Not another reflection piece — BASC | Strength & Conditioning

Take home message

TRAINING WILL BE HARD AND IT CAN ALSO BE FUN.

For Coaches

Coaching is hard, constantly balancing athlete and person.

For Athletes

Yes, it is supposed to be fun. Yes, your coach knows that. But sometimes it needs to be hard.

Whilst it seems somewhat cliché to write a reflection piece at this time of year, in my defence, that is what these posts are - reflections - and reflecting is a part of coaching and sport development. So what is my 2020 reflection?

Well, for me it is not “being prepared for anything” or “overcoming obstacles”. It’s my once again late to the party realisation that athletes (and coaches) are people - not spreadsheets. That’s probably a given too, but as a young ‘sport scientist’, that is probably second to program design and 'getting your loading right’.

Here in Perth, when COVID struck (and we have had a very fortunate experience to date), training ceased, athletic dreams were put on hold and priorities were balanced. Sport became “just” sport as other parts of life became very much more important. However, interestingly, the lack of exercise and sport soon had it’s own negative consequence. People who were isolated or quarantined craved movement and once sport was allowed, parks and communities came to life. Elite athletes have been crammed in bubbles and played in empty stadiums, which is no doubt hard, but better than not playing at all.

When our training recommenced there were mixed emotions. Some were happy to be running around again, ending the longest period away from sport they had ever had. Some were disappointed and lost, their identity as an international athlete “on hold”. So what was the lesson of the last six months that I will use to improve my coaching and the athletes I work with in 2021 and beyond?

Trying harder to get the balance right between the person and the athlete. As I get older, I am seeing far more grey in the black and white when it comes to the nuances of exercise prescription. Lots of things work and the debate about which of these good options will work best can depend on which one will be done better - which exercise or routine the athlete will train with the greatest intensity. Rather than me being so particular on which exercise or rep, etc an athlete should do, I find I am presenting my opinion on the best two, three or four options and then having the athlete choose the one they like the best. I think if the athlete likes one more, they are likely to train it with more intensity and gain a greater adaptation than going through the motions in the other choice. If I think one really is better, I will change my mind if the athlete can provide a really good counterpoint. I think before, my coaching would have been more about the what the research says (and I am a researcher), or what the data or spreadsheet say we should do. And yes, that is all very important, but in many circumstances, the difference between two options can be: “which one do you like more?” or “which one excites you?” I think that is the coaching applying the research.

Now, this is not all rainbows and unicorns. I know that my athletes do not “love” every aspect of training, but I know that they realise that like everything in life, there are things that you just have to do. They know that sometimes the gain comes from knowing you have done some really hard training that you did not like doing, but are now better off for having completed an arduous task. Often in hard competition, knowing you have achieved in tough environments before can put you in good stead. But in training programs where you do have a choice between two equally good options, maybe sometimes go with the one that is more fun, more engaging. Don’t get me wrong, elite performance does require hard work, a grind and pushing limits and there are times (and my players know this) that I don’t really care if they don’t like it - “RUN!”

But it doesn’t mean we can’t have fun as well. Get the balance.

Thanks for reading. If you’ve enjoyed this post (or previous ones) please consider sharing via your favourite social (a couple of links below) and signing up to my regular fortnightly email, by clicking on the “Subscribe” button below. When you subscribe, new posts will be delivered to your inbox.

Thanks again. BA.