Listening to interviews given by Toni prompts us to
write what we have written in the past.
We are going to do it the same way as before; showing what we have
written below. Toni helps to write
again. At the end, education is like
that; keep insisting until “el burro toque la flauta:”
Toni doesn’t miss a beat, “The Governing
Body Coaching Award is not fit for purpose. End of. Coaches are not equipped
with enough information or supported to develop the abilities they need to
achieve what they’ve set
out to do: add genuine value to athletes.
Remember,
effective coaching is about three things; process, environment and
relationships. The current award doesn’t even come
close on part one; process. They are simply no-where near providing coaches
with enough information. Currently it’s like strapping someone into a car for
the first time, pointing out the pedals, gear stick and steering wheel before
firing up the ignition and leaving them to figure it out. It’s beyond
irresponsible. A comprehensive understanding of technical process should be a
fundamental foundation stone for any coaching qualification”…
“Where do you start trying to fix it?”
“Understanding. Education. Like
everything in life. Governing bodies need to strive to understand what
effective coaching is and what it can achieve whilst many coaches, who’ve come
through the current system, also need to take a look at themselves”.
“In what way?”
“Coaches can forget that coaching is a
giving process and put themselves at centre of things. A great coach gets
satisfaction from giving. You get what you give. It’s a mind-set you must adopt
to be effective. When you coach others, you’re giving to yourself through the
act of giving to others”. Toni laughs, “This is getting deep. Look, as soon as
you allow the focus to shift to yourself you’re lost and more importantly so is
your athlete”.
On
the subject of education, we contacted a
facilitator of the ITU regarding the article written by Italians that could
help the Federations to choose athletes in a better way for International
Competitions, instead of using cut-off times in time trials as is done in
Mexico without considering performance in a “real” triathlon. He replied that they are trying to educate
Federations on the subject. He said “trying
to educate” instead of looking at the problem as a Human Right violation. The degree of ignorance is amazing in some
parts of the world as Toni points out regarding the métier of a triathlon coach.
Talent selection criteria for olympic
distance triathlon
ABSTRACT
Bottoni A, Gianfelici A, Tamburri R,
Faina M. Talent selection criteria for olympic distance triathlon. J. Hum.
Sport Exerc. Vol. 6, No. 2, 2011.
Talent Selection allows to optimize the
resources available for sporting talent in order to design the best strategy to
achieve top level sporting results. Because of the unknown aspects of the
performance model in Olympic triathlon the TS variables and their relationship
with a future performance are far-off from being identified in order to make a
talent prospective study possible. Currently most triathlon federations
evaluate only the juvenile performance expressed in time trials test on
swimming and running. The aim of the present study was to find the most
appropriate variables for the Talent Selection in Olympic Triathlon, verifying
those widely used by means of a retrospective research about particular
juvenile features recognized in top world triathlon athletes. The variables are
considered as input variables of a Talent selection model based on Fuzzy Logic
that overcome the limits of traditional models based on cut-off selection. The
present findings indicate that the exclusive evaluation of juvenile running and
swimming performance in order to select triathlon talent is not appropriate.
Diagnosis criteria should include several other variables that should also take
into account mental ability, speed of abilities development, utilization of
endogenous and exogenous resources, load and stress tolerance as several
leading countries have done recently. Key words: FUZZY LOGIC, TALENT DIAGNOSIS,
TALENT PROGNOSIS, TALENT IDENTIFICATION, EXPERT SYSTEM
7 oct. 2013
I heard a friend saying: “I do not know a
coach who has crafted champions from scratch more than once.” We
went over several coaches, but we had difficulties finding coaches not just in
triathlon but in any sport. They do exist! There are not
as many as we would like to believe. I thought about Javier Gómez’ coach
and believed that he is a good advisor which Gómez needs at this time of his
career. Gómez was born in Switzerland and his family learned
something there that helped at this point of his life. I thought
about the Brownlees. His father is a doctor and ran competitively when in
College; his mother is a former competitive swimmer. The Brownlees
have several coaches depending on the different triathlon segments. Bob
Bowman grew old with Michael Phelps; he even had a house next to
Michael’s. Crafting a champion needs a coach, a family and a culture
since they are born in order to be successful. It is necessary to be
at the right place at the right time when all those three ingredients are
ready. Bowman worked pretty hard raising Michael from scratch, as he puts it:
“Coaching Debbie (Michael’s mother) was even more difficult than coaching
Michael.” He has had a few others swimmers but none of them was
really crafted by him. The three ingredients mentioned above need
the same level of education; meaning the same guidelines to follow in our
thought process.
What is what we need to
teach? What makes this environment unique? There is a
good book that has a provocative name: “The Art of Thinking Clearly,” written
by a Swiss, Rolf Dobelli. The book gives guidelines to learn in order to think
clearly, guidelines needed if we want to be successful. Several
similar books have been written dealing with the issue of what to teach.
George Vaillant has the Grant Study which
deals with the longitudinal follow up of Harvard Graduates for decades and he
mentions the Mature Defense Mechanism that make us to have some success in our
lives: “Adaptation to life.”
The Old Testament speaks about the Ten Commandments
to have a “life according to divine laws;” “Divine Laws” that surely keep us
out of trouble.
According to Judaism, the Aseret ha-Dibrot
identify the following ten categories of mitzvot. Other religions divide this passage differently. See The
"Ten Commandments" Controversy below. Please remember that these are
categories of the 613
mitzvot, which according to Jewish tradition are binding only upon Jews. The
only mitzvot binding upon gentiles are the seven Noahic commandments.
1. Belief in G-d
2. Prohibition of Improper Worship
This category is derived from Ex. 20:3-6,
beginning, "You shall not have other gods..." It encompasses within
it the prohibition against the worship of other gods as well as the prohibition
of improper forms of worship of the one true G-d, such as worshiping G-d
through an idol.
3. Prohibition of Oaths
This category is derived from Ex. 20:7,
beginning, "You shall not take the name of
the L-rd your G-d in vain..." This includes prohibitions against
perjury, breaking or delaying the performance of vows or promises, and speaking
G-d's name or swearing unnecessarily.
4. Observance of Sacred Times
This category is derived from Ex. 20:8-11,
beginning, "Remember the Sabbath day..." It encompasses all mitzvot
related to Shabbat,holidays, or other sacred time.
5. Respect for Parents and Teachers
This category is derived from Ex. 20:12,
beginning, "Honor your father and mother..."
6. Prohibition of Physically Harming a Person
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13,
saying, "You shall not murder."
7. Prohibition of Sexual Immorality
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13,
saying, "You shall not commit adultery."
8. Prohibition of Theft
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13,
saying, "You shall not steal." It includes within it both outright
robbery as well as various forms of theft by deception and unethical business
practices. It also includes kidnapping, which is essentially
"stealing" a person.
9. Prohibition of Harming a Person through
Speech
This category is derived from Ex. 20:13,
saying, "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." It
includes all forms of lashon
ha-ra(sins relating to speech).
10. Prohibition of Coveting
This category is derived from Ex. 20:14,
beginning, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house..."
Bowman had a
plan to develop Michael since he started, if it was not his plan it existed in
the club or someplace. We need a plan (a map) which involves the
family, the environment, the coach to have some success. “It is better a bad
plan than no plan at all,” it is said. Targeting the things needed
to be successful according to our time it is the book written by Rolf Dobelli; how
to think clearly in this era of over information and instant
gratification. How to think clearly is needed to have a champion in
this era. But we can still follow the Ten Commandments and have success as
well, as long as we follow the plan to live the Ten
Commandments. Latin America is the land where the Vatican wanted to
teach catholic religion again because the one practiced in these countries did
not look like the catholic religion they wanted (this is called
syncretism). “The map is not only NOT the territory, but it does not look
like.” A coach is needed on site 24 hours for years to have some
success with one or two athletes that he develops from scratch, so “the map can
look like the territory.”
What can we add to what it was said: nothing else. It is like Nike’s slogan: “JUST DO IT,” as
above. Work on adding value to the
athlete; in the process, in the family or in the environment. Do you know how to do it? Talk to Toni, talk
to Bowman, talk to Touretski, and talk to Daniels, do not aim for less.
