Coaching and Motivation

I recently finished the book “Chariots and Horses” and the book was very thought-provoking on both a rowing level and a coaching level.  One of the main themes of the book is how the rower/coach (author) goes from practicing the “battlefield approach” to his training/racing and transforms into a more “soft” (as he calls it) approach.  This soft approach is more or less a process-driven approach in that it focuses on trying your best daily and when a race comes, you do your best and see what happens.  It isn’t about killing your opponent (figuratively) or going to war with the other teams.  This approach is more of a results-driven mentality.

Similar to an earlier post, I am attaching a poll here to see what your responses are like on this matter.  My answer and reasoning are below.  Again, I do not claim to be a rowing expert, just my two cents on what I find to work with my teams and my past experiences.

 

After completing the book and considering what side of the spectrum I fell on as a coach, I found it interesting that I, like the author, switched when I went to coaching.  As an athlete, every practice was a chance for me to go to battle with someone on my team.  If we were doing an erg workout, I would pick another guy, and I would do everything I could to make sure he finished after I did.  In seat racing, it was the same thing.  “Go ahead, line me up across from someone and see what happens” was a typical thought running through my head at practice.  While “useful” when I rowed in college, I realized that as a coach, it wasn’t right or fair to put that much pressure on a crew.  I did it to myself as an athlete, but as a coach (especially a novice girls’ coach) the constant reminder that if you don’t win you have failed, makes rowing much more intense on the mind than it has to be.  Sure rowing is hard, no question there.  But why make it that much more difficult by being results-driven?  Deep down, very few coaches would be upset with winning gold medals or shirts or trophies.  I know I take great pride when my rowers are able to accomplish that feat for themselves and the program.  But always focusing on the results, takes the focus off of what really matters–the process.  Getting to the finals at Nationals isn’t going to occur on its own, and having the rowers focus on the daily process and what they can do to impact that progress, in my eyes, is what makes a good crew great.  I have seen plenty of programs harp on “we need to win this race to make a statement” and then when they come in second place, the only statement being made is the throwing of oars, sour faces, and ultimate disappointment.  Let’s face it, in any given event, only 1 boat will win a gold medal.  That’s it.  1 boat.  So at Nationals where there might be 30-40 boats in an event, that is going to leave all but 1 with a sour face and disappointment, if they embody the “win at all costs” approach.

Many coaches/rowers/athletes would view this process-driven approach as too soft on the athletes.  “Aww lets focus on feeling good and improving and butterflies and cupcakes”.  I get it, and I don’t claim this is the one and only way to motivate and coach athletes.  I just go off what has worked for me.  I have tried the results oriented approach–uttering the word “win” hundreds of times in a season.  Unless your crew can go undefeated in a season, which some are capable of that, then the results approach will inevitably lead to some negative reactions during and after a regatta.  The process-driven approach rarely yields such a result.  If the team buys into the mindset, then after a race, even one where the boat finished outside of medalling, the kids could be heard uttering “Coach, did you see that race?  That was awesome.  Our best one yet!”  Conversely, in the results driven you only will ever hear two responses, “Coach, we won!” or “Coach, what the $*##, how did we lose?”  Have fun answering the second question to a rower’s satisfaction.

Be Smart. Row Hard

“Chariots and Horses” Book Review

So my mother decided to “surprise” me for Christmas.  I had asked for several books on rowing and coaching, and naturally she wanted to get me something I wasn’t expecting, so she went out and bought “Chariots and Horses” by Jason Dorland.  I have read the first 100 pages so far, and what a great read.

(This “summary” is not a spoiler.  Just paraphrasing the back cover).

The book is about Jason Dorland and his retelling of his training and experiences as an Olympic athlete and a coach.  As the story pertains to Rowing Canada and Canadian High School coaching, it intrigued me right from the beginning.  Most books I have read, have focused more on the American side of things (The Amateurs, Assault on Lake Casitas, etc).  Right from the beginning Jason sets out his mentality on racing and claims it to be the norm for most elite athletes training in Canada.  The mantra of “rowing is a battlefield and you need to destroy your enemies” was uttered with frequency within the Canadian ranks.  What makes the book intriguing however, is that the book isn’t a typical “we train, we race, we win” type of book.  This book sets forth what happens to an athlete after they retire–after the big race is behind them.  Where does the battlefield mentality go, when the racing isn’t there anymore.  This framework going forward (at least through the first 100 pages) makes for a great book on how to coach athletes, how to approach training in a more realistic and not “win or die” approach, and ultimately just a great life story of a great Canadian rower and coach.

The book was written in 2011, so it is still a very new book, but I would encourage anyone who feels the need to own every rowing book like I do, to go out and purchase a copy.  It reads very easily and is quite an exciting and realistic account of rowing.  I tore through the first 100 pages without taking a break and only stopped to allow myself to read some other books before I went to bed.

Here is one quote from the book which stands as the main “theme” throughout the first 100 pages at least, and I feel like it accurately depicts the mindset of athletes towards training, rowing, and racing:

“My process was to approach each racecourse as if it were a battlefield, each race as if it were a war and each competitor as if he were an enemy.  I would look over at each of the rowers sitting in the same seat as me and think, there is no way any of you guys are going to race harder than I am.  I’m prepared to do whatever it takes to beat you.  By the time a race began I would have built up a good dose of hatred toward all of my competitors and I would be burning inside to get on with it.”

Hope everyone had a relaxing Holiday break.

Be Smart. Row Hard