Putting on a clinic
In most sports this typically means that one team is simply taking the other team to school. In this case however, this is literal. I spent today at the Portland Boathouse listening to Nick Haley of Rose City Rowing Club lecture and discuss for the US Rowing Level II certification.
Yes this happens to be the same Level II certification that I took last year and no I really didn't need to attend but I wanted to. In the past these events have been held in Seattle, San Diego and across the eastern seaboard but not always close to home so despite having my Level II coaching license I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. It's not often that you get to sit around a table with a bunch of coaches and basically shop talk. I'm not sure if Nick is a "legend" in the rowing world but he definitely has my respect and his approach to rowing and the science behind it that has made the sport extremely exciting and also intimidating is refreshing.
Once again though I walk away from a coaching clinic or talk feeling as though I know nothing. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, "the more you learn the less you know" but it was 100% accurate today. I have about 10 pages of notes and observations, a few ideas spinning around my head and an even more solid understanding that my coaching technique needs help.
This summer, I interview with the head coach of a program I respect a lot. During this talk he asked me point blank what I used as my coaching technique meaning how do I determine boats. I gave him the basic run down of what I use letting him know it was a work in progress and that in general I'm not overly happy with it and that I know there is better out there. He agreed with my assessment and gave me some pointers but now, as the season approaches, I'm suddenly questioning everything that I do and the way I've gotten results in the past. I don't want to break from my approach until I've got some firm understanding of another way but for now I'm not satisfied with what I've learned.
There are so many ideas that are thrown at you at these clinics and everyone there has some idea of how to do something a little different or a little better than you do and it's hard to take it all in, analyze it and use it or discard it. One thing I know you don't want to do is scrape everything you have simply because someone else does something different. That could land in you in a world of hurt especially since it's probably better than 50/50 that your results will not match theirs. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with adapting what you do and how you do it.
What I came away with today is the idea that says I feel that I'm on the right track with some of what I do but I need to get everything else on board. I have a system, now if I'm going to continue to use this system I need to find specifics or I need to slowly change my system into something else. I'm not sure which side of the fence I'm on with that.
What I plan to start working on though is incorporating some of my spring training plans into fall, specifically the order in which I do things. I'm also going to start changing up some of the drills that I use to focus more on little details that I find useful in the stroke. I've also been focused on the catch because I believe that's where things are initiated but I'm also going to start working on hammering out some of the ideas that I've come up with to improve the drive specifically the connection through the drive.
One final thing that I will say about clinics is that I love and hate it when a new technology is presented to you. I love it because I'm fascinated by technology especially when it comes to coaching and while I won't jump at everything, I'm definitely interested in knowing what is out there, where people are heading and what sort of new ideas are coming into the sport. The thing I hate about it is, like today, most of the time the technology is out of my price range.
Today Nick showed me this fantastic computer program that can show you the efficiency of each individual's stroke, showing where they are the strongest, weakest and where in a piece a boat could improve. It was a great piece of technology and while I figured the price range would be painful to hear, I brought out a pad of paper to take down the name and manufacturer.
$10000 dollars. The pen drops, the pad of paper slowly goes back into the back pack and I'm left staring at this piece of eye candy that I desperately want to play with and get my hands on and yet, don't have that kind of cash readily available. Sigh. Maybe next year.
Yes this happens to be the same Level II certification that I took last year and no I really didn't need to attend but I wanted to. In the past these events have been held in Seattle, San Diego and across the eastern seaboard but not always close to home so despite having my Level II coaching license I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. It's not often that you get to sit around a table with a bunch of coaches and basically shop talk. I'm not sure if Nick is a "legend" in the rowing world but he definitely has my respect and his approach to rowing and the science behind it that has made the sport extremely exciting and also intimidating is refreshing.
Once again though I walk away from a coaching clinic or talk feeling as though I know nothing. I'm not sure who coined the phrase, "the more you learn the less you know" but it was 100% accurate today. I have about 10 pages of notes and observations, a few ideas spinning around my head and an even more solid understanding that my coaching technique needs help.
This summer, I interview with the head coach of a program I respect a lot. During this talk he asked me point blank what I used as my coaching technique meaning how do I determine boats. I gave him the basic run down of what I use letting him know it was a work in progress and that in general I'm not overly happy with it and that I know there is better out there. He agreed with my assessment and gave me some pointers but now, as the season approaches, I'm suddenly questioning everything that I do and the way I've gotten results in the past. I don't want to break from my approach until I've got some firm understanding of another way but for now I'm not satisfied with what I've learned.
There are so many ideas that are thrown at you at these clinics and everyone there has some idea of how to do something a little different or a little better than you do and it's hard to take it all in, analyze it and use it or discard it. One thing I know you don't want to do is scrape everything you have simply because someone else does something different. That could land in you in a world of hurt especially since it's probably better than 50/50 that your results will not match theirs. On the other hand, there's nothing wrong with adapting what you do and how you do it.
What I came away with today is the idea that says I feel that I'm on the right track with some of what I do but I need to get everything else on board. I have a system, now if I'm going to continue to use this system I need to find specifics or I need to slowly change my system into something else. I'm not sure which side of the fence I'm on with that.
What I plan to start working on though is incorporating some of my spring training plans into fall, specifically the order in which I do things. I'm also going to start changing up some of the drills that I use to focus more on little details that I find useful in the stroke. I've also been focused on the catch because I believe that's where things are initiated but I'm also going to start working on hammering out some of the ideas that I've come up with to improve the drive specifically the connection through the drive.
One final thing that I will say about clinics is that I love and hate it when a new technology is presented to you. I love it because I'm fascinated by technology especially when it comes to coaching and while I won't jump at everything, I'm definitely interested in knowing what is out there, where people are heading and what sort of new ideas are coming into the sport. The thing I hate about it is, like today, most of the time the technology is out of my price range.
Today Nick showed me this fantastic computer program that can show you the efficiency of each individual's stroke, showing where they are the strongest, weakest and where in a piece a boat could improve. It was a great piece of technology and while I figured the price range would be painful to hear, I brought out a pad of paper to take down the name and manufacturer.
$10000 dollars. The pen drops, the pad of paper slowly goes back into the back pack and I'm left staring at this piece of eye candy that I desperately want to play with and get my hands on and yet, don't have that kind of cash readily available. Sigh. Maybe next year.
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