All coaches have five things in common:

1. A love of the sport they coach;
2. The passion and drive to be the best they can be;
3. An unquenchable thirst for knowledge and learning;
4. A desire to see every athlete they coach realise their full potential;
5. An unbreakable devotion to their philosophy on training volume.

Why this obsession with volume of training? Why do coaches resist any attempt from sports scientists and others to reduce their training volume? Why do coaches resent any implication that they are training their athletes too hard?

Because, in spite of all the research and all the literature and all the advances in sports science, sports medicine and performance technologies, the only thing that is proven – beyond doubt – to improve performance is consistent hard training.

And because coaches know that hard training works – and all the other stuff is pretty much theory, fad or trend, they are reluctant to change their approach to training and incredibly resistant to any notion of tampering with their training methodologies.

Recovery….

Take for example the world’s obsession with recovery. Do we think things like hydrotherapy, massage and recovery nutrition strategies enhance competition performance? Yes.

Does it make sense that they should enhance competition performance? Yes.

Are they proven to enhance competition performance? No.

You could say the same things about “core stability / Pilate’s”, “vibration machines”, “sports supplements” and “altitude training for sea level performance” - good ideas, great concepts, interesting to talk about but not proven to enhance competition performance.

Hard work. The only way?

The only thing that has been conclusively demonstrated beyond any doubt to enhance competition performance is training.

So logically, any attempt by a researcher or sports science service provider to change the one thing coaches know works is likely to be met with blank looks, cold stares and a loud “no thanks”. Coaches think – “I am responsible for the performance of my athletes. I know that training hard works. So why would I risk my reputation, my job and the success of my athletes on anything that is not proven to work?”. And this has led to 20 years of frustration, fear and fighting between coaches and sports scientists all over the world.

However, it is also clear, that in many sports, coaching beliefs about the volume of training required to become an elite performer are more based on myth, anecdote and legend than they are on logic and practical experience.

Take for example the following training volume “myths and legends” of various sports:

• Distance running – 100 miles a week;
• Swimming – 100 kms a week;
• Diving – 100 dives a session;
• Tennis – 1000 hits a session;
• Cycling – 1000 kms a week;
• Many Olympic sports – 10 sessions a week / or 24 hours a week.

Many of these “volume myths” have grown out of “coaching conference story telling” where successful coaches share the secret to their success which then gets written down and copied by every coach in the room; coaches who mistakenly believe that copying the success secrets of others is the secret to achieving their own.

Over time, these “myths” become “training truths” – e.g. “if your swimmers are not swimming ten sessions a week they will never be successful” and like all myths, these stories get passed down from coach to coach, from generation to generation until they become accepted practice by the entire coaching community of that sport.

Now to More with Less.

Let’s look at the issues.

1. There is no one size fits all, magic formula, guaranteed to succeed, every athlete must do, mythical training volume which works for all athletes: Fact: all athletes are unique individuals;
2. Kids and parents (and coaches for that matter) have limited time to fit in all the opportunities and options that life offers: Fact: everyone has less time available;
3. There is an unprecedented explosion of ideas and information on the Internet that is free for athletes and coaches to access – anytime – anywhere: Fact: everyone knows what you know;
4. Our understanding of peak performance in sport has become increasingly sophisticated and we know more than ever about learning, training adaptation, genetic potential, mental abilities, recovery, nutrition and performance technology: Fact: we have the knowledge and information to train, prepare and compete more efficiently;
5. The ability and capacity of Generation Y and I athletes to learn has accelerated due to the integrated, collaborative learning environment social media now offers them: Fact: your athletes can and do learn faster than any previous generation.

Now put all these facts together……and what do you come up with?

We need to create an efficient, effective training, learning and development environment which provides the optimal opportunity for individual athletes to train, to learn and to improve at an accelerated rate.

Is this just about cutting back on training volume? Of course not!

I am with the coaches on this: let’s not reduce training volumes unless…..we create an environment at training which consistently embraces accelerated learning.

Just kutting kilometres and minimising miles is not the answer unless………we first ensure that every athlete is totally engaged in every aspect of the program and trains efficiently and effectively every moment they train.

Having training sessions off is not the solution unless…….we know that every athlete trained to the full extent of their ability and potential at every session they attended.

So, more with less is possible but it requires some fundamental changes in your performance environment, beginning and ending with athletes accepting greater responsibility for their own performance and coaches prepared to coach in collaboration with their athletes: a perfect performance partnership.
Times are changing: are you?

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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There is a tribe in the highlands of Papua New Guinea who have never seen modern technology, who could not even imagine using the latest electronic tools, who can not comprehend western society concepts of computing, social media, high speed Internet links, laser technology or satellite navigation.

This tribe, believes that the best way – the only way - the way everyone must adopt  to cut down a tree is to make an axe by lashing a sharp rock to a piece of wood. This knowledge has been passed down from generation to generation for centuries….this tribe knows for certain that the only way to cut down a tree is to use a hand made stone ax.

And then, one day, through the forest, comes a man from the USA carrying a chain saw……. 

And it is the same with all sports!

You want to be a football coach. So what do you do?

You enrol in a football coaching course. You attend a weekend football coaching course. You listen to the football coaching presentations, you read the football coaching books and you do the football coaching practical sessions.

And all of these sessions are presented by football coaches who like you, learnt from other football coaches who learnt from other football coaches who learnt from other football coaches.

There is no doubt a level of sports specific knowledge and information is critical to learn in all sports: you need a certain level of core level or basic knowledge in the sport you are planning to coach.

However, believing that all the solutions to football (or tennis or swimming or hockey etc) problems lie within football limits the potential for progress and is a coaching dead end. Now more than ever, coaching is creativity.

In truth, like the tribe in Papua New Guinea, believing that what your sport knows and what your sport does is the only way of doing things is one step short of insanity and a recipe for coaching mediocrity.

The reason you believe that your sport “sees all and knows all” is that in all likelihood you don’t really know what else is out there – and unless someone comes crashing into your sport with a “chainsaw” of new ideas, information and innovations - it is likely you never will know what else is out there.

Particularly in high performance coaching, where winning means being unique, being different, being the first, being more innovative and more creative than your opposition, copying the ideas of others within your own sport means failure: copying equals losing - the best ideas win!

To think outside the box, you have to first step outside the box: you have to move outside of your sport and look at:

1. Coaching in other sports;
2. Coaching in other industries which involve teaching, learning, coaching, communication and developing skills;
3. Coaching in other fields of endeavour which prize innovation, creativity, uniqueness, achievement and success.

Now, more than ever, Creativity is King! The Internet has made information about your sport available anywhere, anytime, to anyone and for free – everyone is an expert.

You have to assume that now everyone within your sport knows what you know – and that knowledge about your own sport is freely available to other coaches, athletes, parents, administrators, the media and the general public - everyone is an expert.

So, if all your competitors know what you know and have learnt it the same way you learnt it, how will you gain an advantage over them??????

The most important part of thinking outside the box is accepting that other people, other sports, other coaches might know more than you (and your sport) know. It is critical to look outside of the box with an open mind, an inquisitive spirit and a humble soul and to not judge what you see out there from a “that’s not the way we do it” perspective.

I have seen more than one “benchmarking” group from a sport visit other sports but do so with their eyes, ears, hearts and minds closed – wishing only to confirm how much better they are than everyone else. You have to walk away from your “box” and look at new ideas, information and innovations objectively, intelligently and inquisitively.

The secret to coaching success in the future lies in knowing three things:

1. “I know as much as I can know about my sport“;
2. “I know as much as I can know about other sports and other fields of endeavour“;
3. “I know that I must continue to strive to learn as much as I can learn about my sport, other sports and other fields of endeavour if I am to succeed as a coach”.

 So, what do you know?

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2010 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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