Functional Path Training

Happy Holidays

Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season. We have much to be thankful for in this crazy world we live in. Take a moment amid all the revelry to give thanks for all the good things we have, the good people and family who have enriched our lives. Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year. I am looking for to sharing more of my ideas and experiences with you in 2013.

Advice to Young Coaches

Here is some advice for young coaches from my experiences. This advice reflects lessons that I learned, no need to make the same the same mistakes I made.

Be prepared to pay your dues, you don’t enlist the army as a general.

Practice humility – No matter what your athletic or academic accomplishments you are going to have to prove yourself as a coach. Check you ego at the door.

Keep Learning – Keep a note book of your ideas and observations. Write in it as often as possible. It will be an invaluable reference as you progress through your career. I have filled Moleskin notebooks in my 43^rd year of coaching.

Listen and watch - You have two eyes, two ears and one mouth for a reason.

Dress Professionally – That should not need explanation.

Be fit, look the part.

Learn the culture of the sport(s) you are working with ASAP. Do your homework.

Be the first to arrive and the last to learn – Earn your stripes.

Never let anyone outwork you. Forget what you are being paid work until you get the job done.

Do the grunt work, in fact volunteer for it.

If you are working with athletes that don’t speak English learn the language, it will open doors for you.

File the theoretical peer reviewed stuff you learned in class. You are in the real world now, on the job it is about producing results, make the athletes better.

Maintain professional distance from your athletes you are not their friend you are their coach.

Rome wasn’t built in a day learn patience it takes time.

Coaching is a profession - Never lose sight of that.

The head coach is the boss. Be loyal and respectful.

Never forget coaching is not about sets and reps or X’s and O’s it is about people.

When it is all said and done be sure that you have had as many experiences as possible not one experience many times. Enjoy the journey, we are fortunate to be coaches.

Thoughts on Leading

Know the Way - To be effective make sure you and everyone involved knows the final destination.

Show the Way - Lead from from the front, set the example.

Go the Way - Get it down, meet obstacles head on and overcome.

What do you coach?

Do you coach Track & Field, Football, Basketball or Swimming? Yes you do but more importantly you coach the people who compete in those sports. The human element transcends all. Anyone can learn the techniques and strategies, but to be truly effective as a coach you must coach the person. Know what makes your athletes tick. Take an interest in them as people, they are not machines, they have feeling and emotions, they have lives outside of sport. I think of the great coaches I have been privileged to be around, this is a characteristic they all shared. They were emotionally intelligent; they took the time to understand their athletes as people and coached the person who did the sport. At the end of the day I always ask myself did you coach today the way you would have wanted to be coached?

Q

Q stands for quality. Quality is a measure of perfect. Each day, each training session we should strive for the highest quality possible. Start with perfect effort that should not be difficult. Effort sets up the outcome. Quality effort and intention leads to quality outcome. Quality training outcomes in turn yield quality competition results. To asses progress in training at the conclusion of each training session rate you quality of training on a scale of one to ten. One being the poorest and ten being perfection. Focus on the process to achieve the desired outcome. Quality is the key to optimizing the process.

Feeding the Beast

The beast – The Internet, cable television, YouTube all have an insatiable appetite for training porn. There is no filter, no checks and balances. Quote a scientific study out of context and you have the “evidence based” research needed to validate the misinformation. The fundamental training principles that I learned over forty years still hold true. We need to follow them – not some wacked fad based pseudo scientific training that hurts more people than it helps. For validation look at results that are consistent over time, methods that top coaches and athletes have used to win medals and set records. Those things do not happen by chance and by chasing Internet training fantasies. Certainly we should innovate and challenge conventional wisdom, but start with a clear understanding of the basics and build from there. Let’s stop feeding the beast, except at prescribed feeding times, much like the animals at the zoo.

The Coaching Classics & History

Today in my post on today on "Professional Development" I mentioned knowing the coaching classics and history. Below is a list of some of the books I consider classics that every coach must read (I have posted this list before, but think it is worthwhile to post again)

The Inner Athlete by Bob Nidefer

Problem Athletes and How to Handle Them by Tom Tutko and Bruce Ogilvie 

Psychology and the Superior Athlete by Miroslav Vanek  and Bryant J. Cratty

Scientific Principles of Coaching by John Bunn

What Research Tells The Coach About Sprinting by George Dintiman

Track & Field Omnibook by Ken Doherty

Modern Track & Field by Ken Doherty

Modern Training For Running by Ken Doherty

The Science of Swimming by James E. Counsilman

The Mechanics of Athletics by Geoffrey Dyson

Better Athletes Trough Weight Training by Bob Hoffman

Hidden causes of injury, prevention, and correction for running athletes by John Jesse

Wrestling Physical Conditioning Encyclopedia by John Jesse

Proprioceptive Neuromuscular Facilitation: Patterns and Techniques by Dorothy Knotts and Margaret Voss

Scientific Principles and Methods of Strength Fitness.  By Patrick O’Shea

Total Body Training by Richard H. Dominguez and Robert Gajda

Kinesiology by Gene Logan and Wayne C. McKinney

Skill In Sport by Barbara Knapp

Acquiring Ball Skill – A Psychological Interpretation by H.T.A. Whiting 

The Thinking Body by Mabel Todd

Run Run Run by Fred Wilt

How They Train by Fred Wilt

Mechanics Without Tears by Fred Wilt

No Bugles, No Drums by Peter Snell 

The Unforgiving Minute by Ron Clarke with Alan Trengove

Run to the Top by Arthur Lydiard

Franz Stampfl on Running by Franz Stampfl

The Jim Ryun Story by Cordner Nelson

Another Hurdle by Dave Hemry

Run To Daylight by Vince Lombardi and W.C. Heinz

Track and Field Dynamics by Tom Ecker

Championship Track and Filed by Tom Ecker

Biomechanics of Athletic Movement by Gerhard Hochmuth

Sports Physiology by Edward L. Fox

Interval Training – Conditioning for Sports and General Fitness by Edward L. Fox and Donald K. Mathews 

Biomechanics and Energetics of Muscular Exercise by Rodolfo Margaria

Biomechanics of Sports Techniques by Jim Hay

Introduction to Biomechanic analysis of sport by John W. Northrip, Gene A. Logan and Wayne C. McKinney

Principles of Sports Training – Introduction to the Theory and methods of Training by Dietrich Harre

Fundamental of Sports Training by L. Matveyev

Sports Training Principles by Frank Dick

Training Theory by Frank Dick

Track Speed – Hurdles, Sprints and relays by John Le Masurier

Track and Field – Textbook for Coaches and Sports Teachers Edited by Gerhardt Schmolinsky

Olympic Track And Field Techniques by Tom Ecker, Fred Wilt, and Jim Hay

So You Want to Be A Sprinter by Bud Winter

International Track and field Coaching Encyclopedia by Feed Wilt and Tom Ecker

Track in Theory and Technique Edited by Thomas P. Rosandich

The Hurdlers Bible by Wilbur Ross

Mechanics of the Pole Vault by R.V. Ganslen

The Triple Jump Encyclopedia by Ernie Bullard and Larry Knuth

Tendinitis: it’s Etiology and Treatment (First Edition) by Sandra Curwin and William D. Stanish

The Sweet Spot in Time by John Jerome

Weight Training In Athletics by Jim Murray and Peter V. Karpovich

Weight Training in Athletics and Physical Education by Gene Hooks

Circuit Training by Manfred Scholich

Circuit Training by R. E. Adamson and G.T. Morgan

The Miracle Machine by Doug Gilbert

The System of Physical Education in the USSR Edited by G. I Kukushkin

The Soviet Road To Olympus – Theory And Practice Of Soviet Physical Culture And Sport by N. Norman Shneidman

1000 Exercises d’ Athletisme by Kurt Murer and Walter Bucher

Winning Volleyball – Fundamentals, Tactics and Strategy by Allen E. Scates 

The Pursuit of Sporting Excellence – A Study of Sport’s Highest Achievers by David Henry

The Athletic Revolution by Jack Scott

Meat on the Hoof – The Hidden World of Texas Football by Gary Shaw

Out of Their League by Dave Meggyesy

Professional Development

Continual professional development is a necessity. I encourage you to honestly answer the following questions to see what path you are on with your professional development.

Where and how are learning and growing professionally?

Do you know the classics and know history?

How influenced are you by fads and instant information?

Are you addicted to Internet training porn?

Do you have a mentor who is a guide not a guru, preferably someone who has been there before?

GAIN 2013

The sixth annual GAIN Apprentorship program (Gambetta Athletic Improvement Network) will be held from June 11 to June 15 at Rice University in Houston Texas. The program is open to sport coaches, conditioning coaches, physical education teachers, athletic trainers, physical therapists, chiropractors and doctors.

This program is intense, intellectually challenging and demanding. We combine theory and practice in a residential coaching school format. This is an opportunity to observe, participate, question, and explore the application of the Gambetta Method - Systematic Sport Development Model of training, teaching and injury rehabilitation.

The coaching school represents a beginning. The graduates of the program can continue to participate via the secure web site, and continue to attend the GAIN coaching school for the duration of their careers if they so choose for no additional cost. Our faculty is experienced professionals who combine their knowledge, experiences and passion for teaching to help guide you. They are leaders who are in the trenches working in the field of athletic development.

Enrollment is limited to apply please complete the following:

What do you do in the Athletic Development field? (Please be as specific as possible)

What is your personal mission statement?

What do want to learn from the GAIN program?

What or how will your participation contribute to the GAIN Network on an ongoing basis?

Please attach a professional resume’

Send your application to:

Gambetta Sports Training Systems - GAIN Apprentorship

PO Box 50143

Sarasota, Florida 34232

or

Email to: [email protected]

Professional tuition is $3,800 and scholastic tuition is $1900 (High school, junior high school, elementary school teachers and coaches are eligible for the scholastic tuition). Tuition includes breakfast, lunch and dinner each day and room. For more information please go to http://tinyurl.com/3jwyo6q or call me at 941-378-1778 or email mail me at [email protected]

Join us for GAIN VI apply now to advance yourself as a professional. For those who have attended it has been a career changing experience.

Talent

Talent does matter don’t fool yourself. It does not take much if you are willing to do the work to exploit the talent you have. The key is what you do with the talent you have and how you develop your talent to it's fullest extent. I could fill a book with stories of athletes that I have seen in my career with abundant talent who never came close to achieving what they were capable of based on their talent level. The willingness to consistently push to the edge and sometimes beyond physically, psychologically and emotionally means so much more than innate talent. Talent can be a curse or a blessing. Those that excel take the blessing and build upon it to be the best they can be and leave no doubts that they have exploited what talent they have to the fullest extent possible.