Coach Carter

This week’s post is being created at the wind tunnel facility in Brackley. My athlete Chris is on the rig – hoping to find some more seconds to take him further down into the “19 minute” bracket: he set a new PB for 10 miles last weekend – 19:59. From the data rolling up on the screen in front of me, he might be seeing those faster times pretty soon!

This type of experience is exciting for me – not only seeing performance potential being revealed in front of me, but also the time shared with an athlete (and other experts) working on the shared project of performance. The work of a sport scientist is not just about training plans – it is about looking at EVERY aspect of the athlete lifestyle and seeing what can be refined.

The month of July gives me a great opportunity to reflect on the coach-athlete dynamic. Most of my riders are taking some kind of break from the racing scene – whether it be full rest, or even just a mental breather from structured training. Although I am not a dictatorial coach, this is one phase of the yearly cycle I insist on – without a mental and physical discharge, the battery cannot be taken back up to full capacity. It is a long season – and a couple of weeks off now can help the athlete not only maintain intensity, but enable a stronger peak in the back end of the year.

As the athletes aren’t racing with as much frequency, it allows me to use this window to get the mid season lab tests completed. “Mobie” has been out on the road, clocking up miles, whilst I clock up Costa / Nero / Starbucks* loyalty points! Alongside the tests, we have time for 1-2-1 discussion and review: how has this year been so far? And how can we adapt the plan and process to bring even more in the second half of the season? The mid season review is important for the coach-athlete process. I like to explain to my riders that I do not have all the answers – they will ALWAYS be a better expert on themselves than I will be. They know themselves and their experience; I know the theory and can bring innovation. It is essential we work as a team – sharing the responsibility toward the common project goal. Of course, it also gives plenty of quality time together – coaching is all about relationship: and the more time you spend together, the connection and understanding of each other can only grow. As I get to know an athlete, I can begin to read between the lines, watch body language, listen to the tone of voice – as whilst the athlete is their own best expert, they have to learn to be honest about what they are feeling and experiencing; and I have to bring a level of objectivity and probing. It also means I have to be open to receive the information and indeed, feedback. I think Pro rider Amber Neben sums this dynamic up nicely on her recent blog post. I really relate to what she says.

(I’ve just looked out to the wind tunnel rig from where I am sitting, and Chris looks like a poised arrow, brilliant!)

Appropriately, Dan and I have spent some time this week considering our own coaching philosophies, as well as that which we want to put out to the world as the combined ‘PBscience’ philosophy and practices. With Dan studying for his British Cycling coaching award, and our launching of the new PBscience member package it was an ideal week to schedule this as our ‘Continuing Professional Development’ session. Read any Coaching Science textbook (and there are a HUGE number of such texts coming onto the market now) and they explain why developing a coaching philosophy is so important: it allows a framework within which the coach-athlete can work; and it allows the athlete to assess the effectiveness of the coach and coaching process. I would add another – by developing a PBscience coaching philosophy (which we will publish for people to see) it allows potential clients to choose whether we are the right coaching team for them. Whilst it is easy to develop a list of our key values, we have to be authentic.

I’d like to thank everyone for their kind words post my London to Paris ‘ordeal’! I have recovered now (physically at least) although it did take a good week of steady riding and TLC. Even then, I was aware of a more general fatigue – another useful lesson to take on board: how even though the obvious physiology recovers, things can lurk in the system for a considerable amount of time. Last weekend, some of the miles I speak about were out with Craig – though they were far from easy / steady (as having watched Nathan race at Tenterden, we were on a mission to catch a train at Hastings and the last hour turned into a 2-up time trial!). Craig is off to do the Action Medical Research version of the L2P next week – its an event he did last year, so my account of the L2P ride really resonated with him. He thanked me for my honesty and openness of the blog post: its so easy to just say ‘yes I enjoyed it thank you’ and keep the bad stuff hidden away. We talked about how its important to be honest with others and ourselves when we are challenged. Especially in my role as coach – if I can show ‘weakness’, my riders are more likely to open up and share with me when things aren’t going to plan for them.

This feeds in to the whole reviewing process in some ways – I sometimes sense riders are desperate to stay ‘on plan’, often at big cost to themselves. It is worth noting that all coaches plan training on known principles – but, these are principles and NOT fact. I’ll say it again – I don’t have all the answers and I WILL be wrong from time to time. By engaging IN the process with the coach and sharing how its going day by day, week by week, the plan can be refined. There is no such thing as a perfect training plan; so an athlete needs to let go of this perspective and remain open to communicating the issues at hand. Don’t keep things from your coach - anything that helps bring together the jigsaw puzzle is useful information. Work as a team – don’t hand over full power or responsibility to the coach.

*delete as appropriate!