Visual learner
Hello loyal readers,
It's been a while since the last post. To be honest, coming up with topics to write about have been difficult. Currently I'm looking at some jobs and struggling with cover letters per usual, but I came across this article on row2k posted the other day and I thought I'd offer my response to it.
Visualization.
First, some personal history. My senior year in college, the men's team finally landed a dedicated coach. This was met with some good fanfare. We have a coach dedicated to the development of the men's program. We were excited about this. The year before, with a small team, we'd managed to finish 3rd in the team points standings at the conference championships, and with another small team, but our own coach, it seemed like we could excel.
The new coach introduced us to many different, and exotic training and racing ideas, some of which looking back now...
One thing she did introduce us to was visualization. Before a race, the entire team would come to her hotel room and lie on the ground, lights out, eyes shut and she would talk us through the race.
This was, and remains my own brush with visualization. I know there are athletes and coaches out there who love it, and swear by it.
I am not one of those coaches. I find that visualization is a waste of time. What's done is done, or as might be said, the hay is in the barn.
Whatever is in there is in there, and I believe a pre-race visualization session will not change the outcome, nor will it make you row better. As a coach, you've either built your team up so it's ready for the mental challenge of a fight for a cup or a heat, or you haven't. You've either taken the time to prepare your athletes for anything, your coxswain has rehearsed their racing strategy, and has Plan A, B, C, and D ready to go. Or you haven't.
I used to be a big believer in pre-race speeches. I used to write them, and practice them. And now I don't bother. It's simply a, "Let's get to it." My usual MO on the dock is a pat on the shoulder or fist bump and then, "I'll see you at the top."
With that being said, there is something in the article that I do like. Looking at rowing from other rowers.
Too often I find that when using video, coaches point out all the flaws of the athlete in question. Yes, there are some good points, but all that's happening is that we're breaking down the flaws in slow motion. They are right there on the screen for everyone to see.
So here's the thing. If we slow down an international crew during the Gold Medal final at the Olympics, or World Championships, you're going to see flaws. Whether it's juniors, U23s, or Senior Elites, I guarantee you will find a problem with the tech in all of the boats. Knees aren't going down at the exact same time. Someone has lost an edge. Someone's smashing the blade at the catch. Whatever it is, it's there.
I cannot recall the coach I heard this from, which is a shame because they deserve the credit, but what I remember is this coach telling me that they would show the video of the athlete, and then find an international crew or rower who was rowing the same way, or in a similar fashion. The mental boost for that athlete is that despite the hit and miss of their individual stroke, they were not alone. There are excellent athletes out there who do the same thing they do.
The Stanford Lightweight women's coach, Kate Bertko was in a YouTube video a while back talking to her program, and she said something that stands out to me which I will paraphrase. "Do not let the pursuit of being perfect get in the way of taking good strokes."
I love that. Too often we make everything life and death. It's either a good stroke, or it's a shit stroke. It's either perfect, or it's completely flawed.
That is entirely false, and that will kill your athletes, and your program faster than you can possibly imagine.
I've worked with a lot of novice athletes, and what I tell them, well I tell them a lot of things.
- If you take 500 strokes in a practice, and 499 are bad, focus on the one good one, and forget the rest. Tomorrow let's try and increase that to 10 good strokes.
- Perfect speed is like balancing on the top of a triangle. If we're a little off on either side, we won't be as effective and efficient as possible, but we'll still be in a good place.
- It's possible to be pretty, it's possible to be fast, and it's possible to be pretty fast. And I've seen plenty of pretty fast crews lose to crews that row like donkeys.
- You're not going to be perfect, and chasing it is a waste of time, effort, and energy, and at the end of the day you'll just be frustrated when someone who is focused on the whole picture passes you.
I like the idea of using visualization not as a pre-race piece, or visualizing how you might take a stroke, but as a positive reinforcement tool. Look, there are well over 220 strokes taken in the 2K race rowing an eight. If you want to spend the time visualizing every single stroke, be my guest, but I guarantee the crew I'm coaching will beat yours because while you're breaking down every stroke taken, we'll be out practicing.
It's been a while since the last post. To be honest, coming up with topics to write about have been difficult. Currently I'm looking at some jobs and struggling with cover letters per usual, but I came across this article on row2k posted the other day and I thought I'd offer my response to it.
Visualization.
First, some personal history. My senior year in college, the men's team finally landed a dedicated coach. This was met with some good fanfare. We have a coach dedicated to the development of the men's program. We were excited about this. The year before, with a small team, we'd managed to finish 3rd in the team points standings at the conference championships, and with another small team, but our own coach, it seemed like we could excel.
The new coach introduced us to many different, and exotic training and racing ideas, some of which looking back now...
One thing she did introduce us to was visualization. Before a race, the entire team would come to her hotel room and lie on the ground, lights out, eyes shut and she would talk us through the race.
This was, and remains my own brush with visualization. I know there are athletes and coaches out there who love it, and swear by it.
I am not one of those coaches. I find that visualization is a waste of time. What's done is done, or as might be said, the hay is in the barn.
Whatever is in there is in there, and I believe a pre-race visualization session will not change the outcome, nor will it make you row better. As a coach, you've either built your team up so it's ready for the mental challenge of a fight for a cup or a heat, or you haven't. You've either taken the time to prepare your athletes for anything, your coxswain has rehearsed their racing strategy, and has Plan A, B, C, and D ready to go. Or you haven't.
I used to be a big believer in pre-race speeches. I used to write them, and practice them. And now I don't bother. It's simply a, "Let's get to it." My usual MO on the dock is a pat on the shoulder or fist bump and then, "I'll see you at the top."
With that being said, there is something in the article that I do like. Looking at rowing from other rowers.
Too often I find that when using video, coaches point out all the flaws of the athlete in question. Yes, there are some good points, but all that's happening is that we're breaking down the flaws in slow motion. They are right there on the screen for everyone to see.
So here's the thing. If we slow down an international crew during the Gold Medal final at the Olympics, or World Championships, you're going to see flaws. Whether it's juniors, U23s, or Senior Elites, I guarantee you will find a problem with the tech in all of the boats. Knees aren't going down at the exact same time. Someone has lost an edge. Someone's smashing the blade at the catch. Whatever it is, it's there.
I cannot recall the coach I heard this from, which is a shame because they deserve the credit, but what I remember is this coach telling me that they would show the video of the athlete, and then find an international crew or rower who was rowing the same way, or in a similar fashion. The mental boost for that athlete is that despite the hit and miss of their individual stroke, they were not alone. There are excellent athletes out there who do the same thing they do.
The Stanford Lightweight women's coach, Kate Bertko was in a YouTube video a while back talking to her program, and she said something that stands out to me which I will paraphrase. "Do not let the pursuit of being perfect get in the way of taking good strokes."
I love that. Too often we make everything life and death. It's either a good stroke, or it's a shit stroke. It's either perfect, or it's completely flawed.
That is entirely false, and that will kill your athletes, and your program faster than you can possibly imagine.
I've worked with a lot of novice athletes, and what I tell them, well I tell them a lot of things.
- If you take 500 strokes in a practice, and 499 are bad, focus on the one good one, and forget the rest. Tomorrow let's try and increase that to 10 good strokes.
- Perfect speed is like balancing on the top of a triangle. If we're a little off on either side, we won't be as effective and efficient as possible, but we'll still be in a good place.
- It's possible to be pretty, it's possible to be fast, and it's possible to be pretty fast. And I've seen plenty of pretty fast crews lose to crews that row like donkeys.
- You're not going to be perfect, and chasing it is a waste of time, effort, and energy, and at the end of the day you'll just be frustrated when someone who is focused on the whole picture passes you.
I like the idea of using visualization not as a pre-race piece, or visualizing how you might take a stroke, but as a positive reinforcement tool. Look, there are well over 220 strokes taken in the 2K race rowing an eight. If you want to spend the time visualizing every single stroke, be my guest, but I guarantee the crew I'm coaching will beat yours because while you're breaking down every stroke taken, we'll be out practicing.
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