Fiction)

"IT"

When an athlete has “IT” you can see “IT,” you can feel “IT,” you can sense “IT.” I am not sure what “IT” is but I know you better have “IT” if you want to be successful. It is fashionable to talk tangibles, what is measurable in talent identification and selection and then to talk about the intangibles. “IT” is somewhere in between. "IT" is not just physical ability, "IT" is not just mental toughness, “IT” is that quality that distinguishes and separates one from the pack. “IT” can be grit, but “IT” is more. Keeping looking for ”IT” and you will find “IT.” “IT” is the difference maker. In the competitive cauldron the athlete with “IT” finds a way to get it done.

2011 Lessons Learned - Lesson Nine

Lesson Nine – It is important to stand up for what you believe in and if you are wrong to admit it. Valuing honesty, respect, integrity and professionalism does not make you a bitter old man, it makes you a wise. In today’s world of quick fixes, fast information and instant Internet experts it is easy to lose sight of substance and strong foundational beliefs. Being an excellent coach is being an excellent person, it is not about being the smartest and most verbal, it is about having meaning and purpose in everything you do. One of my core beliefs going back to my first year coaching is that “the pursuit of excellence has it’s own rewards,” everything I have seen and learned this past year has reinforced that.

Ahead in 2012 and beyond I am looking forward to learning and challenging myself to keep getting better. I am forever thankful for my family and my roots and those who have helped me along way.

2011 Lessons Learned - Lesson Eight

Lesson Eight – Those that ignore history are condemned to repeat it. In my experience there is no substitute for a historical context. This is one of the biggest deficiencies I see in today’s “new breed” of coaches. Go to the original sources and study them, don’t depend on interpretations. If you want to understand the “New Interval Training” you must go back and understand the old interval training. If you are interested in strength go back and study Tommy Kono. If you are interested in speed go back and study the work of Gerard Mach. If you are interested in endurance go back and study Igloi. If you are interested in applied sport science go back and read John Bunn and Doc Councilman’s works. Chances are the ground you walking on have been explored before so why repeat past mistakes, make new ones to grow and expand your horizons. In order to understand where you are going it is important to understand where you have been.

2011 Lessons Learned - Lesson Five

Lesson Five -10,000 hours is only part of a much bigger picture. Just punching a clock accumulating hours, starting to specialize early and put in your time each day is no guarantee for excellence. You do need some talent, a lot of direction, laser focus and a will to succeed in order to make the practice meaningful. Excellence requires a growth mindset a willingness to risk and make mistakes and the ability to learn from those mistakes. It is a journey where many are called and not as many chose to complete the journey.

Lessons Learned and Earned in 2011

2011 has been an unbelievable learning year. The opportunity to interact with top professionals in many fields made this past year special. Over the next few days I will share with some of the lessons I have learned and earned. I say earned because this is an ongoing accumulation of graduate credits toward my PhD in the school of hard knocks. Some of the lesson over the years and this year have been hard earned. Hopefully this will stimulate some thought and reflection on your part. Some of these are old lessons I had to relearn and some are new.

Lesson One – Coaching is a people profession. Technical expertise and scientific knowledge is necessary but emotional intelligence, the ability to connect on a personal basis is paramount. We don’t coach soccer players, tennis players or swimmers; we coach people who do those sports. It is so easy to lose sight of that and get caught up in the X’s and O’s, the technical and scientific and forget the people part, the human element. We don’t build athletes, we grow and nurture them, and it is a constant growth process with no set formula. Each athlete is a case study of one. The human element presents many unique and varied challenges. This is what makes up the art of coaching and what makes coaching so special.

My Office Mate "Feel the force!"

A gift from my wife to inspire my work. Some words of advice from Yoda to guide me:"Do or do not. There is no try"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Catching Up & Catching My Breath

I left home on September 23 to do a seminar in Seattle and then go onto Australia. Since then it feels like I have been traveling nonstop. I certainly have accrued some significant frequent flier miles. Now that I am home for seven straight days and my body has some idea of what continent it is on I will get back into he routine of regular posts. Since September 23 I have met some amazing people with whom I got to share ideas and learn. I will share with you some of my observations and things that I have learned in future posts.

Something that was continually affirmed is that you can’t stray very far from the basics if you want to be the best at what you do. This is probably not what a lot of the younger generation of coaches want to hear but it is a fact. Not real complicated, simpler seemed to be better. A sound technical model coupled with good consistent training and a healthy lifestyle is a common thread I heard from the best coaches and athletes I observed and interacted with. I must admit that it was no surprise, but I was surprised at how often it was verbalized.

A pearl that I culled from the past few days at the USATF convention is that the art of coaching is nothing more than organized common sense.

Fire in Babylon

Last night I watched “Fire in Babylon” an excellent documentary film. To call this a documentary about the great West Indies cricket team of the 1970's and 80's does not do it justice. It is a classic example of sport as metaphor and also a window into society. In the West Indies in the 1960’s the former British colonies where all achieving their independence from Britain, it was a time of social and political ferment, sport, cricket was not isolated from this. The rise of the great Windies (The Windies comprise an all-star team of the best players from all the islands of the West Indies, hence the name Windies) team that eventually went undefeated in international test Cricket for fifteen years from 1980 to 1995 is chronicled in this excellent documentary. The vintage game action footage and the training were excellent. The Windies where were one of the first international squads to actually do conditioning, a fact that gave them a huge edge. I thought the interviews with the players on the team were outstanding. These guys were real class individuals who elevated their region, their race and the game to the status it enjoys today in spite of deep racial prejudice. This is a terrific insight in the culture of the region and the culture of the sport, a sport that is exploding in popularity worldwide. It is good to see them get the recognition they deserve as pioneers in their sport and as agents of social change.