Functional Path Training

GAIN 2010 - Tuesday

What a day yesterday! Bill Knowles on Return to Play Strategies. He is a real innovator  and forward thinker. Made some real good points on the healing process and neural component. Real stimulating discussion groups in the evening. Fun catching up with Victor Bergonzoli of Dartfish. New Dartfish Player is a real nice service and innovation. I love Joe P.'s perspective. He is covering trunk and upper extremity. Very practical. Kelvin has been great, he gets me fired up. Achieving physical literacy is what it is all about.

This mornings field session with Frans Bosch was one of those moments when the lights went on for me and the group. It is one thing to read his book, listen to him speak and watch the video. It is another to to actually do the lead-up progression drills to learn and reinforce the concept of "whip from the hip." Getting to walk the walk brought it all together.

This reminds that you can imitate or innovate. Innovation is not comfortable and you must see the world with new eyes. It is easy to  criticize guys like Frans, but if you can keep an open mind there is a lot there. Looking forward to the rest of the day and tomorrow. Hope more of you will join us next year.

GAIN 2010 - Monday

What an experience! This is the best of the three years. Not enough superlatives to describe this expereince. Really cool when you get a group pf professionals like this together. We start the day at 6:55 with active learning field sessions. Thanks to Ed Ryan for taking over the operations and administrative part of this so I can focus on teaching and learning. Frans Bosch got us thinking yesterday. Kelvin Giles is taking us through Physical Competency Assessment as a step to developing physical literacy. Joe P. doing the trunk and upper extremity functional anatomy and exercise. Looking forward to the day.

GAIN Spelling Bee

We were thinking of having a spelling bee at GAIN, but I could not spell GAIN as you could see by my post this morning so we canceled it. For me a post without a spelling error is a rare. I get so psyched writing these things that my fingers cannot stay up with my feeble mind. Also wanted to let you know we kicked off with a BANG not a bong.

We kicked off with a field session this morning at 7:00 AM. Then Jim Radcliffe - Always great. Followed by John Perry, another great session on Lower extremity functional anatomy and biomechanics. 5 in 5 session with Greg Thompson and Kelvin Giles on fire, a hellfire and brimstone presentation on developing physical literacy and introduction to Physical Competency Assessment (PCA). Tonight a case study assessing an injured athlete world class athlete.

2010 GIAN Apprentorship Kickoff

First day kicked off with a bong. Kelvin Giles got us fired up with a the basis for Athletic Development. John Perry real good session on functional anatomy of lower extremity. Getting ready to start second day at 7:00 AM with field session then a full day in classroom.

Dartfish Player

I am a big fan of Dartfish. I was the first Athletic Development coach to use it. It is a great coaching tool. They are also a sponsor of my GAIN Apprentorship program, I want thank Victor Begonzoli for getting behind the GAIN Program. The addition of the player is great step forward, check it out.

www.dartfish.tv/DartfishPlayer.aspx

 

See a short clip about it

http://www.dartfish.tv/Player.aspx?CR=p3c7285m119872

 

USATF & Coaching Education

I am not as concerned about the coaching registry (that is a fact of life in 2010) as much as others are, what I am concerned about is the lack of respect and understanding for the Coaching Education program that has been in place and working successfully since 1984. Here is Stephanie Hightower’s, USATF President and Chair, response on why a director of coaching was named:

“One of the reasons for hiring a Director of Coaching was to give American coaches the voice in the organization that they often felt they lacked. With proper staffing in place, our Board of Directors issued a directive to the National Office to devise a “certification” plan for coaches.”

This is very revealing. First of all it confirms that coaches have not been a priority in USATF, a fact known to us all. Apparently they did not even know they had a coaching education program in place. I won’t comment or argue about the choice of the person chosen as Director of Coaching because that gets into personalities, but I think the selection process should have been more transparent and thorough. It all smells very political to me, like lets toss the coaches a bone. What really upsets me to no end is the directive “to devise a “certification” plan for coaches.” What have we  been doing the last 26 years? Many of us worked tirelessly to develop and grow this program and to have the administration and board summarily reject all the work that has been done by a group of dedicated individuals is a real travesty. What about all of you who have been certified? Where do you stand? What does your certificate mean? Don’t let these political animals’ fool you, they don’t care about coaches or coaching, just look at the history of the organization. I think is time for the USOC to look closely at USATF and see if they really represent the sport in the US.

Getting Strong – The Mode and Method

Sometimes we get too wrapped up in the mode of strength training and lose sight of what we are trying to accomplish. Select a mode of strength training that is appropriate to the sport are training for. Do not lock yourself in to one mode. For example, pulling movements can be accomplished in a variety of ways using a variety of implements. It all depends on the ultimate goal. If you accept that strength training is a means to end, not an end unto itself, a whole new vista of options becomes available. I just keep reminding myself that strength training is coordination training with appropriate resistance. The key words here are coordination training and appropriate resistance. I do not get as hung up on chasing number as I once did. I know there are certain landmarks that the athlete must achieve based on gender, training age, skill level and sport and I let those guide me. I do not try to get crazy selecting the mode, start with body weight and go to weight vests, sandbags, dumbbells Hexlite bar and Olympic bar. Kettlebells are used but I can live without them. The other rule I live by is nice to do (have) versus need to do (have). Use common sense, be basic and fundamental and you can build strength that you can use and apply in your sport.

Getting Strong - Step by Step

Getting strong is relatively easy, but preparing to get strong is hard. This is not to demean or disparage anyone's ideas, rather it is reaction to what I have seen throughout my career. It is easy to get someone on a strength training program and load them up and make very significant measurable strength gains on traditional exercises in relatively short periods of time. There is nothing wrong with traditional exercises, we need them and they have a place. What I have seen though is a lack of an investment in preparation to get strong. This previously came from traditional physical education which included a myriad of movement skills that emphasized the ability to handle body weight in many different positions and angles. To prepare to get strong demands starting with the ability to handle bodyweight exercises and building across a continuum progressing the heavy external loading appropriate for the sport or activity you are training for. It is a process, slow and methodical in most cases. With post pubertal boys who have a huge anabolic advantage the temptation is to load them quickly. Even though they respond quickly, this is a mistake. Taking a year or longer to carefully and methodically progress and learn and master correct technique will result in significantly greater strength gains in the long term. In addition it will serve to protect the athlete from injury. I like to think of it as an investment in long-term strength gain. Build structural strength, great joint integrity, and sound technique but also be sure to develop other athletic qualities in parallel to the strength development. This is not revolutionary, it is common sense give a little at the beginning and get a lot at the end.

Ultimately we have to get them strong and to do that you need external resistance. If the sport demands that you move another person or propel a heavy object then those demands are different than if you are preparing to hit a golf ball. The girls on my volleyball that have gone through the progression were all able to squat 11/2 their bodyweight. Is that necessary to be a great volleyball player, I am not sure, but one thing I do know is that their ability to handle jumping loads has increased significantly. In some cases it took three years to get to that level, in another one year. It really depends on the adaptability and trainability of the athlete. In summary to get them strong invest in the preparation necessary to get them strong.

 

USATF – The Mushroom System

The following editorial tells it like it is. USATF is not and never will be about coaches or coaching. They epitomize the mushroom system - Keep them in the dark and shovel shit on them. I think it time the USOC take a long hard look at USATF. It is the USOC that sanctions USATF as the governing body.

 

Editorial: Has USATF Declared War On U.S. Coaches?

by James Dunaway & Larry Eder

First came the appointment of a USATF "Director of Coaching." Who knew  
we needed one?

Then came the gutting of the Coaches Education program -- a program  
created and run entirely by coaches without any help from USATF for  
most of its 25 years - a program which educated more than 20,000  
American high school and college coaches - a program which visibly  
raised the level of U.S. track and field coaching, and U.S.  
performances - in short, the most successful initiative in USATF's  
history.

Earlier this year, most of the distinguished coaches who led Coaching  
Ed for the past decade suddenly resigned because of changes which were  
being made in Indianapolis. Said USATF, "We'll get new  
coach-instructors who will be just as good." We're still waiting to be  
told who they are.

Now comes USATF's Coaches Registry, which more than one well-known  
coach has called, "Blackmail." That's not our word, but it was spoken  
by coaches known and respected in our sport.

Blackmail, because if you don't sign up, you can't get a coach  
accreditation for USATF Championships. Which means you can't get into  
the practice and warmup areas to work with your athletes in the  
important days and hours before they compete. No matter how good a  
coach you are.

One well-known coach, a former Olympic medalist and world champion,  
said, "I don't like it at all, but I signed up because my athletes  
need me and expect me to be there."

There are several other important "privileges" not available to  
non-registered coaches, but the issue of greatest concern is the coach  
accreditation for the Championships.

Sam Seemes, who leads the U.S. Track and Cross-Country Coaches of  
America, reports that most of the comments he has received about  
Coaches Registry were unfavorable. The day after USATF announced the  
program, Seemes and USTFCCCA president Curtis Frye sent a message to  
members which included the following:

"USTFCCCA Members should know that the USTFCCCA neither supports the  
Coaches Registry program, nor did we develop the program. We are  
disappointed that USATF implied in their press release that the  
USTFCCCA was supportive of the Coaches Registry program they have  
established.  Furthermore, we disagree with the statement that the  
USATF Coaches Registry 'will identify and acknowledge the coaches who  
represent the profession's highest standards.' "
USATF CEO Doug Logan said, "No group is more important to the  
development of our athletes than coaches." He certainly has a strange  
way of showing it. One wonders why USTFCCA wasn't informed of Coaches  
Registry before it was announced, and why USTFCCA wasn't asked to  
participate in developing a program specifically involving its  
membership?

Just as bad was USATF's timing. Here is a new program, affecting the  
professional lives and status of more than 30,000 coaches, and USATF  
announces it at the most important time of the year, when coaches at  
every level are deeply involved in championship-level competition, and  
USATF gives them five weeks to decide. That may be legal, but it is  
certainly not fair to the coaches.

In politics, that's called an ultimatum. And it is usually followed by a war.

James Dunaway/Executive Editor and Larry Eder/Group Publisher
American Track & Field, www.american-trackandfield.com

Real Football – A Love Affair

The beautiful game, I can buy that, but there are other beautiful games, determined by the eye of the beholder. Futbol is much more than a beautiful game it is a big improvisational dance. It is modern art, Picasso on grass. It is a unique combination of the riffs of jazz and the rhythm and beat of world music, the cool of Miles Daves plus Ali Farka Toure and some Gypsy Kings thrown in. Enough of the artistic analogies I would like to share the details of my love affair with the game. I am Swiss and Italian. Every four years I think my Italian blood runs a bit thicker. Not particularly a fan of the Azzurri, but a fan of the game, I think it is in the blood. I never played soccer growing up, I played American football, but I have fond memories from my childhood going on Sundays to Dwight Murphy field in Santa Barbara and watching the matches between the various clubs. They were all ethnic, the Italians, Spanish, Mexicans, Yugoslavs and so forth. Many languages and many cultures, it was neat, all there for futbol. You could see and feel the passion.

 

My flirtation began when my son started playing and grew as my daughter began to play and move to higher levels in the sport. The NSCAA Convention in 1994, and obviously the 94 World Cup in the US got me even more interested. The love affair began when I resigned my job as Direcrtor of Conditioning for the Chicago White  and started with the Tampa Bay Mutiny of the MLS. I was the first conditioning coach in the league. That first year working with the team was like a fantasy camp. A great coach, Thomas Rongen, great players, mostly veteran players who had played all over the world, the star was Carlos Valdarrama, past his prime, but magic with the ball his feet. We won the eastern division regular season but lost in the playoffs to DC United. It was a great introduction to the game, a real learning experience especially working with Thomas Rongen who is Dutch, a product of the Ajax system. He was patient with me and helped make me a better coach and learn the game. The players were great with me, giving me constructive comments and very open to the new ideas on conditioning I brought to them. This experience intensified my love affair. In 1998 I got to work with the US men’s World Cup in preparation for France. It was an interesting experience. I found our preparation to be very naïve. In the following years I continued work with several MLS teams, consulting with UNC women’s and UVA women's soccer. I got to work with my daughter’s team when she played at Rice University. In 2005 I got to work briefly with Chivas in the Mexican league. My love affair continues today, Athletics is my passion, soccer is my mistress. Looking forward to watching as many matches as possible.

 

Working to prepare a soccer player and team is unique. It is so multidimensional. You need the fitness of an 800 meter runner, you to be as strong as possible and as light as you can be, balance power, and unreal skill. I love this challenge.

 

Here are some of my thoughts as the 2010 World Cups begins.

 

Physicality & Stature of Players – The trend is toward bigger and faster players.

 

Athleticism – Very athletic if you accept that athleticism is the ability to perform athletic movements, run, jump, throw and kick with precision style and grace in the context of the sport.

 

Intensity – The time the ball is in actually in play for me is a prime measure of the intensity of the game. Over the past five world cups the percentage of time has gone up.

 

Speed of Play – Not sprinting speed, but game speed. Speed of actions and decision making is incredibly high

 

Distance Run – I don’t really understand why everyone is so amazed by this. It is not the kilometers run, it is what occurs during those kilometers that counts.

 

Altitude and Environmental Conditions – Will be interesting to see if altitude has an effect. Usually it is heat that s a factor because of the time of year the World Cup is played, but this southern hemisphere winter so heat will not be a factor.

 

Cumulative Fatigue – This is a huge factor. The number of matches that the top players have played leading into World Cup is amazing. It has to take a toll.

 

Injuries – Related to the last point. Look at the number of top players already out.