Functional Path Training

Coaching Advice

Here are some bits of advice that I have received in my coaching career that I found especially helpful:

Be yourself – Define yourself and be the best you, you can be. No one can fault you for this.

Coach the person, not the shot putter, basketball player of swimmer.

Know the basics. Master the basics. Never deviate from the basics.

Make the champions choice. Invest in the process, no shortcuts. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable is the champions way.

These recommendations are very straight forward, nothing complicated and very basic. They have served me well for 51 years.

Minimum Effective Dose – Buyer Beware

I have been reading about and hearing more about determining the minimum effective dose in training. What concerns me is that the emphasis seems to be on minimum. Is this another step toward developing the adapted fragile athlete? Every good coach that I have known is always seeking the optimum training dose, not too little, not too much. It comes back to having a system and knowing your athletes. It is important to point out again that it is the accumulation of training doses or stimuli that ultimately determine adaptation. Each session must be in context of the whole training plan. In short seek the optimum and don’t be afraid to push your athlete, will never know the limits unless you push the limits.

Landing

Working on landing as an isolated skill is probably misdirected work. Here is my thought process – aside from long jump, final jump in the triple jump and landings in gymnastic where sticking the landing is part of the judged routine, seldom if ever is landing a terminal action.

Much of the misunderstanding of landing comes from seeing still pictures of an athlete on one foot. There is no context of what the athlete did to get to that position or what they are going to do after that position. This is especially true of pictures of the so-called “position of no return” with the knee in an extreme valgus position resulting in a torn ACL. In change of direction the point of contact (landing) is essentially the position of the center of gravity in relation to the base of support, the goal being to change the direction of movement. Essentially you are passing through, not stopping.

For many years I was a big advocate of the stick & hold concept (Triple Flexion – Ankle/Knee/Hip) as a progression to teach proper force reduction. In certain situations, I spent an inordinate amount of time on this. I now think that I was wrong or at the least misdirected. Sticking and holding a landing and subsequently analyzing that on a force platform is relatively meaningless. It is just gathering more numbers that are essentially noise.

As an alternative I suggest a simple progression beginning with walking, progressing to easy controlled run and finally to sprint tempo. Just take a step forward and change direction 45 degrees, then ninety degrees and keep moving in the new direction. Repeat progressively getting faster. Then you can go to Jimmy Radcliffe’s speed cut and power cut progressions (This will be on a GAIN Master Class https://thegainnetwork.com/events/gain2020/ ). This will be time better spent and accomplish improved “landing” technique and will serve an injury prevention exercise.

Always relate the point of contact (landing) to where you are coming from and to where you are going. Then related this to the task that must be accomplished after the change of direction. It is part of movement and highly contextual.

Space and Time

Learning to effectively use space and time is what enables you to perform in the competitive arena. The concept of space is quite simple – you must recognize space, learn to create it, exploit it, deny space, expand it or contract it. In an individual sport  space is the time between steps and strokes.

Time is learning to tap into your internal clock. Time is the sense that tells you when to move or when to shoot or hold the ball. Athletes who master time seem to have the ability to slow the game down – to give them whatever time they need to do what the game requires. They are dialed in, never frantic.

Both time and space are highly trainable. They should be part of every training sessions. Sport is just a big dance.

The Vote – A Personal Story

It was spring 1968. I was a young idealistic 21-year-old student at Fresno State in the second semester of my senior year. I was a social science major. The Fresno community and Fresno State were very conservative, in many ways isolated and insulated from the turmoil that was growing in spring of 1968. There were no protests. Fraternities and Sororities were big.

Spring semester I took one of the last courses to complete my major, US History 1898 to Present. The professor was a great teacher. He was Canadian, I mention that because on the first day of class he said he would present a different perspective on US history, and he did. First, he started at the present and worked back. Essentially, he started in 1966. That was different. He traced the origins of what was happening in 1966 back to events and people thirty, forty, fifty years before. It was refreshing. The required course readings were the longest of my studies, including courses in graduate school.

We studied JFK’s presidency during the second week of the course. My generation put JFK on a very high pedestal. By the end of that week, after looking at what he actually did, I was shaken. It was clear that without LBJ pushing legislation through posthumously, JFK really accomplished very little. Talk about bursting my bubble.

This was all before the assassination of MLK and the subsequent protest and unrest. It was before LBJ decided not to run for another term. Subsequent to those events RFK threw his hat in the ring for the Democratic nomination for president. In light of what I had just learned in class there was no way that I would support him. He was scheduled to speak at Fresno State in late April. The venue was outdoors at the amphitheater where I had heard Cesar Chavez the year before. It was packed. The SRO crowd was loud and there was electricity and expectation in the air. I was skeptical. He started to speak. It was as if he was talking to me. His words were inspiring. This was not JFK; he was different than his brother, he was a man born in privilege who understood the needs of all Americans. I left the rally, having made the decision to vote for him. I thought he would make a difference, get us out of the war and continue LBJ’s programs to improve education and bring about income equality.

On June 5, 1968 I voted for the first time in the California Presidential primary. I voted for RFK. I was so excited to have the opportunity to vote; you could not vote until you were 21 in those days. The next day was my last final and then I would head home to start my summer job and go to UCSB to get my California teaching credential and change the world. I finished studying for my final at about 11:15 PM. I went out to the living room in my apartment and turned on the TV just in time to see RFK give his victory speech. It was exciting, a big step forward toward the nomination to win the California delegation. You know the story, only minutes later he was killed. I sat there and cried. How could this happen? He was a good man who offered hope. Well you know the rest of the story, the Chicago convention and we got Nixon.

The last 52 years there have been highs and lows. The ideals and inspiration that RFK ignited in me has never diminished. We live in a great country that has serious systemic problems regarding race and income inequality. I sincerely believe that we have our future in our hands right now. We have a superpower bestowed upon us by our founding fathers – it is the vote! We all need to vote, to get others to register and vote. We need to fight those who would disfranchise citizens. If we vote and make wise choices, we can direct our country on a positive path. Please just vote and we have a chance.

Daily Observation

I got this from Jimmy Radcliffe at University of Oregon. Every session during warmup it is imperative to observe and evaluate the following:

Posture

Balance

Stability

Mobility

Design your warm-up so these qualities are emphasized and evaluate them constantly. Never lose sight of the fact that Testing=Training and Training =Testing, also that the training session start with the warm-up and you MUST coach the warm-up.

To learn how all of this works in a comprehensive training system, join us on the GAIN Master Class at https://thegainnetwork.com/. If you interested in hearing Jimmy Radcliffe watch the first Master Class here: https://thegainnetwork.com/developing-the-adaptable-athlete-master-class-may-2020/

Win The Workout

A cornerstone of my system is winning the workout. Winning the workout consists of high-quality work done with intent and purpose. Remember that quality is a measure of perfect. The goal is always high-quality work coupled with perfect effort looking toward preparation for competition. We always aim to own the finish. This morning Emma Weyant of the Sarasota Sharks definitely won the workout. Five minutes of circuit work with one minute between circuits. 40 seconds on and 20 seconds off aiming for maximum reps on each exercise. This is the “own the finish” workout. (After a two and a half hours swimming workout) This is how you get to be the best. This young lady has a champions mindset and work ethic, that is why she is number one in the world in 400 IM for 18-year old’s and top ten at all age groups. She makes champions choices every day. Thanks to Coach Brent Arckey for having me work with the Sharks.