Ski training and coaching is complex. There are so many different “elements” of coaching or being an athlete, and it often feels like you can start falling down a rabbit hole pretty quickly. As an athlete, you can feel overwhelmed with the amount of information you’re receiving and how to process it all. As a coach, it can feel like there’s an overwhelming amount of information to share and teach and many different arenas/methods to share.
I’ve started to think of it like holding a deck of cards, and choosing the time and place to play each card.
There’s the sports science and training theory card, like this article from Team Aker-Daehlie that has gone as “viral” as you can get in the Nordic ski world. Trying to explain these concepts before practice would be a huge mistake, as often skiers are arriving and focusing more on what they need to do that day. Likewise, after training (especially on weekdays) it is getting late and everyone needs to get home for schoolwork, dinner, etc.
But for the past few years I have increasingly sent follow-up emails after many training sessions. Many coaches and leaders are adamant about the benefits of a “debrief” after practice, but that’s really hard for our group to do in-person…at the Range we depart at different times depending on how much we’re trying to ski. Biathletes depart before practice even ends. And often I am talking to individual skiers since some of the team I only see once or twice a week.
The email at least serves as a way to bring everyone back to reflection on the session, and also conveniently link video from the ski. In this case, I linked the article above after several sessions last week too. Maybe some clicked-through and read-on, and maybe others didn’t. But I was able to think about what I wanted to say/type about the article, and provide better context than I ever could on a training day.
Not long after getting engaged with some reading on intensity monitoring, we were all-in for remembering watches and monitors at intervals
Then there’s the expectation and layout card, like on Sunday when a good number of skiers were late to arrive and much time was spent in the Cochran’s parking lot without starting our workout. I was driving the van as a shuttle/support vehicle for most of practice, and had lots of time to think about how I wanted to go over the late-to-practice thing.
In this case, I knew everyone would need to ride in the van back to the starting point, so we would have a dedicated gathering. But I waited until we were in the parking lot so that I could turn around and actually try to be a part of the discussion…a better topic shared honestly and in person, rather than an email.
What about the technique card? That changes often. Is there a quiet moment where one skier can be pulled aside
for video review at practice? Maybe, but that can often lead to a queue lined-up for more turns on the camera and all of a sudden the rhythm of practice, as finicky as it is to achieve, is already out of balance.
Sometimes we can structure it so that everyone makes a pass for the camera, and either review it together or separately.
Most often, I will take all video at practice and try to stay in the moment with my own actions and verbiage, and then include all of the video in a follow-up debrief email with a “reference clip” of pro skiers. Recently we’ve tried to incorporate more video right before skiing, via a TV in the Walker Building and a few minutes of focused viewing. But in any case, this card can be tricky to utilize correctly!
There are cards for teambuilding, cards for logistics, and cards for tough moments and excited moments alike. Whether or not I play the right card at the right time is always something I’m reflecting on…by playing the wrong cards at the worst times, I’ve learned some of my biggest lessons as a coach!
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