Step 2 of Your Personal Speed System: Rock-star Athlete
January 13, 2010 by
Filed under Speed, Think Different
I’d like to share a letter I received a few years ago:
Hey Coach—
The team wanted to let you know it’s been a real interesting year. We had ups and downs and they all were interesting. We learned a bunch.
One thing that stuck out was what you said at the beginning—people make boats go, athletes make boats go fast, rock-star athletes can make boats fly . . . Or something like that.
That rocked.
We look forward to next year. Thanks, have a great summer.
Team of ‘88
That letter was from a college men’s team I was coaching (many seasons ago). They were not the fastest team around however they had gotten much faster than they had ever been. A lot of development happened that year.
The specific quote they referred to was something that I read on the wall of a bathroom at a race course (expecting maybe Buddha from his racing days?), and it seems to summarizes exactly Step 2 of your PSS (personal speed system)—the importance of an athlete and their athletic ability.
It doesn’t matter if you’re coaching a team looking to dominate the river or you just want to row faster than the fish that swim in your river—the person in the boat is the second most important thing in your hunt for speed (second, that is, only to the fierce mindset that athlete has).
And if you really want speed a rock-star athlete is what you are after.
The Rock-star Athlete
Eric Clapton is an amazing musician. A great talent that has also dedicated years of his life to perfecting his skill to becoming an authentic performer.
It’s been very important throughout my career that I’ve met all the guys
I’ve copied, because at each stage they’ve said, ”Don’t play like me, play like you.’
In essence that is what I mean by a rock-star athlete. Someone who has the ability, who will dedicate themselves to improving that skill, all the while becoming the person that is really them. That is where speed comes from.
The Indy 500
It is not too great of a stretch to compare a rowing race to the Indy 500. The top placers at Indy usually are the teams with the best drivers with the best motors. They might not win every single time (for instance, taken out by a crash) but usually you will find them in the winners circle more often than drivers who aren’t as skilled or cars with less powerful engines.
And that is how it is in rowing.
So What Does This Mean?
It means that if you’re after speed then you need rocking athletes. It means if you want to go fast a good investment of your time is finding the athletes who have a fierce mindset (or are open to building that mindset) and have the athletic ability to go fast. It means the person on the end of the oar (or the end of the mic) is really dang important if you are chasing speed.
And as a coach it means that recruiting the athletes and retaining those athletes needs to be near the top of your *to do* list.
What Should I Do?
This all makes sense, right? Yeah, well it sure took me a long time to really grasp the importance of this, and I see the same happening to many coaches today. To help, let’s distill this step right down to a few actions:
If you’re coaching a team I might suggest:
- Find the rock-star athlete(s) that can help you attain your vision
- Recruit the athlete(s) to your team
- Keep the athlete on your team
- And then do step #3 (coming out in three days)
If you are the athlete (for instance, a single sculler) then I might suggest that you come back to your mindset (from Step #1) and make sure that your athletic ability is in alignment with your vision.
So what might you be looking for in an athlete? Well, if you are looking to make the next World Championship awards dock then you might want to look for these physical traits (might but you don’t have to):
And in terms of mental traits . . . look for rock-star athletes. Those who are (or, again, can be) intense, strong, untamed, and authentic.
Up Next
Coming up next is Step #3 in your PSS. See you in a few days.
And if you have a moment, leave a comment. It would be great to hear from you.
Really? A song glorifying cocaine use is your example for athletic excellence”? Really???
@ Muffy: Ah, yes—the topic of the song. This example was more from a context POV than from a content POV.
Make up a boat full of skilled and passionate oarsmen/oarswomen with the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Led Zeppelin and you could have one ‘world-class rocking’ eight! I’d pay to coach them. If they’re not fast, the music’s good. I get the POV.
@ Rick: Don’t you think Jim Morrison would have made a great coxswain!
The most powerful thing in the world is an idea. Eric Clapton had to start somewhere.