Coaching Juniors - I worked with a junior program for a couple years in Pocatello, Idaho back when I was a youngster, and this camp made me miss it a bit. There's so much energy in a group of junior skiers - they're pretty happy-go-lucky and ready to have fun with anything. I got to lead a general strength workout for one of our sessions, and it was really fun to see them fired up to try some new stuff. Juniors are also very "plastic," especially the J2s - they're in a great spot for learning new things and making technique changes, so sometimes you get these dramatic breakthroughs that are really satisfying for athlete and coach alike:
Strength Training Priorities: Matt Whitcomb was the USST representative at the camp - we had an interesting conversation about how general strength training fits into the big picture. Matt's take is that if you're only training 500 hours a year, you have to limit the amount of general strength training you do and focus on building a foundation of aerobic fitness. Keep your general strength workouts short and sweet and get back to the more important work of running, rollerskiing, double poling, etc. This was also reflected in the choice of tests for the REG camps - this year, an 800m double pole test has replaced the traditional Canadian Strength Test. This is not to say that general strength work isn't valuable - just that A) aerobic training takes greater precedence when you have limited training time, and B) specific strength (as expressed through double poling, etc) is more important than general strength. I was incredibly glad to hear Matt endorsing this philosophy - I've taken this approach with my team for years, and it's the place where I get the most pushback. If the USST starts promoting this concept, it'll take hold at the junior and college levels soon enough, and that will be a good thing.
Approach to Technique: We did a number of technique sessions with the athletes - on skis, on foot, and on film. I was reminded of how different coaches approach technique in different ways - I often found myself saying or thinking something that was totally different from what another coach had said, but was essentially just a different way of looking at the same concept. It was a good reminder that there are a lot of different ways to reach the same goal, and that different athletes may need different approaches to a given technique challenge.
Engaging and Motivating Athletes: I noticed that the athletes were locked in every time Matt addressed the group, and the level of focus was always higher in the sessions where he was present. On the last night, he gave a presentation about World Cup racing and the current USST athletes, and the kids were riveted. I was really impressed and a bit envious of Matt's ability to engage the athletes. Back when I was a novice coach and I didn't quite know what I was doing, I was pretty good at this - I didn't have a lot of experience, but I had a ton of fire. These days, I know a lot more, and it's easy to coach from the head and not so much from the heart. This camp was a good reminder that I need to do both.
