Supertraining

Bill, I'm not a professional coach, but I have had some coaching
experience and I'm an acute observer of coaching styles. There were
times past when I craved a smart coach in various sports and they
weren't available. Peaking is fundamental to success -- obvious, but
still worth emphasizing.

One can look at two aspects: physical training modalities -- tapers
etc -- and psychological peaking. Its' why the sports psyches are so
important these days.

Just going back to the Wottle tape, several things show up:

1. He is relaxed and confident in his form. The guy is loose as a
goose. No one gets that far behind in an 800 race without knowing
they have the leg speed and condition to catch up (except maybe
Borzakovskiy!).
2. Even though the race was not fast by todays standards, 1.45+, he
was hardly run out at the end and looked to me like he was in 1.43
(world record) form at that time. In any case, tactical races often
don't produce fast times.

Being 'relaxed but alert' is so fundamental in many races and events.
Sprinters need to be a bit more twitchy, but adrenaline revs up
metabolism and dumps glucose into the bloodstream, which is good if
it happens close to an event, but if it's going on consistently over
time it can be draining. The idea of 'running the race' before you
start is too true.

How one gets athletes to peak in that 'alert yet relaxed' zone is one
key to getting the best out of them I think.

My last word on Wottle. There is this other tape that has no
commentary but is played out to the 'Rocky' theme. You may have seen
it. If you're a track and field junkie like me, it'll make your spine
tingle. I can think of no better inspirational video for US
athletes  - or any athlete for that matter.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7FnvQdtEIo

[BTW, Nat Cook (if it's the same one you mention) is going again this
Olympics. Tough competitor that one. Like you, I'm a big fan of
women's sport -- except maybe synchronized swimming <g>.]

Cheers,

Paul Rogers
Gympie, Australia

--- In [EMAIL PROTECTED], "W.G. 'Bill' Johnson"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> Paul,
> Peaking is an extremely interesting subject. Wottle's run has to be
> the, if not one of the, most extreme, Hollywood like results at the
> Olympic level. To come from last to first against the best in the
> world is almost beyond belief, except I saw it happen in real time
and
> I can see again whenever I doubt that it can be done. Wottle peaked
at
> just the right moment, but based on my experience, I can't explain
how
> or why? He was racing against the best in the world, why couldn't
they
> do what he did?
>
> At the Atlanta Games I had one athlete I worked with who should have
> done extremely well and medaled and didn't, one who was injured and
> for her to even finish was going to be a severe test of pain
tolerance
> and character, another who I expected to break the world record and
> one who I expected to medal but maybe not the Gold, his competition
> appeared very close.
>
> The first athlete, Gail Castro, was a stud and should have medaled
but
> her partner started choking as soon as she got off the plane and
never
> stopped. The other, Natalie Cook, had a severe piriformis strain,so
> she was rather questionable, plus she was having difficulty getting
> along with her partner. Robert Zmelik had equaled his Gold medal
> winning points total from the '92 Olympics in a meet in Italy run
> entirely in the rain two months prior so we felt very confident that
> he'd break the world record and get his second Gold in the
decathlon.
> Karch Kiraly, at the time still considered by many to be the best
> beach volleyball player in the world, went into the Olympic
tournament
> favored, but everyone was gunning for him and the competition was
> extremely good.
>
> Gail Castro's partner folded like a cheap umbrella for most of the
> Olympic tournament and Gail couldn't carry her. Castro finished 9th.
>
> Natalie Cook, through sheer strength of will, worked out her issues
> with her partner and her injury and won a Bronze.
>
> Robert Zmelik came down with a tooth infection the week of the Games
> and finished 7th.
>
> Karch Kiraly and his partner Kent Steffes, in the semi-final match,
> came from way behind to beat another American team, Smith and Henkel
> and pulled it out 17-15. In the finals they never trailed and won
the
> Gold.
>
> Starting two years out, getting Kiraly to peak at that particular
> point in time, considering all the possible pitfalls to reaching the
> goal, (see above), makes getting one's athlete to peak at the
correct
> point in time and space, border on a mystical experience.
>
> It is possible to fail in many ways...while to succeed is possible
> only in one way.
>  - Aristotle
>
> W.G. Johnson
> Ubermensch Sports Consultancy
> San Diego, CA.
>