Coaches – Doing the Business with Jurgen Grobler
By David Bolchover
This article was sourced from the Row2k website. www.row2k.com
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David Bolchover is the co-author of The 90-Minute Manager, which outlines the lessons that business managers can learn from football managers. His next book, The Living Dead: The Shocking Truth about Office Life, will be published by Wiley-Capstone in October.
STOP a man in the street, ask if he has heard of Sir Steve Redgrave or Sir Matthew Pinsent, and he would probably be surprised that anyone would waste their breath asking. Of course he has heard of them. But mention the name of Jurgen Grobler and you would probably be met by a shrug of the shoulders.
Yet this quiet, unobtrusive coach has been the indispensable influence behind the scenes during the past 14 halcyon years of British rowing. The limelight doesn’t interest Grobler. Only his athletes getting gold medals does. “I see my job as a service, helping young athletes, motivating them to the podium,” he said. “If you read the newspapers, you will see only the athletes’ names. That’s right. I have no problems there.”
Public recognition does come along sporadically. In 2000, Grobler won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year coaching award and four years later he was given a lifetime achievement award by the UK Coaching Foundation. He was awarded the freedom of his adopted town, Henley, on his return from success at the 1996 Olympics. But after each award, Grobler returned eagerly to the background.
Grobler’s business equivalent is not the charismatic, rent-a-quote chief executive so beloved of the media, but rather the unsung middle manager who devotes his life to extracting the last drop of potential from the human resources at his disposal.
At least, that’s what a corporate middle manager should be doing. The conclusion from recent research based on Gallup interviews with more than 1m employees across a broad range of industries in different countries leaves no doubt as to the value of good managers: “Talented employees need great managers. The talented employee may join a company because of its charismatic leaders, its generous benefits and its world-class training programmes . . . but how long that employee stays and how productive he is while he is there is determined by his relationship with his immediate supervisor.”
Grobler certainly knows this. “To be successful again and again, I think every athlete needs a coach,” he said. “You notice when a good athlete wins, the first person he thanks will be his coach. He knows how important the coach has been to him, setting the right programme, preparing everything.” And Redgrave, speaking after yet another Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000, knew it too: “Without his (Grobler’s) support and help we wouldn’t be here.
Too often business ignores the lessons of sport, epitomised by the likes of Grobler. During our conversation at the history-laden Leander Club in Henley he repeatedly referred to an overriding desire to help young people make the most of themselves. The history of sport is shouting at business that teams can only achieve excellence under the guidance of a talented people manager who forfeits the pursuit of his own achievements to dedicate himself to helping others achieve.
Professional sport, the most competitive environment there is, has not only long recognised the sheer power of effective and committed people managers; it also understands that such individuals don’t grow on trees. Whereas companies continue to promote people to management positions just because they happen to be good at what they do, sport has learnt that true managerial skill is much less common than functional expertise, the ability to perform well doing the job or playing the game.
So, in Grobler, who never even attempted to forge a career as a rower for himself, we have the embodiment of some of the key messages sport can convey to business. He is a type of individual you will rarely come across in the business world — a man asked to do nothing but get the best out of others.
From as far back as he can remember, as a youngster growing up in the rubble of post-war Magdeburg in communist East Germany, Grobler was both fascinated by the sport of rowing and resigned to the fact that he would never make it as an athlete. “I just didn’t have the right body shape to be a successful international athlete,” he said. “But I was always interested in the sport — the teamwork, trying to find out how far you can push your body. I knew I couldn’t do it myself but I wanted to help young people achieve their goals.”
So he enrolled on a five-year degree in sports science in Leipzig, then the leading university in that field in the country. On graduating, he returned to his local rowing club in Magdeburg and first attracted attention in his midtwenties when he won the club its first medal, coaching Wolfgang Guldenpfennig to the bronze in the single sculls at the Munich Olympics of 1972. He then went on to coach the coxless pair Bernd and Jörg Landvoigt to successive golds in 1976 and 1980.
His record now is remarkable. He has a haul of 15 Olympic gold medals, eight with crews he has coached personally and seven as head coach or technical director of the rowing team, first with East Germany and then, since 1991, with Great Britain. Redgrave won three of his five Olympic golds under Grobler’s tutelage and Pinsent all four.
Add on countless World Championship golds, and you start to wonder what it is about this seemingly unremarkable man that makes him such a supreme manager. What differentiates the average managers from the Alex Ferguson’s and the Jurgen Grobler's, men who achieve success consistently over decades, with different organisations and despite changing personnel?
According to Grobler, it is “how much you love the job, how motivated you are as a coach”. This might, at first glance, seem trite, but many businesses still ignore the essential truth contained in it. To be really good at anything, you surely have first to love doing it. But any ambitious individual who wants to ascend the corporate heights normally has to push early in his career to become a middle manager of some sort, whether he has any desire to manage people or not.
The result can be uninterested, weak management and a consequently sluggish workforce, as workplace surveys bear out with disturbing regularity.
A paltry 2% of UK Human Resources professionals interviewed by Personnel Today in 2003 stated that the people management skills of line managers in their companies were “excellent”, while 74% blamed ineffective line managers for low morale.
Grobler’s love of coaching has two primary effects. First, it enables him to think nothing of working flat out for all hours to go that extra mile, examining every last detail to prepare his athletes for victory. His own work ethic, enthusiasm and total commitment, he believes, also produce farreaching knock-on effects. They are in themselves a galvanising force, rubbing off on the athletes and making them strive harder to achieve their goals.
“As in any other business where you want to be successful, this is not a 40- hour-a-week job. You have to devote all the time necessary to make the young athlete achieve. You have as a coach always to be in front, in the driving seat. You have to say to the athletes, ‘Look guys, I can’t do the training myself, but I will be there an hour before you so that everything is set up. I will help you.’ I always think that’s a big motivation for the athlete. They know there is someone there who will really help them and believe in them right through the tough times.”
The second consequence of Grobler’s passion is that his thirst for more work destroys any potential for complacency, prevents him from resting on his laurels and pushes him forward to strive for future goals. When I asked him if he had any regrets, there was a telling silence. Eventually he shook his head and said: “I’m always thinking about the next one. Always looking forward.” And right now he needs to do plenty of looking forward, to 2008 certainly and possibly to 2012.
Redgrave retired in 2000. Out of the four who won the coxless four Olympic gold in Athens last year, Pinsent and Ed Coode have also now retired, and James Cracknell is taking a year out. There is clearly much rebuilding to be done before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 if the British rowing team is to continue its remarkable run of success.
Grobler said the monumental task of sustaining the level of achievement in the face of the departure of these rowing legends has provided him with a renewed sense of mission, and, if he needed any, yet more enthusiasm. “This is a big challenge. I am maybe even more motivated than I was at the Athens Games,” he said.
Grobler’s doubters should remember that the German is a proven master at bringing change and improvement. First he revitalised the ramshackle rowing club in Magdeburg, putting it on the Olympic map with a hotel and state-of-the-art fitness centre.
When he arrived in Henley in 1991, invited to replicate his East German success by the British rowing establishment, “it was just like Magdeburg 20 years before. A boathouse and a river, and nothing else”. With the help of lottery funding and driven by Grobler’s vision, the Leander Club now boasts the best training facilities and a refurbished boathouse, decked with
trophies and myriad memories of triumph.
Dilapidated facilities were one fundamental difficulty he faced on his arrival in Britain. The other was a dearth of the professionalism to which he was so accustomed in East Germany, where sport was “the Mercedes-Benz”, the prized asset of a dysfunctional system. “In my first Olympics here, it was all about ‘taking part’. I didn’t understand ‘taking part’. This was something totally new to me. I had to go there and win,” said Grobler.
He might have learnt in detail the methodology of sports science and fitness training in East Germany, but coaching for him is much more than reading from a manual. It requires combining technical knowledge with a profound understanding of the mental and physical attributes of the individual he is dealing with.
“A coach might have a training programme to follow, but he will have a feel as to whether the athletes have to back off or push on. You need to find that line, that ceiling. Not to go too far. Push them two steps forward and then back off a little bit. That’s feeling.”
Each athlete is an individual and no coach can afford to ignore that, he said. “Matthew (Pinsent) and James (Cracknell) and Steve (Redgrave) are not copies. They are totally different. In one way, you have to bring them together as a crew. The result has to be the same, going as fast as possible from A to B with each rower. But to motivate them, to bring them to the same level of performance, you will have to go a different route with each athlete.”
Because Grobler treats each individual in a different way, there is always the chance that some may consider that others are receiving preferential treatment. This is where mutual trust comes in. The coach must know, on one side, that the athlete will not shirk any effort to achieve. On the flip side, all athletes must learn that the coach only has the good of the team at heart — there are no favourites. “The coach has to establish a partnership with the athlete. Like all good partnerships, it has to be based on trust. Nothing should be kept under the table.”
Grobler constantly conducts one-to-one discussions with athletes so he can gauge the mental state of his charges. “A successful athlete-coach partnership must be coach-driven but the coach cannot function without good feedback from the athletes. An important part of the coach’s job is to listen.”
Few people like confrontation and the amiable Grobler is no exception. But he forces himself to engage in honest criticism: “It’s never nice. But you must always start from a base of trust, partnership and openness. We shouldn’t be shy of bringing things out on the table. We could just make every day nice, with no problems. But you will never improve that way.”
Grobler normally reserves his sharpest criticism for one individual — himself. If an athlete is underperforming despite his or her best efforts, he takes it personally, and he challenges himself to come up with a more effective strategy for that individual. “I feel responsible and always say that we are in the same boat,” he said. “If the athletes win, it’s their victory. If they lose, then it’s the coach’s fault. I feel a lot more down than the athletes sometimes. I am always first say to myself, ‘Maybe I made a mistake’.”
It is difficult to imagine Grobler losing his temper. But if an athlete threatens the trust that has been painstakingly built up between the two of them, then self-criticism and constructive feedback fly out of the window: “If I see they are cutting corners again and again, then I get very upset . . . I always say the last stroke counts. The last stroke last year made us Olympic champions. They all have to learn that in training.”
That last stroke in Athens won an Olympic gold for the coxless four crew of Pinsent, Cracknell, Coode and Steve Williams by the margin of 45 centimetres — or 0.08 seconds. This victory was particularly sweet for Grobler, because it came in the wake of a highly controversial and widely criticised shift in selection policy in the weeks before the race.
Pinsent and Cracknell were originally down to compete in the coxless pairs. But Grobler decided that the best chance for a British gold would require them to switch to the coxless fours, displacing a devastated Rick Dunn andToby Garnett.
The ruthlessness of the decision inevitably created considerable tension in the squad. Grobler was again prepared to sacrifice a cosy atmosphere in the pursuit of excellence. “I don’t do things just to make trouble or show how powerful I am,” he said. “But nor do I run away from the job.”
The German is happy and settled in Henley, describing himself as “more British than the Brits”. Filled with energy by the prospect of the rebuilding process that lies ahead, he hopes shortly to get the nod to continue in his current role until the London games in 2012. Doesn’t he want to start to wind down, to relax a bit? “I relax in the morning when everyone comes in on time.”
Jurgen Grobler's leadership lessons:
Love your job. Enjoy helping others achieve their goals
To be a good manager, you have to love managing. This passion will ensure your dedication to the job. It will also be infectious, increasing the commitment of others and inspiring them to attain their own goals.
Mutual trust and openness are key — guard them jealously.
No manager can operate effectively without trust. The team must believe that the manager treats them with honesty and integrity and hides nothing. For his part, the manager must know that each team member shares his goals.
Question yourself before you question your team
You are responsible for the underperformance of any member of your team. Always analyse your own performance as a manager before criticising others
Don’t run away from tough decisions
It is easy to sit in your ivory tower and avoid confronting awkward issues. Some decisions might antagonise certain individuals. That doesn't mean you shouldn’t make them. It’s your job. You’re a manager.
No two people are the same — deal with them differently
If you deal with everybody in an identical way, you will not get the best out of your team. It is your responsibility to find out what makes each individual tick and then manage them accordingly.
No criticism means no progress
For your people to improve, they have to know where they are going wrong. Criticising others might not be pleasant, but having a nice, cosy life should not be your goal.
Managing others is not a one-way process. Always listen
Listen to what your team is telling you. If you don’t, you won’t understand them. And if you don’t understand them, you can’t manage them.
Shun all favouritism. Performance is all.
There is no room for cronyism in any team or organisation that strives for excellence. Who is best able to carry out a specific task or fulfil a particular role? That is the only relevant question in selection and recruitment.
Showing posts with label Coaching Personalities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Coaching Personalities. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Interview with Tim McLaren
Coaches – Interview with Tim McLaren
From http://www.rowperfect.co.uk/news/2007/06/18/interview-with-tim-mclaren/
Monday, June 18th, 2007
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Tim McLaren interviewed by Rowperfect
Tim is the Head Coach and director of California Rowing Club – a new club established 2 years ago and located next door to California University Berkeley Rowing Club’s shed. Rowperfect caught up with him in the final days of the Boat Race preparation. Tim has been a longtime hero for us achieving Olympic and World medal winning crews year after year.
When did you first start coaching?
I started with school kids when I was 19, coaching rugby league. I played for 18 years as an amateur and as professional against the UK in 87. When I was 25 I switched to fine boat rowing but I had done surf boats from age 16 to 25. I grew up on surf life-saving in summer and rugby in winter.
What is your coaching record?
I have not had many wins….[I think Tim is being modest here!]
Olympics – 1992; 2x, 1996 bronze in Lwt 2x and 4x; 2000 4- bronze; 2004 8 bronze.
Worlds – I have had some crews that won worlds.
Who taught you how to coach?
Nobody teaches you how to coach. When you start at 19 you do the best you can with the commonsense you have at your disposal. You approach it largely led by your personality. I will let others comment on my personality. Most coaches have a good work ethic and that’s probably what you need. Put the hours in and be diligent – the same stuff you tell the athletes. A bit of a carry-over from your own competition days.
Who has influenced your coaching method?
Everyone has a method. The people that coached me in surf rowing and rugby league and then John Williamson and Paul Rowe. He was a national sculler. Rusty Robinson, he was fantastic. He was outstanding and you remember the people more for their personality and how they handle situations. Reinhold Baatchi. All these characters you absorb stuff off them. Coaching with other coaches on the national team too. It is good to coach in a group. That is an art that Cambridge has mastered over the years the “cooperation in a good environment”. Donald Leggett, Robin Williams and Harry Mahon.
How would you describe your ‘perfect’ rowing / sculling stroke?
I am not into words. Every rowing book around the world is the same but we all row differently. Me explaining it to me you will be your own interpretation of my words but that may not be my interpretation. There are many ways to do it – but whether you are a pusher or a puller do it to high level and you have a chance of being competitive
What is your main focus at different times of the season?
I think that comes with the programme and how it shifts to technical sessions and as the need demand. Look at your crew. What’s in front of you? Deal with that – it’s just like football. You can be in the competitive part of the season and if the crew is average you may need to do technical sessions too. There is no foolproof method on paper. There is the normal theoretical framework which every coach has to work within. And there is always room for personal and collective improvement.
Do you have any advice for young coaches?
Try and get out with older coaches now and again. A trip in a boat and discussion; ask questions while you have the crew in front of you. Read a bit of history and get a good understanding of the sport. I think to be organised in a practical sense is important.
Plan your sessions… I sense a lot of volunteers are under time pressure and this gets cut. If you can organise the hour into sections with drills at various pressures, rates with slide work and body work. You improve concentration and their ability to carry that onto racing. Have a plan with your session. Warm up, drills, ratings, pressures, and times. Bring all those things to the session. Not just work on row 40 minutes steady state. You need to be doing rating, starts and teaching skills. Young people need to be organised to fit all those things in over a period of time. You need structure of sessions in order to get it all in. Young people want variety. In schools; coaches are organised off the water with equipment and crews and maintenance. But on the water they need the same degree of vigilance.
What is the thing you are most proud of in your coaching career?
I am not sure. I think wherever I go I try and create a culture around the club whether surf, football or rowing and bring that element of teamwork to the culture of where you coach. A social element with hard work which brings people together and makes a stronger unit and makes you a better competitor. I try to set a high standard and get people to rethink possibilities. Raise their level of thinking and to manage themselves really well. That is people’s biggest challenge. You aim to try and keep them developing not only in a rowing sense but in life.
How about national coaching styles?
When you work in a system you are dragged along by the philosophy of that system, often people try to replicate them from one country to another. They sometimes fail to factor in the culture of the people. Many countries moved to a centralised model and there are some more successful versions than others. UK is lucky because here is a healthy underpinning of strong clubs. Outside the national programme there is a lot happening in rowing. Lots of volunteers and people with a passion for rowing without the national programme being the prime focus. That is the result of the historical importance of rowing in UK particularly.
School rowing is very successful in many countries but it is that step after school when you have to catch them, coach and develop them and that often gets very shaky. I am looking at that in US now. I am looking at the best way to approach that and collect kids with ability who are interested in rowing at a higher level. There is a lot of development there.
How should coaches continue their learning?
Your perspective shifts a little when you get older. Coaches develop as well and they need to. It is not only your coaching knowledge but your management of yourself and your athletes. Coaches that are reading this will understand.
Athletes improve as they get older but coaches should do as well. Sometimes you can. Go back to who you learnt from and their influences. You learn a lot off the athletes too. Try different things and they are the litmus test of your method of feedback. It is good to have a group of athletes that can give you feedback. Learn through trial and error and athlete feedback. Trust your own intuition. Particularly if you have rowed yourself you have seen a lot of good athletes and you can learn from them and should try things and sometimes it is successful and develop those and carry on working on others. It is a patience game.
I do a bit with development athletes like Cambridge and sometimes the people are inexperienced. You can get good feedback off novices about what it feels like. Anyone can give it; some are better than others, more articulate.
Are there any common themes that all coaches can work on?
I once watched Thor Nilsen in a meeting of national coaches who were trying to describe the perfect stroke without a picture or a model. Everyone has a different interpretation of the same words. This is evidenced by the different styles in different countries. Look at the crews to see the outcomes. This struck me early on. Communication and interpretation are big things for thinking in coaching but in the end everything is limited by what you see. There could be more training teaching people to see a little better. One day I’ll do that.
Your athletic ability coordination and your understanding. Every athlete brings faults to the game. You are limited by how well it was explained when you first started, your understanding and how well you can transfer that understanding into action.
Rowing teaches you a lot about yourself.
From http://www.rowperfect.co.uk/news/2007/06/18/interview-with-tim-mclaren/
Monday, June 18th, 2007
--------------------------
Tim McLaren interviewed by Rowperfect
Tim is the Head Coach and director of California Rowing Club – a new club established 2 years ago and located next door to California University Berkeley Rowing Club’s shed. Rowperfect caught up with him in the final days of the Boat Race preparation. Tim has been a longtime hero for us achieving Olympic and World medal winning crews year after year.
When did you first start coaching?
I started with school kids when I was 19, coaching rugby league. I played for 18 years as an amateur and as professional against the UK in 87. When I was 25 I switched to fine boat rowing but I had done surf boats from age 16 to 25. I grew up on surf life-saving in summer and rugby in winter.
What is your coaching record?
I have not had many wins….[I think Tim is being modest here!]
Olympics – 1992; 2x, 1996 bronze in Lwt 2x and 4x; 2000 4- bronze; 2004 8 bronze.
Worlds – I have had some crews that won worlds.
Who taught you how to coach?
Nobody teaches you how to coach. When you start at 19 you do the best you can with the commonsense you have at your disposal. You approach it largely led by your personality. I will let others comment on my personality. Most coaches have a good work ethic and that’s probably what you need. Put the hours in and be diligent – the same stuff you tell the athletes. A bit of a carry-over from your own competition days.
Who has influenced your coaching method?
Everyone has a method. The people that coached me in surf rowing and rugby league and then John Williamson and Paul Rowe. He was a national sculler. Rusty Robinson, he was fantastic. He was outstanding and you remember the people more for their personality and how they handle situations. Reinhold Baatchi. All these characters you absorb stuff off them. Coaching with other coaches on the national team too. It is good to coach in a group. That is an art that Cambridge has mastered over the years the “cooperation in a good environment”. Donald Leggett, Robin Williams and Harry Mahon.
How would you describe your ‘perfect’ rowing / sculling stroke?
I am not into words. Every rowing book around the world is the same but we all row differently. Me explaining it to me you will be your own interpretation of my words but that may not be my interpretation. There are many ways to do it – but whether you are a pusher or a puller do it to high level and you have a chance of being competitive
What is your main focus at different times of the season?
I think that comes with the programme and how it shifts to technical sessions and as the need demand. Look at your crew. What’s in front of you? Deal with that – it’s just like football. You can be in the competitive part of the season and if the crew is average you may need to do technical sessions too. There is no foolproof method on paper. There is the normal theoretical framework which every coach has to work within. And there is always room for personal and collective improvement.
Do you have any advice for young coaches?
Try and get out with older coaches now and again. A trip in a boat and discussion; ask questions while you have the crew in front of you. Read a bit of history and get a good understanding of the sport. I think to be organised in a practical sense is important.
Plan your sessions… I sense a lot of volunteers are under time pressure and this gets cut. If you can organise the hour into sections with drills at various pressures, rates with slide work and body work. You improve concentration and their ability to carry that onto racing. Have a plan with your session. Warm up, drills, ratings, pressures, and times. Bring all those things to the session. Not just work on row 40 minutes steady state. You need to be doing rating, starts and teaching skills. Young people need to be organised to fit all those things in over a period of time. You need structure of sessions in order to get it all in. Young people want variety. In schools; coaches are organised off the water with equipment and crews and maintenance. But on the water they need the same degree of vigilance.
What is the thing you are most proud of in your coaching career?
I am not sure. I think wherever I go I try and create a culture around the club whether surf, football or rowing and bring that element of teamwork to the culture of where you coach. A social element with hard work which brings people together and makes a stronger unit and makes you a better competitor. I try to set a high standard and get people to rethink possibilities. Raise their level of thinking and to manage themselves really well. That is people’s biggest challenge. You aim to try and keep them developing not only in a rowing sense but in life.
How about national coaching styles?
When you work in a system you are dragged along by the philosophy of that system, often people try to replicate them from one country to another. They sometimes fail to factor in the culture of the people. Many countries moved to a centralised model and there are some more successful versions than others. UK is lucky because here is a healthy underpinning of strong clubs. Outside the national programme there is a lot happening in rowing. Lots of volunteers and people with a passion for rowing without the national programme being the prime focus. That is the result of the historical importance of rowing in UK particularly.
School rowing is very successful in many countries but it is that step after school when you have to catch them, coach and develop them and that often gets very shaky. I am looking at that in US now. I am looking at the best way to approach that and collect kids with ability who are interested in rowing at a higher level. There is a lot of development there.
How should coaches continue their learning?
Your perspective shifts a little when you get older. Coaches develop as well and they need to. It is not only your coaching knowledge but your management of yourself and your athletes. Coaches that are reading this will understand.
Athletes improve as they get older but coaches should do as well. Sometimes you can. Go back to who you learnt from and their influences. You learn a lot off the athletes too. Try different things and they are the litmus test of your method of feedback. It is good to have a group of athletes that can give you feedback. Learn through trial and error and athlete feedback. Trust your own intuition. Particularly if you have rowed yourself you have seen a lot of good athletes and you can learn from them and should try things and sometimes it is successful and develop those and carry on working on others. It is a patience game.
I do a bit with development athletes like Cambridge and sometimes the people are inexperienced. You can get good feedback off novices about what it feels like. Anyone can give it; some are better than others, more articulate.
Are there any common themes that all coaches can work on?
I once watched Thor Nilsen in a meeting of national coaches who were trying to describe the perfect stroke without a picture or a model. Everyone has a different interpretation of the same words. This is evidenced by the different styles in different countries. Look at the crews to see the outcomes. This struck me early on. Communication and interpretation are big things for thinking in coaching but in the end everything is limited by what you see. There could be more training teaching people to see a little better. One day I’ll do that.
Your athletic ability coordination and your understanding. Every athlete brings faults to the game. You are limited by how well it was explained when you first started, your understanding and how well you can transfer that understanding into action.
Rowing teaches you a lot about yourself.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Interview with Martin McElroy
Interview with Martin McElroy Coach of GB Olympic Champion Men’s Eight 2000
From www.irow.com
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Q: How did your crew achieve peak performance on the day of the Olympic Final? -Rick from MA
A: It seemed like everything was ready for that day. The equipment was ready, the athletes were ready. We'd always prided ourselves on learning at every opportunity. Over the years we'd learned lessons about training, we'd learned lessons about technique and we'd learned lessons about the mental strength needed to perform at the highest level. For me, the challenge in the olympic environment was mainly psychological. It was about managing the whole experience. It was about doing what we knew in the olympic cauldron. Even in our first race we were still making mistakes. However after that things began to crystallise. From then on a momentum started to build. Two days before the final we did some speed work that was exceptional. We had never gone that fast before.
The day of the final was almost calm by comparison to earlier days. We were on a very early bus to the course. It was still dark as we sat on the bus. The radio was playing and then something that I'll remember for the rest of my life happened. The DJ played a track by AC/DC - 'Back in Black'. This was a heavy rock song that had pounded around the gym at Imperial College during my early coaching days. I looked around at Louis Attrill our four man and also an Imperial alumnus. He'd latched on to it as well. I'm not superstitious but that warmed me up. It just seemed that even at 6am in the morning, halfway around the world on one of the most important days of our lives things were looking good.
All our planning was for this race. The final event of the project was here and it seemed that everything was in place. I suppose that's what preparation is all about. Even four years ago we all knew exactly when and where that race was going to take place. The light would turn green at the appointed time and you were either ready or not.
Q: There was a lot of controversy involving performance-enhancing drug use at the Sydney Olympics (especially in the sport of rowing). What measures do you take to make sure your rowers remain clean? Do you think there are countries that try to cheat the system? -Michelle from VA
A: The testing was rigorous from the moment we arrived in Australia. There were times that I wondered if the athletes would have any blood left to race with! Seriously though, I don't think drug use is endemic in rowing. Rowing is not a big money sport. It's not as if thousands of dollars of prize money is riding on it. Of course individual athletes may feel the desire to cheat and that is more difficult to eliminate. The best we can do is to develop a culture where it is unacceptable, both in terms of peer pressure and through the rules of our sport.
There is a strong anti-drugs culture in sport in the UK. It's probably something to do with the british sense of fair play. There is also a tough regime of testing both in and out of season. Testers can arrive at an athlete's door any time, day or night. It would take so much effort and expense to attempt to buck the system, that I doubt any athlete would find it worthwhile in the UK. That's not to say that it couldn't happen, indeed there have been cases in other sports although they've become tangled up in the debates about contaminated supplement products. The advice from the governing body of rowing in the UK is train correctly, eat well and avoid anything that is of dubious origin. I think the drugs and supplements policy of the governing body is available on their website.
Q: As last year's top eight, I imagine there are lots of crews gunning to knock your crew off of the winner's podium. How've you prepared your crew to handle this pressure? -Roger from FL
A: We will continue to focus on what got us into that position rather than worry about the winner's podium. Keeping focused on the process rather than the outcome is what's important. If we keep working on our process, then the results will start to follow. Remember, it took us 4 years to figure it out the last time. Sure, we have the benefit of experience, but it will be a new crew with new challenges and dynamics.
Q: Is there any frustration from you or the team with the amount of press that Redgrave and the four has gotten? (After all, you guys did win gold in THE top rowing event) -John from VA
A: We always knew the attention would be on Steve and after all it was a pretty remarkable achievement. Steve deserves all the plaudits he can get! We also used the situation to our advantage. With so much attention on Steve before the games it took all the pressure away from us. The eight was very low key pre-olympics. That allowed us to focus on the job in hand. The other thing to remember is that none of the guys were doing this to be famous. They were doing this for themselves. After all, they're a young group of guys. The the thrill and excitement was about going to the olympics, and meeting the challenge. That is what it was all about. The press and media coverage were a bonus after the event. The eight's win did take the imagination of the public, but in a different way to that of the four, precisely because they were a very different group.
Q: I'd like to hear coach McElroy's thoughts on how to move your club/team up to a higher level of competition. Right now it feels like my own team is stuck in a rut, we go to all the same regattas year after year and never seem to be better than middle of the pack. We've had a few fast novice teams but they seem to either quit or fade. How would you go about infusing a team with a sense of purpose and raising their standards of quality and commitment?
A: Not matter what level your club operates at you have to strive for excellence at that level. Analyse the training that you do relative to your competitors. Are you doing a similar number of sessions. How are these distributed in terms of gym and water work. Then make sure the balance is actually right for effective training. On top of this it's worth looking at the lifestyle of your athletes. Can they cope with the demands of the programme and all the other things going on in their lives. Maybe they can do a little bit more! Maybe what they already do needs to be better led.
Treat it like any problem solving activity. Take a look at your resources and how they're utilised. Is it effective? In that analysis include yourself. Do you have all the skills necessary. Are there areas that you could upgrade your knowledge in. If you want to have the best crew at their level then you have to be the best coach at that level. It's not all about having the best equipment and the flashiest gym. What's much more important is what you know and how you apply it.
Success retains people. When people get the winning bug they want more. From my own observation this success is almost always down to the organisation and coaching within a club. I've seen it at so many different levels that I'm thoroughly convinced these are teh main factors. People competing at club level will do what they're being asked to do. They're attending because they want to do it. They just need the leadership to show them what to do. When they start to reap the rewards they enjoy it even more and the cycle starts to reinforce itself. It's the old adage "success breeds success"!
Q: The Aussies were really charging in the last 500m of the Olympic final. Rumor has it they actually hit the gate at the starting block. Do you know what really happened and does Australia have enough to catch you guys this year? -Ashley W.
A: I've heard that comment about the gate before, but could never see it on the video. Who knows? As for this year, it's a new year. After all, the americans went pretty well in '97,'98,'99. I'm sure they'll be back. I don't know what the priorities will be in other teams this year. The australians, croatians, and don't forget the italians will be there, they were not far behind either. We should also expect to see the germans rebuilding in this cycle. Realistically, there is very little amongst these crews. A single mistake racing at this level is enough to drop you to the back of the field.
Q: I was wondering what process you went through in selecting the boat and oars you used. Was there a lot of testing involved? Did you allow your athletes to participate in this decision, i.e.. their comfort factor? What were your rigging dimensions for your Olympic eight? -Holly from MA
A: As an engineer by training I never take the status quo for granted. In the past crews mainly used empacher boats and concept oars. Was this because they were the best or because everybody was scared to do anything different? I didn't know the answer to that question or even if it was the right question. What I did know was that I'd like to test the hypothesis. It also concerned me that athletes got so hung up about equipment. Very few, if any, crews are constrained by their equipment. The differences due to equipment are so small compared to the impact of how a crew rows or how fit they are. Of course if there's any potential for advantage from equipment then I'd rather have it than not...
So, in the right context I set out to see what I could find with regards to equipment. Boats tend to be evolutions of something earlier. Things get lost in the mists of time. Why is it a particular shape? Just because something else was or because some serious research has been done. If research has been done, then what tools and methodologies were used. Are they correct and up to date? When you start to ask these questions there aren't many who can answer through progressive levels of questions. With regard to boats, Vespoli can answer quite a few questions. Carl Scragg, the naval architect has taken a good look at boats. Overall, I'd be more inclined to go with this than with data that originated in the former GDR. Things have changed a lot since then. Much more powerful computational tools are available...
I've done practical testing before and found the results questionable. Quite often the faster boat is the more uncomfortable. But does there come a point where being uncomfortable inhibits the athlete? As it happens the Vespoli is very comfortable but then most heavyweight boats are. With regard to oars, we used concept smoothies in '97 and then Croker slicks after that. Although I like the idea of adjustable handles, I found the early concept version required a lot of maintenance. I spent two days at the world championships in '97 changing inserts and grips. I didn't think that was the most productive use of my time. The more we used the Crokers the more we liked them. They sat very positively in the water right from the entry. I'm not fixed in my views about oars. Athletes adapt to oar types just as they do to rigging within reason...
We rowed a number of different rigs. In the end our boat was set on a span of 83.5 cm. The oars were 375.5 cm with an inboard of 114 cm. There's nothing drastic about this rig. It might even seem a little on the light side, but then how you row has a major impact. Referring to technique, if you row effectively then a seemingly light rig will feel just as heavy as a heavier rig that's rowed ineffectively. It's important to link rigging to the way you row. I'd advise coaches to use other crews rigging data carefully. It's only part of the picture...
Oh, and I should say that we use ordinary concept oars in our pairs. We've spent periods of the year training in an emapcher eight. My message is that sure, use the best equipment for you needs if you can, but don't be dependent on it. What would happen if your boat falls off the trailer on the way to a regatta and somebody offers you the use of a perfectly good boat, but it's not what you usually use? Do you blame the boat if things don't go well? Seek to make your crews resilient. Develop a flexibility that allows you to focus on what really matters. Currently, we have a culture amongst the eights group that doesn't worry about rigging and equipment. That's not saying it's not looked at, it is, but not as a 'big' issue. I'd much prefer athletes to focus on how they use
it.
Q: Does your crew do weight training? What kind of exercises?
A: In the normal pattern of things we train with weights twice a week. During the winter if we're away on a cross training camp we might do more. The exercises are quite straight forward. Bench pulls, bench press, leg work,
core stability work. We didn't tend to do high repetitions, mostly 6-8 reps. In the end we're there to row so we want to make sure that our training is specific.
Q: Could you give some tips on determining line-ups? I'm sure it is a much different ball-game at the National level, but perhaps some of your techniques could apply to juniors as well. Also, any thoughts on switching rowers from side-to-side to maintain flexibility in your lineups?
A: There are many views on this topic. At national level, I'd ideally like athletes to be able to row in any seat. The rhythm should be coming from the whole crew. Again at national level you'd expect the boat to feel the same no matter where you sit. This is very difficult to achieve, but is the ideal to which we aspire. As far as sides go, it is an unfortunate situation that most international athletes tend to row one side only. There are exceptions but not many. James Cracknell from our coxless four has changed sides this year to row in a pair with Matthew Pinsent. That was after 12 years of rowing starboard...
Determining line ups is a difficult matter and it's very difficult to be prescriptive. So much comes from the coaches judgement on this one. In developing athletes there are so many factors that can play a role. The more inexperienced or those with slightly less developed skills tend to sit in the middle where they feel stable and have a pattern to follow. In effect, follow is what they do, which does result in a different feel because although the visible timing might be similar, the pressure generated is slightly lagging down the boat. At international level this would be a disadvantage as loadings would be different. At a more developmental level I'd say it it was almost inevitable...
People with relatively stable technique tend to work well towards the stern of the boat, although it often helps to have a stroke who can lift the tempo a bit if necessary. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new on this one. It's important to trust your judgement, but don't be dogmatic about it, always be prepared to change your view of athletes as their skills improve. The biggest mistake you can make is to label an athlete for a particular seat. On many occasions I've had to develop people into roles that I might not have envisioned previously. Always be prepared to be surprised!
Developing the flexibility to change sides is a tremendous asset. The earlier athletes develop this flexibility, the better. In the UK most juniors start their careers by sculling for about 3 years. Most coaches then try to keep their athletes flexible by rowing on both sides. That generation hasn't yet come to senior level, but the approach has worked well in other countries that have tried it.
*Webmaster Note...we have time for about 4 more questions*
Q: What style/technique do your rowers use to row so smooth? How do you go about making changes to their technique? -Mike from LA
A: I've worked closely with Harry Mahon, the reknown New Zealander, for the past few years. I've learned some invaluable lessons from Harry. Overall, I'd say our technique is based on simplicity. A stroke has to have reasonable effective length, the power must come on in a sustainable fashion and nothing should be done to slow the boat down.
Our sport is about taking both athlete and boat down the track in the best possible time. The athlete has a finite amount of energy to offer during the race. An effective technique tries to maximise the boat speed that can be generated over this period. Putting the spoon into the water in an effective manner is crucial. This is much more a matter of timing than speed. You see a lot of crews trying to put the spoon in faster and faster which results in a choppy, tense stroke. So, for example in this case some of the athlete's precious energy is diverted away from effective propulsion. Being a closed skill sport every element of the technique influences what follows. An aggressive, tense catch interferes with the athlete's ability to then generate an effective power curve. Problems with how the power is generated affect the release at the finish. Problems here then interfere with the ability to organise the recovery in such a way that the next stroke has the required length, whilst also allowing the boat to move forward easily...
I just started the above example by beginning at the entry. I could have started anywhere in the stroke really. Without trying to categorise out technique relative to others, I'd say we attempt to row in a natural relaxed fashion. We focus a lot on eliminating extras - if it offers nothing to the speed of the boat then why do it? The momentum of the athletes in the crew is crucial.The athletes moving back and forth along the slide can be basis of a rhythm. You can either bang off the footstretcher and pull yourself back up the slide for the next stroke, or you can spring off the stretcher just as a good basketball player would to gain maximum height and then allow the forward moving boat to bring your feet to you before springing again. Of course, the spoon must be used (timed) to harness this momentum. If the spoon is not put into the water before this change of direction then the boat is kicked backwards AND the resultant stroke is shorter as well because some of the athlete's length has been expended before propulsion can begin...
Changing technique is just the same as changing any behaviour - it ain't easy! The learning process is just as applicable here as in any aspect of life and work. The first thing is that the coach must be sure of the model or vision of how to row. It's also worth saying at this point that there are many ways to do it! if you watch international crews row, they don't all row the same. Yet all have their day at some time. Be ccareful about this. If you can't justify it to youself then you'll never sell it to your athletes. Seek to understand why you wish to row in a particular fashion. This may develop and change over time. That's ok! Then when you've got your model and can fully understand it yourself you can start to develop it in the minds of your athletes. Ultimately your athletes will have to perform under tremendous duress. They will be operating right at their limits. It's not like a kicker in football who has to do it once. The rowing athlete has to do it about 200 times with no break over the course of a race. Under this sort of pressure there can be no doubt about how its going to be done. There isn't really time to think about it...
In a racing situation the action has to be automated. It's pretty crucial then that the action is the right one. Adherence to the model is then the next challenge. In the 3 years that I worked in the lead up to Sydney, I'd say that I spent the first year developing and clarifying the model in my own mind and then the next 2 years teaching and clarifying it in the minds of the athletes. For us the whole thing was very process driven. The challenge was always the process not the outcome. Obviously the outcome was pretty important in the final race! By the end there was no doubt about how we intended to row. The athletes and cox developed a tremendous abilty to analyse their rowing...
I've often thought that the challenge for the coach in this situation is being able to stick at it. All through the long training periods it takes a lot of passion and attention to keep working on it. It's very easy to let it slip, to accept something that's less than 100%. The ultimate test has to be at the end. If you can look back and say that there was absolutely nothing more that could have been done then perhaps the other crew was just better on the day. However if your crew wasn't as fit as it should have been or couldn't hold together technically or whatever, then the coach has to start by examining himself/herself. Was what I was doing right, and had the athletes understood and assimilated it to the point where it was their natural mode of operation?
In a practical sense this means taking advantage of every possible opportunity to engender the technique necessary. Use every possible tool and common sense idea that you can find. If that doesn't work, develop some of your own! Remember, what you're trying to do is help the athlete to share your vision. the difference is that they will be in whole world of pain as they're trying to do it. There can be no room for ambiguity.
Q: I have a couple questions regarding the Olympics: How long did the eight row together prior to the Olympics. Was it the same crew from the '99 Worlds? Also, what kind of speed-work did you do the 2 weeks prior to the Olympics?
A: There were 8 of the '99 crew in the sydney crew including the cox. Through the winter the athletes trained as individuals. In the spring they went into pairs and then raced in pairs at the spring trials. From this race and the other tests like ergo tests selections were made to race in the FISA world cup regattas in the eight. Even through this period there were still some changes and only after Lucerne regatta in july was the crew finalised. It was a really tough decision to have to cut someone at this stage. We had a really good group of athletes including four guys who went on to win the coxed four at the world championships. This strength in depth was important to create a competitive training environment.
As for the spped work, we did some 500m and 1000m pieces. We also had some 250m for top speed work. Some of these would be flat out, others were at race pace. Crews at this level can generate speed quite quickly so they don't need to do large amount of speed work. Over the course of the week we wouldn't have done more than four 500m, four 1000m and a few 250m pieces.
Q: OK, last question, and as the Webmaster, I get to ask it. Aside from the countless television interviews, bundles of cash, and athletic apparel endorsements, what sort of recognition have YOU gotten from the local and international media?
A: I wish! As in many similar situations, the coach tends to take a back seat in the media attention. However just as in the case of the athletes, I wasn't doing it for media coverage. Now a few new pairs of training shoes might be a different matter! Perhaps I could endorse a coaches bicycle or something! Seriously though, all the coaches of medal winning sports at sydney were well treated by their peer groups and sports organisations. I've been to Buckingham palace and checked out the queen's pad. A bit big for my liking! I did get an award from the national coaches foundation that puts me in the coaching hall of fame alongside some great coaches from many sports in the UK. That probably means most to me. Recognition from your peers is quite special.
Martin McElroy is currently a High Performance Coach with British International Rowing. Martin coached the Great Britain men’s heavyweight eight that won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic games. Great Britain last won the gold medal in this event in 1912.
Over the 4 year period of the Sydney Olympiad Martin developed the men’s eight team from being a crew of aspiring young athletes into a tightly knit group whose performance in Sydney excited the whole nation. Having only taken up coaching at Imperial College Boat Club in 1995 and then becoming a full time professional coach with the national team in 1997, Martin has had significant wins at every level of his coaching career.
Martin studied engineering at University College Dublin and after working as an engineering manager for a number of years including a spell working in Africa, Martin returned to university to complete a Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) at Imperial College in London. Having rowed himself, Martin became involved in coaching after completing his course at Imperial College.
Martin’s credits this background for much of his success as a coach. Drawing on his engineering, management, and business experience Martin is a methodical coach who develops the athletes and resources necessary to achieve excellence. Being an Irishman, the final element in Martin’s arsenal is a liberal helping of Celtic passion.
Career Highlights
International
Olympic Games 2000 Men’s Eight Gold
World Championships 1999 Men’s Eight Silver
1998 Men’s Eight 7th
1997 Men’s Eight 4th
Nations Cup 1996 Men’s 4- Gold
National
Henley Royal Regatta 1996 Grand Challenge Cup Winners
1995 Thames Challenge Cup Winners
Head of the River 2001 Men’s Eight Winners
2000 Men’s Eight Winners
1999 Men’s Eight Winners
From www.irow.com
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Q: How did your crew achieve peak performance on the day of the Olympic Final? -Rick from MA
A: It seemed like everything was ready for that day. The equipment was ready, the athletes were ready. We'd always prided ourselves on learning at every opportunity. Over the years we'd learned lessons about training, we'd learned lessons about technique and we'd learned lessons about the mental strength needed to perform at the highest level. For me, the challenge in the olympic environment was mainly psychological. It was about managing the whole experience. It was about doing what we knew in the olympic cauldron. Even in our first race we were still making mistakes. However after that things began to crystallise. From then on a momentum started to build. Two days before the final we did some speed work that was exceptional. We had never gone that fast before.
The day of the final was almost calm by comparison to earlier days. We were on a very early bus to the course. It was still dark as we sat on the bus. The radio was playing and then something that I'll remember for the rest of my life happened. The DJ played a track by AC/DC - 'Back in Black'. This was a heavy rock song that had pounded around the gym at Imperial College during my early coaching days. I looked around at Louis Attrill our four man and also an Imperial alumnus. He'd latched on to it as well. I'm not superstitious but that warmed me up. It just seemed that even at 6am in the morning, halfway around the world on one of the most important days of our lives things were looking good.
All our planning was for this race. The final event of the project was here and it seemed that everything was in place. I suppose that's what preparation is all about. Even four years ago we all knew exactly when and where that race was going to take place. The light would turn green at the appointed time and you were either ready or not.
Q: There was a lot of controversy involving performance-enhancing drug use at the Sydney Olympics (especially in the sport of rowing). What measures do you take to make sure your rowers remain clean? Do you think there are countries that try to cheat the system? -Michelle from VA
A: The testing was rigorous from the moment we arrived in Australia. There were times that I wondered if the athletes would have any blood left to race with! Seriously though, I don't think drug use is endemic in rowing. Rowing is not a big money sport. It's not as if thousands of dollars of prize money is riding on it. Of course individual athletes may feel the desire to cheat and that is more difficult to eliminate. The best we can do is to develop a culture where it is unacceptable, both in terms of peer pressure and through the rules of our sport.
There is a strong anti-drugs culture in sport in the UK. It's probably something to do with the british sense of fair play. There is also a tough regime of testing both in and out of season. Testers can arrive at an athlete's door any time, day or night. It would take so much effort and expense to attempt to buck the system, that I doubt any athlete would find it worthwhile in the UK. That's not to say that it couldn't happen, indeed there have been cases in other sports although they've become tangled up in the debates about contaminated supplement products. The advice from the governing body of rowing in the UK is train correctly, eat well and avoid anything that is of dubious origin. I think the drugs and supplements policy of the governing body is available on their website.
Q: As last year's top eight, I imagine there are lots of crews gunning to knock your crew off of the winner's podium. How've you prepared your crew to handle this pressure? -Roger from FL
A: We will continue to focus on what got us into that position rather than worry about the winner's podium. Keeping focused on the process rather than the outcome is what's important. If we keep working on our process, then the results will start to follow. Remember, it took us 4 years to figure it out the last time. Sure, we have the benefit of experience, but it will be a new crew with new challenges and dynamics.
Q: Is there any frustration from you or the team with the amount of press that Redgrave and the four has gotten? (After all, you guys did win gold in THE top rowing event) -John from VA
A: We always knew the attention would be on Steve and after all it was a pretty remarkable achievement. Steve deserves all the plaudits he can get! We also used the situation to our advantage. With so much attention on Steve before the games it took all the pressure away from us. The eight was very low key pre-olympics. That allowed us to focus on the job in hand. The other thing to remember is that none of the guys were doing this to be famous. They were doing this for themselves. After all, they're a young group of guys. The the thrill and excitement was about going to the olympics, and meeting the challenge. That is what it was all about. The press and media coverage were a bonus after the event. The eight's win did take the imagination of the public, but in a different way to that of the four, precisely because they were a very different group.
Q: I'd like to hear coach McElroy's thoughts on how to move your club/team up to a higher level of competition. Right now it feels like my own team is stuck in a rut, we go to all the same regattas year after year and never seem to be better than middle of the pack. We've had a few fast novice teams but they seem to either quit or fade. How would you go about infusing a team with a sense of purpose and raising their standards of quality and commitment?
A: Not matter what level your club operates at you have to strive for excellence at that level. Analyse the training that you do relative to your competitors. Are you doing a similar number of sessions. How are these distributed in terms of gym and water work. Then make sure the balance is actually right for effective training. On top of this it's worth looking at the lifestyle of your athletes. Can they cope with the demands of the programme and all the other things going on in their lives. Maybe they can do a little bit more! Maybe what they already do needs to be better led.
Treat it like any problem solving activity. Take a look at your resources and how they're utilised. Is it effective? In that analysis include yourself. Do you have all the skills necessary. Are there areas that you could upgrade your knowledge in. If you want to have the best crew at their level then you have to be the best coach at that level. It's not all about having the best equipment and the flashiest gym. What's much more important is what you know and how you apply it.
Success retains people. When people get the winning bug they want more. From my own observation this success is almost always down to the organisation and coaching within a club. I've seen it at so many different levels that I'm thoroughly convinced these are teh main factors. People competing at club level will do what they're being asked to do. They're attending because they want to do it. They just need the leadership to show them what to do. When they start to reap the rewards they enjoy it even more and the cycle starts to reinforce itself. It's the old adage "success breeds success"!
Q: The Aussies were really charging in the last 500m of the Olympic final. Rumor has it they actually hit the gate at the starting block. Do you know what really happened and does Australia have enough to catch you guys this year? -Ashley W.
A: I've heard that comment about the gate before, but could never see it on the video. Who knows? As for this year, it's a new year. After all, the americans went pretty well in '97,'98,'99. I'm sure they'll be back. I don't know what the priorities will be in other teams this year. The australians, croatians, and don't forget the italians will be there, they were not far behind either. We should also expect to see the germans rebuilding in this cycle. Realistically, there is very little amongst these crews. A single mistake racing at this level is enough to drop you to the back of the field.
Q: I was wondering what process you went through in selecting the boat and oars you used. Was there a lot of testing involved? Did you allow your athletes to participate in this decision, i.e.. their comfort factor? What were your rigging dimensions for your Olympic eight? -Holly from MA
A: As an engineer by training I never take the status quo for granted. In the past crews mainly used empacher boats and concept oars. Was this because they were the best or because everybody was scared to do anything different? I didn't know the answer to that question or even if it was the right question. What I did know was that I'd like to test the hypothesis. It also concerned me that athletes got so hung up about equipment. Very few, if any, crews are constrained by their equipment. The differences due to equipment are so small compared to the impact of how a crew rows or how fit they are. Of course if there's any potential for advantage from equipment then I'd rather have it than not...
So, in the right context I set out to see what I could find with regards to equipment. Boats tend to be evolutions of something earlier. Things get lost in the mists of time. Why is it a particular shape? Just because something else was or because some serious research has been done. If research has been done, then what tools and methodologies were used. Are they correct and up to date? When you start to ask these questions there aren't many who can answer through progressive levels of questions. With regard to boats, Vespoli can answer quite a few questions. Carl Scragg, the naval architect has taken a good look at boats. Overall, I'd be more inclined to go with this than with data that originated in the former GDR. Things have changed a lot since then. Much more powerful computational tools are available...
I've done practical testing before and found the results questionable. Quite often the faster boat is the more uncomfortable. But does there come a point where being uncomfortable inhibits the athlete? As it happens the Vespoli is very comfortable but then most heavyweight boats are. With regard to oars, we used concept smoothies in '97 and then Croker slicks after that. Although I like the idea of adjustable handles, I found the early concept version required a lot of maintenance. I spent two days at the world championships in '97 changing inserts and grips. I didn't think that was the most productive use of my time. The more we used the Crokers the more we liked them. They sat very positively in the water right from the entry. I'm not fixed in my views about oars. Athletes adapt to oar types just as they do to rigging within reason...
We rowed a number of different rigs. In the end our boat was set on a span of 83.5 cm. The oars were 375.5 cm with an inboard of 114 cm. There's nothing drastic about this rig. It might even seem a little on the light side, but then how you row has a major impact. Referring to technique, if you row effectively then a seemingly light rig will feel just as heavy as a heavier rig that's rowed ineffectively. It's important to link rigging to the way you row. I'd advise coaches to use other crews rigging data carefully. It's only part of the picture...
Oh, and I should say that we use ordinary concept oars in our pairs. We've spent periods of the year training in an emapcher eight. My message is that sure, use the best equipment for you needs if you can, but don't be dependent on it. What would happen if your boat falls off the trailer on the way to a regatta and somebody offers you the use of a perfectly good boat, but it's not what you usually use? Do you blame the boat if things don't go well? Seek to make your crews resilient. Develop a flexibility that allows you to focus on what really matters. Currently, we have a culture amongst the eights group that doesn't worry about rigging and equipment. That's not saying it's not looked at, it is, but not as a 'big' issue. I'd much prefer athletes to focus on how they use
it.
Q: Does your crew do weight training? What kind of exercises?
A: In the normal pattern of things we train with weights twice a week. During the winter if we're away on a cross training camp we might do more. The exercises are quite straight forward. Bench pulls, bench press, leg work,
core stability work. We didn't tend to do high repetitions, mostly 6-8 reps. In the end we're there to row so we want to make sure that our training is specific.
Q: Could you give some tips on determining line-ups? I'm sure it is a much different ball-game at the National level, but perhaps some of your techniques could apply to juniors as well. Also, any thoughts on switching rowers from side-to-side to maintain flexibility in your lineups?
A: There are many views on this topic. At national level, I'd ideally like athletes to be able to row in any seat. The rhythm should be coming from the whole crew. Again at national level you'd expect the boat to feel the same no matter where you sit. This is very difficult to achieve, but is the ideal to which we aspire. As far as sides go, it is an unfortunate situation that most international athletes tend to row one side only. There are exceptions but not many. James Cracknell from our coxless four has changed sides this year to row in a pair with Matthew Pinsent. That was after 12 years of rowing starboard...
Determining line ups is a difficult matter and it's very difficult to be prescriptive. So much comes from the coaches judgement on this one. In developing athletes there are so many factors that can play a role. The more inexperienced or those with slightly less developed skills tend to sit in the middle where they feel stable and have a pattern to follow. In effect, follow is what they do, which does result in a different feel because although the visible timing might be similar, the pressure generated is slightly lagging down the boat. At international level this would be a disadvantage as loadings would be different. At a more developmental level I'd say it it was almost inevitable...
People with relatively stable technique tend to work well towards the stern of the boat, although it often helps to have a stroke who can lift the tempo a bit if necessary. I'm sure I'm not telling you anything new on this one. It's important to trust your judgement, but don't be dogmatic about it, always be prepared to change your view of athletes as their skills improve. The biggest mistake you can make is to label an athlete for a particular seat. On many occasions I've had to develop people into roles that I might not have envisioned previously. Always be prepared to be surprised!
Developing the flexibility to change sides is a tremendous asset. The earlier athletes develop this flexibility, the better. In the UK most juniors start their careers by sculling for about 3 years. Most coaches then try to keep their athletes flexible by rowing on both sides. That generation hasn't yet come to senior level, but the approach has worked well in other countries that have tried it.
*Webmaster Note...we have time for about 4 more questions*
Q: What style/technique do your rowers use to row so smooth? How do you go about making changes to their technique? -Mike from LA
A: I've worked closely with Harry Mahon, the reknown New Zealander, for the past few years. I've learned some invaluable lessons from Harry. Overall, I'd say our technique is based on simplicity. A stroke has to have reasonable effective length, the power must come on in a sustainable fashion and nothing should be done to slow the boat down.
Our sport is about taking both athlete and boat down the track in the best possible time. The athlete has a finite amount of energy to offer during the race. An effective technique tries to maximise the boat speed that can be generated over this period. Putting the spoon into the water in an effective manner is crucial. This is much more a matter of timing than speed. You see a lot of crews trying to put the spoon in faster and faster which results in a choppy, tense stroke. So, for example in this case some of the athlete's precious energy is diverted away from effective propulsion. Being a closed skill sport every element of the technique influences what follows. An aggressive, tense catch interferes with the athlete's ability to then generate an effective power curve. Problems with how the power is generated affect the release at the finish. Problems here then interfere with the ability to organise the recovery in such a way that the next stroke has the required length, whilst also allowing the boat to move forward easily...
I just started the above example by beginning at the entry. I could have started anywhere in the stroke really. Without trying to categorise out technique relative to others, I'd say we attempt to row in a natural relaxed fashion. We focus a lot on eliminating extras - if it offers nothing to the speed of the boat then why do it? The momentum of the athletes in the crew is crucial.The athletes moving back and forth along the slide can be basis of a rhythm. You can either bang off the footstretcher and pull yourself back up the slide for the next stroke, or you can spring off the stretcher just as a good basketball player would to gain maximum height and then allow the forward moving boat to bring your feet to you before springing again. Of course, the spoon must be used (timed) to harness this momentum. If the spoon is not put into the water before this change of direction then the boat is kicked backwards AND the resultant stroke is shorter as well because some of the athlete's length has been expended before propulsion can begin...
Changing technique is just the same as changing any behaviour - it ain't easy! The learning process is just as applicable here as in any aspect of life and work. The first thing is that the coach must be sure of the model or vision of how to row. It's also worth saying at this point that there are many ways to do it! if you watch international crews row, they don't all row the same. Yet all have their day at some time. Be ccareful about this. If you can't justify it to youself then you'll never sell it to your athletes. Seek to understand why you wish to row in a particular fashion. This may develop and change over time. That's ok! Then when you've got your model and can fully understand it yourself you can start to develop it in the minds of your athletes. Ultimately your athletes will have to perform under tremendous duress. They will be operating right at their limits. It's not like a kicker in football who has to do it once. The rowing athlete has to do it about 200 times with no break over the course of a race. Under this sort of pressure there can be no doubt about how its going to be done. There isn't really time to think about it...
In a racing situation the action has to be automated. It's pretty crucial then that the action is the right one. Adherence to the model is then the next challenge. In the 3 years that I worked in the lead up to Sydney, I'd say that I spent the first year developing and clarifying the model in my own mind and then the next 2 years teaching and clarifying it in the minds of the athletes. For us the whole thing was very process driven. The challenge was always the process not the outcome. Obviously the outcome was pretty important in the final race! By the end there was no doubt about how we intended to row. The athletes and cox developed a tremendous abilty to analyse their rowing...
I've often thought that the challenge for the coach in this situation is being able to stick at it. All through the long training periods it takes a lot of passion and attention to keep working on it. It's very easy to let it slip, to accept something that's less than 100%. The ultimate test has to be at the end. If you can look back and say that there was absolutely nothing more that could have been done then perhaps the other crew was just better on the day. However if your crew wasn't as fit as it should have been or couldn't hold together technically or whatever, then the coach has to start by examining himself/herself. Was what I was doing right, and had the athletes understood and assimilated it to the point where it was their natural mode of operation?
In a practical sense this means taking advantage of every possible opportunity to engender the technique necessary. Use every possible tool and common sense idea that you can find. If that doesn't work, develop some of your own! Remember, what you're trying to do is help the athlete to share your vision. the difference is that they will be in whole world of pain as they're trying to do it. There can be no room for ambiguity.
Q: I have a couple questions regarding the Olympics: How long did the eight row together prior to the Olympics. Was it the same crew from the '99 Worlds? Also, what kind of speed-work did you do the 2 weeks prior to the Olympics?
A: There were 8 of the '99 crew in the sydney crew including the cox. Through the winter the athletes trained as individuals. In the spring they went into pairs and then raced in pairs at the spring trials. From this race and the other tests like ergo tests selections were made to race in the FISA world cup regattas in the eight. Even through this period there were still some changes and only after Lucerne regatta in july was the crew finalised. It was a really tough decision to have to cut someone at this stage. We had a really good group of athletes including four guys who went on to win the coxed four at the world championships. This strength in depth was important to create a competitive training environment.
As for the spped work, we did some 500m and 1000m pieces. We also had some 250m for top speed work. Some of these would be flat out, others were at race pace. Crews at this level can generate speed quite quickly so they don't need to do large amount of speed work. Over the course of the week we wouldn't have done more than four 500m, four 1000m and a few 250m pieces.
Q: OK, last question, and as the Webmaster, I get to ask it. Aside from the countless television interviews, bundles of cash, and athletic apparel endorsements, what sort of recognition have YOU gotten from the local and international media?
A: I wish! As in many similar situations, the coach tends to take a back seat in the media attention. However just as in the case of the athletes, I wasn't doing it for media coverage. Now a few new pairs of training shoes might be a different matter! Perhaps I could endorse a coaches bicycle or something! Seriously though, all the coaches of medal winning sports at sydney were well treated by their peer groups and sports organisations. I've been to Buckingham palace and checked out the queen's pad. A bit big for my liking! I did get an award from the national coaches foundation that puts me in the coaching hall of fame alongside some great coaches from many sports in the UK. That probably means most to me. Recognition from your peers is quite special.
Martin McElroy is currently a High Performance Coach with British International Rowing. Martin coached the Great Britain men’s heavyweight eight that won the gold medal at the Sydney Olympic games. Great Britain last won the gold medal in this event in 1912.
Over the 4 year period of the Sydney Olympiad Martin developed the men’s eight team from being a crew of aspiring young athletes into a tightly knit group whose performance in Sydney excited the whole nation. Having only taken up coaching at Imperial College Boat Club in 1995 and then becoming a full time professional coach with the national team in 1997, Martin has had significant wins at every level of his coaching career.
Martin studied engineering at University College Dublin and after working as an engineering manager for a number of years including a spell working in Africa, Martin returned to university to complete a Masters in Business Administration (M.B.A.) at Imperial College in London. Having rowed himself, Martin became involved in coaching after completing his course at Imperial College.
Martin’s credits this background for much of his success as a coach. Drawing on his engineering, management, and business experience Martin is a methodical coach who develops the athletes and resources necessary to achieve excellence. Being an Irishman, the final element in Martin’s arsenal is a liberal helping of Celtic passion.
Career Highlights
International
Olympic Games 2000 Men’s Eight Gold
World Championships 1999 Men’s Eight Silver
1998 Men’s Eight 7th
1997 Men’s Eight 4th
Nations Cup 1996 Men’s 4- Gold
National
Henley Royal Regatta 1996 Grand Challenge Cup Winners
1995 Thames Challenge Cup Winners
Head of the River 2001 Men’s Eight Winners
2000 Men’s Eight Winners
1999 Men’s Eight Winners
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Jake White
Interview with Jake White: World Cup winning Rugby Coach
From http://www.carteblanche.co.za/
===========
Date : 11 November 2007
Producer : Victoria Cullinan
Presenter : Derek Watts
Researcher : Quereshini Naidoo
It was the match that millions gathered to watch, it was the match that every player in the Springbok squad had played their hearts out to be in, and it was the match that Coach Jake White had dreamed about for 17 years.
Jake White (Springbok Coach): “We wanted to play on the Tuesday. We were so ready to play. That whole week dragged and dragged and then the 78 minutes flew by. I realised that is it. They can’t score twice. They had to score nine points and I realised that physically they couldn’t run the length of the field and back again in two minutes. I realised that we had won the World Cup. The amazing thing was that in those two minutes I thanked the coaches, I thanked the reserves, thanked the non-paying reserves, thanked the security guards, I had time to walk down the stands and get to the field. It was almost like that went in slow motion.”
Jake and the team came back with the most coveted trophy in rugby.
Euphoric South Africans hailed the sporting heroes. Eleven days later while everyone in country was still basking in the glory, Jake held a press conference to tell the world that he was quitting.
[Press Conference] Jake: “I walk away with no regrets but with plenty of sadness.”
A visibly upset Jake told the world that he had not been given the option of renewing his contract as Bok coach.
[Press Conference] Jake: “I’m not surprised because there is no history of loyalty and trust in South African Rugby.”
South African Rugby accused him of playing the victim, claiming he had missed the deadline. His job was advertised while Jake was at the World Cup. The deadline was the 19 October – the day before the Final.
Jake: “One of the things that I always realised in this job is that you are going to get fired, that’s inevitable.”
Jake has had a roller coaster ride as the Springbok Coach and now he has written a book about his rocky relationship with the SA Rugby Union.
Jake: “When I heard BA 643 to London and then to Paris, and I got on that plane and I was on my way to the World Cup, it was probably the first time I realised that I had survived. I never knew what to expect, Derek.”
He has faced accusations of racism, been threatened with dismissal a number of times, his coaching decisions questioned and he even faced attempted blackmail. It all started at the end of 2003 when Rudolph Straeuli was fired.
Derek Watts (Carte Blanche presenter): “The call asking Jake to apply for one of the most demanding and controversial coaching jobs in the world came out of the blue and strangely enough while he was at the Canberra home of a South African star who headed down under, Clyde Rathbone.”
Jake: “And it was quite ironic because I was literally on my way there to see what other opportunities there were abroad. I finished two years with the under-21s. I got the feeling that I probably wasn’t going to go any higher. So I was looking at going to get some knowledge in Australia and then maybe going to go coach in Europe.”
He had a tough task. The once mighty team was ranked sixth in the world. They had suffered a long string of defeats, been subjected to the humiliations of Kamp Staaldraad and had collapsed in the quarterfinals of 2003 World Cup. Jake had to reintroduce a culture of winning into the demoralised team.
Derek: “Jake, you couldn’t have asked for a better start, I mean, winning the Tri-Nations in 2004.”
Jake: “There’s no doubt winning the Tri-Nations and getting South Africa behind you again because we had come off the disaster of the 2003 campaign.”
Then they made a clean sweep at the International Rugby Awards, winning coach, player and team of the year. Jake was rewarded with an extension of his contract up until the 2007 World Cup. But the honeymoon was soon over. Jake had constant rows over attempts to meddle in his team selections. In June 2005, during the French Tour of South Africa he was ordered to substitute Schalk Burger with Solly Tyibilika. He refused.
Jake: “There was a bit of sentiment that Solly should play because he comes form that area. I said, ‘You can’t be making emotional decisions like that. We play for the South African public ... you can’t leave out the player that has been voted the world’s best rugby player because you are playing in PE.’”
Derek: “So there was a crisis meeting with Bryan van Rooyen?”Jake: “I didn’t go to that meeting. But I was told that on Sunday I was going to get fired. We played on Saturday, in fact, some of the guys got text messages from journos saying win or lose he’s gone.”
The Boks won the match and Jake stayed. The confrontations and threats would set the tone for the next two years.
Derek: “2006, you call the year from hell?”
Jake: “That was close to it Derek, let me tell you. We lost seven test matches. We lost disastrously in Brisbane. I had never experienced that Derek. Even as a school teacher I had never lost a game by 49 points to nil.”
Derek: “You were booed?”
Jake: “That was probably the least that happened to me, being booed.”
It was the worst ever defeat for the Boks against Australia. Jakes relationship the board had deteriorated so badly that he was being publicly criticised.
Jake: “I remember reading an article saying that the coach is in a 49 metre hole and it was written by a South African Rugby employee.”
It was in November that things hit rock bottom. After losing seven tests in a row, The Blue Bulls Rugby Union declared a vote of no confidence in Jake. In middle of the tour Jake had to fly back from England to defend himself. He was made to wait for five hours like a naughty schoolboy outside the headmaster’s office before he faced a grilling from the presidents’ council.
Jake: “I literally flew all the way back for a 45 minute meeting. I will never forget the one president said that he goes to a lot of bars and restaurants and he just knows that the people he speaks to there don’t think John is a good captain ... what do I think? I thought it was incredible that I got asked that question.”
Derek: “Jake it is funny now but at the time you must have thought that this could be the end of the road?”
Jake: “I always knew that they wanted to. But I never thought they would fire. I was always fortunate to have the players’ backing and to have the sponsors’ backing. Those were the two groups of people I had to keep happy because those are the two groups that know if you are doing your job or not.”
Derek: “And your management team?”
Jake: “There is no doubt about that. I never had to look over my shoulder to see if there were people trying to take my job or sabotage something within us.”
Derek: “What do you say to critics who say that you made all the right noises about transformation but that you didn’t deliver?”
Jake: “Well, I would say that they are living in a dream world, Derek. I picked a player of colour for every position in my four years, except flyhalf. The reality is that I have done more than any other coach has ever done in terms of being representative at test level.”
Jake was ordered to use more black players but he never had a strong pool to draw on.
Jake: “It’s very difficult at national level to make it more representative if you are not going to get people in the provinces playing there.”
Jake suspected that President Mbeki’s name was often used to pressurise him into making certain decisions.
Jake: “The reality is if our government wanted to instil quota systems, and if they wanted to make sure there was x-amount of players, it would be law. People who say that the government interferes or this person interferes, you know it is nonsense. The reality is that there are certain people that are involved in the decision making in rugby and they use the powers that they have to put pressure. They continually say that the government says or they say but nobody knows who ‘they’ are.”
He got so fed up that he made an appointment to have tea with the President to discuss his problems. But Oregan Hoskins accused him of bringing the game into disrepute. Jake was forced to cancel.
Derek: “With all the niggles and the full blown confrontations of the selection of black players, it was ironic that one of the biggest dust ups, of his four year coaching career, was over a white boy.”
In May, team manager Zola Yeye and President Oregan Hoskins announced the 46 man World Cup training squad. The only problem was that Jake had selected only 45 players. Luke Watson had been added in just before the announcement.
Derek: “How did you feel?”
Jake: “I was flipping disgusted. I was livid to be honest with you. I thought it is unbelievable how this happens in this country you know.”
Derek: “What is the history between you and Luke?”
Jake: “It’s quite simple. I don’t think he is a good rugby player. I think he is the most overrated rugby player I have seen at this level and that’s it, full-stop.”
Derek: “Jake, who were the officials putting you under this pressure?”
Jake: “Pumelela Tshume, who is the chairman of the board. Oregan Hoskins, who is the president. Mike Stofile, who is the vice president. I think there is no doubt about it looking back there was an agenda on their side because of the connections they had with his father. They felt that they had to push him to get him into a team.”
Luke’s father, Cheeky Watson, was an anti-apartheid activist in the 70s who refused to play rugby for whites’ only teams. He joined a black team and played with Zola Yeye. Today Cheeky is a business consultant with friends in high places.
Derek: “And your own team manager Zola Yeye attacked you and the two other selectors.”
Jake: “Ja, I mean he did. Zola knows the family very well. I think there is a story that he actually held the little guy when he was born. So there is a deep rooted connection there as well.”
This intervention was tame in comparison to an offer Jake apparently received a couple of months earlier from the Watson family themselves. He got called to a meeting with their lawyer.
Derek: “There were all sorts of conditions laid down. Luke will be selected for the squad. He will play in a test. He will go to the World Cup. And the bonus for you was that you would keep your job after 2007?”
Jake: “The bonus wasn’t that I would keep my job because there were no guarantees about that. The bonus was that I would go the World Cup. The bottom line was that if this doesn’t happen you might not go to the World Cup yourself. So it was a hell of a thing to hear. I thought, Where is this coming from now?’ Then as I walked away I thought, ‘What way do I go now, is it worth throwing away three-and-a-half years of work literally before a World Cup?’”
The lawyer also allegedly warned Jake that he was being watched, his phones tapped and that he was going to be linked to a ‘third force’ that supposedly ran SA Rugby.
Derek: “The biggest surprise for me was that you were prepared to accept it.”
Jake: “That was the tough thing. I went with my lawyer and afterwards at lunch I sat with him and I said, ‘Listen, what do we do now because this is big hey?’”But the next day they withdrew the deal. Two months later Luke’s name was added to the list. He made his debut in a test against Samoa in Bloemfontein. Fifty minutes into the match Luke was injured and had to leave the field. The matter of Luke Watson was never brought up again.
Derek: “How did the players treat him?”
Jake: “There’s one thing you can’t do and that is bullshit a rugby player. They know if they rate a guy or not. They also found it awkward because they knew under what circumstances he had come into the team. I remember Derek some of the senior players came into my room during the week and said they have got a problem because they are not going to initiate him. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and they just said they don’t think he is worthy of getting initiated because he wasn’t picked and he got forced in and all that sort of thing.”
Derek: “What is the Springbok initiation?”
Jake: “It is not something we talk about obviously. It is an induction into the Springbok family.”
Derek: “You can’t tell us what they do?”
Jake: “No, I can’t tell you what they do. It is something that is unique to South Africa. It is basically a passing down of traditions from Doc Craven and his dog.”
Derek: “You don’t get smacked on the butt?”
Jake: “There is a little bit of that but it is nothing like playing a test match, so it’s okay.”
For once Jake’s selection of the World Cup squad in July was accepted without a murmur.
Jake: “I got the feeling that they sort of said, ‘Let him go to the World Cup and when he gets back it is finished. We are going to move. We don’t really need to be fighting with this guy too much more. We don’t really get on with him all that much. He doesn’t get on with us. So let him go to the World Cup and if he loses in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals then we are all happy. Then we move.’ They didn’t think that maybe South Africa could win the World Cup. I think that is what has happened ... we came back winners. But I did say that I don’t have energy to continue on fighting with you guys for another four years.”
Rumours are flying about what Jakes next career move will be. Australia, England, Wales have all been mentioned.
Derek: “So where to now for Jake White?”
Jake: “I don’t want to go. I really would like to add to the brand over the next few years. There are some great times ahead for these players if they stick together. For the next coach I say stick to the same principle I did in my four years. You are going to get fired. If you get fired make sure you do because of the way you want to do and not the way everybody else wants you to do it. What happens is if you listen to all the other voices and it goes wrong they fire you anyway. So you might as well go to bed at night knowing you are going to get fired but it was because of what you wanted to do.”
From http://www.carteblanche.co.za/
===========
Date : 11 November 2007
Producer : Victoria Cullinan
Presenter : Derek Watts
Researcher : Quereshini Naidoo
It was the match that millions gathered to watch, it was the match that every player in the Springbok squad had played their hearts out to be in, and it was the match that Coach Jake White had dreamed about for 17 years.
Jake White (Springbok Coach): “We wanted to play on the Tuesday. We were so ready to play. That whole week dragged and dragged and then the 78 minutes flew by. I realised that is it. They can’t score twice. They had to score nine points and I realised that physically they couldn’t run the length of the field and back again in two minutes. I realised that we had won the World Cup. The amazing thing was that in those two minutes I thanked the coaches, I thanked the reserves, thanked the non-paying reserves, thanked the security guards, I had time to walk down the stands and get to the field. It was almost like that went in slow motion.”
Jake and the team came back with the most coveted trophy in rugby.
Euphoric South Africans hailed the sporting heroes. Eleven days later while everyone in country was still basking in the glory, Jake held a press conference to tell the world that he was quitting.
[Press Conference] Jake: “I walk away with no regrets but with plenty of sadness.”
A visibly upset Jake told the world that he had not been given the option of renewing his contract as Bok coach.
[Press Conference] Jake: “I’m not surprised because there is no history of loyalty and trust in South African Rugby.”
South African Rugby accused him of playing the victim, claiming he had missed the deadline. His job was advertised while Jake was at the World Cup. The deadline was the 19 October – the day before the Final.
Jake: “One of the things that I always realised in this job is that you are going to get fired, that’s inevitable.”
Jake has had a roller coaster ride as the Springbok Coach and now he has written a book about his rocky relationship with the SA Rugby Union.
Jake: “When I heard BA 643 to London and then to Paris, and I got on that plane and I was on my way to the World Cup, it was probably the first time I realised that I had survived. I never knew what to expect, Derek.”
He has faced accusations of racism, been threatened with dismissal a number of times, his coaching decisions questioned and he even faced attempted blackmail. It all started at the end of 2003 when Rudolph Straeuli was fired.
Derek Watts (Carte Blanche presenter): “The call asking Jake to apply for one of the most demanding and controversial coaching jobs in the world came out of the blue and strangely enough while he was at the Canberra home of a South African star who headed down under, Clyde Rathbone.”
Jake: “And it was quite ironic because I was literally on my way there to see what other opportunities there were abroad. I finished two years with the under-21s. I got the feeling that I probably wasn’t going to go any higher. So I was looking at going to get some knowledge in Australia and then maybe going to go coach in Europe.”
He had a tough task. The once mighty team was ranked sixth in the world. They had suffered a long string of defeats, been subjected to the humiliations of Kamp Staaldraad and had collapsed in the quarterfinals of 2003 World Cup. Jake had to reintroduce a culture of winning into the demoralised team.
Derek: “Jake, you couldn’t have asked for a better start, I mean, winning the Tri-Nations in 2004.”
Jake: “There’s no doubt winning the Tri-Nations and getting South Africa behind you again because we had come off the disaster of the 2003 campaign.”
Then they made a clean sweep at the International Rugby Awards, winning coach, player and team of the year. Jake was rewarded with an extension of his contract up until the 2007 World Cup. But the honeymoon was soon over. Jake had constant rows over attempts to meddle in his team selections. In June 2005, during the French Tour of South Africa he was ordered to substitute Schalk Burger with Solly Tyibilika. He refused.
Jake: “There was a bit of sentiment that Solly should play because he comes form that area. I said, ‘You can’t be making emotional decisions like that. We play for the South African public ... you can’t leave out the player that has been voted the world’s best rugby player because you are playing in PE.’”
Derek: “So there was a crisis meeting with Bryan van Rooyen?”Jake: “I didn’t go to that meeting. But I was told that on Sunday I was going to get fired. We played on Saturday, in fact, some of the guys got text messages from journos saying win or lose he’s gone.”
The Boks won the match and Jake stayed. The confrontations and threats would set the tone for the next two years.
Derek: “2006, you call the year from hell?”
Jake: “That was close to it Derek, let me tell you. We lost seven test matches. We lost disastrously in Brisbane. I had never experienced that Derek. Even as a school teacher I had never lost a game by 49 points to nil.”
Derek: “You were booed?”
Jake: “That was probably the least that happened to me, being booed.”
It was the worst ever defeat for the Boks against Australia. Jakes relationship the board had deteriorated so badly that he was being publicly criticised.
Jake: “I remember reading an article saying that the coach is in a 49 metre hole and it was written by a South African Rugby employee.”
It was in November that things hit rock bottom. After losing seven tests in a row, The Blue Bulls Rugby Union declared a vote of no confidence in Jake. In middle of the tour Jake had to fly back from England to defend himself. He was made to wait for five hours like a naughty schoolboy outside the headmaster’s office before he faced a grilling from the presidents’ council.
Jake: “I literally flew all the way back for a 45 minute meeting. I will never forget the one president said that he goes to a lot of bars and restaurants and he just knows that the people he speaks to there don’t think John is a good captain ... what do I think? I thought it was incredible that I got asked that question.”
Derek: “Jake it is funny now but at the time you must have thought that this could be the end of the road?”
Jake: “I always knew that they wanted to. But I never thought they would fire. I was always fortunate to have the players’ backing and to have the sponsors’ backing. Those were the two groups of people I had to keep happy because those are the two groups that know if you are doing your job or not.”
Derek: “And your management team?”
Jake: “There is no doubt about that. I never had to look over my shoulder to see if there were people trying to take my job or sabotage something within us.”
Derek: “What do you say to critics who say that you made all the right noises about transformation but that you didn’t deliver?”
Jake: “Well, I would say that they are living in a dream world, Derek. I picked a player of colour for every position in my four years, except flyhalf. The reality is that I have done more than any other coach has ever done in terms of being representative at test level.”
Jake was ordered to use more black players but he never had a strong pool to draw on.
Jake: “It’s very difficult at national level to make it more representative if you are not going to get people in the provinces playing there.”
Jake suspected that President Mbeki’s name was often used to pressurise him into making certain decisions.
Jake: “The reality is if our government wanted to instil quota systems, and if they wanted to make sure there was x-amount of players, it would be law. People who say that the government interferes or this person interferes, you know it is nonsense. The reality is that there are certain people that are involved in the decision making in rugby and they use the powers that they have to put pressure. They continually say that the government says or they say but nobody knows who ‘they’ are.”
He got so fed up that he made an appointment to have tea with the President to discuss his problems. But Oregan Hoskins accused him of bringing the game into disrepute. Jake was forced to cancel.
Derek: “With all the niggles and the full blown confrontations of the selection of black players, it was ironic that one of the biggest dust ups, of his four year coaching career, was over a white boy.”
In May, team manager Zola Yeye and President Oregan Hoskins announced the 46 man World Cup training squad. The only problem was that Jake had selected only 45 players. Luke Watson had been added in just before the announcement.
Derek: “How did you feel?”
Jake: “I was flipping disgusted. I was livid to be honest with you. I thought it is unbelievable how this happens in this country you know.”
Derek: “What is the history between you and Luke?”
Jake: “It’s quite simple. I don’t think he is a good rugby player. I think he is the most overrated rugby player I have seen at this level and that’s it, full-stop.”
Derek: “Jake, who were the officials putting you under this pressure?”
Jake: “Pumelela Tshume, who is the chairman of the board. Oregan Hoskins, who is the president. Mike Stofile, who is the vice president. I think there is no doubt about it looking back there was an agenda on their side because of the connections they had with his father. They felt that they had to push him to get him into a team.”
Luke’s father, Cheeky Watson, was an anti-apartheid activist in the 70s who refused to play rugby for whites’ only teams. He joined a black team and played with Zola Yeye. Today Cheeky is a business consultant with friends in high places.
Derek: “And your own team manager Zola Yeye attacked you and the two other selectors.”
Jake: “Ja, I mean he did. Zola knows the family very well. I think there is a story that he actually held the little guy when he was born. So there is a deep rooted connection there as well.”
This intervention was tame in comparison to an offer Jake apparently received a couple of months earlier from the Watson family themselves. He got called to a meeting with their lawyer.
Derek: “There were all sorts of conditions laid down. Luke will be selected for the squad. He will play in a test. He will go to the World Cup. And the bonus for you was that you would keep your job after 2007?”
Jake: “The bonus wasn’t that I would keep my job because there were no guarantees about that. The bonus was that I would go the World Cup. The bottom line was that if this doesn’t happen you might not go to the World Cup yourself. So it was a hell of a thing to hear. I thought, Where is this coming from now?’ Then as I walked away I thought, ‘What way do I go now, is it worth throwing away three-and-a-half years of work literally before a World Cup?’”
The lawyer also allegedly warned Jake that he was being watched, his phones tapped and that he was going to be linked to a ‘third force’ that supposedly ran SA Rugby.
Derek: “The biggest surprise for me was that you were prepared to accept it.”
Jake: “That was the tough thing. I went with my lawyer and afterwards at lunch I sat with him and I said, ‘Listen, what do we do now because this is big hey?’”But the next day they withdrew the deal. Two months later Luke’s name was added to the list. He made his debut in a test against Samoa in Bloemfontein. Fifty minutes into the match Luke was injured and had to leave the field. The matter of Luke Watson was never brought up again.
Derek: “How did the players treat him?”
Jake: “There’s one thing you can’t do and that is bullshit a rugby player. They know if they rate a guy or not. They also found it awkward because they knew under what circumstances he had come into the team. I remember Derek some of the senior players came into my room during the week and said they have got a problem because they are not going to initiate him. I said, ‘What do you mean?’ and they just said they don’t think he is worthy of getting initiated because he wasn’t picked and he got forced in and all that sort of thing.”
Derek: “What is the Springbok initiation?”
Jake: “It is not something we talk about obviously. It is an induction into the Springbok family.”
Derek: “You can’t tell us what they do?”
Jake: “No, I can’t tell you what they do. It is something that is unique to South Africa. It is basically a passing down of traditions from Doc Craven and his dog.”
Derek: “You don’t get smacked on the butt?”
Jake: “There is a little bit of that but it is nothing like playing a test match, so it’s okay.”
For once Jake’s selection of the World Cup squad in July was accepted without a murmur.
Jake: “I got the feeling that they sort of said, ‘Let him go to the World Cup and when he gets back it is finished. We are going to move. We don’t really need to be fighting with this guy too much more. We don’t really get on with him all that much. He doesn’t get on with us. So let him go to the World Cup and if he loses in the quarter-finals or the semi-finals then we are all happy. Then we move.’ They didn’t think that maybe South Africa could win the World Cup. I think that is what has happened ... we came back winners. But I did say that I don’t have energy to continue on fighting with you guys for another four years.”
Rumours are flying about what Jakes next career move will be. Australia, England, Wales have all been mentioned.
Derek: “So where to now for Jake White?”
Jake: “I don’t want to go. I really would like to add to the brand over the next few years. There are some great times ahead for these players if they stick together. For the next coach I say stick to the same principle I did in my four years. You are going to get fired. If you get fired make sure you do because of the way you want to do and not the way everybody else wants you to do it. What happens is if you listen to all the other voices and it goes wrong they fire you anyway. So you might as well go to bed at night knowing you are going to get fired but it was because of what you wanted to do.”
Swimming with Randy
On The Pool Deck – Swimming with Randy
By Jeff Grace
From http://www.swimmingcoach.org
--------
It was a morning after a night rain fell cooling the normally hot and humid Austin air that I arrived at the Circle C Ranch Community Pool. I walked on deck at 5:45 am to find a man staring intensely down that pool. This is exactly how I pictured Randy Reese from the descriptions I had read in previous years and from his past swimmers and friends, a man extremely confident and extremely focused. I introduced myself to him, he said a quick “Hi,” and continued to stare down the pool completely concentrated on how he was going to orchestrate the morning’s events.
The swimmers began to come into the pool, walking out in the dark morning gathering their equipment and their practice on single sheets of paper which they soaked and placed on the deck behind their respective lanes. As soon as Randy began to describe the first set the focus of the athletes turned directly to their coach for they knew the displeasure that they would experience if they didn’t. Randy gave his instructions and quickly shouted “We are going on the 45 minutes,” which was 2 minutes from the time on the clock. Each swimmer entered the water on time for once again it was an obvious expectation that no one was going to challenge.
This was my introduction to the Circle C Swim Club, which has grown from a seven member team to a team of 175 and one of the premier clubs in the world coached by one of the premier coaches in the world. I spent the next week with Randy on deck for 8 hours each day (Randy stayed on deck 9¼ hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays) in the hot Austin sun.
At the end of the week I spent with Randy, we traveled to a meet at SMU in Dallas where we watched a great deal of swimming and a prize fight on TV that Saturday evening, Gatti vs Ward III. Watching the fight with Randy can sum up the time and what I learned about his views on swimming and life.
As we were watching one of the warm-up bouts between two heavy weights, Randy articulated how he felt about boxers and boxing in general, “I’ll tell ya something, this is the toughest sport there is. No sport tougher. These guys are the toughest SOBs in sport. Don’t ya think?”
“No argument from me, Randy.”
“Head to head, they have to kick the crap out of each other. It’s not like swimming if they let up they will hurt more. If a swimmer backs down they will only hurt less, there is no sport tougher, these guys are big time.”
This would sum up how Randy feels people need to approach things in their life and swimming if they are to be successful: plain and simple they need to be “tough SOBs.”
“Matt Cetlinski, now there was one tough swimmer, he left his heart in the lane after every set, gave you everything off of every wall; he was big time.” Randy has a simple philosophy when it comes to swimming fast and achieving athletic potential: you have to learn how to be tough.
The practices and the way that Randy plans, are based on the premise that you can teach people to be tough. One of the most consistent pieces of equipment that Randy uses in his training is kicking and swimming with shoes. His philosophy of perseverance and toughness comes out when he describes why he does this training, “The shoes just kicks the crap out of them, you really have to bust your butt, get the feet kicking large and fast to get going. Everyone can make one minute per fifty that is about perseverance and toughness; they just need to learn to get it out of themselves.”
He not only sells this philosophy to the athletes but he is up front with the parents in the club that this is something that each athlete needs if they are going to reach their potential in the sport. Randy is extremely upfront with the parents and they respect that. As his brother Eddie expresses, “When you get old you can say what you want to parents as long as you say it nicely. Randy is at a point where he can say what he wants however he wants.” In a discussion with one of the parents of an athlete whose attitude he described to the boy in the morning as “Your attitude is as bad as I think I have ever seen anyone’s,” he expressed. “He just needs to bust his butt for three weeks, go through a lot of pain and once he gets through it he will feel the same paces that he thought were hard as easy; he just needs to be tougher.”
Back to the main event now where ESPN is showing highlights from Gatti vs Ward I and II. “These little guys have skill. This is the toughest sport in the world. You have to be an athlete to do this. “Absolutely these guys need to be quick and are so skilled. I love watching the little guys fight (maybe because I’m little),” I responded. “I’ll tell you something - these guys are big time.”
Skill and technical efficiency are two things that are at the core of Randy’s philosophy of swimming. He believes that the best performers will most often be the best technically as well. Through his personal experience he has seen that the best pick up on technique the quickest, which is a huge sign of their potential. “Tracy Caulkins was just amazing with it. You would tell her to put her hand in this way or that way and it would be done the first time. She would stay with the change consistently until we figured out if it worked.”
The major aspect of Circle Cs’ technical training is the use of stroke drills. Randy believes that you must change technique through drills and that there must be a large focus put on specific drills. “To truly teach technique you must use drills a lot and consistently.” Randy will most often use a variation of drills in all of his workouts. The most common way that he uses these drills is to mix them with swims so that the athletes take the time to implement the changes that he is trying to make through each drill.
As Gatti and Ward were battling in the first half of the fight using creativity and skill, my mind switched to some of the creative thoughts on teaching technique Randy shared with me through the time I had spent with him. “Do you think if you were able to turn the lights off in the pool and use glow sticks so the swimmers could see the wall but nothing else, that their feel for the water would improve?” When it comes to teaching technique this is only one example of how Randy has a large tendency to think outside the box and do what ever it will take to make sure that the swimmers are going to learn how to do things right.
It is now in the seventh round of the fight. Gatti is continuing to dominate, despite hitting Ward in the hip with a right hook during the third round re-breaking his hand. Randy inquires, “What do you think, is it age or fitness that is not allowing this guy to take advantage of Gatti’s broken hand and win the fight?”
“Hard to say, Randy. To me it looks like the fitness is the major factor, but his age might have something to do with it.”
“Yeah, probably fitness. These guys are the toughest athletes out there. You have to be fit to be in this sport, a real athlete.”
One of the things you realize when spending any amount of time with the group of Circle C athletes during their training is that they are one fit group. Randy believes in working hard and being fit, including endurance, speed and strength.
When you ask him how he plans practices, his response is “I usually write out a whole bunch of stuff and than realize how hard it is and tone it down. It usually comes out to a point where they still think it is really hard.” It is incredible to see the intensity that the athletes train with day in and out. Randy judges the training by its’ intensity, since he feels volume can be looked at in many different ways, dependent on what components a coach feels important (kick, drill, swim etc...). Since he feels that the amount of rest in a practice is a better indicator of volume, intensity is what he uses to determine the training overload each day. Randy uses this sustained intensity to build the endurance base which he believes is required in all swimming events.
To develop strength and speed Randy uses a lot of creativity in his planning. One example of this is how he uses pulleys and shoes. Power workouts using this equipment are done two to three times a week in a short course yards pool set up. He uses both shoes and pulleys to develop both strength endurance and raw power by covering distances from 25s to 200s.
Dryland training at Circle C is limited by their lack of facilities such as a weight room and storage for equipment. For this reason the dryland is based on simple muscular endurance that has a mix of weights, abs, medicine balls and jumps. By having his dryland set up this way Randy also avoids one of the problems he sees with lifting heavy more than once a week. “When you lift heavy more than once a week, they start getting too big and too sore to swim properly.” These endurance based dryland workouts take between 40-45 minutes and are performed before each afternoon practice.
Once the fight concluded, Gatti had beaten Ward by a unanimous decision in a fight that the announcers felt would go down as another great showdown in the history books.
“What did you think of the fight?” I asked Randy.
“I didn’t think it was that good. I don’t know what the announcers are talking about. It wasn’t that good, but man this is the toughest sport there is.”
Expectations are always high when you are around Randy. From doing sets correctly and taking pride in one’s work to expecting himself to get off his butt and get in better shape, Randy expects the highest level of effort from everyone around him day in and day out. Communicating these expectations in a formal way through team meetings is the best way that Randy feels you can get your point across, “I need to get back to having meetings again to explain my expectations and let them know where we are going. We need to do this at least once every two weeks so that the team can create an environment where everyone is buying in.”
One of the things that many great coaches have been able to do is to convey high expectations on a daily basis and be extremely hard on their athletes, while at the same time letting the athletes know how much they care. “Once a swimmer swims with Randy for 6 months they will lay on the railroad tracks for him. They will complain about him and his ways, but they will understand how much he cares and go to the wall for him. ”This is how his brother Eddie describes the relationships Randy forms with his athletes. He does not smile much and very rarely, if ever, is he satisfied with performance, but it is evident in his interactions with the athletes that they know how much he cares.
Upon leaving Austin, I came to the pool once again at 5:45 am to thank Randy for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences with me. Once we said our good-byes he went back to the same spot where I had first seen him at the end of the deck on a dark and hot Austin morning, staring down the pool, contemplating how to make the group of swimmers in the water the most fit, most skilled and toughest athletes in the world.
Randy’s Favorite Stroke Drills:
Fly - Three kicks to each pull
Back - Double arm
- One arm
- Spin Drill
Breast - No breathing
- Two up one down
- Br pull with free kick
Free - One arm
- Catch up with stick
Power Workout Example:
a) Pulleys
6 x (4 x 50 @ 1:10 #4 max weight)
1) Kick
2) Kick with fins
3) Swim
4) Swim with paddles
5) Swim with fins
6) Swim with fins + paddles
b) Shoes
3 x 4 x 25 Kick Fly or Back @ 40
2 x 50 Kick @ 1:00 Free)
4 x 100 @ 2:00 as fast as possible
By Jeff Grace
From http://www.swimmingcoach.org
--------
It was a morning after a night rain fell cooling the normally hot and humid Austin air that I arrived at the Circle C Ranch Community Pool. I walked on deck at 5:45 am to find a man staring intensely down that pool. This is exactly how I pictured Randy Reese from the descriptions I had read in previous years and from his past swimmers and friends, a man extremely confident and extremely focused. I introduced myself to him, he said a quick “Hi,” and continued to stare down the pool completely concentrated on how he was going to orchestrate the morning’s events.
The swimmers began to come into the pool, walking out in the dark morning gathering their equipment and their practice on single sheets of paper which they soaked and placed on the deck behind their respective lanes. As soon as Randy began to describe the first set the focus of the athletes turned directly to their coach for they knew the displeasure that they would experience if they didn’t. Randy gave his instructions and quickly shouted “We are going on the 45 minutes,” which was 2 minutes from the time on the clock. Each swimmer entered the water on time for once again it was an obvious expectation that no one was going to challenge.
This was my introduction to the Circle C Swim Club, which has grown from a seven member team to a team of 175 and one of the premier clubs in the world coached by one of the premier coaches in the world. I spent the next week with Randy on deck for 8 hours each day (Randy stayed on deck 9¼ hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays) in the hot Austin sun.
At the end of the week I spent with Randy, we traveled to a meet at SMU in Dallas where we watched a great deal of swimming and a prize fight on TV that Saturday evening, Gatti vs Ward III. Watching the fight with Randy can sum up the time and what I learned about his views on swimming and life.
As we were watching one of the warm-up bouts between two heavy weights, Randy articulated how he felt about boxers and boxing in general, “I’ll tell ya something, this is the toughest sport there is. No sport tougher. These guys are the toughest SOBs in sport. Don’t ya think?”
“No argument from me, Randy.”
“Head to head, they have to kick the crap out of each other. It’s not like swimming if they let up they will hurt more. If a swimmer backs down they will only hurt less, there is no sport tougher, these guys are big time.”
This would sum up how Randy feels people need to approach things in their life and swimming if they are to be successful: plain and simple they need to be “tough SOBs.”
“Matt Cetlinski, now there was one tough swimmer, he left his heart in the lane after every set, gave you everything off of every wall; he was big time.” Randy has a simple philosophy when it comes to swimming fast and achieving athletic potential: you have to learn how to be tough.
The practices and the way that Randy plans, are based on the premise that you can teach people to be tough. One of the most consistent pieces of equipment that Randy uses in his training is kicking and swimming with shoes. His philosophy of perseverance and toughness comes out when he describes why he does this training, “The shoes just kicks the crap out of them, you really have to bust your butt, get the feet kicking large and fast to get going. Everyone can make one minute per fifty that is about perseverance and toughness; they just need to learn to get it out of themselves.”
He not only sells this philosophy to the athletes but he is up front with the parents in the club that this is something that each athlete needs if they are going to reach their potential in the sport. Randy is extremely upfront with the parents and they respect that. As his brother Eddie expresses, “When you get old you can say what you want to parents as long as you say it nicely. Randy is at a point where he can say what he wants however he wants.” In a discussion with one of the parents of an athlete whose attitude he described to the boy in the morning as “Your attitude is as bad as I think I have ever seen anyone’s,” he expressed. “He just needs to bust his butt for three weeks, go through a lot of pain and once he gets through it he will feel the same paces that he thought were hard as easy; he just needs to be tougher.”
Back to the main event now where ESPN is showing highlights from Gatti vs Ward I and II. “These little guys have skill. This is the toughest sport in the world. You have to be an athlete to do this. “Absolutely these guys need to be quick and are so skilled. I love watching the little guys fight (maybe because I’m little),” I responded. “I’ll tell you something - these guys are big time.”
Skill and technical efficiency are two things that are at the core of Randy’s philosophy of swimming. He believes that the best performers will most often be the best technically as well. Through his personal experience he has seen that the best pick up on technique the quickest, which is a huge sign of their potential. “Tracy Caulkins was just amazing with it. You would tell her to put her hand in this way or that way and it would be done the first time. She would stay with the change consistently until we figured out if it worked.”
The major aspect of Circle Cs’ technical training is the use of stroke drills. Randy believes that you must change technique through drills and that there must be a large focus put on specific drills. “To truly teach technique you must use drills a lot and consistently.” Randy will most often use a variation of drills in all of his workouts. The most common way that he uses these drills is to mix them with swims so that the athletes take the time to implement the changes that he is trying to make through each drill.
As Gatti and Ward were battling in the first half of the fight using creativity and skill, my mind switched to some of the creative thoughts on teaching technique Randy shared with me through the time I had spent with him. “Do you think if you were able to turn the lights off in the pool and use glow sticks so the swimmers could see the wall but nothing else, that their feel for the water would improve?” When it comes to teaching technique this is only one example of how Randy has a large tendency to think outside the box and do what ever it will take to make sure that the swimmers are going to learn how to do things right.
It is now in the seventh round of the fight. Gatti is continuing to dominate, despite hitting Ward in the hip with a right hook during the third round re-breaking his hand. Randy inquires, “What do you think, is it age or fitness that is not allowing this guy to take advantage of Gatti’s broken hand and win the fight?”
“Hard to say, Randy. To me it looks like the fitness is the major factor, but his age might have something to do with it.”
“Yeah, probably fitness. These guys are the toughest athletes out there. You have to be fit to be in this sport, a real athlete.”
One of the things you realize when spending any amount of time with the group of Circle C athletes during their training is that they are one fit group. Randy believes in working hard and being fit, including endurance, speed and strength.
When you ask him how he plans practices, his response is “I usually write out a whole bunch of stuff and than realize how hard it is and tone it down. It usually comes out to a point where they still think it is really hard.” It is incredible to see the intensity that the athletes train with day in and out. Randy judges the training by its’ intensity, since he feels volume can be looked at in many different ways, dependent on what components a coach feels important (kick, drill, swim etc...). Since he feels that the amount of rest in a practice is a better indicator of volume, intensity is what he uses to determine the training overload each day. Randy uses this sustained intensity to build the endurance base which he believes is required in all swimming events.
To develop strength and speed Randy uses a lot of creativity in his planning. One example of this is how he uses pulleys and shoes. Power workouts using this equipment are done two to three times a week in a short course yards pool set up. He uses both shoes and pulleys to develop both strength endurance and raw power by covering distances from 25s to 200s.
Dryland training at Circle C is limited by their lack of facilities such as a weight room and storage for equipment. For this reason the dryland is based on simple muscular endurance that has a mix of weights, abs, medicine balls and jumps. By having his dryland set up this way Randy also avoids one of the problems he sees with lifting heavy more than once a week. “When you lift heavy more than once a week, they start getting too big and too sore to swim properly.” These endurance based dryland workouts take between 40-45 minutes and are performed before each afternoon practice.
Once the fight concluded, Gatti had beaten Ward by a unanimous decision in a fight that the announcers felt would go down as another great showdown in the history books.
“What did you think of the fight?” I asked Randy.
“I didn’t think it was that good. I don’t know what the announcers are talking about. It wasn’t that good, but man this is the toughest sport there is.”
Expectations are always high when you are around Randy. From doing sets correctly and taking pride in one’s work to expecting himself to get off his butt and get in better shape, Randy expects the highest level of effort from everyone around him day in and day out. Communicating these expectations in a formal way through team meetings is the best way that Randy feels you can get your point across, “I need to get back to having meetings again to explain my expectations and let them know where we are going. We need to do this at least once every two weeks so that the team can create an environment where everyone is buying in.”
One of the things that many great coaches have been able to do is to convey high expectations on a daily basis and be extremely hard on their athletes, while at the same time letting the athletes know how much they care. “Once a swimmer swims with Randy for 6 months they will lay on the railroad tracks for him. They will complain about him and his ways, but they will understand how much he cares and go to the wall for him. ”This is how his brother Eddie describes the relationships Randy forms with his athletes. He does not smile much and very rarely, if ever, is he satisfied with performance, but it is evident in his interactions with the athletes that they know how much he cares.
Upon leaving Austin, I came to the pool once again at 5:45 am to thank Randy for taking the time to share his thoughts and experiences with me. Once we said our good-byes he went back to the same spot where I had first seen him at the end of the deck on a dark and hot Austin morning, staring down the pool, contemplating how to make the group of swimmers in the water the most fit, most skilled and toughest athletes in the world.
Randy’s Favorite Stroke Drills:
Fly - Three kicks to each pull
Back - Double arm
- One arm
- Spin Drill
Breast - No breathing
- Two up one down
- Br pull with free kick
Free - One arm
- Catch up with stick
Power Workout Example:
a) Pulleys
6 x (4 x 50 @ 1:10 #4 max weight)
1) Kick
2) Kick with fins
3) Swim
4) Swim with paddles
5) Swim with fins
6) Swim with fins + paddles
b) Shoes
3 x 4 x 25 Kick Fly or Back @ 40
2 x 50 Kick @ 1:00 Free)
4 x 100 @ 2:00 as fast as possible
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Interview with Christian Felkel, High Performance Director, RowSA
Interview with Christian Felkel, High Performance Director, RowSA
1. What is your rowing & coaching background? (no. of years, crews coached, responsibilities, results etc)
I started coaching in 1983 in Germany as assistant coach in women’s rowing club in Frankfurt/GER. Every year we had people in the German National Team at various levels.
The highlights:
Year Boat class Event Result
1984 LW 4- FISA Championships Gold
1985 LW 4- Worlds Gold
1986 W 2- Nations Cup Gold
In 1992 I took over the lightweight men in Frankfurt/GER
Year Boat class Event Result
1993 LM 4- Nations Cup Gold
1993 LM 2x Nations Cup Silver
In 1995 I went to South Africa where I started to coach the women. They managed to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics and came 11th at the Olympics.Since 1997 I looked after the whole South African team. In 1998 we started the men’s pair. The women’s pair went to the 2000 Olympics.
Highlights:
Year Boat class Event Result
1998 W1x Worlds 11th
1998 M2- Worlds 10th
1999 W2- Worlds 9th
1999 M2- Worlds 7th
1999 LM 4- Worlds 10th
2000 W2- Olympics 5th
2000 M2- Olympics 6th
2000 LM 4- Olympics 5th
2001 M2- Worlds Bronze Medal
2002 M2- Worlds Silver Medal
2002 W2- Worlds 5th
2002 LM 4- Nations Cup Silver Medal
2003 M2- Worlds Bronze Medal
2004 M2- Olympics Bronze Medal
2005 M2- Worlds Silver Medal
2006 M2- World 7th
2007 M2- Worlds 5th
2. Who taught you how to coach/where did you learn how to coach?
I joined a rowing club and I worked under the coach at the club for the first few years. I also completed coach’s courses from the German Federation. In addition I went to take part in the FISA Coaches Academy in 2001.
3. Who has influenced your coaching method the most and why?
Without a doubt on the technical side it is Harry Mahon. I have never met a person with such good understanding on how to move a boat. In other aspects of coaching I am influenced by the German approach. Hard work. Long hours.
4. What advice do you have for young or novice coaches?
Listen to people to pick up on information. Share knowledge, then the other will be more open. Listen to your rowers; they are a good source of information. They way they feel when doing your programme.
5. What do you think is the most important element to get right with regards to technique?
Connection, I think without that the rower will not feel anything. So the focus should be on finding the boat and connecting to it.
6. Describe 2 drills/exercises that you think are the most important
The catch exercise to feel the connection, it is approach to the catch and entry. Start from 3/4 slide, come forward and take the stroke and feel the hang on the handle. Watch the timing of seat and spoon to optimize the exercise.Legs only, and with this attention on the hanging, that means that the bodyweight has to be off the seat. Try to use the legs just for the first 1/4 and see if you can connect and hang. Then push longer and longer. Most importantly is the connection through the back. It must not give but the shoulders should be relaxed.
7. What session do you think is your most important in your training programs?
Since good performance comes from a variety of sessions not one is more important then the other. Having said that I do believe that PowerStrokes are a great session to do, it is important to look out for poor execution but it is a powerful session. Make sure that the resistance is not too great. You need some fluid movement of the boat. Don't do more than 40 strokes at the time. I have seen that the quality of execution is suffering if it goes over 40 strokes.Example: (6 x 30) x 3
8. What is the most important thing that you think South Africa coaches should work on with their athletes?
Endurance, in rowing it is important to have a big engine, even for lightweights, and the only way to get a big engine is to train a lot. Long hours on the water are required, if water is not available then the erg. Best would be to use the RowPerfect as it doesn't impact on knees and backs.
9. Which is the best crew that you have seen rowing?
The Australian pair is one of the best as they have a rhythmic and powerful stroke, they are concentrating on quality of each stroke. Don and Ramon on a good day are going in this direction. If you catch them on Roodeplaat have a look at the rhythm and the power that is put into each stroke.
1. What is your rowing & coaching background? (no. of years, crews coached, responsibilities, results etc)
I started coaching in 1983 in Germany as assistant coach in women’s rowing club in Frankfurt/GER. Every year we had people in the German National Team at various levels.
The highlights:
Year Boat class Event Result
1984 LW 4- FISA Championships Gold
1985 LW 4- Worlds Gold
1986 W 2- Nations Cup Gold
In 1992 I took over the lightweight men in Frankfurt/GER
Year Boat class Event Result
1993 LM 4- Nations Cup Gold
1993 LM 2x Nations Cup Silver
In 1995 I went to South Africa where I started to coach the women. They managed to qualify for the Atlanta Olympics and came 11th at the Olympics.Since 1997 I looked after the whole South African team. In 1998 we started the men’s pair. The women’s pair went to the 2000 Olympics.
Highlights:
Year Boat class Event Result
1998 W1x Worlds 11th
1998 M2- Worlds 10th
1999 W2- Worlds 9th
1999 M2- Worlds 7th
1999 LM 4- Worlds 10th
2000 W2- Olympics 5th
2000 M2- Olympics 6th
2000 LM 4- Olympics 5th
2001 M2- Worlds Bronze Medal
2002 M2- Worlds Silver Medal
2002 W2- Worlds 5th
2002 LM 4- Nations Cup Silver Medal
2003 M2- Worlds Bronze Medal
2004 M2- Olympics Bronze Medal
2005 M2- Worlds Silver Medal
2006 M2- World 7th
2007 M2- Worlds 5th
2. Who taught you how to coach/where did you learn how to coach?
I joined a rowing club and I worked under the coach at the club for the first few years. I also completed coach’s courses from the German Federation. In addition I went to take part in the FISA Coaches Academy in 2001.
3. Who has influenced your coaching method the most and why?
Without a doubt on the technical side it is Harry Mahon. I have never met a person with such good understanding on how to move a boat. In other aspects of coaching I am influenced by the German approach. Hard work. Long hours.
4. What advice do you have for young or novice coaches?
Listen to people to pick up on information. Share knowledge, then the other will be more open. Listen to your rowers; they are a good source of information. They way they feel when doing your programme.
5. What do you think is the most important element to get right with regards to technique?
Connection, I think without that the rower will not feel anything. So the focus should be on finding the boat and connecting to it.
6. Describe 2 drills/exercises that you think are the most important
The catch exercise to feel the connection, it is approach to the catch and entry. Start from 3/4 slide, come forward and take the stroke and feel the hang on the handle. Watch the timing of seat and spoon to optimize the exercise.Legs only, and with this attention on the hanging, that means that the bodyweight has to be off the seat. Try to use the legs just for the first 1/4 and see if you can connect and hang. Then push longer and longer. Most importantly is the connection through the back. It must not give but the shoulders should be relaxed.
7. What session do you think is your most important in your training programs?
Since good performance comes from a variety of sessions not one is more important then the other. Having said that I do believe that PowerStrokes are a great session to do, it is important to look out for poor execution but it is a powerful session. Make sure that the resistance is not too great. You need some fluid movement of the boat. Don't do more than 40 strokes at the time. I have seen that the quality of execution is suffering if it goes over 40 strokes.Example: (6 x 30) x 3
8. What is the most important thing that you think South Africa coaches should work on with their athletes?
Endurance, in rowing it is important to have a big engine, even for lightweights, and the only way to get a big engine is to train a lot. Long hours on the water are required, if water is not available then the erg. Best would be to use the RowPerfect as it doesn't impact on knees and backs.
9. Which is the best crew that you have seen rowing?
The Australian pair is one of the best as they have a rhythmic and powerful stroke, they are concentrating on quality of each stroke. Don and Ramon on a good day are going in this direction. If you catch them on Roodeplaat have a look at the rhythm and the power that is put into each stroke.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Living Legend: Harry Parker
Living Legend: Harry parker Changed College Crew Forever
By Deborah Kory,
From Harvard University Gazette.
-
Much has been said and written about Men’s Heavyweight Crew Coach Harry Parker over the course of the near half-century he has been involved in crew. He is one of a select few living legends here at Harvard who can still be seen day in and day out just doing his job. Arguably the best-known name in the sport of rowing, and indisputably one of the most successful college coaches of all time, Parker is also the subject of a soon-to-be-released documentary by Michael Masland (’95) of the Harvard Film Study Center.
The coach is a strikingly fit and youthful sexagenarian, charismatic in a quiet way, who might have had a career as a film actor (he bears a slight resemblance to Robert Duvall) if he’d had the time. As it turned out, his life has been virtually devoted to the sport of rowing, and more importantly to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young oarsmen who have passed in and out of his life during a 38-year tenure as head coach.
Parker started rowing relatively late – as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania (class of ’57), where he studied philosophy. He got good fast. He was the U.S. single scull champion in 1959 and 1960, the Pan Am Games champion in 1959, and placed fifth in that event in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Though he contemplated a career in academia, Parker decided to stay involved with rowing. After the Olympics he came to Harvard to coach and in no time transformed Harvard Crew into a virtually unbeatable powerhouse. Among his triumphs are six national titles, 15 undefeated seasons, 17 Eastern Sprints Championships, and a 31 — 6 record against Yale. This in addition to the 55 or so Olympic athletes he’s coached both at Harvard and as a member of the Olympic coaching staff.
"I believe in everything that he’s done," says Senior Captain Neil Holzapfel. "He’s the best – a real man of integrity. I have no doubts about his proficiency as a coach. He’s so well respected, has been so successful for so long, and has completely revolutionized the sport.… His role is absolutely essential to Harvard’s success."
Recreational boating instructor Dan Boyne is author of The Red Rose Crew: a True Story of Women, Winning and the Water (due out in September), which chronicles the 1975 U.S. women’s rowing National Eight team. Boyne attributes much of Parker’s success to his innovative style: "Up until the late 50s, Germany and other Eastern Bloc countries were dominant in rowing. Parker looked at East German physiology texts and integrated some of their ideas into his coaching." He placed more of an emphasis on cross-training, new rigging equipment, and new elements in rowing technique – all of which had an immediate and positive affect on the athletes’ performance. "He is definitely a pioneer in the sport," says Boyne.
Holzapfel attributes the team’s strength to the "gritty, gutty perseverance and determination" that Parker, by example and encouragement, instills in the oarsmen. They are trained in the delicate art of "controlled aggression" – a tactic that requires as much mental as physical exertion, and which may be a key factor in Harvard’s legendary mastery over the close finish.
Though Parker flatly denies it, there is an impenetrable mystique, an air of intrigue about him. A reticent man with a nonetheless assured demeanor and commanding voice, he is somewhat of an enigma to those around him. "I like him, but I don’t know him that well," says Holzapfel. "We joke that he was immaculately conceived, that he’s been around forever."
These jokes may reflect the fact that Parker doesn’t seem to age. At sixty-four he is still as robust, if not more so, than many of his athletes. Every year he competes with the team in a triathlon that consists of 7,500 meters on the erg (a stationary rowing machine), a 4.7-mile run, and a dash up and down all 37 sections of the Harvard Stadium. He may not win, but he’s usually far from the back of the pack.
Perhaps Parker’s mystique is simply a reflection of his no-nonsense disposition. "I just do what I do," he says in reference to the larger-than-life attributes ascribed to him. "It has to start with just really liking and being deeply involved in the sport. If that’s true, everything falls into place," he says, intimating that he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. The way he says it makes you think that it might just be that simple. The oft-touted Nike maxim "Just Do It" would actually mean something coming from him.
The biggest mystery, however, is how he manages to instill such determination and confidence in his athletes. Masland, who filmed Parker in the launch for an entire season, states "The real key to his coaching is that they’re doing the work for themselves. He’s able to get people to do that, to convince people that it’s worthwhile to make the effort."
"If he says something, I believe it," says Holzapfel. He goes on to explain that though Parker’s approval is valuable to him, he has learned to believe in himself, in his training, in his teammates, and in winning. "You just know that every year Harvard will be successful."
"I don’t think too much about what I want to instill in them," says Parker with characteristic understatement. "They should enjoy rowing. It should be satisfying. My job is to establish the basic framework, but we rely on the individual’s own motivation."
In the end, the boathouse is a stage for learning about life – about determination, focus, perseverance, and good sportsmanship. "It’s still fun. I don’t know if there’s ever been a day when I didn’t look forward to going to the Boathouse," says Parker. After thirty-eight years, he still looks forward to going to work. Isn’t that what life’s all about?
.
By Deborah Kory,
From Harvard University Gazette.
-
Much has been said and written about Men’s Heavyweight Crew Coach Harry Parker over the course of the near half-century he has been involved in crew. He is one of a select few living legends here at Harvard who can still be seen day in and day out just doing his job. Arguably the best-known name in the sport of rowing, and indisputably one of the most successful college coaches of all time, Parker is also the subject of a soon-to-be-released documentary by Michael Masland (’95) of the Harvard Film Study Center.
The coach is a strikingly fit and youthful sexagenarian, charismatic in a quiet way, who might have had a career as a film actor (he bears a slight resemblance to Robert Duvall) if he’d had the time. As it turned out, his life has been virtually devoted to the sport of rowing, and more importantly to the hundreds, perhaps thousands, of young oarsmen who have passed in and out of his life during a 38-year tenure as head coach.
Parker started rowing relatively late – as an undergraduate at the University of Pennsylvania (class of ’57), where he studied philosophy. He got good fast. He was the U.S. single scull champion in 1959 and 1960, the Pan Am Games champion in 1959, and placed fifth in that event in the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome.
Though he contemplated a career in academia, Parker decided to stay involved with rowing. After the Olympics he came to Harvard to coach and in no time transformed Harvard Crew into a virtually unbeatable powerhouse. Among his triumphs are six national titles, 15 undefeated seasons, 17 Eastern Sprints Championships, and a 31 — 6 record against Yale. This in addition to the 55 or so Olympic athletes he’s coached both at Harvard and as a member of the Olympic coaching staff.
"I believe in everything that he’s done," says Senior Captain Neil Holzapfel. "He’s the best – a real man of integrity. I have no doubts about his proficiency as a coach. He’s so well respected, has been so successful for so long, and has completely revolutionized the sport.… His role is absolutely essential to Harvard’s success."
Recreational boating instructor Dan Boyne is author of The Red Rose Crew: a True Story of Women, Winning and the Water (due out in September), which chronicles the 1975 U.S. women’s rowing National Eight team. Boyne attributes much of Parker’s success to his innovative style: "Up until the late 50s, Germany and other Eastern Bloc countries were dominant in rowing. Parker looked at East German physiology texts and integrated some of their ideas into his coaching." He placed more of an emphasis on cross-training, new rigging equipment, and new elements in rowing technique – all of which had an immediate and positive affect on the athletes’ performance. "He is definitely a pioneer in the sport," says Boyne.
Holzapfel attributes the team’s strength to the "gritty, gutty perseverance and determination" that Parker, by example and encouragement, instills in the oarsmen. They are trained in the delicate art of "controlled aggression" – a tactic that requires as much mental as physical exertion, and which may be a key factor in Harvard’s legendary mastery over the close finish.
Though Parker flatly denies it, there is an impenetrable mystique, an air of intrigue about him. A reticent man with a nonetheless assured demeanor and commanding voice, he is somewhat of an enigma to those around him. "I like him, but I don’t know him that well," says Holzapfel. "We joke that he was immaculately conceived, that he’s been around forever."
These jokes may reflect the fact that Parker doesn’t seem to age. At sixty-four he is still as robust, if not more so, than many of his athletes. Every year he competes with the team in a triathlon that consists of 7,500 meters on the erg (a stationary rowing machine), a 4.7-mile run, and a dash up and down all 37 sections of the Harvard Stadium. He may not win, but he’s usually far from the back of the pack.
Perhaps Parker’s mystique is simply a reflection of his no-nonsense disposition. "I just do what I do," he says in reference to the larger-than-life attributes ascribed to him. "It has to start with just really liking and being deeply involved in the sport. If that’s true, everything falls into place," he says, intimating that he doesn’t understand what all the fuss is about. The way he says it makes you think that it might just be that simple. The oft-touted Nike maxim "Just Do It" would actually mean something coming from him.
The biggest mystery, however, is how he manages to instill such determination and confidence in his athletes. Masland, who filmed Parker in the launch for an entire season, states "The real key to his coaching is that they’re doing the work for themselves. He’s able to get people to do that, to convince people that it’s worthwhile to make the effort."
"If he says something, I believe it," says Holzapfel. He goes on to explain that though Parker’s approval is valuable to him, he has learned to believe in himself, in his training, in his teammates, and in winning. "You just know that every year Harvard will be successful."
"I don’t think too much about what I want to instill in them," says Parker with characteristic understatement. "They should enjoy rowing. It should be satisfying. My job is to establish the basic framework, but we rely on the individual’s own motivation."
In the end, the boathouse is a stage for learning about life – about determination, focus, perseverance, and good sportsmanship. "It’s still fun. I don’t know if there’s ever been a day when I didn’t look forward to going to the Boathouse," says Parker. After thirty-eight years, he still looks forward to going to work. Isn’t that what life’s all about?
.
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