The response to last week’s first instalment has been positive, so that seemed to merit sharing another update. As I rode in the rain on my way back from coaching this morning I pondered what I should share this week, in between marvelling at how many drivers in Vancouver apparently have no grasp of how roundabouts work. The chosen theme this week is relationships and collaboration.

BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS…

To continue the theme of last week’s offering, aside from sharing the story, a large part of raising awareness of the Prepared ATH project involves connecting with practitioners directly. Beyond making people aware, the majority of the clients that I am working with have to date come to be via referral. Moreover, as shared in the Prologue, a central objective behind the project is to collaborate with practitioners across Vancouver.

“Play long term games with long term people”

— Naval Ravikant

On that basis, rather than what we conventionally think of as marketing and promotion, a lot of my efforts are directed towards meeting in person to communicate the purpose behind the initiative, and on a personal level demonstrating that I am genuine. The objective is building relationships, and these initial interactions are important to begin to build the trust that is necessary for collaboration. An important point is that this is not a zero sum game; I am not positioning myself in competition, but rather seeking to complement and add value to what is already being provided, to serve the ultimate objective of better providing for the needs of the athlete.

“Grow your network”

— Dan Pfaff

As a relative newcomer to Canada (November marks the two year mark since our arrival), growing the network locally remains an ongoing process. I have been greatly assisted in this quest by notable individuals in the sports community within BC who have extended their support for the initiative by making introductions to coaches and practitioners who they feel might be a good fit as prospective partners in the endeavour. This past week I was fortunate to connect with some of these very people following an initial introduction, and meet with them for the first time.

Continuing the theme of collaboration, over these past few days I was also reminded that it rains in Vancouver on occasion. Happily, this was not entirely unanticipated, and for the past several months I have been speaking with prospective partners at a couple of facilities to secure indoor space over the autumn (yes, autumn) and winter, and explore how we might potentially work together. These discussions are at an advanced stage, so expect further update soon…

THE WEEK THAT WAS…

Beginning with the Develop stream, this week’s featured rock star is Sophie, who was something of an early adopter having been part of the Prepared ATH project from the very start. Sophie was originally referred to me having suffered with recurrent overuse injuries. Sophie is VERY active, participating in a host of different sports in any given week. The brief was therefore to find a way to allow Sophie to remain active, and break the ongoing pattern of periodic enforced absences that kept sidelining her from doing what she loves. Happily, thanks to Sophie’s efforts (and grudgingly accepting my advice to restrict her participation on occasion) she has enjoyed an extended period of consistent training and participation over the summer without any issues. Sophie has transformed physically over this period and her movement mechanics are hugely improved. Last weekend Sophie had selection trials for a basketball club team, and on wednesday this week received the news that she has been selected! Fair to say she is STOKED.

Moving onto the Prepare stream, for Mackenzie this was the calm before the storm of the dry land assessments this weekend that determine selection for the national bobsled programmes. Continuing the theme of last week, most of our attention this week was focussed on the mental aspect of preparing for these trials. These efforts have gone towards marshalling how Mackenzie thinks about the scenario faced and her prospects, including unmasking the distortions and illogic at play in the negative thoughts that can trap us in a negative head space. With so much at stake it is easy to lapse into appraising these trials as a threat, and focussing on what there is to lose. It serves us far better to rather be excited about the opportunity and focus on the rewards of doing well, whilst understanding that the world doesn’t end regardless of the outcome.

Practically, this meant some homework last weekend, with some follow up discussion this week, rounded off with some life wisdom shared during treatment with rock star performance therapist Dr Duriell Bernard. A difference maker for performance coaches or practitioners is the ability to engage with the athlete on a human level, and the best practitioners I have worked with are exceptional coaches of humans. Duriell demonstrates all of these qualities. Mackenzie goes into tomorrow’s testing in great shape and I fully anticipate she will smash the standards for World Cup squad selection tomorrow. Whatever the case I look forward to sharing future updates on her journey over this coming season.

Finally, in the Return to Performance stream, we introduce sprinter Sarah for the first time. Sarah came to me via a sports physician friend and former colleague of mine with the mission of getting back to competing on the track, having had to ‘redshirt’ out of competing for the two past college seasons due to recurrent lower leg issues. As we aim to build tolerance for what is required to sprint (putting large amounts of force down through each limb), the ongoing challenge is to keep any symptoms under control (ideally we don’t want any discomfort or pain to be felt during the session). Part of marrying these somewhat contrasting objectives involves the use of plan B (or plan C, plan D, etc) sessions, to allow us to continue to work on technical aspects whilst modulating the load imposed on particular structure and thereby avoiding aggravating symptoms. This week’s plan B session allowed Sarah to experience running on the bend for the first time in a long time, and she got through the session without any issues, having done some excellent work on race plan and technical model for the 200m.

I look forward to updating on the squad again next week…

Found this a worthwhile read? Feel free to share with those in your network who might find value. Sign up to receive these updates direct to your inbox.

Nov 5, 2021

Free-Range Athletes

The parallels between coaching and parenting are striking and both of these elements naturally come together with youth sports. The concept of free-range kids popularised by author (and parent) Lenore Skenazy thus readily applies to how we coach young athletes (as well as sport parenting). In each case, free play and participating in unsupervised games are essential parts of how children and young athletes develop. Engaging in play is central to how we learn to navigate the world and engage with others. Voluntarily participating in games with others (without intervention from the grown ups) teaches kids how to conduct themselves and develops the capability to interact with peers in a competitive context and a cooperative manner. A less structured environment where the kids themselves decide the playing area and the rules of the game affords the opportunity to apply what they have learned, explore different tactics and engage in trial and error. As such, free play and unsupervised games are particularly rich in opportunities to acquire and adapt sport skills and develop game sense. Given the myriad benefits and the essential role that these opportunities play in developing adept athletes and capable humans, it seems baffling that they are systematically being eliminated with today’s youth. So here we will make the case for applying the free-range perspective to rethink youth sports participation and talent development in a way that fosters engagement and creates self-reliant athletes.

Sep 18, 2021

Teach an Athlete to Fish...

When we do something for a performer that they could do for themselves we deprive them of an opportunity to progress towards becoming self-sufficient. Whilst this might seem like a small thing, if we extrapolate this out, these small things compound over time into a major issue. All of which becomes apparent when the occasion arises that the performer is on their own and facing a situation that requires them to act independently, only to find themselves to be entirely unprepared to do so.

May 7, 2021

Helping Young Performers Find Their Aim

Having an end in mind is pretty important. Aspiring towards a future outcome provides the impetus and intent that helps us to act in the moment. Knowing where we want to get to also provides a sense of how we are progressing and in turn guides us along the way. Deciding upon an ultimate aim is thus a central theme of the youth sports journey. As we will explore to some extent the performer settles upon their ultimate aspiration through a process of elimination and will often try out a few before they find their true north star to guide the journey. These formative experiences and the lessons they contain are part of what makes participating in youth sports so valuable in developing crucial traits, tools and behaviours that serve the performer well not only in their chosen sport but also in their life outside sport.

Apr 9, 2021

What Performers Need to Hear

What we want to hear and what we need to hear do not always match up. Indeed in some instances they are distinctly different things! On the youth sports journey the performer will encounter numerous trials and situations that offer abundant lessons. The conversations with those around them are an integral part of how the performer makes sense of events, puzzle things through and elucidate what lessons to take. As the grown ups, it follows that coaches and parents alike have a duty to help performers be objective and uncover the insights to make the best use of these experiences. To that end, there is an onus on us to ensure that the performer maintains a healthy relationship with the truth and remains in touch with reality.

Mar 12, 2021

Feeling Privileged

The idea of privilege has taken on strange and somewhat dark connotations in recent times, as has the idea of feeling privileged. This strikes me as a little odd. As a coach I feel privileged to work with performers who are committed to their craft. I am quick to acknowledge that it is a privilege to coach these individuals and to have them place their faith in my expertise. I feel grateful for my good fortune. I also feel a profound sense of responsibility to hold such a privileged position and a duty to do great work in return. Perhaps we should foster a more healthy attitude towards privilege. By reframing how we think about privilege we can perhaps respond to it in ways that better serves the performer and those supporting them.

Feb 26, 2021

Dealing with Distraction

Distraction is a constant feature of modern life. Current generations are growing up as digital natives and the allure of technology is ever-present in most environments. Clearly the genie is not going back in the bottle so it follows we should take steps to equip young performers to manage their own mental traffic to take back control of their actions and better deal with distractions of technological and other origin. The ability to marshal one’s own attention and resist becoming sidetracked is arguably the new superpower. Developing these capabilities to harness and direct our attention amidst all the distraction represents not only a competitive advantage but also the key to unlocking the possibilities for long term achievement in sport and beyond.

Jan 11, 2021

Judging What to Prioritise and When for a Young Performer

Getting a handle on a young performer’s present status from a developmental perspective is crucial. After all, without this information we have no real frame of reference for making judgements or deciding on the best way forward. The reason that talent identification policy and development pathways at junior level frequently go awry in practice (as we noted in a previous post) is in large part due to a failure to account for maturation and relative age effects. Young performers at age-grade level are far from a homogenous group. Kids in the same age group may be at very different points in their trajectory. That growth and development curves for young performers can vary so widely inevitably thwarts any attempt to adopt a blanket approach. Whilst individual growth curves eventually converge, during their formative teenage years young performers can differ dramatically in how they present at any given time and this is manifested both physically and in the performance capabilities that they exhibit. Given that much of the variability we see at age-grade is simply due to the fact that kids are at very different stages in their relative stage of development, it follows we need some way to assess where a young performer is on their individual growth trajectory. Aside from the addressing the challenge of parsing genuine ‘talent’ versus maturation effects for sporting organisations, we equally need to be able to evaluate these factors on an individual level to inform decisions on how to best support the young performer. In this post we present a tool to estimate biological age and relative stage of maturation and describe how to use this information to inform the priority areas for development and guide training for the young performer.

Nov 27, 2020

Bringing a Performance Mindset to Dealing with Sports Injuries

Sports injuries pose arguably the biggest trials for aspiring performers, challenging not only the body but also the mind. How the performer and those around them approach and handle the process that follows more severe injuries in particular can prove to be pivotal. What mindset the performer and those around them bring to the task of dealing with injury is hugely influential in shaping the route this takes. A performance mindset goes a long way when contemplating the path forward following an injury. Indeed belief alone plays a role in shaping the eventual outcome. There is evidence that those who express high expectations of making a successful return as they enter the process (such as prior to surgery) are more likely to ultimately achieve that outcome in reality.

Nov 13, 2020

The Merits of Becoming an Athletic Virtuoso

Raw physical attributes and performance in junior competition are not good predictors of future success until late adolescence. Technical skills, tactical awareness and character traits are more reflective of future potential. Beyond the specialist skills of the sport, more evolved talent ID and development systems are also starting to recognise the value of general movement proficiency or athleticism. As with skills and character, these qualities are less biased by the transient influence of growth and maturation, making them a much more reliable indicator of future potential and a crucial asset regardless of the sport. From the performer’s perspective, developing athleticism is therefore a very good investment in the future.

Oct 29, 2020

Practicing Resilience

Grit and resilience are increasingly identified as crucial factors for the long-term success of young performers. Some people have even started to speak about practicing resilience. But what does this mean? How might we practically go about fostering resilience in aspiring young performers? If resilience is a practice or discipline then what does this look like in reality?

Oct 16, 2020

Navigating Talent ID and Selection in Youth Sports

One of the biggest travails of the youth sports journey is dealing with selection. Even the most successful athletes often recall instances of disappointment at not being selected for teams or being benched during their years competing at high school and junior level. Navigating selection and talent identification policies are thus part of youth sports. To help parents and young performers themselves deal with these trials we should try to understand the factors at play and perhaps find some strategies to overcome the challenges involved.

Oct 2, 2020

Realising the Full Benefits of Youth Sports

A notable casualty amid the ongoing uncertainty of the pandemic has been organised sport below the elite and professional level. In recent weeks kids have cautiously returned to school, but youth sports and school sport in particular remain off limits for many. Competition schedules for the coming year are still in limbo. There is a question mark over whether there will even be a competitive season for some sports and this uncertainty extends to college sports, which is the end-goal that many high school aspire to. Against this backdrop, the numbers of kids who have returned to participating in training and practices are way down since the lockdown and returning to school. There is an understandable reluctance among parents and the kids themselves to reengage in sport, given the perceived risks. Some authors are already sounding the alarm that the present generation of high school kids may be lost from participating in organised sport.

Sep 17, 2020

Developing Grit in Young Performers

Over recent years talent identification in sport has started to acknowledge and account for the crucial character element in talent development. In particular, the importance of ‘grit’ is increasingly championed. Coaches and parents are accordingly becoming more aware of this concept in relation to youth sports. So what is grit, how does it relate to long-term success in sport and what can we do to create the conditions to help foster grittiness in young performers?