It was in 1998 when I was finishing up my swimming career and was about to dive into the sport of triathlon that I thought to myself, I wonder if I had had different coaches whether I'd have been as successful or even more successful as an athlete up to that point. When you're a kid more often than not you 'fall into' coaches due to proximity and other logistics. I wasn't giving my coaching situations all the responsibility for my results nor did I need to draw a line in the sand as to how much of it was me and how much of it was my coaches and the training programs I'd participated in. Not knowing was enough for me to be inspired to make the following statement as I set to begin on a whole new sport:
When I'm standing in this same position, at the end of another great journey in sport whatever and whenever that might be, I want to be sure that I gave myself every opportunity in my power and under my control so that I know exactly how and why I arrived there, successful or not.
Since then I've been my own coach and that was before I knew a thing about triathlon!
I took my life into my own hands. Certainly I have gotten guidance along the way, but I've taken responsibility for it all. In its simplest terms my successes and failures came down to what questions I continued to ask and seek answers for, where I chose to get my guidance and every other day-to-day, minute-to-minute decision I've made since then for my performance in life and for sport.
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This post was inspired by an email I got today from Thomas F:
QUESTION: As I consider becoming a USAT cert Level 1 coach (especially after I finished my first IM), I am interested in knowing what some of the better pro\'s look for in a coach. May I ask: What do you look for in a coach? What are some of the better characteristics for a tri coach?
ANSWER: Awesome you're being inspired and great question. I can tell you're already off to a great start. Simply seeking new information is key.
I think above all things, the desire to learn, to 'know what you don't know" and to continually seek new info is huge.
Secondly, to understand performance as a dynamic system involving life and sport, the body and the equipment, the quantity AND quality of the effort is key. Integrate many solutions instead of trying to be THE solution for people's performance, is something I love to see in a coach. For example: Just as a good bike fitter will first put an athlete on the table and look at their body mechanics before getting to the bike fit...so might a tri coach, but few do. I suggest either, committing to get to know enough about the body or seeking out someone who does, in your area, someone who can do a postural assessment and give corrective exercises for example. This is also similar to knowing just enough about the bike to either make a small change or know enough to know when an 'expert' is needed.
Same with ART, massage, and functional strength, etc. Choose what your strength as a coach will be and then team up with others for the total performance package.
Be in the business of empowering athletes to know themselves, instead of just following a plan.
Check out www.solisperformance.com if you get a chance. This coach brought a group of athletes to my MovementU workshop in NJ last week. I LOVED the way the coach and athletes were learning together...you can tell from his website this is how he does this a lot.
One of my goals of MovementU is to educate individuals so that they are more capable of choosing the BEST performance solutions out there, including coaches.
That said, the better a coach understands the role the body plays in performance, over and above time, distance and intensity for swim bike run, the better. If a coach, for example, never says anything about posture during a workout, or has group swim bike and or run workouts with his athletes and there is not a group functional training or movement prep or regen/recovery workout(s) as well offered in a week or at least organized and outsourced and made a part of the group culture and not just an optional 'something good to do if you can fit it in'...that would be a red flag, since not any one of those is any less important when it comes to the body's ability to perform, injury-free and powerfully, in training and racing.
I asked a group the other day: how many of you have set a performance goal for next year whether it be just to finish or go fast/qualify/place? Everyone raised their hand. Then I asked, how many of you have made it a goal not to be injured next year? Very few people raised their hand. I then said, you know it's hard to accomplish performance goals when youre injured. The good news is that the same training elements that go into creating injury resistance are the same as those that make you most efficient and powerful. And finally I said, I can prove to you that it takes no MORE time to do this. It's simply spending the time you do spend in life and sport, more efficiently. At that point I proceeded to cue everyone into great posture. I do believe much of the responsibility lies in the hands of the athlete as to how well they know their own body and and their ability to seek out out solutions, including coaches that foster healthy performance. That said, if a coach could offer that kind of knowledge and guidance that would set them apart from the rest.
No matter what you do, coming up with your own mojo and skill set is key. Above all, move well.
GO COACH!!
