Coach education is at the crossroads.

One thing is for certain, the way we have trained, educated and developed sports coaches in the past is not working. It has failed.

Let’s talk about a new approach in Coach Training, Education and Development: A Client Focused Approach.

Let’s talk about CoachT.E.D. (pronounced Coached): Coach Training, Education and Development.

And most importantly, let’s talk about training, educating and developing more coaches and better coaches: coaches who can provide every person involved in sport with the environment and the opportunity to develop a passion for sport, a life long love of physical fitness and activity and the chance to choose a path to realise their potential as athletes and human beings.

Coach Training Education and Development: hereafter known as COACHT.E.D. (Pronounced Coached)

The sporting world is desperately seeking two things:

1. More coaches;
2. Better coaches.

And, the world is also desperately seeking new and better ways of training, educating and developing those coaches.

As coach training, educating and developing takes too long to say, let’s adopt a new acronym – COACH-T.E.D. (pronounced Coached) – (note to coach educators everywhere – remember where you heard it first!).

What are the biggest five problems with CoachT.E.D. around the world right now?

1. Most people who coach or who are involved in some form of coaching do not even commence the COACH-TED pathway for that sport;
2. Coaches who do complete the first level of the COACH-TED pathway rarely complete all assessment tasks and the accreditation or licensing requirements;
3. Coaches who do complete all accreditation or licensing requirements rarely maintain their qualifications with updating requirements;
4. Coaches who do maintain their qualifications with updating requirements rarely move to the next level of accreditation, i.e. from “Level 1 to Level 2″;
5. Coaches rarely commit to ongoing learning and continuous improvement programs.

And what do we learn from these five problems?

It is pretty clear that what we are doing now is not working! The “levels” system has failed.

It’s a bit like saying, “We have a great restaurant, but not many people ever come and eat here. Those who do, don’t order dessert or stay for very long. Very few order some of the best things on the menu and almost no-one every comes back. But we have a great restaurant!!!!”

Well, it’s time to close the restaurant down for a while, change the decor, improve the menu, focus on customer service and make our “restaurant” the hottest ticket in town.

So what’s the solution?

There is solution…a client focused solution.

Here’s a five step plan to help you develop a Client Focused Approach to Coach-TED:

1. Clearly define and understand who your clients are: In most sports your clients are your athletes and their families.
2. Clearly understand what their needs are:  Importantly noting that not all athletes want or need to be placed on the performance pathway! Not every athlete wants or needs to be a world class athlete, a professional player or the next Grand Slam champion.
3. Ensure that your athlete development pathway reflects the needs of your clients: Importantly accepting that fact that there may be in fact two, three or more distinct and very different athlete development pathways depending on the needs of your clients, e.g. a Participation Pathway, a Performance Pathway and Peak Performance Pathway.
4. Create a Coach-TED pathway which supports and reflects the needs of your athlete development pathway: This is critical! It is essential that the sport’s athlete and coach pathways are heading in the same direction and at the same speed.
5. Align the athlete development pathway and the Coach-TED pathway: Noting that as the athlete development pathway is dynamic, is constantly changing and evolving based on the changes occurring in broader society, so too will the Coach-TED pathway be dynamic and in need of constant review and continuous improvement.

So why is this Client Focused Approach so important?

It’s simple when you stop and think about it.

Follow this logic trail….

• Governments, sporting organisations and coaches all over the world are trying to find new and better ways of attracting, developing and retaining “clients”, i.e. to get more people involved in sport and physical activity and keep them active for life. For governments this is about community health and well being. For sporting organisations it is about economic survival;
• Coaches are the front line - the ”face” of sport and the first (and sometime the only) point of contact with ”clients”;
• Therefore, for government programs to work and for sporting organisations to survive, it is imperative that coaches are trained, educated and developed to understand the sport’s clients, what their needs are and how to service them effectively.

In short, the future of sport as we know it may depend on our ability to adopt new and better ways of Coach-TED to ensure that sport’s “front-line soldiers” are equipped with the “weapons” they need to win the “war” against obesity, the societal trends towards inactivity and the shift away from organised sport.

Summary:

1. Time to face the facts…the “levels” system of coach accreditation is pretty much dead. We are just waiting for the formal burial. There has to be a better way, and there is.
2. The key to training, educating and developing (TED) great coaches is to ensure their training, education and development is relevant to then needs of the sport’s clients.
3. As coaches are often the “face” of the sport, (i.e. the front line of the sport which engages directly with the sport’s clients), it is vital that every coach is equipped with the skills, knowledge and abilities to play an effective role in servicing the needs of the sport’s clients and in doing so play a critical role in gaining, training and retaining more clients in physical activity and sporting programs.

For more information:

Any government sporting leaders or sporting organisations interested in discussing how they can develop a Client Focused Approach to Coach Training, Education and Development – COACH-TED should contact me directly on wayneATsportscoachingbrain.com
Wayne Goldsmith

Reminder that all posts on this blog are covered by Copyright laws. No posts may be republished or reproduced in part or in full without the expressed written consent of the author.

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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Having visited more than 30 countries in four continents in the past few years and spent time with sports leaders, coaches, athletes, sponsors, sports scientists, sports academics, sports medicine practitioners, sports administrators, government funding agencies and other sports professionals in many of the world’s leading sports systems,five world wide trends in society
(and by extension in sport) have become very clear and are screaming so loud that they can no longer be ignored.

Ignore them at your peril.

Getting Sport into Perspective:

First of all you have to get sport into perspective.

Imagine the world and everything in it was a bucket of sand: that’s all the people, the money, the institutions, governments, buildings, resources….everything.

Sport is roughly a teaspoon of sand in the bucket.

And we know, that if you look at sport as a whole across the entire world, the vast majority - over 80% - of that teaspoon is related to football (soccer).

And the other 20% of our single teaspoon of sand from our bucket is motor sport, basketball, the Olympic Games, golf, tennis, swimming, ice hockey, baseball, the NFL, the AFL, the NBL, the NHL, rugby, rugby league, cricket, netball, shooting, billiards, snooker………..everything else in the world of sport lives in that 20% of that teaspoon from our bucket.

So ignoring what’s happening in broader society is insanity. Making strategic decisions about your team, your sport, your national sports program without first taking into consideration the broader international social, political, economic, geographic and population trends is like wanting to go swimming but not wanting to get wet.

It’s different here:

Now quite often I will do a strategic planning presentation about this topic – about where sport actually fits in the world and how it is totally connected to and subject to all the broader social trends happening across the planet and there is always someone in the audience who will say, “That’s great Wayne, but you don’t understand it here. Our sport is different. Those things don’t apply to our sport. Our culture is unique“.

That’s like saying, “Look the rest of world might need oxygen to survive but we don’t – we don’t really live on this planet”.

The “Big Five”:

The following Five World Wide trends in sport apply to all sports, all athletes, all coaches, all sports managers, all government sporting bodies, all National Federations, all international Federations and every person who has any interest in any aspect of sport in any country in the world:

1. The demise of volunteerism.Volunteerism is dead. Stop throwing money at namby pamby programs to increase volunteerism. It is over. It is full time. Elvis has left the building. People in this century barely have enough time, money and energy to do the fundamentals of their own lives without giving up a lot of it to amateur sport for nothing. The extension of this is that many of the amateur sporting clubs around the world will collapse and fold within the next twenty years leaving many sports with a network of larger more professional and semi professional clubs to work with – i.e. the “Super Club” concept. Start planning for this fundamental change in the sporting landscape now!;
2. The “more with less” attitude of society. Think about this for a moment. Look at your own sport. Do you honestly believe that in the future athletes and parents will actually commit more time, money and energy to your sport? We can barely keep them engaged with the amount of training, preparation and competition we are demanding now. Where in society do you see people prepared to work harder for the same return? Not on this planet! Demanding more from athletes to achieve more will not work. And demanding more from athletes to sustain current levels of performance will not work. We will all have to find ways to enhance performance, improve athletes and teams but do it in less available time – we have to figure out how to achieve more with less;
3. The changing world of communication, connectivity and collaboration. Anyone on the planet can connect with anyone else on the planet and can learn anything, anytime, anywhere and for free. This means that your sport must be committed to open, honest, transparent, ethical standards and to the paradigms of integration, co-operation, communication, collaboration and partnerships. The old days of secrecy in sport are gone. The sports who will grow and flourish in the future will adopt an attitude of “we” and “us” and reject the ancient sporting philosophies of “me” and “I”;
4. The revolution/s in coaching. Coaching is one of most rapidly changing industries on the planet. The old ways of training coaches by forcing them to complete boring courses and workshops heavy with inappropriate content are over. So too are the old autocratic “do it my way or take the highway” methods of coaching. Coaching is about collaborating, partnering and  building sustainable, dynamic sporting environments with coaches, athletes and parents / partners working together as a team to achieve peak performance potential. The world is desperate for coaches who can thrive in this century and who are prepared to work with – as opposed to coaching at – athletes;
5. The changing demands on the sports marketplace from families and athletes. Families have no spare time: that’s a fact. So to say to a family, “If you want to play our sport, you must totally commit to 10 training sessions a week and give up 6-10 weekends a year for competition (and pay for the privilege of coaching and competition)” and expect them to buy in is lunacy. Within a few short years sports like swimming, gymnastics, diving, rowing and others with huge training and competition demands will either be forced to radically change the way they do things or they will perish.

So, what are you going to do about it?

Where will you sport be in 20 years? In 30? In 50?

And, more importantly, what are you going to do about it?

Without a genuine and urgent commitment to intelligent, strategic change many sports will not survive the next 20 years, let alone the next 90….your sport could be one of them.

You could go from making history to just being another part of it, lost in the trillions of pages of on line resource materials to be searched for and studied by your great great grandchild in 2110 to pass their school project on “ancient sports”.

Too often people yell and scream and demand that national governing bodies, international federations and governments take the lead in these broader issues: stop yelling, stop screaming and start acting.

You can’t change THE world but you can change YOUR world: start today with the “man (or woman) in the mirror”.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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Motivation is something many coaches talk about.

Some read about it and try to learn the secrets of motivation in a bid to help their athletes achieve the impossible.

Others spend money on motivational speakers to try and motivate their athletes through a passionate team talk or an explosive, emotional pre-performance presentation.

Others attend courses, go to workshops and enrol in mental skills programs to learn the mysteries of motivation.

Coaches….don’t waste your time and money.

No one can motivate anyone to do anything.

You need to understand Motivation and Coaching.

Motivation and Coaching: Understanding Motivation.

Motivation is desire. It is the “fire” that fuels great performances, outstanding victories, persistence, perseverance, determination and drive.

It is the explanation for why some athletes have a winning “attitude”.

It is the rationale behind “mental-toughness”.

It is the strength and the character that allows athletes to overcome adversity, setbacks, disappointments, injuries and non-selections.

It is the seemingly endless energy driving athletes to complete even the toughest, most challenging and most exhausting workouts.

Motivation is the cornerstone of success for every great athlete and every great athletic achievement.

Coaches constantly seek the magic pill or the miracle ingredient or the breakthrough technique to motivate their athletes and it is all a waste of time: you can’t motivate anyone to do anything. And besides….motivation is not your job.

Motivation and Inspiration: There is a difference.

What most people think is motivation, i.e. the motivational speaker talking about money, power, success and glory is actually inspiration.

The two can work together, i.e. you can be inspired to change your behaviours to help you realise a dream, but there is a difference.

Inspiration is something that comes the outside: from listening to another person or being involved in an event or through observing something which triggers an emotional response.

Motivation, however, comes from within. Motivation is a fire: a fire which is ignited by a dream and discover their own motivation: to find their “fire”.

It is the coach’s role to inspire athletes to feel confident in themselves and to feel empowered to let their “fire” free.

Motivation is a powerful ally for coaches and an important aspect of successful coaching.

How do you help athletes find their Motivation?

Simply: do nothing.

Just watch. And listen. And observe.

Motivated athletes stand out like a street light at midnight in winter.

The athlete who arrives early to help set up the training environment.

The football player who stays behind to help clean up the gym.

The swimmer who, at the end of a hard training set asks the coach for more.

The field hockey player who encourages her team mates every time they try something new.

The basketballer who asks the facility manager to leave the lights on for another five minutes so they can practice 20 more free throws before they leave.

Motivation will, given the opportunity, express itself….if you allow it to.

Subtle Coaching: The path to Motivation.

Too many coaches over-coach in a bid to motivate their team. They believe that the key to motivation lies in constantly talking, “psyching-up” and providing a high energy, high enthusiasm coaching environment.

Motivation does not work like that: in fact, it’s just the opposite.

Try, giving your athletes some free time. Tell them, “Hey guys, you can do whatever you like for the next 30 minutes. Work on an aspect of your performance that you enjoy”. Then stand back and watch them.

People, by their nature, given free time, will do the things they love to do, which are for the most part, the things they are also good at: their strengths.

Watch what your athletes do during their free time. Chances are, they will go straight to their strengths and in doing so provide you with a doorway to their dreams and a window to their motivations.

Know thy Athletes.

Every coach needs to get to know his / her athletes.

Try scheduling a five minute one on one session with a member of your team before each training session and another five minute “one on one” with another athlete after each training session. Over a few weeks, you can arrange to spend some quality one on one time with everyone in your team. Talk with them about school, family, their life, their dreams, their concerns, their favourite movies – anything – just get to know them and to understand what it is that fuels their preparation and performance.

Because motivation comes from the inside, it is by nature a personal thing.

The key to better understanding what motivates your athletes is to get to know them as human beings.

Summary:

Motivation is like digging for gold: it can be difficult to find but if you persevere and persist until you find it, the rewards are immeasurable.

Coaches cannot motivate athletes: rather coaches must seek to provide the environment and opportunity for athletes to discover what it is that motivates them as individuals.

However, if coaches understand their athletes and what it is that motivates their athletes, great things are possible.

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

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There are sporting kids.

There are sporting coaches.

But the critical people in the sporting equation are sporting parents.

This presentation helps every parent understand how to be a Gold Medal Sporting Parent and how to help their child realise their full potential.

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And don’t forget to contact us and ask about our Sporting Parents seminars…..a must for every parent.

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

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Every coach, every athlete, every media commentator and every fan will tell you that the fundamental element of all sports is skill.

Kicking and passing in football.

Throwing and catching in cricket and baseball.

Diving, turning and finishing in swimming.

Tackling and passing in rugby and rugby league.

Passing and shooting in basketball and netball.

Learning, practicing and mastering the basic skills of sport is one of the foundations of coaching, sports performance and athletic training.

However, just learning the skill is only the first step in the process. Only fools believe that “Practice Makes Perfect” if the goal is to win in competition.

Athletes do not fail because their skill level is poor: they fail because their ability to perform the skill in competition conditions is poor and that’s a coaching issue.

There are 7 Skills Steps You Must Master in Every Sport to be successful.

So what is Sports Skill?

There’s always a “definition” nut out there: someone who has to read a definition of something before they will engage with it.

So to keep all you definition devotees happy, “skill” for the purpose of this article, is defined as:

“The ability to perform a sporting skill consistently well at speed, under fatigue and pressure conditions in a competition environment“.

People drone on and on and on about skills in sport.

“It’s all about the fundamentals” some say.

Others insist, “Skills are everything”.

Hard to disagree but……there is a huge difference between learning a skill and learning to perform the skill consistently well at speed, when you are fatigued, under pressure and trying to execute the skill in front of thousands of people.

Performance Practice:

Want to learn and master a basic sports skill? Find a coach, learn how to do it then practice, practice, practice.

Want to learn and master a basic sports skill so that you can enhance your performance under competitions conditions….then practice, practice, practice will not cut it: you need Performance Practice.

Performance Practice is a logical, systematic 7 Step process that takes athletes from the execution of the basic skill to being able to perform it under competition conditions.

The 7 Skills Steps of Performance Practice:

Skills Step 1: Perform the Skill. This is the first, and unfortunately for most athletes, the last step in their skills learning program. Coaches come up with a drill, athletes copy it, try it, learn it.

Skills Step 2: Perform the Skill very well. Skills mastery comes from regular practice combined with quality feedback from coaches and may incorporate the use of video and other performance analysis technologies – including the best one of all…the coach’s eye! 

It is about here that most coaches stop coaching the skill, believing that if the athlete can perform the skill really well, and it looks like it does in the coaching textbooks then they have done their job.

Wrong.

The job is not even 30% complete.

Skills Step 3: Perform the Skill very well and at speed. Name one sport where the ability to perform sports skills really slow is a winning strategy! Technical perfection at slow speed may look great for the text books, but unless the skill can withstand competition level speed (and included in that is competition accelerations, competition agility requirements and competition explosiveness) then it is not competition ready.

Looking technically perfect at slow speed is great for the cameras but it is even better for your opposition who will have run around you and scored while you are receiving accolades for winning the “best-skills execution” competition.

Skills Step 4: Perform the Skill very well, at speed and under fatigue. Think of the “danger zones” in all competition sport. The last 20 metres of a 100 metres freestyle. The last 5 minutes before half time in football. The last play in the game. Many, many competitions come down to the quality of skills execution during the last 5% of time and being able to perform fundamental skills when tired, dehydrated, glycogen depleted and suffering from neuro-muscular fatigue is a winning edge in all sports.

Skills Step 5: Perform the Skill very well, at speed, under fatigue and under pressure. How many times do you see athletes miss simple targets or drop balls or make errors at critical moments – “danger-zones” in competitions? There is no doubt that emotional stress and mental pressure impact on the ability of athletes to perform skills with quality and accuracy  – (read more about the emerging field of “psycho-physiology!!”). But….this is a coaching issue. Incorporate the element of pressure in skills practices in training and ensure that training is more challenging and more demanding than the competition environment you are preparing for.

Skills Step 6:  Perform the Skill very well, at speed, under fatigue and under pressure consistently. Being able to perform the skill under competition conditions once could be luck, but being able to do it consistently under competition conditions is the sign of a real champion. Consistency in skills execution in competition comes from consistency of training standards. Adopting a “no-compromise” approach to the quality of skills execution at training is a sure way to develop a consistent quality of skills execution in competition conditions. Unfortunately many athletes have two brains:

• Training brain- the “brain” they use in training and preparation. This “brain” accepts laziness, inaccuracy, sloppiness and poor skills execution believing that “it will be OK on the day” and everything will somehow magically be right at the competition;
• Competition brain – the “brain” they use in competition.

The secret to competition success is to use “competition brain” in every training session.

Skills Step 7: Perform the Skill very well, at speed, under fatigue and under pressure consistently in competition conditions. This is what it is all about. The real factor in what makes a champion athlete is their capacity to perform consistently in competition conditions.

Performing a basic skill well is not difficult. But add the fatigue of 75 minutes of competition, the pressure of knowing the whole season is on the line with one kick, the expectations of the Board, the coach, the management, team-mates and tens of thousands of fans and all of sudden that basic skill is not so basic: it becomes the equivalent of juggling six sticks of dynamite.

Practice does not make Perfect:

In the old days, people would say, “Practice Makes Perfect”. We now know that is rubbish.

Some people moved on and said, “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”. Only true if the goal is to perform skills well for the textbooks.

The real issue now is “Performance Practice Makes for Perfect Performance”.

Practice consistently under the conditions to be experienced in competition and success will follow.

Summary:

1. Just learning and mastering sports skills is not enough: it is no longer “Practice Makes Perfect” or “Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”;
2. Coaches and athletes must spend as much time, energy and effort learning to perform the fundamental skills of their sport in competition conditions as they do to learning and mastering the basic skill;
3. Coaches should progress athletes systematically through the 7 skills steps to ensure they can perform fundamental sports skills in competition conditions: to do less is to rely on luck, the bounce of the ball and some good fortune – none of which are strategies for consistent success.

Want to learn more about the 7 Skills Steps?

Contact me now.

Wayne Goldsmith

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

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Congratulations Delhi. What an outstanding event!

After some initial controversy – wow – what a great job you did.

And Congratulations to the athletes, coaches, teams, managers, staff and families who celebrated such an outstanding sporting event.

OK - now that’s out of the way, no more Mr Nice Guy.

Let’s have a real look at the Medal Table for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi: Let’s look behind the fluff and spin.

First of all a quick reminder of the Top Six in the medal table in the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne:

• Sports:  16
• Events: 247

Final Medal Table 2006 Commonwealth Games, Melbourne (taken from the official Melbourne 2006 Web site):

1. Australia – total medals 221: (84 Gold, 69 Silver, 68 Bronze);
2. England – total medals 110 (36 Gold, 40 Silver, 34 Bronze);
3. Canada – total medals 86 (26 Gold, 29 Silver, 31 Bronze);
4. India - total medals 50 (22 Gold, 17 Silver, 11 Bronze);
5. South Africa – total medals 38 (12 Gold, 13 Silver, 13 Bronze);
6. Scotland – total medals 29 (11 Gold, 7 Silver, 11 Bronze).

Now compare these to the results of the top six nations in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi:

• Sports: 17 (i.e. more sports than Melbourne);
• Events: 260 (i.e. more medal winning opportunities than Melbourne).

Final Medal Table 2010 Commonwealth Games, Delhi (taken from the official Delhi 2010 web site):

1. Australia - total medals 177 (74 Gold, 55 Silver, 48 Bronze);
2. India - total medals 101 ( 38 Gold, 27 Silver, 36 Bronze);
3. England – total medals 142 ( 37 Gold, 59 Silver, 46 Bronze);
4. Canada – total medals 75 (26 Gold, 17 Silver, 32 Bronze);
5. South Africa – total medals 33 ( 12 Gold, 11 Silver, 10 Bronze);
6. Kenya - total medals 32  (12 Gold, 11 Silver, 9 Bronze).

(Notable absentees from the Delhi list: Scotland, Northern Ireland and New Zealand!).

2006 vs 2010: (Yes, I know the conditions were different);

• Australia:  Total medals down by 44 (20%) – Gee, I wonder who predicted that?) . Total Gold medals down by 10 (12%);
• India: Total medals up by 51 (over 100% improvement – double their Melbourne tally!). Total Gold medals up by 16 (73%); 
• England : Total medals up by 32 (29%). Total Gold medals up by 1 (3%).
• Canada: Total medals down by 11 (13%). Total Gold medals same as 2006.
• South Africa: Total medals down by 5 (13%). Total Gold medals same as 2006.

So, the facts are:

1. Australia’s medal tally is down by over 20% – yes that’s 20% - on the number of medals won in Melbourne in 2006;
2. India took full advantage of having the “home-ground” with an outstanding performance – increasing their medal tally by just over 100% and their Gold medal score by an amazing 73%;
3. England’s total medal tally increased by 32 but their Gold medal count only increased by 1;
4. Canada’s overall medal tally was slightly down but their Gold medal count remained the same as it was in Melbourne 4 years ago;
5. South Africa’s overall medal tally was also down a little whilst their Gold medal count stayed at 12;
6. Every nation with what you might describe as a mature, advanced, well funded high performance sports system, e.g. Academies and Institutes of Sport, National Elite sports networks etc. is either going backwards or staying roughly the same on the Commonwealth Games Gold medal table – so the question is…..does money really = gold medals????;

And the critical question: Are the Commonwealth Games really about Peak Performance: Look behind the Medals: 

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi was not a world class competition in many sports and events.

Just take two sports, swimming and track and field, for example:

• How many of the performances in swimming and track and field at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi would stand up against the best in the world?
• How many of the performances would have won medals at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games or the most recent world championships in both sports?
• How many world class (i.e. top 16) performances were there in Swimming? In Track and Field?

Here’s a little exercise for you:

Take an event – any event from swimming or track and field. Start with the men’s and women’s 100 metres on the track.

Write down the winning time for that event from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

Now Google “World records” in that sport (or try the IAAF Statistics guys)  or (the FINA Official site) and have a look at what the world standard is in that same event.

Then, Google “Olympic Games” in that sport and event (or try the IOC Official site) and have a look at what times won medals at the last two or three Olympic Games.

 Then let me know what you think.

And here come’s the spin!

I am not usually a betting man, but let’s have an imaginary wager on the following “spin-scripts” being the messages spruiked by some of the teams when they have to face their own national media in coming weeks:

1. Spin: “The conditions were really tough”. Fact: All nations had to face the same conditions and all nations had the same time available to prepare to overcome the conditions;
2. Spin: “Our real focus is the London 2012 Olympic Games”. Fact: How many nations, how many athletes, how many teams achieve great things in an Olympic Games after failing in the Commonwealth Games two years previously? Very, very, very few;
3. Spin: “Our results in the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi demonstrate that we are on track to achieve our goals and targets in London 2012″. Fact: Apart from the Indian team, who can honestly say this? Remember that the most of the world’s sporting super-powers: USA, China, Japan, Brazil, Germany, France, Russia and Italy and many others were not represented in Delhi;
4. Spin: “We will conduct a detailed, comprehensive review of our performances in Delhi”. Fact: What this really means is we will have a meeting over coffee and cake and tell each other what a great job we are doing;
5. Spin:”We didn’t send our best team to Delhi”. Fact: By saying this you are admitting that the Commonwealth Games are of very little importance to your nation and your athletes.

Spin it anyway you like, the 2010 Commonwealth Games Delhi, were a substandard competition in many sports and the three leading Commonwealth sporting nations Australia, England and Canada all under-performed against expectations. Spin does not win!

And now the good news…..

The best news coming from the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi is that the 2012 London Olympic Games are still 2 years away and even better, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games are still six years off.

There is plenty of time to change the things that are not working and plenty of opportunity to get it right. But it will take the one thing that is in short supply around the world: honesty. Total, complete, uncompromising, “hit you in the face” honesty. 

Countries like Australia, England, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa, Scotland and Northern Ireland need to take a good long look at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi and accept it as a “kick in the backside” and a wake up call that all is not well in their high performance systems……. but they have time to do something about it.

Don’t “spin” the results to your politicians, people and press. Be honest about it and use the “kick in the pants” in Delhi to fight and argue for the need for change, reform and improvement”: Spin does not win!

So, what does it all mean? Ten Questions we should all be asking about the final Medal Table for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi:

1. Why did England, which has invested so much money, committed so many resources, hired so many high performance sports professionals and poured so much cash into sports science, sports medicine, research and innovation win only one Gold medal more than they did in 2006?. That works out at about 400 million pounds for that one medal – that’s a pretty expensive piece of metal!;
2. Is the performance of India merely a reflection of their capacity to deal with the conditions more effectively than the rest of the Commonwealth or are they at the beginning of becoming a super-power of world sport?;
3. Why did Australia’s medal tally drop by 20%?;
4. Why isn’t New Zealand improving in spite of having in place one of the smartest, most sophisticated high performance sports systems in the world?
5. Why didn’t Canada’s outstanding performance in the 2010 Winter Olympics reflect in any way in their performances in Delhi? i.e. how can they get it so right in the Winter Olympics but not improve in Summer sport at the Commonwealth Games in the same year?;
6. Why aren’t Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland improving in spite of the development of their own national high performance sports systems, academies / institutes of sport and the investment of millions of pounds (and Euros) in their high performance sports programs?;
7. If money =medals, why is there no correlation between money invested in high performance sport and Gold medals won at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010?;
8. What can be done to ensure the best athletes in the world continue to support the Commonwealth Games? Or should we make the Commonwealth Games a development competition for under 18 athletes only?;
9. Are the poor crowds in India and the poor television ratings reported in Australia, the UK and South Africa a sign that the Commonwealth Games have lost the support and interest of the general public?;
10. What is the real relevance of the Commonwealth Games? Most sports rate it third or fourth on their list of targeted international competitions behind the events like the Olympic Games, World Championships, European Championships and All Asian Games.

So, well done Delhi!

Congratulations to the athletes who overcame the tough conditions in Delhi and performed with distinction. You are the heroes of the Games.

Let’s recognise the outstanding achievements of so many talented athletes, hard working coaches and passionate administrators.

But, at the same time, let’s take an honest, objective, look at what really happened in India and where problems exist, let’s abandon the politics, the “fluff” and the “spin” and work harder than ever to ensure every athlete gets the best possible opportunity to perform to their full potential in London in two years time. 

Wayne Goldsmith

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

Related posts:

1. The Perfect (medal) Storm: Why the Medal Count in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games is about to return to normal.   The Commonwealth Games  medal table is about to return to...
2. Commonwealth Games Crystal Ball: Ten Triumphs and Tragedies guaranteed to happen at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010. Map of Delhi from Crestock Stock Images With the Opening...
3. Winning in India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games: Are you already talking yourself out of a medal? India 3D Flag from Crestock Stock Photography The 2010 Commonwealth Games...

With the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi so close, it’s time to look at the potential winners and losers, victors and failures, triumphs and tragedies of this colorful and exciting sporting event.

Ten Triumphs and Tragedies:

1. The continued rise of England as a world sporting power; You can’t throw that much money, recruit that many talented coaches and hire that many sports industry professionals, plus host a home Olympics and not be a powerful performer two years out from your major goal. For England not to dominate the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi would be a major embarrassment for their Government, their National Sporting Organisations and the leaders of their high performance sporting programs. They will be very strong and the Commonwealth should be prepared for their Dominance in Deli!;
2. The decline of Australia as a world sporting power; As a proud Australian myself, this is the last thing I would like to see but….the Australian Performance Clock is at 3 O’Clock and the future looks bleak. There will be the odd flashes of brilliance, a few medals in Swimming, Tennis looking strong, Netball, Hockey and Cycling will be as competitive as always but look for a huge decline in the number of “Golds” and a wipe-out in terms of the total number of medals won;
3. The re-emergence of Canada as a world sporting power; Following on from the great success of the “Own the Podium” Program and the outstanding results in the Winter Olympics earlier this year, watch for Canada to show some signs in the Summer sports that their focus and investment in high performance is starting to return real dividends;
4. Losers blaming the conditions in Delhi for their failure; Everyone has to face the same conditions in Delhi: the same challenges, the same traffic issues, the same food issues, the same climate issues….and every nation, team, coach and athlete knew exactly what these issues would be for the past four years. If you lose in Delhi, you just weren’t good enough - it is not Delhi’s fault – it’s yours;
5. At least one security scare; Sad, horrific and tragic but true – security will be a bigger issue than most people will admit. The modern Games environment is a security nightmare for everyone involved. Let’s hope that security is outstanding in Delhi and that every athlete, coach, manager, fan, supporter and member of the public safely enjoys what should be fantastic event without the added challenge of terrorism, political fear campaigns or religious based violence;
6. At least one doping offence in the sports of weightlifting and athletics; Get over it folks – the drug designers, the drug developers and the drug sellers have been a step ahead of WADA and the drug testing agencies for the past 40 years and it ain’t about to change. It is only a matter of which athlete and what sport will be the first to make headlines in Delhi; 
7. The miracle that is Jamaican Sprinting to continue; How a nation with such a small population and small land mass can continue to dominate world sprinting is a sporting miracle and it shows no signs of abating – with or without the Lightning Bolt; 
8. Several athletes who will perform poorly then proclaim “but I had a great time and really enjoyed the experience”; Sport at participation level is about fun, enjoyment, passion, health, fitness and all that warm, cuddly stuff but at Games level it is about one thing and one thing only….winning. Nations do not spend tens of millions of dollars preparing athletes to go to Delhi just so they can relax and enjoy a few Vindaloos and Poppadoms. You are there to win – or don’t go;
9. Numerous sports administrators and politicians will be asked “so do you believe the Commonwealth Games are relevant and important in this century“; The most predictable question for any journalist to ask a sporting administrator before, during and after the Delhi Games will be to justify the existence of the Commonwealth Games itself. And just as predictable will be the “spin” responses:“the Commonwealth Games is even more important now that it has ever been” and “The Commonwealth Games promotes international co-operation and world wide harmony through the glory of sport” blah blah blah – predictable answers to a very predictable question so why ask it in the first place?;
10. The home nation – India – will do better than at any previous Commonwealth Games; Hosting a major Games should give the host nation a significant advantage. Familiarity with climate, food and conditions, no need for international travel, surrounded by family and friends plus the performance enhancement impact of nationalism….a home Games is worth a minimum of an extra twenty Commonwealth Games medals to the host nation. But a word of warning to our Indian friends and colleagues…..hosting a Games can also increase the pressure and expectations on athletes, teams and coaches and under that pressure many will fail. To the athletes, teams and coaches who have prepared to perform well in Delhi, the weeks ahead will be full of some of the most wonderfully fulfilling moments of their lives.

So, gazing into your own Crystal Ball, Belly-button, Magic-beans or Tea leaves, what do you think will be the highlights and low-lights of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010?

Wayne Goldsmith

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

Related posts:

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Heard that old song by the Buggles, “Video killed the Radio Star”?

We have our own version in sport – it goes “Sports science killed the coaching star, sports science killed the coaching star” - only problem is that in our version, we really did kill off all the coaches.

The world is desperate for quality sports coaches. Look at the coach education, coach development and coach training programs of most of the major sporting nations and the message is clear, “we need more coaches”. Governments and sporting organisations across the globe are throwing money at high performance coach education,training and development trying to recruit, train and retain quality coaches who are as rare as honest politicians in the world today.

So what happened to them all? Where have all the coaches gone? Why is there such a shortage of sports coaches all over the world?

We killed them with sports science!

Now before someone from the sports science community sends me yet another rude email about being a sports science “basher” – let me say I am not talking about high performance level here. At high performance level, having regular access to quality sports science and sports medicine support is a critical aspect of competition success. In professional and international level sport, sports science is vital to help athletes and coaches realise the full power of their potential. So to all you physiologists, biomechanists, nutritionists and psychologists out there, please take a deep breath, pour yourself a nice cup of tea, relax and read on.

I am talking about beginning level coaches, entry level coaches, community level coaches – coaches who just want to learn how to share their knowledge and their passion of the sport they love with some local kids. You know – the “soccer dad” who by day is an accountant but has been roped in to coaching the local under 7s because his own son plays in the team. Or the Mum who just wants to learn how to teach a group of 9 year olds how to improve their freestyle technique. Or the guy who has played rugby all his life and who now just wants to give something back to the sport by coaching the community under 11 team.

We have tens of thousands or maybe even hundreds thousands of people like this all over the world who just want to learn the basics: how to teach the core skills of the sport, a little about safety, some group management stuff and how to deal with parents. That’s what they want but….what do we throw at them????

The Sports Science based Coaching Course!

8 am Saturday morning, the XYZ Sport Coach Education Course, before session 1 on how to be a good coach, we introduce our guest presenter, a physiologist with impeccable post doctoral qualifications and innumerable research publications in refereed journals who proceeds to outline the role of phosphofructokinase in anaerobic energy production and how regular training has been suggested as potentially increasing mitochondrial volume density in rat tissue.

By the time they get to 10 am on Saturday morning, they are looking at each other thinking “what the heck has this got to do with coaching the Pleasantville Under Nine soccer team?”

And after two days of this, we say, “thanks for coming, now get out and coach”.

Let’s step back about 30 years and look how all this happened.

We needed to change. I remember how it was in the 80s. Coaching was not professional. It was an anecdotally driven industry with very little in the way of quantifiable practices, systems, methods or techniques. We had to change.

The old Eastern bloc, the Canadians, the US, Australia and others introduced coaching courses and coach education programs in the early 80s to take coaching out of the dark ages and introduce some more modern approaches through sports science, periodisation and planning, sports injury management and so on.

But….as it is with most change – we went too far. Coaching courses quickly turned from being coaching focused with a little sports science thrown in to becoming amateur sports science courses with a little coaching thrown in.

Have a look at the statistics for the number of potential sports coaches who attend beginner level coaching courses but never complete their accreditation or qualification requirements.

Have a look at the statistics for the number of sports coaches who never re-accredited or update their qualifications.

Have a look at the statistics for the number of sports coaches who never come back and progress to higher levels of accreditation / qualification.

Guess what? It is the same in every sport – in every country: they don’t come back!

Clearly we are doing something wrong.

This is the proverbial elephant in the room that every sporting system and every sporting organisation knows about. It’s time we did something about it.

How many beginner level coaches have we scared off coaching by throwing too much irrelevant and inappropriate sports science and overly complicating the whole coaching process, at too early a stage in their coaching career?

And now, some 30 years after the advent of sports science based coach education programs we are all paying the price – the result being too few quality coaches to work with kids all over the world who just want to play sport.

So what’s the solution:

1. If you want to train marines, you have to train them to be marines: We train accountants to prepare financial reports, we train doctors to save lives, we train teachers to teach, we train plumbers to fix pipes, how about we train beginner level / community level coaches to coach and stop trying to train them to be part time, amateur sports scientists;
2. Include sports science in coach education programs but ensure it is appropriate to the needs of the coaches involved. High performance level coaches working at national and international level with senior athletes – go for it – sports science, sports science and more sports science! But the guy who just wants to learn how to teach 5 year olds to kick a ball does not need any sports science at all;
3. What sports science you include in coach education should be communicated simply, in practical terms and all of it should be relevant and applicable to the coaches needs. If they want to learn about metabolic acidosis, give them a web reference or buy them a book but if the goal is to educate, train and develop coaches, the name of the game is relevance;
4. Teach sports science in a coach appropriate integrated way – not in the traditional academic, departmental, faculty style single discipline approach. Teach coaches to use sports science to solve problems and create new ideas – not just to coach and work with athletes “discipline by discipline”.

There must be a better way!

Wayne Goldsmith

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

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The 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, India, are only months away.

What are we hearing from some athletes, coaches, administrators, the media and the public?

“It’s going to be hot over there”

“I am so worried about the security issues”

“How will we manage the travel?”

“I’m worried about the food and the health issues”

“I’m an endurance athlete – how will I compete when I have to breathe in all that pollution”.

Here’s a solution for you - don’t go!

If you are already talking yourself out of medal contention, then don’t go. Drop out. Give up  now.

Step back and let someone else -someone who wants to win and who will do whatever it takes to prepare to win in Indian conditions to take your place.

Or learn from this……

Here’s the thing.

Every athlete in Delhi will face the same conditions. The same heat issues, the same travel issues, the same pollution issues, the same food issues and the same security issues. Everyone will face the same challenges.

So, as it always is with competitive sport – success is a choice.

You can choose to let your mind wander, wuss and worry about the challenges of competing in India. You can adopt a defeatist attitude and think about how “hard” it will be to win in Delhi, how “tough” it will be to win in Delhi and how conditions will be so difficult in Delhi or……

You can make training more challenging and more demanding than the conditions you will face in Delhi.

You can adopt an attitude where no matter what Delhi throws at you, you will be ready for it.

You can be committed to tough, hard, challenging training where you deliberately face difficult problems in preparation and learn to over come them.

To win in India, your preparation for Delhi must be harder, more challenging, more demanding, more difficult  than the competitive conditions you will face in India.

The Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 provides the greatest ever opportunity for athletes who are prepared to do what it takes to prepare better than their opposition.

“Talking up” the conditions, the heat, the travel, the pollution, the security risks etc is negative and will only lead to failure. Delhi is the chance for the hard workers, the disciplined trainers, the “perfect”preparers, the determined competitors and the tough athletes to win and it all comes down to the way you prepare.

If you believe that winning in Delhi will be 10% harder than it is to win anywhere else then…

• Why don’t you increase your training volume by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you increase your training intensity by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you increase your training frequency by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you strive to find 10% improvement in your competition tactics and strategies as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you strive to improve and enhance your mental skills by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you strive to enhance your competition equipment by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?
• Why don’t you improve your recovery practices – sleep, hydrotherapies, cryotherapies, nutrition and massage by 10% as you prepare for the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010 ?

The bottom line is this – if Delhi will be tough – you need to be tougher. If Delhi will be hard – you be harder. If Delhi will be challenging – you prepare to overcome it.

There are medals just sitting there waiting to be won by athletes who prepare to win in the competition conditions of the sub-continent.

There will be no “magical Commonwealth Games fairy” who will sprinkle fairy dust on you on the first morning of competition in Delhi and make everything all right, wonderful and beautiful.

To win in Delhi you must have prepared to expect the worst and trained to deal with it – deal with it better than anyone else in the world and – you can and will win.

Wayne Goldsmith

Footnote: In terms of security issues please listen to and follow the instructions of the organisers,the Governments and the appropriate security agencies. Being tough, preparing well, being ready to compete and being resilent does not mean being reckless and stupid! Security is part of all major sporting events and you have to learn to live with it, respect it, be cautious when required but not get intimidated by it. Compete well but compete safely!

WG

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

Related posts:

1. The Perfect (medal) Storm: Why the Medal Count in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games is about to return to normal.   The Commonwealth Games  medal table is about to return to...
2. Commonwealth Games Crystal Ball: Ten Triumphs and Tragedies guaranteed to happen at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010. Map of Delhi from Crestock Stock Images With the Opening...
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With the 19th Commonwealth Games in Delhi less than a year away, people are starting to get excited about the opportunity for high level competition and the potential to win medals and glory for their nations, their teams, their sports and themselves.

There will be three types of athletes, coaches (and even nations) at the Commonwealth Games next year in Delhi:

1. Those who have planned and prepared poorly and have no chance of winning;
2. Those who have done some basic planning and preparation and with a little luck have some chance of winning;
3. Those who have planned and prepared professionally, thoroughly and systematically and with an uncompromising attention to detail and who will win.

The question you have to ask yourself is…..which one am I?

For all those athletes, coaches, sports professionals, team managers and Nations heading to Delhi next year, take five minutes to work through this exclusive 19th Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 “Are you ready to Win” checklist.

1. Have you consistently prepared better than anyone in your role (e.g. event, sport, profession) in any Commonwealth nation over the past three years?
2. Have you researched the competition environment including all aspects of travel, accommodation, meals, climate, pollution levels, security, medical support and every aspect of Indian culture?
3. Have you brought together all team members (and potential team members) for a “what if” session – i.e. an integrated, dynamic scenario based session incorporating risk management strategies?
4. Have you enlisted the help and support of athletes, coaches, sports administrators and other professionals who live in India – particularly expatriates - who know and understand the local environment?
5. Have you check listed every element of your administration requirements including the requirements of your National Commonwealth Games Association, your International Federation, WADA, your national Anti Doping Authority and your own National and Indian Governments?
6. Have you got an aggressive, intensive, thorough, bullet proof drugs in sport education program for your team athletes, coaches, management and staff?
7. Have you got a comprehensive health monitoring and management strategy for your coaches, team management and staff including blood pressure, cholesterol, triglycerides, weight management, stress management and psychological well being?
8. Have you revisited the team reports and team de-briefs from the past four Commonwealth and Olympic Games to learn what works and what doesn’t in a national team environment?
9. Have you enlisted the help of athletes, coaches, staff and management who have been on Commonwealth and Olympic Games teams in the past – in your sport and in other sports and asked them mentor members of your current team?
10. Have you got detailed strategic and “hour to hour” operational plans – starting with the end of Commonwealth Games in Delhi Closing Ceremony and working backwards for at least six weeks?
11. Do you know everything about your competitors? Their strengths? Their weaknesses? Their world rankings over the past five years? Where they train? How they train? Their competition strategies? Their tactics in major competitions? Their technical advantages and disadvantages? What equipment they use?
12. Do you know everything about the coach /coaches of your competitors? Their strengths? Their weaknesses? Their coaching philosophies? Their competitive record as an athlete and a coach? Have you studied every thing they have ever written, presented and discussed at coaching conferences, on blogs, in the press?
13. Have you been to Delhi several times in the past few years – at the same time of year as the Commonwealth Games 2010 will be held – and meticulous, methodically and systematically measured every possible relevant aspect of the training and preparation environment?
14. Have you competed in Delhi at the same venue that will be used at the Commonwealth Games Delhi 2010 and meticulously, methodically and systematically measured every aspect of the competition environment including obtaining a detailed performance analysis of the course / event venue? Did you ensure that all athletes were comprehensively tested in the same competition conditions they will experience next year with specific attention to detail in the areas of hydration, heat management, warm up, recovery and physiological load in Delhi specific competition conditions?
15. Have you studied, researched and analysed all the trends in your sport and diligently tracked changes in rules and equipment so that there is no chance a competitor will have figured out an edge over you next year?
16. Have you tested and trialled your Delhi travel, accommodation and logistics plans with athletes, coaches, management and staff under realistic competition (or training camp) conditions?
17. Have you carefully and meticulously documented every aspect of your preparation, your Delhi re-con experiences and all trials and tests? Have you had these independently assessed and reviewed so that you have made certain that you have learnt the maximum possible from your pre Delhi preparation experiences?
18. Have you maintained close regular communication with all team members and potential team members, their coaches, families, partners and support teams and kept them updated on all aspects of the Commonwealth Games including travel, ticketing, access to events, the post Games travel home and most importantly any security issues?
19. Have you provided all team members and potential team members, coaches and support staff with the opportunity to study Indian language, culture, religion and other uniquely Indian experiences so they can be more relaxed and comfortable in the Delhi environment?
20. Have you already scheduled the post Commonwealth Games de-brief and ensured that all athletes, coaches, staff and management can be involved?

The above list is the minimum standard that all Commonwealth Games teams preparing for Delhi 2010 should aspire to.

So how did you go?????

Commonwealth Games Checklist Key:

• If you answered “Yes” to 12 or fewer of these questions, my advice is don’t bother even getting on the plane to India. Or if you go to Delhi, just do it to enjoy the climate, the food and the people;
• If you answered “Yes” to 13-17 of these questions, you can head to Delhi hoping to win and wishing that you get a lot of luck, the right conditions and that your competitors have a bad day;
• If you answered “Yes” to more than 17 of these questions, go to Delhi with the confidence of knowing: knowing that you have consistently prepared better than any of your competitors at the Commonwealth Games and knowing that your professionalism and attention to detail gives you every possible opportunity to win. Nothing guarantees success – but you have given yourself and everyone associated with you a high likelihood of success.

So, with less than a year to go until the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi – what are you going to do to make sure you have a successful Games and that your athletes, coaches, management and staff compete to their full potential?

Wayne Goldsmith

© 2009 – 2011, Wayne Goldsmith. All rights reserved.

Related posts:

1. Commonwealth Games Crystal Ball: Ten Triumphs and Tragedies guaranteed to happen at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi 2010. Map of Delhi from Crestock Stock Images With the Opening...
2. The Perfect (medal) Storm: Why the Medal Count in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games is about to return to normal.   The Commonwealth Games  medal table is about to return to...
3. Winning in India at the 2010 Commonwealth Games: Are you already talking yourself out of a medal? India 3D Flag from Crestock Stock Photography The 2010 Commonwealth Games...