Functional Path Training

The Road - Part Two

So, what should we change? What can do to remedy this situation? It is quite simple, shift the emphasis from preparing the road for the athlete to preparing the athlete for the road. It is an arduous journey that takes more than talent. It demands everyone being on the same page. It is not harsh or tough love, it is caring. It is coaching the person, giving guidance and direction. Remember it is a transformational process, not transactional. It is allowing the athlete space to grow and learn through trial and error. Along the way there will be choices, some quite simple and others complex. We need to help the athlete make informed choices that are best for therm. It is understanding that mistakes and failure in an athletic contest is just a bump in the road, a real learning opportunity to grow and move on. It demands that we as leaders get out of our comfort zone of being the almighty, know it all. We must humble ourselves and understand the athlete and recognize that it takes time for the athlete to grow. It is more than words. If we expect them to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, then we must also be willing to be uncomfortable. We need to value what matters to the athlete, get past appearances and labels. Give them all the tools they need to navigate the road. Hard intelligent training that thoroughly prepares for the rigors of competition is necessary, not an option. Provide reasonable behavioral guidelines that give them structure and guidance. Give them a working compass oriented to true north, along with a current road map so they can navigate the detours and road closures to be able to get to their destination. In summary, to help your athletes navigate the road it is quite simple – coach your athletes the way you would want to be coached. To help you guide your athletes on the journey I recommend you read Do Hard Things by Steve Magness and listen to Finding Mastery podcast #358 December 6, 2022, with master coach Paul Assaiante https://findingmastery.net/pau /

Letter to a Coach Starting Out

This is an updated version of a post that wrote 6 years ago. I think it particularly timely today based on some conversions I have had recently.

Dear Coach:

Congratulations on beginning an exciting journey of discovery. You have checked all the boxes in terms of your preparation, you have interned with three pro teams, you are certified, and you have your degree in sports science. Those are the keys that unlock the door. Now the fun starts, the real work begins, you get to apply what you have learned. Be prepared to pay your dues, 90% of coaching is grunt work. Not much science, just a whole lot of detail work that no one ever teaches you in school. Now you have to practice and learn the art of coaching, to become skilled at your craft. You will learn by doing, by making mistakes and correcting them and moving forward.

Find a real live in person mentor as soon as you can. Preferably it should be someone who has been there before, someone with gray hair or no hair who has had successes and failures and is willing to share both. Honor and respect those who have blazed the path for you. Know your sports history and study the great coaches who have gone before you.

Practice self-refection. Keep learning! Don’t follow fads. Be an informed skeptic. Beware of Internet training porn and slick marketing. Define yourself by developing a clear philosophy. Your philosophy is your guiding light. Maintain your principles and ethics. Winning is not everything. There are no gray areas – there are very strict moral guideline in regard to PED’s and personal behavior.

Remember you coach people, not the sport. It is not the technique, training methods, the offense or defense that matters most, it is how you relate to and communicate with athletes you coach as people. Be sure to have a life. Take time for yourself and your family. Be an example to those you coach.

There will be tremendous highs full of elation and celebration where you think you have it all figured out. There will also be tremendous disappointments where you will wonder why you chose this path. Maintain an even keel, a level steady approach that doesn’t allow the highs to be too high and lows too low. If you are steady and consistent this will be reflected in your athletes.

Sharpen your communication skills. Remember it is not what you say it what they hear that matters most. Talk less and say more. Listen carefully and observe. You can see a lot by watching. Be willing to say you were wrong. Be honest with yourself and your athletes. Lead by example. Empower your athletes – you don’t have be in control all the time. Be yourself. Develop your own coaching style that reflects who you are.

Stress fundamentals and you will grow adaptable athletes. Don’t stray far from fundamentals. Good fundamentals are robust and will serve your athletes well under the pressure of competition. Never lose sight of the ultimate goal – Competition. Develop adaptable athletes who are not dependent on your coaching. Give the athlete control of the game. The competition is your final exam that is when you find out if you have done your job.

Recognize that change is constant. Learn to manage and lead change. Be proactive. Be a generalist, don’t become so specialized that you lose sight of the big picture of preparing the complete athlete.

Coaching is a special calling. Be thankful for that calling and treat it as a special opportunity every day. I will close with an email I received from one of my former athletes after a visit with him after not seeing him for thirty years. Words like this are better than any championship! “I was thinking about what you said about the bunch of athletes from SBHS that you felt were a great part of your career. As I look back, I believe a coach can have a significant influence on a young person’s life in terms of lessons to take forward. Although none of us at SBHS achieved Olympic or world-class athletic status, I think that many of us have been very successful in other aspects of our lives. I believe that your influence on us included such attributes as the understanding of perseverance, importance of character, the development of self-confidence, maintaining a life balance and the love of physical conditioning. I know that the life lessons you taught me led to my work in physical therapy, the perseverance to obtain a PhD, and the love of a life filled with running, cycling and swimming.  Thank you for enriching my life Vern. I would not be where I am today without your early guidance.”

Yours in coaching

Vern Gambetta

Track & Field Dual Meets - Some Thoughts

The dual meet was the cornerstone of an athlete’s development for years in track & field. For a variety of reasons, the dual meet has all but disappeared in track and field at all levels. I have heard all the arguments for abandoning dual meets and I didn't then or now ever agree with them. At the collegiate level the most prevalent argument is limited scholarships. What about getting walk-on’s? What about running less events instead of a full slate of events. Dual meets if used properly are keys to develop athletes, especially at the high school level. That gangly ninth or tenth grader given the opportunity to compete often turns into a smooth coordinated athlete as a senior. Without the opportunity to compete in dual meets how would you know and what would keep them motivated? At the collegiate level the opportunity to run multiple events or to compete in other events than your specialty is invaluable. Last but not least dual meet s are inexpensive to run. If scheduled properly travel is minimal, overnight stays are not necessary. It is very basic; the dual meet was the cornerstone of American success in Track & Field for many years. Not nostalgia but reality. Given the current reality the dual meet can be the salvation of the sport.

We will devote a future GAINcast to this topic with an emphasis on the developmental aspects of the dual meet. Your ideas and feedback is always appreciated.

Learn about GAIN

Don’t miss out on GAIN 2020 June 16 to June 20 at Rice University in Houston Texas. GAIN is open to Strength & Conditioning/Athletic Development coaches, Sport Coaches, Physical Therapists, ATC’s, Chiropractors, Doctors and Physical Education teachers. Those who attend are professionals seeking career advancement & renewal through a networking experience and who are interested in getting out of their comfort zone. https://thegainnetwork.com/  Application open January 15. To learn more about GAIN take some time to watch my opening State of GAIN presentation for 2019. https://thegainnetwork.com/video/state-of-gain-2019-gambetta/

My Sports and Coaching Books of the Year

My Sports and Coaching Books of the Year. Notice the placing of the Wade Gilbert book - Coaching is the foundation!  

It’s Not Rocket Science

Athletic development is about optimizing training to enhance performance in the competitive arena. The basic concepts are quite simple. Simplicity yields complexity; you don’t have to try to make it complicated. That is why being a generalist is so important; it will allow you to make relationships that the specialist because of their narrower vision will not see. Sophisticated technology and computer algorithms are part of a much bigger picture. Over reliance on tools and technology will not get the job done. You need to use your experience to ask key questions and interpret the data. Without that, high tech tools are no more than random number generators that confuse us rather guide us.

Wise Words From Two Great Coaches

Over the past three weeks I have been fortunate to speed time with two great coaches, professional colleagues and most importantly close friends and great people – Juan Osorio now the manger of the Mexican National team in soccer and Jim Radcliffe, head S&C coach at University of Oregon. We share a passion for coaching excellence that has connected us over the years. I only wish I could have recorded my dinner conversation with Juan as he recounted the month he spent with Pep Guardiola in Barcelona and the other month with Louis Van Gal when he was at Bayern – Priceless! Juan’s passion for learning is off the scale, I am looking for him to take El Tri to new heights of achievement. During matches Juan writes his observations and comments on the game in a notebook, in many ways this has become his trademark, something the TV commentators are always pointing out. When he was asked why he writes in a notebook during the game he answered: “ A short pencil is more efficient than a long memory” wise words to ponder.

This past weekend in what has become a tradition Jimmy Radcliffe flies from the NCAA regional track meet to spend a day in Sarasota with me just catching up and talking training. In many ways that day and the week at GAIN are the highlights of my year. Jimmy like Juan is passionate and driven to learn and improve. Like Juan a 16 hour day is the norm, when I think if Jimmy I think of him as the coaches coach. Here is some sage advice from Jimmy during our conversation Sunday on recovery. “When you look at recovery always look at what you are recovering from and what you are recovering for?” Again food thought, use recovery methods strategically and wisely.

Just writing about these two guys makes me realize how blessed I am to have friends like this who are not self-promoters and genuine great people.

Coaching

Coaching is a process with a foundation in pedagogy, supported by science, forged in experience, proven & tested in the competitive arena. Lest we forget coaching is not about training, technique, tactics and strategy, it is about people. We are not coaching numbers in an algorithm; we are coaching human beings who are individuals with emotions and feeling. The coaches who make a difference are coaches who focus on the process not the outcomes. Coaching is not something you do; it is something you are with every fiber of your being. Invest in the process and take time to enjoy the journey.

GAIN 2015 Lessons – Greg Thompson on PE as a Foundation

Greg is a elementary school PE teacher in Farmington Hills Michigan. It is hard to find a word to express this mans depth of knowledge and passion. If there is something more genuine than genuine Greg is it. In addition to teaching PE Greg also coaches soccer achieving USA Soccer A Badge, the highest level of certification in the US. I asked Greg to kickoff GAIN with a presentation on PE as the Foundation. Needless to say he knocked our socks off. He set the tempo for the whole program with his ideas.

He started by surveying experts from around the world on what was important in a good foundation established by PE:

Moving Well

Static Balance – Ability to make a stable base

Dynamic Balance

Object control skill and ability to combine them with locomotor skills

Landing Mechanics

Flexibility – Only if you can express with balance, strength and speed

General Strength

Aerobic Fitness

Behavior

Some other thoughts from Greg:

“Figure it out” – Give them the tools to solve moment problems and let them figure it out. They are OK to express themselves through movement.

He treats the body like a paintbrush

Create desirable difficulties

It is one thing to value it; it is another thing to have a plan for teaching it.

Games become an express of skill so teach skill first

Behavior must be addressed – Growing people into responsible adults

Not sure my brief words can do justice to Greg’s ideas and methods. Greg is the teacher we wish we all had in school and the teacher we want our children to have. Greg came to the first GAIN eight years ago as an attendee. He truly represents what GAIN is about – Quality, excellence, passion, sharing and humanity. Thanks Greg for helping make GAIN what it is.

Youth Sport Today – How We Got There

Where we are today in youth sport today with the “pay to play” model did not happen overnight. This post is meant give some historical context for why we are where we are today. This is excerpted from my new book that I am working on called “Developing Athletes.”

1969 when I started coaching was probably the height of the school based sport system in the US. For many reasons into the 1970’s and definitely by the early 1980’s much changed. Perhaps the biggest change was the gradual erosion of the mandatory daily physical requirement in the schools. There was more time devoted to academic subjects. The first subjects cut were physical education, then arts, then music and then theater arts because they were deemed non-academic. With cuts in physical education there were no longer jobs for specialist physical education teachers, consequently fewer and fewer PE teachers where hired. This quickly affected sports coaching, as the physical education teachers who had been the pool of sport coaches had their jobs eliminated. Schools now had to go outside the faculty to hire coaches. Many of these coaches had no background in pedagogy or any actual coaching experience; it was not long before a noticeable drop off in the quality of coaching in the schools occurred. In addition there was little continuity in the coaching from year to year because coaching stipends were minimal. Certainly it was not long before you began to see the effects in the young developing athlete. Those teachers that had entered the profession on completion of their schooling through the GI Bill were retiring and were not replaced as they retired. Over the forty plus years since I started coaching we have arrived at the point where today only two states have mandatory K-12 physical education and that requirement is somewhat watered down. In sports we are at the point where the majority of coaches in the schools are not faculty members. This has many implications that I will go into detail on later. 

This resulted in the rise of outside sport teams that began in the late 1980’s grew in the 1990’s and has exploded in the new millennium. In basketball, baseball, soccer, softball, volleyball, lacrosse and to some extent track & Field and swimming sports outside the schools has taken precedence. Competition is no longer local but national in scope. Seasons are extended to mimic adult competition seasons with youngsters as young as 12 years old playing 100 plus baseball games a year, competing for national championships and youth world championships.