ASCA Clinic 2003 Notes
Disordered Eating, Eating Disorders | Various | Jack Daniels | Jack Simon | Final Notes
I recently attended the ASCA clinic in San Diego, CA. Following are my notes. These are not recommendations, these are simply my notes. Notes are from the presenters, not necessarily my current view. +++++ Overall goal is an effective fueling strategy to create the most effective training performance.
Nutrition Tracker available free at USA Swimming website Performance does not result from what you eat the night before -- however, you can screw things up. Event/meet nutrition as normal as possible. Wean non-eaters (pre-training, post training) onto food gradually. Creatine/Caffeine -- there are high responders and non responders -- why not known. Focus should be well timed real recovery foods, supplements not required. Beware, some products contain ephedra under different ingredient names At a recent Gatorade sponsored conference they concluded that anti-oxidant supplements were not necessary in a balanced diet. Even vitamins and iron supplements have been found to have contamination -- cited IOC Cologne Study. "Don't rely on ConsumerLab.Com to protect you in a court of law" Energy drinks should be avoided by all athletes due to risk of inadvertent doping. Cited studies showing contamination of legal ingredients with banned substances. Also, drug tested athletes should go as far as to avoid Lemon Poppy Seed Clif Bars (Smyers positive test was due to poppy seeds). Previous advice (which is in my database) -- ranks supplements as red, amber, green -- now they have no green lights. Supplements dbase on USA Swimming site. Another good resource gssiweb.com Best (and safest) advice is simply to eat real food. g - 3 Sept 2003
Richard Quick: Three-time US Swimming Head Olympic Coach, Head Coach Standford Womens Swim Team -- one of the most successful female swimming coaches of all time. +++++ A clean sport is an attractive sport. Cleanliness, ethics, attracts kids, builds the grassroots, helps coaches survive. The little things done everyday are what generate success -- not -- infrequent heroic efforts Successful people have an early and clear vision of success Always maintain your self respect as a coach -- don't work for pay or conditions that demean your self-image Take the risk to shape your sport -- if you don't then someone with less passion will do it. Control your own destiny as a coach and athlete -- it takes risk to get into a position where you can do this. It's worth the risk. Focus on what you can do, first. Then use this knowledge to extend where you can go. Instill self-belief in your athletes. Believe in Belief. Goals are what you are GOING TO DO -- anything else is a wish. We have a responsibility to tell our athletes how good they can be. A goal changes EVERYTHING about an athlete, if it doesn't then it's a wish. This is not just in swimming -- people need goals in all areas of their life. Athletics is a tool for personal excellence. Goals see us through disappointment and negativity. The most talented people DON'T make it to the Olympics. The people that make it to the Olympics have high goals, and the commitment to constantly work towards those goals through setbacks and disappointments. Most people don't take care of their talent. Practice and prepare for your critical moments. Take a risk to demand excellence. Take a risk to learn as much as you can, surround yourself with knowledge and experts. Extraordinary performance results from extraordinary preparation. g - 3 Sept 2003
Bill used to supervise the Club System for Australia. Three years ago, he moved to Great Britain to help turnaround their swimming program. Sounds like he’s applied the Aussie principals with good results. The best coaches all have a similar underlying theme in their presentations -- demand excellence from your athletes. The experience of the coach must be in advance of the athlete’s talent but the desperate and obsessive motivation to succeed must be the same. The Romans conquered the world not by forming committees but by killing all opposition (Note -- Death to all who oppose me.). A compromise is a decision between two people where neither is happy with the outcome. I don’t compromise, that way I ensure that at least 50% of the people are satisfied. The UK junior team went from being weak to winning the Euro Champs in three years. I think that the secret lies not in talent -- I think the secret lies in demanding excellence from the athletes. Cultural change must be driven through the coaches. Three things for successful coaches/teachers: (a) know the product; (b) sell the product; (c) demonstrate excellence daily. Do the basic things exceptionally well, not the exceptional things basically well. The skills of any athlete under pressure and fatigue will ALWAYS be below those at which the train. Therefore, you must demand excellence in training. Athletes will not rise above their training standards in competition. The must train at competition standards. Therefore, it is not what you do, it is how you do it. There must be a partnership between the coach and athlete. The coach sees what the athlete cannot -- the athlete feels what the coach cannot. Squads should have athletes training at a level of commitment and effort HIGHER than the most talented athlete in the group. Otherwise that athlete is holding the group back. Coaches should have a one page coaching model. You should be able to distill the training method onto a single page. Good idea. Think I will try to build one up. All coaches must have a racing and training model that they KNOW is better than every other plan in the world. Whether it is or not doesn’t matter. What is essential, though, it that the coach believes that it is superior. Back to the power of belief. The bulk of training, 70%F / 80%M should be aerobic in nature -- 70% of VO2 Max or slower. He spoke a bit about reverse periodization -- as used by LVL (didn’t mention LVL, simply the method). Thinks that it can be effective with females and older athletes that have some speed left. Note -- I think older in swimming means >20. You must be careful with Race Pace training (that’s goal pace, what he calls speed or race speed training) because if you go overboard then the damage doesn’t appear until it’s too late. Never train Race Speed to fatigue. Aerobic training is not moderate effort work, it is specific effort work. A reason is an excuse and an excuse is not a reason. Never lower your expectations to an athletes level. They must rise to (and beyond) your expected level of excellence. Compromise is the cancer of achievement. Motivation, Commitment and Attitude are lifestyles, not short term bursts of excitement. International competition is only required when LL domestic competition avenues are exhausted and the athlete has exhibited the ability to everything right on the domestic stage. Will you be better tomorrow because of what you did today? National Team -- optional to join but once you join then you do everything, on time. There is no part time participation -- no matter how talented you are. Lessons for triathlon here – all around the world there is compromise on this point. Holding fast to this rule is painful, people will always try to compromise. There can be no compromise. He demands continuous improvement from all national class swimmers. He likes short course for speed work only -- long course is superior for aerobic training and back end development. Note he’s talking about swimming events -- I think that it would be even more clear cut for open water racing. He is a firm believer that every workout must be quantified (pace, stroke rate, DPS, breakout…) -- this is the only way that the coach and swimmer can gauge if it was a success. NOTE -- there is a range of views on this from elite coaches (my note not his, he was pretty firm that a coach is negligent if there is not constant monitoring and quantification -- and he’s coached more champions than me!). At every workout, at every competition -- carry one’s self like a professional. Keep it simple -- demand the attention of your athletes -- lead through personal excellence – never extend skills before existing skills are established -- eyeball every athlete at every session, you’ll learn a lot. Athletes like to be challenged -- challenge your boys, love your girls. Do something positive and personal for each athlete as often as possible. NOTE -- probably a good idea for your girlfriend as well! We often think that we know our athletes. We don’t, but they know everything thing about us! Athletes hold much stronger views about their coach than their coach does about them. This is worth remembering if you think you have a strong view on a person. Coaches must live to a standard of greatness. There was a handout showing that his senior distance swimmers want to build to an average of 26 hours of swimming per week, 49 weeks a year. g – 4 September 2003
Differing from Sweetnam, Reese believes that short course (SC) and long course (LC) are necessary and complementary. Most training is theoretical in nature, not scientific fact. You have to make your athletes faster -- even it is kills ‘em (only half joking). ANY protocol will make a novice faster. He works with Senior swimmers and any protocol won’t work with these guys (once the easy gains are wrung out). Phelps – you can’t out train him, you can’t have greater motivation to succeed – how are you going to beat him? NOTE – same point was made by Dolan’s coach a few years ago. Dolan’s personal philosophy was to train harder than any other athlete in the world. His sessions were totally extreme. This view has greatly influenced my personal approach. The ultimate goal must be to take the coach out of the equation. What will it take for the athlete to ULTIMATELY (not this year) be the best that he can be? Early specialization in sports and events can prematurely cut out options for an athlete. It’s not about the method used, it’s not about the performance on your best athlete – it’s about the ultimate development of your entire stable of athletes. How many athletes have YOU ever taken to their ultimate potential? He ran through a lot of dry land exercises that he likes – many of these are in the Molina Uber Dry Land Program. Believes that it is essential to maintain forward momentum with all stroke work. NOTE – I have to admit that this does make stroke work more fun. Despite certain balance limiters, fun is useful. Excellence in technique is required in all activities (dry land too). Exercises that result in 30+ reps being required to fatigue aren’t strength exercises. You don’t get a strength adaptation from 300 crunches. How to teach an athlete to do chin ups… get a chair, step up, four second negative – do this for a few weeks and you’ll build the ability to do chin ups. Same thing with old school (partner sitting on feet) sit ups. “If they want to do more then let ‘em.” Always remember that the greatest competitor for your athlete’s time is the computer. If they want to “do” ANYTHING (any other sport) then that’s a good thing. He believes that cross-training is essential for kids to reach their ultimate swim potential. g – 4 September 2003
Teri McKeever: ASCA 2002 Coach of the Year, Cal Berkeley Women’s Swim Coach +++++ First we acknowledge our feelings, by doing that, we can scale them appropriately. Coaching is a game of building on what’s right, not spotting what’s wrong. Communication must be honest and direct. The coach is not a cruise director – athletes need to find the “fun” in mastering the necessary skills and doing the work required for success. How do we look when we get up in our ‘blocks’? Results come more from belief in an effective training system than the system itself. Quality people (not athletes) attract quality people. Drills should be specific to an athletes stroke needs, the athlete must know the purpose/goal of each drill. There is a cost to each drill – so you need to be benefiting a specific aspect of the stroke. Uses fins with paddles to help an athlete get their stroke rate up. Athletes need to be able to make transitions while holding form – float starts, fast to slow, slow to fast – tendency is to lose technique/pace/speed in the transition. g – 4 September 2003
Dr. Doug is a sport psych Much of what a sports psych does is simply helping athletes get out of their own way. Guru status is mainly good for the guru // Guru relationships are dependency based, not empowering // Guru's rarely take blame for failures // There are no secret or magical techniques, the effective technique are well documented. "Not all coaches are technically effective. However, they are all effective on the human side." Doc Councilman Excessive focus on results, rather than the process leads to drop-outs.
Build on what's right, don't try to 'fix' what's wrong. Attitude is a choice, choose to be positive. Recognize the love-hate relationship that can exist in elite athletics with your sport. Focus on the benefits of undertaking the process, rather than outcomes. Persist (love this one) when rewards aren't immediate. NOTE-- the people that ultimately succeed in life are those who persist the longest. Elites embrace obstacles as part of the process. Athletes crave feedback on all performances. Must write goals down, otherwise they are wishes. What is your ultimate dream goal if there were no limits? Must always have a goal of self-acceptance -- very important that athletes make this a real priority. Set daily goals, workout goals. Know why you are doing things. Know what you are going to do. Season review -- what worked, what didn't, what was most useful. Self Talk -- first you need awareness of your inner dialogue, then you can quiet or redirect, reinforce the positive/optimistic talk, talk to self as if best friend, use self talk to manage thoughts, feeling and behaviors during practice and, especially, during competition. If you really listen to your athletes during a disappointing competition then you will be able to learn their true self-talk. If you don't believe your positive self-talk then your likely benefit will arise from quieting and redirecting your negative self-talk (that's likely what's causing you not to believe). Imagery/Relaxation are passive skills, quite tough for some active athletes to learn as they cannot be forced. What does it feel like when you go it right? Anxiety -- acceptance that it is part of athletic performance, it is a sign that you are about to do something important. Key is recognition of current arousal level, then moving to the appropriate arousal state -- what's appropriate? Highly variable, decide in hindsight based on breakthrough performance. Emotional Power -- strong emotions are a natural part of training hard, acceptance is the first step, then move to an appropriate zone, maintain control over actions while accepting emotions, How??? Breathe, relax, reflect (self knowledge here), positive self talk statement, return to the task Warm-up -- we need mental warm-ups and routines as much as physical ones. Develop in advance. g - 4 Sept 2003
First some overall thoughts from me... Many different coaching methods through all levels of sport. What are the common themes in the most successful methods...
Talent is fixed and assumed at the highest levels. Swimming provides the ability to superior work to succeed over talent. Key Characteristic of the best coaches for men -- an 'unreasonable' expectation of excellence. Key Characteristic of the best coaches for ladies -- a nurturing expectation of excellence. +++++ Bergen -- Developing the Coach Within Don't get sucked into believing that technology wins anything. Motivating swimmers to swim fast, with correct technique, daily, for a long time -- that's what wins. Getting your butt kicked from time-to-time is normal. The key is to move from self-pity to action (again and again). Sports Science is a limiter of what's possible. Used Phelps as an example of this for lactate testing -- immediately after his world record performance his lactate was 7.8 mmol -- (joking) "clearly, he wasn't trying hard enough" Goal is lactate metabolism, not tolerance. Motivate your swimmers to swim correctly and the highest possible intensity day after day. Nothing else is required. To increase performance you must increase commitment. When you demand an increase in commitment, you will lose people. This can be tough for a coach's short term income -- you must persist in demanding excellence -- it works out in the end. Interestingly, he tracks 10K running times for his college swimmers. Racing should never compromise competitive preparation. Weed out the uncommitted. ++++ Anti-doping Points from ASCA board... Salt Lake -- 1200 samples taken, only 163 tested. Three golds taken away. Do the math... When is a test a test? When you collect a sample or when you test? Beware that the IOC and certain federations play name games. HGH no reliable test -- none likely for Athens Genetically altered athletes, possible at Athens, probably in Beijing g - 5 Sept 2003
Jack Daniels is a internationally respected exercise physiologist. Most folks know him for his running formula. He started as a swim coach and has traveled extensively around the world working with a range of athletes and coaches. He reminded me of Joe, understated, extremely knowledgeable and looking twenty years younger than his age! I wished that I could have cornered him for an entire day to ask his thoughts on AeT, Lydiard, etc... unfortunately, I had to go catch a plane back to New Zealand. I'll have to get a copy of his book -- there's much that we can learn from his experience. There are five ingredients for athletic success.
Lessons from his Research Found that the Stanford women's team had power outputs similar to AG swimmers. However, they had economy curves that were far superior. Growth in young athletes aids economy -- size, strength Flume // Long Course // Short Course -- turns aid in economy. The faster you swim, the faster you are capable of swimming -- the reason is that the rest interval (the turn) becomes a greater percentage of the total swimming time. Altitude doesn't change the economy curve -- however -- it limits how high you can get on the curve. A swim economy curve is much steeper than a running curve due to hydrodynamics. Therefore a small reduction in swimming velocity will save a larger amount of power (v. running) -- this is why distance swimmers are able to maintain a much greater percentage of max pace when going long. At some stage you will get very close to maximal genetic aerobic fitness -- therefore the gains need to come from economy (NOTE -- I think a lot of swim coaches would say that gains come from the ability to maintain technical excellence under a huge amount of duress). ++++ Purpose of Training
++++ As you move up the performance curve there are decreasing returns to training stress and greatly increasing risks of set-backs. When you move outside of the green zone, do so with knowledge and a purpose. Stay outside this zone for only a short period of time. NOTE -- this is the 95% of 95% plan that is the basis of the Molina Method. ++++ "Success is NEVER a fluke. Accept your personal best as your norm." ++++
"Trust Success -- Question Defeat" g - 13 Sept 2003
Coaching Young Distance Swimmers
Never be unfair -- consistency, honesty, admit mistakes He's an ex-marine, if one person screws up then everyone suffers // it's the approach that he brings to his coaching. Finds that group suffering builds a team atmosphere and the kids police each other. Regardless of race distance the platform must be an effective distance base, built at an early age. The coach is responsible for creating the environment in which athletes get the necessary work done.
"Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment" "The best way, not the easiest way" Likes weekly test sets 3/5/10K then repeat the cycle -- these test sets are swum at MSS (not all out, about 150 bpm) -- likes sets that are done on RI, not splits 20x50, r20 // 100x100, r10 // 20x300, r15 // 40x200, r15
Anaerobic work -- he doesn't have much in terms of specific sets... "An athlete (and coach) needs to understand the competitive points of weakness of self and competition." g - 14 Sept 2003
Just a few bits and pieces... Bodysuits -- a study was presented that shows that some of the suits give a positive buoyant effect. In some cases up to 1/10th of a wetsuit effect. With most suits effect is greatest in first minute. With some suits the effect lasts up to four minutes. First time research was presented, not published yet. Another talk... Power per stroke is most important determinant of max swim velocity. Power more important than maximal strength -- note power and strength are different but often confused. Max strength typically happens at maximal muscular contraction. Max power is the maximal work performed. Body composition showed zero corelation to max sprint velocity -- not surprising to me. +++++ General point that came through from all the coaching presenters... Q -- What the most effective training protocol for an athlete? A -- The one in which the coach/athlete have the greatest belief and provides the greatest motivation to the athlete. Believe, back it up daily, JFT.
See ya, |