Functional Path Training

Tokyo Olympics in the Rear View Mirror

Well, the 2021 Olympics are in the books. It was an Olympics like no other. Great performances, disappointing performances, surprising performances, great upsets, in short just about everything you want to see in an athletic contest. But something was missing for me, and it wasn’t spectators. The magic, the passion that has been ignited in me by the Olympics just wasn’t there. I think the added year dragging it out was part of the malaise that I felt. I had skin in the game, our swimmer from the Sarasota Sharks won a silver medal, an outstanding accomplishment in one of the toughest events in swimming. The extra year was to her benefit, but for many others it was too much mentally and physically.

I do think we need to rethink the Olympic games. For sure to downsize it would be a good place to start. Now we are looking at three years preparation rather than four. This presents interesting challenges. Over the next months I will be posting more on lessons learned from the games. Questions that have been raised. We can’t let this unique learning opportunity pass.

A Doping Primer

Anyone who knows me or has regularly read this blog or followed me on social media knows that I am vehemently anti-drug. So, it may seem strange to have a post on a primer for drug use and how to beat the system but I think this will give you context for looking at the issue. This is what I have seen up close and personal in my 48 years of coaching how athletes and coaches beat the system.

Read the following books (Be sure to read between the lines), they will give you deep insights in how to beat the system:

Wheelmen – Lance Armstrong, The Tour De France, And the Greatest Sports Conspiracy Ever by Reed Albergotti and Vanessa O’ Connell

The Secret Race – Inside the Hidden World Of The Tour De France by Tyler Hamilton and Daniel Coyle

Watch this movie to learn how to lie to the cameras and your accusers (Listen carefully to what is not said):

         The Armstrong Lie (https://youtu.be/0a4qRHY8dQQ)

Practical Tips:

Your national governing body for sure and preferably the international governing body should be complicit. They can protect you.

Have big time sponsor with deep pockets. It is even better if the sponsor is in bed with the national governing body and those in the international federation

Have a doctor and sport scientist that can help you with prescriptions and testing to beat the system – This is essential

Have remote training “altitude” training camps that allow for time to stall the testers or to evade them completely

Have no moral conscience or scruples of any kind, don’t forget it is just about winning, medals and above all money, big money

Let the “Games” Begin

As the games begin I run the gamut of emotions from the excitement of seeing the best of the best go head to head to deep despair and disappointment. As young coach in 1972 and 76 the Olympics was pure excitement, it was in my mind the pinnacle of athlete excellence. I trained with some Olympians and getting to see them in the big show was special. I got to go to Montreal as a spectator. It was so exciting I was like a kid in a candy store I was oblivious to the politics going on. I was there, I went to the practice track every day from day literally from dawn to dusk until track & field competition began. When the competition began I would watch the warm-ups at the practice track and run to my seat in the stadium for the competition. What an inspirational learning experience. It was heady times for a naïve young coach who thought it was all about technique and training and good coaching. Little did I know what was to come?

Then I got to the higher levels of the sport of track and field. I was now coaching national and international athletes and was serving on various committees of TAC (The precursor to USATF). It was then that the reality of the cheating and corruption hit me. It was not fun to watch. I saw it first hand when the American track and field athletes were offered so-called “educational testing” leading into the 1984 games. In essence they were being educated in how to beat the system. I saw the inner working of what is now USATF, an organization that makes FIFA look like the boy scouts. I know you are thinking that was almost forty years ago, yes and it is the same people and coaches involved today.

That brings us to today with the games set to begin. We have athletes from the US who are considered potential stars of the games who have tested positive more than once. We have the same drug coaches coaching. We are as far from the Olympic spirit as is possible. It is all driven by billions of dollars of sponsorship and television money. All that being said I will still watch selected events and sports there is still something special about this level of competition. I am looking forward to seeing the athletes that I have worked with compete because I know they have not cheated. I wish good luck to the honest and clean athletes and coaches who hopefully will be able to rise above the madness. My dream, a dream I hope to see in my lifetime is truly clean sport where there are lifetime bans and bans for coaches who cheat. I dream about seeing these young 11 & 12-year-old swimmers I am working with now have a chance to compete on a level playing field. Let the games begin and celebrate the true Olympic spirit.

Two Mornings in February

Let me preface this by saying I am a coaching junkie, my passion is watching coaches coach and learning from them. It is a bonus when the athletes they are coaching are the best of the best. In February of this year at University of Oregon I was able to watch two great sessions.

Thursday morning Track session at Hayward Field in Indoor Track

Harry Marra coaching world recorder holder Ashton Eaton and his wife Briana herself an Olympic medalist and world champion in the heptathlon. At the same time Jaime Cook, Assistant Track & Field coach at University of Oregon was working with his hurdler Devon Allen.

I met with Harry before and I went over what they were going to do. He started the session with a mini lesson on the mechanics of the high jump to review what they had done the day before. Then the session was focused on long jump especially rhythm of last six strides. It was great to see the communication between coach and athletes and Ashton and his wife worked to together to reinforce what Harry was emphasizing. It was fundamental with a focus on the basics, nothing overly complicated. Language was clear and coaching cues were short and on point. It was clear to me that coaching has made a huge difference in Ashton’s and Brianna development and it was abundantly clear why they are champions.

At the same time Devon Allen was doing a hurdle workout. They were working starts over three hurdles and then five hurdles and some running one step drills. I was especially interested to watch Allen because he had torn his ACL on the opening kickoff in the Rose Bowl just thirteen months before. It was quickly apparent there were no residual effects from the injury and subsequent surgery. I came away super impressed with Allen’s almost perfect textbook lead leg action, possible one the best I have seen in 46 years of coaching. This kids work ethic is off the scale doing both his football and track workouts and attacking them.

Friday morning University of Oregon Off season football Training

It was a 6:30AM team off-season training session coached by Jim Radcliffe, Head S&C coach at University of Oregon. It was dark and cold when they started. It was the last training session of the week with a strength training session to follow. Jimmy did a twenty-minute extensive warm-up session. The goal of the session was to break into their position groups and work on specific football speed appropriate for their positions. There was no standing around. They train the way they play - FAST. Before they did the speed development they did a session of throws and jumps again related to the demands of their position. Then they started the speed work and it was fast, I must say that seldom have I seen football players move with the speed and precision of movement these guys were executing, a real tribute to coach Radcliffe and his staff. I also must emphasize that there was no screaming and hollering at the players, just coaching corrections, emphasis on cues, basically good teaching. When the payers were in their groups they were player led! I walked around to watch each group and when I got to the wide receiver group there was Devon Allen, the hurdler running patterns and other speed drills. My immediate thought was this kid is a throwback to bygone days. He did not hold anything back. After the session I was with coach Radcliffe when he called over the football players that also ran track and he spoke to each one and asked how they felt when he got Allen his response was what is tomorrows workout!

I could not help but think of these two workouts as I watched Ashton win the Olympic trials in a world leading score with a dinged up leg. He was essentially 85 to 90% at best but because of the workouts I saw in February and the trust in his coach with the emphasis on fundamentals he was able to execute. Same thing watching Devon Allen dominate the hurdles on his way to making the Olympic team. The strength that he developed by doing the multiple workouts in track and football served him well. It is a tribute to the sports medicine staff at Oregon who got him back 100% from the ACL surgery and his coaches, but above a tribute to his focus. It is going to be fun to watch these clean athletes compete with the world in Rio. Somehow I think those workouts in February will make a difference. Onward, upward, higher, faster and stronger!

Less Is More

Ashton Eaton’s tremendous world record performance in the Decathlon just underscores how important that less is more.  Less is more is almost a mantra for he and his coach Harry Marra. They live it every day! Seldom are any of their workouts over one hour. The workouts are on point and focused, no fluff, no nice to do fillers that make you tired and add undue training stress. It reminds me of one of my simple training rules - No one workout can make an athlete but one workout that is too much too soon can spell disaster and ruin an athlete. Focus on the process rep-by-rep, set-by-set, run-by-run, throw-by-throw and jump-by-jump. Recognize it takes time and that training accumulates from session to session, day to day, week to week, month to month and year to year.  The temptation is to do more, but the risk is not worth the return. One less throw or jump that is quality is preferable to one more that is sloppy.

Ashton’s record does have as much to do with what he did this year as it does with consistent work over the past six years; once again it is the process. A crucial part of the process is communication with the athlete and listening to their input. Harry & Ashton know & trust each other and i are both invested in the process. Before you can ever think about winning a competition you must consistently win workouts. To win workouts demands putting each workout in context of the bigger picture. Always keeping in mind that less is more.

GAIN Professional Development Community - 2014 Faculty

We are very fortunate to have a faculty with a tremendous breath of experiences. These are professionals who have a track record of excellence in their chosen fields. They know how a performance team works, how all aspects of athletic development complement each other and most importantly they understand the process of developing athletes.

AT GAIN we have four main areas of focus:

1) Coaching

2) Athletic Development (S&C)

3) Sports Medicine/Rehab

4) Physical Education.

Our faculty are the experts in each of these respective focus areas. The goal is foster connections and communication between all these areas to develop the best athlete possible.

Join us and learn from these professionals and interact with other professionals in the GAIN network. Go to http://thegainnetwork.com/joingain and apply now. Don’t miss out.

Coaching

Finn Gunderson - Gunderson Consulting working with MLS Philadelphia Union Development Academy. He was formerly US Skiing Director of Alpine Sport and Education and Headmaster of the famous Burke Mountain Ski Academy in Vermont.

Clay Erro, Best Winning Percentage in Football in Nor Cal Section History at Enterprise High School in Redding California. Now Retired and Consulting on Coaching Excellence.

Vern Gambetta, Founder of GAIN Network, Currently Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems

Athletic Development

Jim Radcliffe, Head S&C Coach University of Oregon

Gary Winckler, Hall of Fame Track & Field Coach, Former assistant Canadian Olympic Track & Field Coach in 2012 and Head Women’s Track Coach at University of Illinois

Vince Anderson, Texas A&M, Assistant Track & Field Coach Sprints & Hurdles

Nick Garcia, Athletic Development Coach & Assistant Track Coach, Notre Dame High School, Sherman Oaks, California

Steve Magness, Head Cross Country and Assistant Track Coach University of Houston

Nick Folker, Former Aquatic S&C Coach at University of California Berkeley. Now with F.A.A.S.T and BridgeAthletic

Tracy Fober, PT, CSCS, Iron Maven Physical Health & Performance, St Louis Missouri

Jack Blaterwick, PhD – AKA “The Legend” Consultant to Washington Capitols, Conditioning Coach to Five US Olympic Hockey Teams

Sports Medicine/Rehab

Bill Knowles, ATC, CSCS

HPSports - Director of Reconditioning and Athletic Development Philadelphia Union Academy – Major League Soccer Pennsylvania, USA

Ed Ryan, ATC Head Trainer US Women’s Olympic Basketball Team, Formerly Head of Sports Medicine USOC

Randy Ballard, ATC Assistant Trainer, University of Illinois Working With Track & Filed and Volleyball

Joe Przytula, ATC is the current Supervisor of Physical Education and Health, and athletic trainer with Elizabeth Public Schools, Elizabeth New Jersey USA.

Physical Education

Greg Thompson, Elementary Physical Education Teacher Farmington Michigan, Currently Athletic Development and Age Group Head Coach, Livonia City Soccer Club

Steve Myrland, District Performance Coach for Athletics, District Wellness Director Middleton Wisconsin School District

Coaching Classics

I know I have published this list of coaching classics before but there are many new readers to the blog and followers on Twitter @coachgambetta and friends on Facebook http://tinyurl.com/lezv8tr and Google Plus who have not seen it. These are classic works that I think every coach should read. They span a range of areas from scientific and technical to sport sociology. Just as with any classic they are timeless. They are rich with knowledge. There are many works in this list that I go back and review each year, they never get old. Challenge yourself and see how many of these you can read in the year, if you do you be a more knowledgeable and well rounded coach for doing it.

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

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 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

 

Periodization and the Systematic Sport Development Process – Part Three

Periodization is a viable concept that certainly will help improve our sport development system, but we also need trained coaches to plan and then implement the plan. A productive sport development system is coach driven and athlete centered. The solution lies in educating our coaching in the principles of planning in order to optimize resources and time. To achieve athletic success in any kind of systematic manner, certain principles must be observed. The principles are the same regardless of the sport. The plan is the means to execute the principles.

The principles are:

Principle of Progression - This is the most often violated principle. Progression in its simplest form moves from simple to complex, easy to hard and general work to specific work. These simple steps give way to complex interactions. All training variables do not progress at the same rate nor do all individuals progress at the same rate.

To insure proper progression we must clearly define each step. Begin by articulating specific goals and objectives for each step. Then develop evaluative criteria to assess the achievement of each of the goals and objectives of each step. I would go so far as to say that at certain levels of development it should be necessary to show mastery before moving on to the next step. This is especially true in refinement of technical development.

Progression is not linear. We need to begin with a clear picture of what we want the athlete to achieve or look like at the end of a training program as a goal. But we must remember that progression toward that ultimate objective will proceed in a staircase like progression. Constant progress should be made toward the goal, but some of the incremental steps along the way will be smaller than others.

The Principle of Accumulation - Adaptation to the stress of training is a cumulative process. You do not do a workout and gain an immediate positive training response, unless it is a relatively small technical adjustment. Often times you will see the true results of a significant investment in training up to a year after the initial training stimulus.

The effect of training accumulates over time, provided training has been consistent and the athlete has been able to stay injury free. Adaptation to different training demands occurs at different rates and the ultimate training adaptation is the synergistic accumulation of the collective training responses. Remember one workout cannot make an athlete, but one workout can break an athlete. Be patient, wait for training to take effect.

Principle of Variation - The variables of training volume, intensity, frequency and exercise selection must be constantly manipulated in a systematic manner. Because the body adapts to training stress so quickly it is important to vary training in order to insure continued adaptation. This variation should not be random, but systematically planned in order to measure the effect of the variation. If training is not varied the body will adapt quite quickly and the training effect will be dulled. If no variation is incorporated there is a significant risk of staleness and eventual overtraining.

Principle of Context - Before we incorporate something into training we need to see where it fits into the context of what is already being done and what is planned. Perhaps the biggest violation of the principle of context is to take one component, for example speed or strength and train those to the exclusion of all other physical qualities. This is fundamentally unsound. It is possible to design program where a component is emphasized for a phase, but it should be kept in proportion to the other components and put into the context of the whole training plan.

Principle of Overload - In order for the athlete to progress they must be subjected to a load at a level beyond which they have adapted. Overload is achieved through manipulation of the training variables of volume, the amount of work, intensity, the quality of the work, and frequency of application of the training stimulus. Because there is a reciprocal relationship between volume and intensity it is important to be careful about increasing both at the same time. It is easy to fall into a trap of overload through volume. This happens because it is easier to quantify training in terms of volume, more runs, more jumps or more throws. This quickly becomes a trap because you cannot keep adding volume without quickly reaching the point of diminishing returns. It also happens because at the start of the athletic development process volume loading results in rapid and sometime spectacular gains. Remember that volume is not a biomotor quality. In essence the more you do the better you get. As training age advances that paradigm has to shift and the overload has to come more from intensity.

Principle of Recoverability - The ability to recover both short term and long term from a workload is crucial to positive adaptation to the training stimulus. If the athlete is unable to recover form the training stress then it is not an appropriate load. Different athletes have different abilities to recover. No two athletes are the same in ability, nor are they the same in the ability to recover. Of all the training principles this is the one that is most easy to overlook because it is so easy to get caught up in the work and ignore the ability to recover.

Ultimately all of this is an educated attempt at prediction of future performance based on evaluation of previous competition and training results. It is achieved through planning and organization of training into a cyclic structure to develop all biomotor qualities in a systematic, sequential and progressive manner. The goal is optimum development of the individual’s performance capabilities. Traditionally the focus has been on periodization as a model, in order to be more effectively applied I believe we should focus more on the process and the concepts.

The traditional emphasis in planning has been on the long term plan. It has been my experience that the longer the period of time for the plan the less accurate the plan will be. In order to be more effective the emphasis in long term planning should be on global themes and training priorities based on competition performance, training results, and testing and evaluation data from previous years performance. A shift in focus to the detailed planning of shorter more immediate time periods is more effective and will better serve to meet the needs of the athletes.

Periodization literature is rife with terminology and jargon. We need to make terminology exact and consistent in order to facilitate understanding and communication. I propose that we use the term Planned Performance Training (PPT) instead of periodization, which is foreign term left over from the old eastern bloc training schemes. Planned Performance Training is defined as thetiming, sequence, and interaction of the training stimuli to allow optimum adaptive response in pursuit of specific competitive goals. It is essentially why you do, what you do, in relation to when you do it. This could serve as a step toward updating and revising the concept to fit current sport demands and more accurately reflect current ongoing sport science research.

Recommendations

Study the applications of the concepts of Planned Performance Training to team sport training

Reconciliation and organization of the competitive calendar to allow more thorough planning

Agreement on a unified terminology to facilitate effective communication for improved coaching education in the application of the concepts

Educate sport administrators on the necessity and value of planning

Research methods of monitoring training to better guide planning of training

Apply a multidisciplinary approach to planning that draws on history, sociology, anthropology, psychology, biomechanics, physiology and statistics

Study successful training programs from the past to further validate and refine the concept 

Hopefully this overview will help to create further awareness of the necessity of planning and the various influences and ingredients that go into formulating a viable plan as part the whole sport development process.

 

References

Counsilman, James E. Competitive Swimming Manual for Coaches and Swimmers. Bloomington, Indiana. Counsilman Co., INC. 1977

Franke, Werner W. and Berendonk, Brigitte. Hormonal Doping and androgenization of athletes: a secret program of the German Democratic Republic government. Clinical Chemistry. 43: 1262-1279. 1997

Goralski, Robert. World War II Almanac 1931 – 1945 - A Political and Military Record. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. 1981 pp. 425 - 428

Rowbottom, David G. Periodization of Training. In: Exercise and Sport Science. Garrett, William E. and Kirkendall, Donald T. Philadelphia, USA. Lippincot  Williams & Wilkins. 2000

Smith, Dean with John Kilgo and Sally Jenkins. A Coach’s Life. New York, New York. Random House. 1999

Walsh, Chris. The Bowerman System. Los Altos, CA. Tafnews Press. 1983

Periodization and the Systematic Sport Development Process – Part One

Periodization is simply planning. It is something that effective coaches have done forever. Planning gives direction and purpose to the training. It also provides a context to evaluate performance aside from wins and losses or personal records. Periodization is a concept not a model. It is a systematic attempt to gain control of the adaptive response to training in preparation for competition. There is little “hard science” to substantiate periodization. It is mostly based on scientific inferences rather than hard scientific evidence. On the other hand there is an immense body of coaching evidence going back into the early twentieth century that underscores the key elements of what eventually became known as periodization. These key elements are:

 Systematic approach

A strategy to distribute training loads in relation to competition goals

 A defined structure for progression

 A sequential building block approach

 A set time frame for execution of the plan

All components of training are addressed

In pursuit of specific competition goals

Reflects the undulatory nature of the adaptive process

Systematic manipulation of the variables of volume, intensity and density

 A method for monitoring training and evaluating competition results

The concept of periodization works the best when the majority of the variables can be controlled. The most important variable is that of competition. Control of the competitive schedule is essential to the success of any plan. One of the stated goals of periodization is optimum performance at the desired time, whether an individual competition or a series of competitive efforts. Today the undefined nature of the extended competitive calendar represents the biggest change from when the concept was formalized in the 1950’s and 60’s. There is an abundance of high level competitions at the elite level and also for that matter at the developmental level that do not allow for long developmental periods of training.

It is important to frame periodization within the concept of the sport development system. The diversity of our nation has always been an overwhelming strength in the development of our elite athletes for international competition. This diversity resulted in a “non-system” sport development system. We cannot blindly copy the traditional eastern European periodization models. Our sport system operates in an entirely different socio cultural political milieu. We must take the principles and concepts and adapt them to our current reality.

Periodization as a concept is certainly not new, or particularly contemporary. The name may be new to many, but it first appeared in coaching literature in the fifties and sixties. Periodization as we know it today was articulated by L.P. Matveyev who studied specific sports and looked at the periodic and cyclic nature of training necessary to achieve peak performance at the time of major competitions. The nature of periodization as it has evolved represents a reflection of the socio- cultural reality of the countries where the concept was first articulated rather than any science of the cyclic nature of performance. The science came later in order to better quantify and verify the concept.

After the Russian Revolution the Soviet Union organized virtually everything in society into five-year plans. Specific measurable production goals were articulated and all effort was directed toward the achievement of those goals whether it was agriculture, industry, or education. It was only logical that this approach would eventually be applied to the sport development process. Therefore, when they decided to pursue sport internationally as a glorification of the communist system, the same systematic long term planning that was used in the rest of society was applied to sport. Rather than five or ten year plans the time period in sport development was the quadrennial cycle culminating every four years in the Olympic Games. They recognized that success in international sport, especially as the stature of the Olympic Games gained more international prestige in the sixties and the seventies, would result in a validation and glorification of the communist system.

It is also important to consider the impact of two world wars fought on the European continent. World War Two devastated the male populations of what was to become the eastern bloc nations after the war, as well as Germany, England and France. The Soviet Union had 21,320,000 people killed out of a population of 194,000,000, included in this number were 7,720,000 civilians killed. Germany had 5,600,000 killed out of a population of 78,000,000 including 2,300,000 civilians killed. In contrast the United States had 292,131 killed out of a population of 129,000,000 with no civilians killed. (Goralski, 1981)

In short after the devastation of WWII there was no talent to waste! Systematic development of the limited human resources for sport development was a necessity if they wanted to compete. Periodization (Systematic planning & development of the athlete) was a tool to enable those countries to optimize their human resources. It is also important to consider that physical culture was an inherent part of the communist ideology. A healthy physically fit populace was needed for a strong military.

GAIN 2013 – The Experience

I am in the midst of GAIN withdrawal syndrome. What is that? Well it is actually pretty simple, after you spend five days with highly motivated coaches, therapists and teachers who are hungry to learn and willing to share and you leave there is a very empty feeling. It is so stimulating and uplifting to be in that environment that it is difficult to return to the daily routine. Only 12 more months until GAIN 2014! Fortunately we have a GAIN forum and Google + community to continue to share ideas and continue the GAIN experience. GAIN has grown and evolved in the past five years into a very special experience for professional development. The days are long without breaks, so that it is a total immersion in athletic development. In many ways GAIN is defined by what it is not, it is not a course in the traditional sense of the word, it is certainly not a boot camp, it is not a clinic, the best way I can describe it is it is an experience. It is what Seth Godin calls a tribe, a learning circle where everyone may not agree but they agree to disagree civilly and in a manner that fosters learning. The faculty is the best people in their fields who are actually producing results working with athletes and teaching physical education. They are totally accessible to attendees at all times. Rather than try to capture the whole GAIN experience in one post (That would not do it justice) I will write subsequent posts on the presentations and the lessons from this years GAIN. If you are interested in attending next year mark the second week of June on your calendar, enrollment is limited and it is open by application only. Our goal is define the field of athletic development and change that world.