Athletes are '‘liar’s’. You need to threat them like racing horses.
Having coaches professional and age group triathletes for the past 15 years, i have to say this one piece of advise resonate strongly with me. During my career as a professional athletes, i had the privilege to work with some of the most brilliant mind of our sport. One of them was Brett Sutton. Doc (Brett) had a very colorful personality and was very good at telling story. But behind each story was a lesson to be learn about how to train athletes and get the most out of them.
Brett use to train race horses before becoming a triathlon coach. he would call those horses the perfect athletes as they would not talk but simply do the work. The difference with triathletes is…they have the ability to express them self with words…and tell you ‘‘how the feel’’ Well, for those that have coach long enough, you know how objectivity , logic, pragmatism can be lost with many of our type A athletes.
Some will tell you they feel great…or that they do not need rest when there is obviously nothing left in there tank. Or perhaps you have the other kind of athletes that will tell you how tired and exhausted they are when all they really need is a solid kick in the butt. Before races…they will tell you how tired, over train , sick and unprepared they are all at the same time. And the next day execute the best race of there life.
Or perhaps like me, you coach WOMENS and get a completely other level of Drama 😉 How do you take the right decision to push them or hold them back? As Doc would say, you simply DON’T LISTEN to them. You look at them like a horses that cant talk. You need to be able to tell if they are tired, stiff, overwork, or if they can take on more abuse, push it a little further, ready to open it up and go hard. You as the coach are accountable to there well being so get good at looking at them and reading there posture, there attitude and the way they move. All info and answers you need are there in front of you.
He continued into a rant about how he does’t understand coach that show up at the pool with there session already written down on a piece of paper. . And as swimmers jump in the pool and start warming up, the coach turn around and start writing down on the board the session and details of the training. That is exactly what you should not do. Look at them as they walk on deck… don’t turn your back at them…see how they walk…observe there posture, anyone limping…anyone with shoulder down, head looking at the floor, anyone showing excessive happiness??? look at them as they warm up… how they move… what level of energy they display., there interaction or lack of it with other swimmers… and THEN…make up your mind as what will be the best course of action and session for the day ahead.
Since that day, when i ask a athletes how they feel… i m not asking as a matter of information…but to check if they are lying to me…or to them self! And for most part, i do not plan the session ahead of time. I do wait for the warm up to make up my mind and decide on the best course of action. While i will have a idea in mind and goal to reach… i definitely find it easier to iron out the details in the moment…
group is tired… sprinting will bring them back to life…
energy is high… time for the more grueling long repeats and longer distance set that require lots of mental fortitude.
there isn’t any perfect receipt and a million way to skin a cat, but i sure enjoy the Doc view on the subject.
next time…perhaps we can talk about how this mentality work with online coaching. because yes…even my online athletes are liars!!! you have to find a way to read them!!!
well, maybe not last week when i was away in yellowstone but i will get over that triple ride day 