TRIATHLON AND THE ART OF COACHING

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

This category is derived from the declaration in Ex. 20:2 beginning, "I am the L-rd, your 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.”