Resilience - how high have you set the bar?

“For coaches of both Rugby codes. If you want an illustration of the physical and mental qualities that your training program should be aimed at, check out these traits from the Gatti v Ward, fight from 2002. Time to raise the bar? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdlYFuQ7Gkk

These are the standards that I fail to see nowadays. It will take a steady, progressive program over a couple of off-seasons to get close to these standards. Stop thinking that you have eradicated weaknesses just because they turn up and you pay them a lot of money. Set appropriate standards in attitude, commitment, and discipline before, during and after training. Give them a permanent backbone for when things get impossibly difficult.

?

I remember some of the Raiders in 1989 and some of the Broncos in 1990 to 1993 getting close, sometimes, to this level. Many of the Olympic athletes I coached also adapted to this pretty scary level at times. I seldom see it today in the many Clubs I visit.”

?

This is an extension of a quick post (see above) I did on another platform a while ago. The response from the original short post was enough for me to want and need to add a little more context. The last thing that I intended was to stimulate all those coaches who already have the propensity to make their athletes tired in their quest for ‘mental toughness’ to go out to the next session and do stupid things.

?

The topic here is ‘resilience’. For the developing athlete/student it is a matter of them adapting to the learning environment with a consistent display of perseverance when things go wrong, or they struggle to conduct a task effectively. It is also them displaying the disciplines of punctuality, listening, sharing and support for their team-mates – the trait of not putting themselves first. The onus is on the teacher/coach/parent to manipulate and optimise the task and subsequent feedback in a way that consistently supports the slower adapter/learner/maturer – in other words, sound pedagogy. ?

?

Coaches, teachers and parents are the leaders in this respect and should ensure that there are appropriate “reps and sets” of these mental/behavioural elements alongside those naturally seen in the physical, technical and tactical pillars of the journey. Getting them to adapt to being comfortable with being intermittently uncomfortable is the starting point to this journey.

?

For the senior, mature athlete it is often the ability to continue delivering quality performance under the most stressful of conditions. It is the ability to override those voices that appear on your shoulder when things are extraordinarily uncomfortable physically and emotionally. It is the ability for this resilience to give you ‘the will to do what the opposition won’t do’ when in a contest. The ability for you to persevere when all around you seems hopeless. All this can be achieved by appropriately balancing and progressing the exposure to this ‘discomfort’. In my time at the Brisbane Broncos from 1989 to 1995 I remember it took two complete off-seasons of steady progression to alter the physical and emotional/behavioural adaptation. While the physical component was relatively easy to progress in terms of their ability to sustain prolonged periods ABOVE known game intensity in running and contact by the judicial use of cycles of work and rest, the emotional and behavioural components were required to be practiced all day, every day. I do know that by 1992 and 1993 they were equipped to take the opposition to a place where they just didn’t want to go. I will never forget the focus that we all had to have, every day to maintain the behavioural changes required.

This exposure to 'resilience' did not stop during the competitive season. Within 48 hours of a game we were back at the coalface with a double session training day (Strength + Conditioning + Tech/Tactical). 48 hours after this we exposed them again but at 50% volume of the first training unit after the game. About 72 hours later the next game was conducted. Interspersed where varying units of recovery and individual skills. As these weeks unfolded the cumulative effect became visible and so the load was backed of enough to regain some progress. This rhythm of load exposure is severely criticised nowadays but my view on how it worked is simple - they adapted. I am not sure of the squad rotation during those years but we had very few injuries and certainly no self-inflicted overtraining ones. They adapted because they had no choice. There were no 'get-out-of-jail' cards on offer. The standards were driven deep into the actual activities where discipline of action was held at the highest standards. Fail to reach a line? Fail to complete the assignment in time? Fail to drag a team-mate through the discomfort? Fail to give absolutely everything each second? There came a time when they refused as a group to be beaten in the training environment. They finally learned what 'sacrifice' meant before, during and after training.

?

I have seen this resilience grow to outstanding levels with some and also seen the lack of it pervade organisations until they have to deal with a cultural problem. Not so long ago I was carrying out a review of performance at a famous professional Club here in Australia. Could I see any connection between their preparation behaviours and the diabolical results they were experiencing on the field? It was certainly not hidden from view. The ‘celebrity’ status surrounding the team had infiltrated the behaviours of some performance staff and some of the administration. Some of the performance staff simply behaved like fans of the team and presented an environment of being mates with them.

?

Learning and consequences disappeared into a morass of self-serving, quick-fixing performance destruction. Complaints from quite a few of the players that they were “training too hard” was met with appeasement. Those performance staff who had a conscience and were frustrated by all this were quickly dealt with by those administrators who had succumbed to the collapse.

?

I watched day after day as these inept staff members consolidated the problems by ignoring performance errors happening in front of them, providing little or no feedback and cruising through the sessions. The ‘we are training too hard’ clique got their way. Their influence was seen even further as more and more “I want” things took place. The administration’s answer was to keep giving the players more trinkets in terms of facilities, services and rewards. It was a downward spiral that was pitifully evident, and its tendrils burrowed deep into the administration.

?

Even today, three or four years later, I can still sometimes see the shadow of that behaviour still appearing in the organisation and in the contest arena.

?

I was never fearful of challenging players to visit the ‘unknown’ sufficient times for them to adapt. The equation is always the fitness v freshness question and must always be handled accurately and sensibly. However, I am convinced that there has been a shift away from the heights required as habits get formed and shared from the community and a generation of coaches used to a much lower bar make their decisions.

?

Footnote: 1984 Adelaide athletics track, Invitational 800m. Paul Gilbert v’s Khalifa and Walker, two world ranked athletes. They entered the final 150m neck and neck. Gilby had no right to be in the middle of these two superstars BUT he had been exposed to ‘resilience’ and the battle commenced. No matter what they tried they simply couldn’t shake him off. No doubt he heard the voices, no doubt he felt the pain BUT no doubt that he won in a photo finish where the photo took 10minutes to decipher by the Judge. “Gilby” – always appreciated, never forgotten. Thanks mate.