Off the Clock
PHOTO BY ED MORAN
Coaches urge their athletes often to prioritize rest, whether focusing on recovery on a Sunday in season or on getting a real break from training for a week or two after the championship. We know this is a crucial part of not only performance but also longevity in the sport. Athletes cannot train at an ever-increasing volume or intensity; there must be time for adaptation. What’s often overlooked is that this is true for coaches, too. It’s in our nature to forge ahead all year long, always searching for that slight competitive edge, one more call with a recruit, one more note to a donor.
As Lizzy Houston, associate head coach of the Stanford lightweight women, puts it, “There is no office. I’ll make a lineup at 7 p.m. or check out the training plan I made for the next two weeks and see if I can make an adjustment.”
Wes Ng, head coach of women’s rowing at the University of Pennsylvania, sees parallels with training.
“There is certainly the analogy between the type of exercise you’re doing and the type of recovery you’re doing—stimulus and adaptation. Are we doing that on the coaching side? We’re probably skewed toward nothing but stimulus and very little recovery.”
Coaches, like their athletes, cannot work at an ever-increasing volume if the profession is going to be sustainable. To be good leaders and mentors, coaches need to walk the talk and seize the opportunity to rest themselves. Just as an overtrained, under-recovered athlete is ripe for injury or underperformance, coaches who don’t take time for themselves are going to lack the patience, clarity, and even motivation to bring their best to the job each day.
The realities of the competitive seasons mean that coaches are hard-pressed to take any meaningful time away from their responsibilities. That’s why it’s so imperative that we take advantage of the winter break. Our athletes have gone home for a week or a month. There’s likely nothing more that can be done to ensure they are training. Now we just have to wait. Rather than fret, something I was certainly prone to, now is the time to relish the space and quiet. Athletes are likely not texting or calling as regularly. Staff meetings are at a minimum. It’s one of the few times of year you can really turn off your work phone and email.
Another reason to take time off and be diligent about restricting your availability during this time is to teach your athletes how to treat you. If you answer every text immediately, even at night or on a day off, athletes will grow to expect that of you, understandably. Conversely, if you tell your athletes that you are available to them only within certain time frames (excluding emergencies, of course), you teach them to have realistic expectations and to solve problems on their own. If you say you’re taking time to focus on yourself, your family, and your friends over the holidays, you will undermine that message totally by being responsive immediately to every text and email.
This doesn’t mean you should abandon these team members about whom you care, no doubt, very deeply. Use your “Out of Office” email response. Set expectations with your team before parting ways for winter break. Give them the time and attention they deserve when you have the time and attention to devote to them. This is the best way to teach your team how you do, and do not, want to communicate during the regular season.
So take this rare time to do whatever makes you feel fresh and ready to take on the bulk of winter training and then the spring. Figure out what that is and don’t let anything get in the way of taking care of yourself.
Happy Holidays!
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