Functional Path Training

Learning to Coach - Part Six Family

It seems that when there is a major holiday I think more about my family and what family has meant to me in my life and my career. This probably should have been part one in this narrative of learning to coach because without my family, first my parents and my brother, now my wife and children coaching would be meaningless. My parents, how they raised me and where I was raised definitely molded me. They shaped my values and my life view. I am a first generation American my parents were immigrants from Ticino the Italian canton of Switzerland. I now realize how much that their experience as new comers to this country in the 1920’s, with no idea of the language and culture shaped the lessons they passed on to me. Neither had much education to speak of, but they put tremendous stock in education as a means to a better life. Even more valued than education was work. Their work ethic was off the chart. Their attitude was that you worked until the job was done and you did it to perfection. My dad was a gardener, although he never said so the lawns, the shrubs and flowers were his studio. It was where he produced his art. My mother was a gift wrapper in a china shop. Each package that she wrapped was a work of art. She took tremendous pride in what she did. I learned from them that you worked to be the best that you could be regardless of what you were doing and who was watching. I realize now what an impact their example had on my philosophy of life and coaching. A day does not go by without me thinking about the lessons I learned from my parents and the sacrifices they made for me.

My wife and my children are amazing. To be a coach’s wife and the son and daughter of a coach is not easy. Without their support, sacrifices and understanding nothing I have done in coaching would be possible. Thanks you guys for putting up with me.

Next - Part Seven - Graduate School at Stanford Univerity

Key Performance Indicators

Key Performance Indicators are those essential factors that determine success in you sport. It goes beyond sport demands and drills deeper into the actual physical performance parameters that must be trained to insure success in the competitive arena. Of course you must start with a through analysis of sport demands and subsequent analysis of position or event demands. Then what? You need to turn that analysis into action, which is where the KPI’s (Key Performance Indicators) come into play. For example if you look at speed demands that is one layer but you need to get deeper that that to get results. You need to look at the elements of speed that are crucial for success, define it and make it a KPI. I think of the KPI’s as a guide to help me determine why I am going to do what I do. From there the KPI”s help me to determine the training means – the what of training - the actual drills and exercises that comprise the program. From there I go to the training methods – the how the training methods are performed.

Spend some time working through the KPI’s for the sport you are working with, it will be a good guide to direct you training. Certainly in today’s high tech world we now have information and data at our fingertips that we never had before. To effectively use the data and turn it into action you need the KPI’s to provide context to the number and information.

Coach Development Pathway

Frank Dick developed this coaching development pathway that he presented at the Scottish Athletics coaching conference this past weekend. It is a clear pathway, but more importantly it is a growth process. There is no set timeline, it occurs step by step. The coach must earn their way through the pathway. (Please note: the titles are from Frank Dick, the descriptors are my own)

Embryonic Coach - This is a coach just starting out, in many respects without even a remote idea of what is going on beyond the workout of the day. They are an open book, with very little or no knowledge, just enthusiasm and a desire to coach.

Apprentice Coach - This coach works under and with an established coach to learn the trade so to speak. Much of the learning at this stage is from others and their experiences. This is paying your dues. The apprentice coach is starting to have an idea of what they should know and how to go about learning it.

Emergent Coach - Now the coach is totally on their own, their fate is entirely in their hands. They now must be self-sufficient. They know what they know; their knowledge and experience are growing.

Breakthrough Coach - This coach is coaching some athletes to performances that are outstanding at the level they are coaching on. Now they not only know what they know, they are acutely aware of what they don’t know and they work to close that gap.

Peak Performance Coach - They achieve consistent results at the top of the level they are coaching on. It is not necessary to coach world class or professional athletes to be a peak performance coach. At this level you start to become aware of what you know you don’t know, because it is limiting you and your athletes effectiveness.

Consultant Coach - In the later stages of a career the coach will serve as a consultant to other coaches. The coach is now good enough and secure enough in their knowledge that others seek them out. Clearly this is a veteran coach who has been there before and can set the standard.

Sage Mentor Coach - This is the culmination of a coaching career. The coach at this stage has earned the right to guide and mentor other coach’s to help them along their career path. Others seek you out for guidance and advice. The picture is entirely clear. They are willing and able share experiences and knowledge

Where are you on the coach development pathway? What are you goals as a coach? Where do you want to be? What is your plan move on the coaching development pathway? I sincerely hope that this post and this blog in general can be of help to you in the journey. I can’t think of anything more worthwhile and gratifying than guiding people to reach and exceed their limits. Coaching is special.

Coach Development

For thee days last Friday, Saturday and Sunday I was totally immersed in coaching development. What an expereince! Spending three days with Frank Dick, an icon in coaching brought coaching right back to the center of the athlete development process. Conversations with Frank and the presentations on the weekend at the Scottish Athletics coaching conference were a powerful and timely reaffirmation of the role of the coach. It has become almost trite to say athlete centered, coach driven and administratively supported to describe the process of athlete development. The athlete development pathway is clear. Everyone can recite the stages of long term athlete development, but what about the stages of coaching development. If the process is coach driven then who develops the coach? What is the coach development pathway and process? How do you become a coach? Even more important what is coaching and what is a coach? Mind you I am not talking about going to a course and getting a certificate as a level one, two or three coach or going online and getting a certification. That does not make you a coach. Completing that task may clear you in terms of liability; it may even "qualify"  you to get a job. But that is actually is a small part of it. There is so much more to coaching and becoming a coach. To have the title of coach or be called a coach is one thing, but it is a whole other thing to be a coach. Coaching is not something you do, it is something that your are with every fiber of your being. You coach people, not the sport. Technical details, exercises, drills, sets and reps are the easy part. It is the thought that goes into the selection of the drills, the technique, how they are delivered and communicated that really counts. As coaches we really don’t develop talent, we bring out potential. We help and guide the athlete to develop their potential.

Tomorrow I will share with you the steps in the coaching development process that Frank Dick outlined. The process is a journey of discovery and learning. It is a journey that is not easy with a direct path to the destination. Sometimes the road is narrow and winding, at times there are detours, but the process is clear and the satisfaction great if you will stay the course.

Scottish Athletics

Leaving this morning for Scotland. Just a short trip to present to a conference of athletics coaches for Scottish Athletics. Really psyched for this for two reasons 1) Presenting to and hanging around track coaches brings me back to my roots. It really ignites my passion. 2) I was invited by one of my mentors Frank Dick. Looking forward to some stimulating discussions with Frank, a real pioneer and leader in coaching. My main theme is going to revolve around applying Design Thinking to coaching. Using the D. (Design) Mindset to take a fresh look at the what, why, how, when and who of preparing athlete's for competition.

"Game Speed"

Here are some of my thoughts on "game speed." What it is and what it is not. I would be interested in your comments and ideas.

 

 

Priorities and Choices

Designing and implementing an effective training program is always about setting priorities and making wise and prudent choices. It starts with what you are going to do. Then you need to know why you are doing it? Then how are you going to do it. And last but not least when you are going to do it - the timing of the application of the training stimulus. It comes down to a hierarchy of choices between what you want to do, what is nice to do and what is absolutely need to do. To get consistent positive results the need to do must be the choice. Want to do and nice to do are distractions from the task at hand. To focus on the need to do demands a very thorough understanding of the immediate, short term and long-term goals of the training program. Everything must be in pursuit of those objectives. The focus has to be clear and the process well defined. Setting priorities and making intelligent informed choices insures progress toward the goal of success in the competitive arena.

Sacred Cows

Sacred cows are ideas and concepts passed from generation to generation of coaches that no one questions or challenges. They may have made sense at some time in the past, but are now more likely to get in the way, still they persist. Some sacred cows are so entrenched that they are actually taught in coaching education/certification programs.

 

Here are some common sacred cows:

Need to build an aerobic base for sprint and intermittent sprint sports

Sprinters paw the ground

Sprinters actively dorsiflex the foot just before ground contact

The arms in sprinting stay at a forty-five degree angle

Lactic acid causes fatigue

Lactic acid causes soreness

Recovery work after competition “flushes’ the lactic acid from the system

Don’t look at the board in the long jump

Hamstrings flex the knee

Quads extend the knee

Abdominals flex the trunk

Training in-season must be a maintenance program

They may have made sense at one time, before we knew any better, but they did not evolve and change as our knowledge of sport science and performance expanded. Some of them sound quite convincing. They come with elaborate pseudo scientific explanations. Don’t be fooled and blindly follow. Do your homework, read the research. Study your sport. Slay the sacred cows, challenge yourself to stay current and question. 

Now What?

Training is not going as expected and progress has reached a plateau. So what do you do now? Well if you have a plan then the next step is easy and logical. Look at the plan, see where you are in relation to your goal and adjust accordingly. Without a plan it is a bit more complicated. You can take a wild guess at what you should do or roll the dice but it is a real gamble and the odds are in favor of the house. Basically you are at the mercy of chance, not a very comfortable place to be. The plan is the your frame of reference, your roadmap so to speak. Without a plan progression is random and results unpredictable. It is like undertaking a long journey into unexplored territory without a map and compass. Recognize that the plan is not etched in stone, so it can be adjusted and changed as circumstances demand. So before you start on the training journey have plan, work the plan and evaluate training and competition results in the context of the plan.

Standards - Setting The Bar

I am strong believer in having a standard to measure progress and performance. In my system and training methods I set a high standard and constantly evaluate that standard based on my expectations and results. My standard is not determined by what others are doing. I can’t control what they do and I do not want to be influenced by what they do. What I hear quite often today are two concepts that are used to set the bar and measure standards of performance: best practice and benchmarking. Best practice and benchmarking are not standards to measure by if you want to achieve at the highest level. Using those as standards simply means you are doing what everyone else is doing. You have set the bar low. I am interested in standards that are higher than that. I expect more of myself as a coach and more of my athletes than just doing what everyone else is doing. To use the cliché’ I want my reach to exceed my grasp. As I have implored many times in this blog, lead don’t follow, innovate, try new ideas, and new combinations of old methods. Set higher standards for yourself and your athlete’s. Use benchmarks and best practice as a guideline, a reference and in some cases a starting point, but don’t be bound by them. Striving to be the best is not comfortable, you have to aim for a higher standard than accepted best practice in your sport. Innovation and change do not occur by doing what you have always done. You have to look at what you need to do with new eyes and set a standard that raises expectations and demands a higher level of achievement. Get uncomfortable and realize that to be the best demands being uncomfortable all the time. Excellence is not for the faint of heart or dilettante’s.