Important Questions in coaching

I think too much is made of success and failure measured in finite results - "we won", "I lost", "We were second [third, fifth, fifteenth,...]", "we got beat", "you kicked their...".

As a coach, I'm obviously thrilled when athletes I work for do well.  I'm also pleased when they have a positive learning experience, be it having someone do better than they did, or because they stopped to help a competitor who flipped their boat, and then sacrificed their race to stay with them to the finish.  Those are great moments.

Other great moments are the minor victories and losses.  I have a set of questions for athletes after every race.  Not every athlete gets every question every time.  Asking "where could you have saved 5 seconds" is pretty meaningless when the athlete wins by a full minute - or when they crashed off the course, fell down a tree-well, and had to take their skis off in order to get back on the trail, losing 2 minutes.

But in general, the questions ring true in any kind of race against the clock.
Questions:
Where could you have saved 5 seconds/kilometer? (5 km cross country ski race)

• Every athlete needs to develop a 'replay' loop in their head.  Thinking about the handful of spots where you got complacent, or didn't read the hill well and bogged down, picked the wrong pace or the wrong line.  None are catastrophic, but in races where the difference between 3rd and 13th is often less than 10 seconds, finding 10 seconds can be huge.  Learning how to process your race, take away a few thoughts, and put those lessons into practice are a huge part of becoming a complete athlete (not to mention lessons for the rest of your life).  It's a subtle but important change to move from "You were 11 seconds out of 6th place" to "I bogged down on both of the hills today and lost about 5 seconds on each one. I also eased up coming in to the finish and didn't pass that girl. I need to work on my endurance when climbing."  That's a maturing athlete.  Knowing that you bogged down (which the coach standing on another part of the course can't see) and telling your coach what you need help on allows your coach to adjust your workout to add more climbing power work - or closing speed in a sprint.  Not knowing that would perhaps spend too much time doing technique work on the flats.  Athletes need to be the main part of their coaching team.

Did you leave it all out on the course?  (especially important after a bad race)

• Sometimes, no matter how hard you go, the results go against you.  Yesterday, I watched Marit Bjoergen, the most dominant cross-country skier in the world right now, finish 31st at the World Championships.  (Jessie Diggins was 2nd, and Caitlin Gregg was 3rd!!!)  Conditions changed, and Marit's wax techs didn't hit the right combination.  By midway through the race, it was pretty obvious she was not going to be on the podium, but there was no quit, no 'saving it for another day'.  She still went for it with everything she had.  While I was in awe of Charolette Kalla, and near tears for Jess and Caitlin, I really felt for Bjoergen.  She left it all on the snow. Every race, every time.  No athlete wants to face the questions from their coach, their parents, their fans - or themselves - about "Did I try as hard as I could?" Everyone has bad days, bad races, mediocre outings.  But there is a big difference between "having a bad day" and not trying.  If you did all you could given conditions, health, overwhelming competition, mechanical breakdowns, hold your head up, see question number one, and figure out how to do better next outing.  

What do you need to do to get ready for next time?

• Again, see question number one.  If you are assimilating what you learned about your race, then you can sit down with your coaching team and plan out the improvements.  Finding that one or two points to work on in a given week may make the difference next time out.  It's not often an instant fix. Usually, it's absorbing behaviors, lessons, and working to make it perfect.  

And then again, if it was a great race...

• I live for the moments where I get to stand with an athlete just after they have crossed the line and processed that they had a great race, preferably while they are still hot, sweating and riding an endorphin high.  It's less a question than a concept at that moment. "I want you to take a deep breath, close your eyes and focus on how you feel right now.  Fix it in your mind.  You just had the best race you've ever had.  Fix it.  Remember it.  You own this. Enjoy it. Great race."  

It's *all* about the athletes.