Smartercoachingllc Podcast

USA Hockey (USAH) is being very progressive in its approach to how it educates and develops its coaches. The leaders at USA Hockey (Ken Martel, Mark Tabor, et al.) have been through the US Center for Coaching Excellence (USCCE) Coach Developer Academy and now they are taking those concepts to its coach developers in the field so that more USA Hockey coaches are getting this sort of training.Previously on the podcast Kristen Wright and I talked about our experience going through the USCCE Coach Developer Academy. The USAH and USCCE have teamed up to start to teach the coach developers in the field how to implement a new way to facilitate coaching clinics. Bill went through the training recently and joins me to discuss his experience.We discuss:His sport and coaching background. He swam collegiately and has been through coaching education courses with US Lacrosse and USA Track and Field along with being a Level 5 USA Hockey coach (its highest level).His role in USA Hockey as a coach developer for Indiana, Ohio, western PA.What he tookaway from the training and even how he has used it during his day job! One of the things he has noticed in the clinics is a lot more engagement with the coaches.If you want to learn more about USA Hockey, visit its website.For information on the USCCE Coach Developer Academy, visit its website. Please note that the dates for the Academies have passed, but the information on the workshops is still valid.

We spend some time reminiscing about our own childhoods and how we played. We discuss how we can create this sort of environment for our kids.Mike’s book is Playborhood.Mike’s website.Mike Lanza on Twitter, @PlayborhoodDescribe your play as a child.Give a little bit of your background moving from PA to the Bay Area.When you were about to become a dad, you began to search for a way to let your kid (and now kids) have a similar experience. Describe that search. What were you looking for and what did you find?In your book, Playborhood, you mention that our culture is antagonistic toward play and how tv differs now from how play is portrayed.What do you see as the benefits of kids “running wild”? (Not literally, but more “free range”).What are the features you look (or looked) for in a neighborhood?How did you get other kids to venture out?

What keeps people from making change?Do extrinsic rewards work for making change?The transtheoretical model of changeWhat is the origin?Does it hold up well as a model? What are its pros and cons?The stages are as follows; let’s talk about the description of each stage and how you can determine where you are or where a client is. Also strategies to move from one stage to the nextPre-contemplationContemplationPreparationActionMaintenanceTermination (not always included)Types of reinforcement when it comes to working with athletes or clients. Pros and cons of each; challenges with each.I mention Dan Arielly, a behavioral economist. Here is a link to his TED talks. Sorry I could not find the exact one I referenced in the podcast.Here is the clip from “Big Bang Theory” showing how Sheldon used operant conditioning to shape Penny.

As folks may remember from the earlier podcast (episode 013) for the US Center for Coaching Excellence, you were a multi-sport kid through high school and went on to be a punter for Purdue and in the NFL. I also know that you have completed several triathlonsOk, let’s delve into the survey. I think many of us know that survey results can be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Let’s get into the methods. While methods are boring to a lot of folks, I think they are kind of important in providing context to the survey and understanding its limitations. For instance, who was surveyed? How were they found? How representative of the population are they?The big message is that the average kid who is involved in sports stops playing at age 11. Project Play has created a campaign around #Dontretirekid.How do the results of this survey compare to previous surveys? (I had seen previous ages of kids quitting to be 13).Another number from the survey was that the average spending per year was just under $700 per child PER Sport with a HUGE range ($0-35,000). The question I have there is was the median around $700? Also, when I first saw this reported I saw it as $700 per child per year and I thought “well that seems really reasonable” but if that is per sport then a multi-sport kid means $2100 on average.Do we have average spending from previous years? If so, where does this fall when adjusted for inflation ( if it is older info)?Any data or anecdotal evidence on what is causing the early dropout? If not, any thoughts based on the survey data?https://www.aspenprojectplay.org/national-youth-sport-survey-1 (Link to Project Play tables)Utah State University Families in Sport LabTo find Travis on Twitter, @BigSkyBoiler

Ron Quinn is an associate professor in at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH. Ron is the director of the masters in coaching education and athlete development at Xavier University. The following is an outline of our discussion.Ron’s background as a coachWhat led to your become involved in coach education?What got your interest in youth sports coaching?What is the state of training for youth sports coaches? For the sake of this discussion let’s define youth as under 14.I love your comment about what happens to kids at 3 o’clock. Please elaborate.If you were designing an ideal youth sports coaching curriculum what would it look like? We can break this down U6, U8, U10, U12, U14. What would be the things you would be teaching coaches who are going to be coaching those ages?How do we instill fun and play into practice? How do drills kill fun?We had a discussion on a phone call about tee ball. You do not seem to be a fan of tee ball. What is your objection to tee ball?Describe the Game in the Child concept

In this week’s episode, I talked with an old acquaintance, Doug Ingram. Doug has led a fascinating life; I could probably spend hours talking and recording with him on his days as a coach, at the USOC and mountaineering.During this episode we talk about some of his jobs at the USOC including being responsible for getting everyone and everything to the Olympic Games including how the equestrian folks get their horses to places like Sydney, Australia.We focus on his mountaineering exploits including his trip to Antarctica and, of course, Everest. The inspiration for the interview came from the now famous photo of the long line of people waiting to summit Everest. Please check out the photo from when Doug reached the summit and the photo from 2019. There is a stark contrast!Part of our discussion includes the process of acclimatizing on Everest; Doug shares his opinions on how the quest to climb Everest has changed. Hint: a lot might have to do with “Into Thin Air”.Please check out the smartercoaching website for photos of the Hillary Step in 2013 and compare to the photo of Hillary Step in 2019.

Jeff Richardson is a middle school teacher and baseball coach in tiny Houston, Missouri who has been able to implement the concepts of long-term athlete development in his community’s parks and rec department. He is also working to integrate LTAD into the schools.We discuss his background as a baseball coach and how his views on developing pitchers has evolved from looking at “mechanics” to “movement”.Jeff shares his discovery of LTAD and how it resonated with him.We discuss how he went about getting stakeholders in the community to buy into the LTAD concept.The interview serves as a primer for those who want to move past talking about LTAD and start “doing” LTAD.We also discuss small town life and go off on a few tangents.Jeff’s efforts were profiled in his local newspaper.You can follow Jeff on Twitter @J_Richardson12.

Amy Bender, PhD, joins me to discuss a topic that is near and dear to my heart: sleep.This is near and dear to me because I have struggled with sleep for as long as I can remember. To some extent, I think this is because my chronotype is that of the “owl”—I tend to be more of a night owl. However, the work world does not seem to appreciate we night owls!!!!!Thanks to Amy for being such an engaging guest!Her background as an athlete and scientist.How she got interested sleep?Why do we sleep?What is happening in the brain while we are sleeping?What is the thing that would surprise people about sleep?What happens if we go a long period without sleep?What are the consequences of not getting enough sleep? (Acute as well as chronic sleep deficiency)What role does sleep play in learning new skills or integrating new information? (I have read claims that learning a new skill and then sleeping helps embed that new skill).What is insomnia and the "forms" of it?What can we do to improve our quality of sleep?What to do if a person cannot fall asleep?What to do if a person wakes up in the middle of the night and cannot fall back to sleep?We discuss "biphasic sleep"?Amy mentioned the Sleep Junkies podcast: https://sleepjunkies.com/podcast/Twitter: @sleep4sportInstagram: sleep4sport

Due to some conference and workshop I need to skip a pod. Sorry!

Glenn Young is a former Vancouver, BC PE teacher and district coordinator who is an advocate for physical literacy although he is not a huge fan of the term “physical literacy” (PL).We discuss Glenn’s background and he became an evangelist including his being involved in the early discussions in Canada. We get into the history of the term “physical literacy” starting around 2000 with the obesity and inactivity crises in Canada.Glenn shares his definition and explains why getting hung up on a definition can be detrimental to implementing PL.Glenn reminds us that the kids in the PE class are the clients and a stakeholder.We discuss how physical activity, education and literacy differ and how he worked with non-PE teachers in schools to get kids physically active. He shares his thoughts on Teaching Games for Understanding.You can follow Glenn on Twitter @ glennyoung_PE and is email is glenn.young@gmail.com.Here is an article I reference in the show from LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/developing-physical-literacy-glenn-young/

Stephanie Miezin is a registered dietitian working for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). Her job there is to make sure the dining hall at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, CO is meeting the nutrition needs of the athletes who live and/or train there.We discuss the following:Her path from culinary school to registered dietitianThe difference between being a RD and a nutritionistWhat one can expect in working with a RDThe “Big Items” to take care of in your own nutritionNutrient timingProtein!Keto (could not help but talk about that, right?)Evaluating claims made by diet promoters or supplement companiesStephanie has a great “food first” philosophy and encourages folks to learn how to cook so it gives you more control over your nutrition, and it is just fun! (Note: I like to cook, but I am not sure I have as much fun as Stephanie does in cooking)!Stephanie can be found on Instagram at Cookeatcompete and she has a website, cookeatcompete.com.Links of noteAcademy of Nutrition and Dietetics (to help you find a RD)Cooking videos from the USOCRecipes from TeamUSA!

Alex Hutchinson, the author of Endure and Which Comes First, Cardio or Weights?, joins me on the podcast today. Alex also blogs at Sweatscience hosted by Outside online.Alex and I discuss:How he got started in writing about endurance sports and sport scienceThe premise of EndureThe role the brain and mind play in endurance performance including a discussion of Noakes’ Central Governor Theory and criticisms of it—particularly from Samuele Marcora.Twitter: the good and the bad in terms of sport science discussions and how they can devolve into personal attacksSome of the brain fatigue training Alex underwent during his marathon trainingHis first book, Which Comes First, and what he has learned sinceYou can follow Alex on Twitter (and I recommend it) @sweatscience.Links of noteEndureWhich Comes First, Cardio or Weights?Sweatscience BlogJockology (Toronto Globe and Mail, subscription required)

I say this all too often…this was such a fun interview with Christie Ashwanden, the author Good to Go: What the Athlete in all of us can learn from the strange science of recovery.We discuss her background as an athlete from wannabe volleyball player to runner to cyclist to cross country skier along with her academic background.Our discussion of recovery includes:· float tanks (the old sensory deprivation tanks—and a discussion of the movie, Altered States),· ice baths· massage· the placebo or expectation effect· beer (okay this is a tease, but we do mention it)Finally, we end with Christie’s recommendation on the top recovery modality! Hint: it is free (although I guess you can pay a lot if you want to).You can follow Christie on Twitter at @cragcrest and her website is https://christieaschwanden.com/.She is a contributor at https://fivethirtyeight.com/contributors/christie-aschwanden/ writing about hydration, replication crisis and the sport science methodology issues.

Hunter Allen, the CEO of Peaks Coaching Group and the author of Training and Racing with Powermeter 3rd edition, joins me to discuss his coaching and the early days of using power as a cycling coach.Hunter shares how he got started in cycling as a BMX racer, then mountain biker and finally as a road racer in Spain. We discuss his transition into coaching.We talk about the 2002 power based seminar in Philadelphia, PA and how he and Kevin Williams came up with the first software that could truly analyze power files from different devices.We discuss how using power changed his approach to coaching, but that he also made sure that he remembered that a person is on the other side of that file and how one has to take into account life and its demands when coaching and training.LinksPeaks Coaching GroupTraining and Racing with a Powermeter (co-authored with Andy Coggan and Steve McGregor)

I connect with my old friend Andy Coggan, PhD to discuss using powermeters to train cyclists.We start out with a discussion of the history of measuring intensity using heart rate, rating of perceived exertion (RPE), oxygen consumption and move into power.We discuss Andy’s early days as a bike racer and how he discovered exercise science. That combination led him to using powermeters early on and being at the forefront of looking at how to measure training using a powermeter.We discuss the early discussions on the Usenet (look it up) forum rec.bicycles.racing where I first learned about Andy when I was a graduate student. Reading his posts there and later on the Topica Wattage forum led me to invite him to speak at the first USA Cycling Power Based Training seminar in Philadelphia, PA in June 2002 (we could not remember if it was 2001 or 2002 during the interview).Andy was later instrumental in designing the USA Cycling Power Based Training Clinic as well as developing the first sport physiology curriculum for the USA Cycling Level 2 clinics.We discuss some of the limitations of using power and the benefits as well.For information on ordering Training and Racing with a Powermeter, 3rd edition and for a little history of power-based training visit Training and Racing with a Powermeter.

The podcast will be coming back with new episodes starting very soon.

On today's podcast, I talk with Dr. Jean Cote from Queens University in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.  We discuss how smaller cities are producing more professionals than large cities.  He offers his thoughts on why that might be occurring. We also discuss early specialization and sampling of sports.  Dr. Cote focuses on kids being able to make the decisions for themselves.  But then how does a kid decide to specialize if the kid has not experience alternatives? Dr. Cote shares his model of sport participation and transformational coaching. Dr. Cote website at Queens University includes access to a lot of his papers.  Dr. Cote has also worked with the NBA and USA Basketball on youth sports guidelines. Here is a link to more reading on Cote's Development Model for Sports Participation.  Dr. Cote email is jc46@queensu.ca His twitter handle is jeancote46.

IntroDr. Norman BioDr. Norman's Blog (As a note, I love some British terms like "specialisms").Dr. Norman's twitter is Drleannejnorman

Apologies to Stevie Wonder for the title... Also, at times I sound like I am in a well.  I apologize for that. I promise at no time was I held against my will, and at no time did I need to capture a dog in an attempt to get out of the well. I came across Dr. Erdal on the You Are Not So Smart podcast where she discussed her research on sleep and a placebo effect with one of her then students (the podcast was recorded about two years ago).  At the end of the podcast she mentioned that she was in the process of writing a book on youth sports.  Naturally that piqued my interest so I went searching the internet only to find that she is a professor of psychology at Colorado College in Colorado Springs where I live. Her bio says that she has also done research on sports superstitions and concussions.  We decided to discuss superstitions and youth sports on this podcast.  Perhaps on down the road we can get into concussions. On the podcast, we discuss how superstitions form and how early work from Dr. B.F. Skinner with pigeons gave great insight into the illusory connections animals and (sadly) humans make between actions.  So, in essence, we and the athletes we coach might not be much smarter than a pigeon.  We discuss some research that she and another student did on superstitions and how it gave them insight into learned helplessness.  We finish up discussing aspects of youth sports that went into her book. Links Bio Link to You Are Not So Smart podcast on the Placebo Effect

In this episode I bring back Dr. Kym Fasczewski from Appalachian State University to help explain what you will find in a scientific journal article.  What do terms like "double-blind" mean and whay makes it important?  What is a p-value?  Basically we want to give you a primer on reading peer-reviewed researched.  While we talk about statistics, we are not going to make you calculate any.  We also talk about how to spot fake scientific journals; these are journals where there is little to no review.  In fact we discuss how someone pulled the wool over the media's eyes using such a journal. Here are some links that either we referenced or I thought might be helpful. Research Gate is a website that allows scientists to post scientific papers.  Access is free. PubMed is a site run by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that allows you to search for journal articles based on search terms.  However, you are likely only going to get access to abstracts of papers on this site. Scholar.google.com is similar to PubMed in that you can search for papers, but it does a poorer job of separating out legitimate sources from less legitimate sources.  However, if you find a paper in PubMed and entire the entire title of the paper in Scholar.Google.Com you might be able to find the entire paper for free. Statistical Thinking has an in-depth article on issues with p values.   MethodsMan has some good articles as well.  This specific one is about the issue of replication in the medical field. How to read a scientific paper by Adam Ruben of ScienceMag.org My take on how to read a scientific paper published in Performance Conditioning. Last, here is a link to Dr. Fasczewski's bio at the Appalachian State University website (Go Mountaineers!, your host earned a master's degree from Appalachian State).

Dr. Larry Lauer of the US Tennis Association (USTA) discusses how USTA has changed its approach to developing tennis players. Those who follow tennis know that while the Williams sisters have been a dominant force in tennis, the remainder of American tennis players especially on the men's side has not been so great. USTA made a decision a while back to change its culture, and Dr. Lauer has been working as a mental skills coach and in player development to adapt to a new paradigm. We also discuss early specialization and the dangers inherent in it.

Hey, thanks for finding the podcast. I would really appreciate you showing me the podcast some love by supporting the podcast in two ways. First, go to iTunes and subscribe and rate the podcast. Second, how about a donation to my GoFundMe page to help support the podcast? This episode features Stephen Seiler, PhD a well-known sports scientist. Dr. Seiler is an American who lives in Norway where he has worked with various Olympic teams and studied sports performance. Dr. Seiler might be best known for his ideas about polarized training; an idea that bucks the conventional wisdom of endurance training. He did not just pull this out of thin air; he was working with high level athletes and coaches and looking at their training. He looked at the training of rowers, cross country skiers, and runners and found that they were training at the ends of the continuum of intensity. A lot (80% or so) of the training was well below the lactate threshold (think the intensity one can sustain for an hour) while a smaller portion (~20%) was spent at a very high percentage of VO2max. The athletes and coaches were avoiding the "black hole" that is that intensity around lactate threshold. Dr. Seiler expounds on this area. That reference to a "black hole" led me to suggest a General Relativity of training, but I went with "Theory of Everything" because I liked the movie of that title about Stephen Hawking. We also discuss his Hierarchy of Endurance Training inspired by Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The pyramid starts with a foundation of training concepts that were well-researched and widely accepted and then moves up the pyramid to things that become more important once we have the lower layers taken care of. I think that people are looking for shortcuts or to do exotic things whereas the biggest bang for the buck comes from more mundane well-established methods. This is the Hype Curve Dr. Seiler mentions in the podcast. Here are some links that relate to the podcast. Who is Dr. Seiler? Bio Publications and Research Hierarchy of Endurance Training Needs Twitter: @StephenSeiler

Dr. Wade Gilbert shares his thoughts on best coaching practices and developing culture. Dr. Gilbert talks about lessons he has learned from research and from legendary coach John Wooden.

Joe and I discuss his books with a focus on why we slow as we age (hint: do not reduce the intensity of training). We discuss that our VO2max drops as we age along with lean mass and that we gain fat mass. Joe discusses his ideas on periodization as well.

Coach Kevin Sullivan, Canadian Olympian discusses being a college coach. He talks about what he looks for in an athlete being recruited. Guess what? It is about more than just running fast. We also discuss his training philosophy and influences. He mentions Coe and Martin along with Jack Daniels.

We discuss his training philosophy and how it has evolved with an explanation of his concept of critical velocity (roughly 90% of VO2max or a pace sustainable for about 30-35 minutes). Tom believes in year round participation. If the kid is not playing another sport then the coach should be integrating aspect of multi-lateral conditioning and multi-dimensional training into the program. Tom shares his ideas freely which is greatly appreciated.

Today's podcast features John O'Sullivan, the founder of Changing the Game Project. As with many other guests on the podcast, John believes that we in the US have strayed away from doing what is best for the kids when it comes to developing athletes and also developing active kids. Changing the Game Project wants to return youth sports to the kids and restore a sense of play to make sports more like it was when we (well those of us who are older) were kids: A healthy, positive experience. The Changing the Game Project website offers lots of resources for parents and coaches who want to join the movement to restore youth sports to a healthier environment. You can follow John on Twitter (@CTGProjectHQ) or reach him via email at john@changingthegameproject.com

Just a quick announcement that the next podcast will drop on January 8, 2017.In the mean time, please help me out. First, you can go to iTunes and Stitcher and subscribe to the podcast and leave a rating and review. Second you can visit my GoFundMe page to help me defer some of the costs associated with the podcast.Thanks

Steve Boyle of 241 Sports is not only a believer in multi-sport development, he has created a way for kids to sample many sports through 2-4-1 Sports. What led Steve to this decision? Well, he and his wife had both played many sports growing up, but the push might have come from a conversation with the potential soccer coach for his nine year old daughter. The coach was dismayed that she could not commit to playing only soccer AT AGE NINE! Steve and I go into more details about what 2-4-1 Sports does and the philosophy behind it. We discuss a program I love, the 241 Mile Challenge. If you want to reach Steve, the 241 Sports Website is a great place to start. You can follow him on Twitter (@241Sports).

Ken Martel from USA Hockey joins me to discuss how hockey altered its culture to a more kid friendly perspective. USA Hockey, in order to develop better hockey players but also better athletes, has changed the way it approaches youth hockey. There are lessons for anyone working in any youth sport.

In this episode Scott Caulfield of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) discusses the mission of the organization, what to look for in hiring or working with a strength and conditioning coach. Scott has a wide ranging background working with a variety of team sports. Scott has worked with teams at the club, collegiate and professional levels. You will also learn that Vermont had a professional basketball team!

Kym Fasczewski, PhD joins the podcast to discuss outcome goals, performance goals and process goals. Outcome goals are usually of a competitive nature; performance goals are usually standard based or based on previous performances like improving a skill; process goals are the day-to-day things one does to reach performance or outcome goals. Learn about what SMARTER means in terms of goal setting.

Stacey Richardson of TRI-Stacey Coaching shares her thoughts on several presentations she attended at the USA Triathlon Art and Science Symposium in 2016. We discuss nutrition inspired by a talk by Allen Lim, PhD. The talk got Stacey re-thinking how she approaches competition nutrition with her athletes. We discuss the talk on strength training by Carwyn Sharp, PhD. Jesse Kropelnicki and Dave Schell discussed data acquisition but also not to forget the person who produced the data. The last presentation we discuss is about keeping swim training fun from triathlon great Barb Lindquist. We wrap up talking coaching triathletes and dinner guests.

A wide ranging discussion on youth sports and how we as adults often impose our paradigms and values on kids and sports. We discuss some of the issues surrounding early specialization and developing a well-rounded athlete. Part of the discussion ventures into how sports can also turn kids against sports later in life.

John Kessel of USA Volleyball discusses how to be a better coach by letting kids make mistakes and not punishing them for the mistakes. Mistakes are an important part of learning and independence. We also discuss how training ugly and making mistakes in practice is a great idea. John mentions that coaches often control practice so much that athletes really are good at practice but that translating what is learned in practice to competition is sometimes not very good. We discuss how to keep kids in sports and how some kids develop late. Rather than "cutting" kids, find another avenue for them to practice. We also discuss how small-sided games can be used to improve skills. We go off on tangents about motor learning, John Wooden and guitar playing YouTube stars.

Barney discusses Brandon, but we also discuss coaching junior cyclists and the differences in racing in Europe and the US.

Sam your podcast host introduces the podcast and himself. The first episode deals with his views on youth sport coaching in the US.If you want to support the podcast, you can donate through my GoFundMe account.