21 nov. 2017

Triathlon and the Art of Coaching: Toni Minichiello

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
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.”


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.

Aucun commentaire:

Enregistrer un commentaire