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[From The Doc]

From The Doc

during the completion of our camp in cozumel , i was going theru the pluses and minuses of the time in the sun with our new coach in mexico for that camp and my new assistant robbie haywood .
rob will be co ordinating with me over the next 2 yrs in setting up our hell week camp for age groupers but also assisting me on deck and coordinating our team tbb cozumel star .
 in the middle of our discussions , he was taken by how it all seemed so much like day ja vou   to something i had written in 2009 ,about a boot camp in philliopines .
 i had no idea what i had written but robbie assured me that the  information passed out there would be just as pertinent as our little talk , we were having on our current boot camp in cozumel .
so
i said lets recap  because the epilogue of that time , looking back had  great success .
so here is the untouched 2009 version .

The answer is coming to camp in the first place .
not the facilities which is another , seemingly  important question for some of you , that will be addressed in another memo.
Is it the famed mystic training ?  No, most went home saying ,they did less than they did under themselves or other coaches .
The reason is ,that athletes are told so many things ,by the experts and tri magazines that may be fine in theory , but dont work for the individual .
Coming to rookie camp , allowed me to say , this is what your trying to do? yes , well kid stick around for 4 weeks and see if you can build a bit of belief in me , and if so , then we will talk , about why  this is so counter productive for you .
Its false information for you , now anybody that on me saying if you spend the money you can come for a month with me and try out for our development scholarship, that does take the leap  and comes , really dont need 4 weeks to get to trust me , they want to know what i would do different  strait away .
 
This allowed them ,to take on board some changes ,train em for 3 weeks then head home , and then as you can see in their own words , instantly , ,they are kicking arse ,much to their own amazement .
 
This is where its so important , i cant guarrantee all of you overnite success , but with in triathlon ,,there are many athletes that can improve overnite ,as they are  practicing things that are really handicapping them .
Lets take the 3 that have posted, so far
duracell,
now , she dived in and was swimming ok technically fine but no power what so ever , we changed nothing in the stroke ,
but everything in the gear department and her training regime to aim at her lack of specific strength .
the bike ,her weakest link , she told me , looked fine ,hardly changed her position , i thought she can ride , but she was spinning herself into a frenzy of slow , just like donald duck , when he takes off on his run.
we  introduced  working her legs into the bike , nothing more , just said stop that and do this , you have the style to ride this way , put up with a little pain and if you want to be a player forget what you have been doing , its killing you .
NOW READ HER POSTS .
transformation , she is winning short course races , and surpising her self  in many ways .
james ,
walked in to camp , a coach himself , but a strapping piece of raw power , if ever i saw it .
he dived in , and in the water we had  perfection , head position , bent elbows  break of wrists on exit  6 beat ,kick
the obligortary bi lateral breathing , it looked like a work of art , and i could tell ,james and i were going to get on fine ,right there ,cause here is an attention to detail type of guy , i just needed to give him the right details to attend to .
James swimming looked so pretty ,but it had one ,what i thought major problem , after 25 m , which was just his natural strength , he didnt go no where , the power in his stroke , was that of a mouse rather than a hulking power house .
then on to the bike , i was looking foreward to this as the bulging quads were yelling at me , watch me monster these
cranks i go thru a bottom bracket a year , because i generate so much torque , but alas , i was again dissapointed .
he looked like a painting on the bike , and it moved just as fast .
Again totally  berift of power and rythem  but he looked like a statue ,again i thought ,how much effort he has put into that ,
got to respect how hard this kid tries to do everything so right , run was the same looked like a 400 m runner , and so
after 2 run sets , when each  rep of a big set ,he started out
like a hurricane , it took  2 talks or one talk and one ear bashing , and james
got to know if he was going to work with me , we were going to harniss his power , and use it to his advantage , and not hide it  to all his competitiors , because of theory .
With in 2 weeks the other coaches started to say boy his swim stroke looks worse , but the kid is starting to move and out on the bike , they said , shit , what a transformation , he could be dangerous .
and so he went home , not armed with a series of mystic training sessions but a list of wrong things to do and follow
that happen to suit his body .
you can read his post .
lastly  and not because , of his lack of  ability ,but most importantly because , looks are decieving .
keegan williams , was signed on after some talks , and a recomendation , of one of our old team mates luke , then 2nded by chris mc  ,yeah seemed a nice kid , but doc , he dont train full time .
so keegan and i went thru 8 months of learning and training sessions before he landed in subic well ,
before me .
the coaches there , were  puzzled , coach you seen this guy in the flesh , well no only pictures , why ? well he dont look much , well he dont look like an athlete at all really .
he swims , very slow , he has the weirdest set up we have seen on the bike and well when he runs , he not very fast .
no slur on the coaches ,as thats what every body he dealt with before  seen , and thats why , he still working , they all advised dont give up your day job .
Well aussie respect the kiwis a little more than most , because they are always competing against the bastards , and most are as hard as nails , rather a good fight than a good feed , but coach this one is like supa quiet and shy , dont look like a fighter to me .
so i assured them my new little kiwi will be fine ,dont judge a book by its cover.
on arrival ,
we took one look at his swim , 2 days later he had changed his stroke from looking like ian thorpe but with an anchor on ,
to sir richard hadley , nz best ever fast bowler , now dont ask if richard could swim and what did it look like ? cause we copied not his swim action but indeed his cricket bowling action . after 3 weeks coaches were mighty impressed with not just keegan but ole doc ,
he looks like shit , but he is swimming  30sec a 400 faster than when he was training with us . sorry guys but it dont suprise me .
his bike , well we got him a much bigger frame , did we change the weirdness, well it sort of looked comfortable to  me
and every time i wound the window down to start to shout out the orders to change it , something in my gut said shut up ,
he looks like it really suits him , unlike james or matty , keegan is a mr puni verse , why set him up like the hulks .
he is sticking in and they are not dropping him . no , we get him a bigger frame and thats the way we go ,keegan style .
Lastly the run ,
again looks are decieving ,on the track and as the boys power around all full of ego and macho ,keegan was struggling to hold on to the young filapinos, but  struggle was the word , the heat was killing  sheep boy , the training was killing him , his girlfriend was killing him ,a bout of sickness was killing him
but he was still hanging in looking awful and strugglling , but he was like most kiwi pests ,hanging in .
what you going to change about that run style ? he got a stride length  of a drain . but again where the doc ,got to be there again kicks  in . melvin , its a thing of beauty . i love his run , i love it , when keegan asked what i need to change coach , and that is another of his positives he changed anything i said like a pair of dirty underpants .
just done and onto the new , no regression the old was gone ,
he nearly fell over when i said ,dont change a bloody thing ,one day that run style is going to carry you past so many supposedly fast runners .
He was gob smacked because no one had told him they loved his run style , but for me ironman perfection .
Why?
Listen to them all run past at the same pace ,stop looking , listen to em , 4 laps later  we standing 6 lanes back and say3m in the outfield .
we can hear them all coach , except keegan , if we keep our eyes shut we dont know when he passes .
wulla  precisely, he is like a hover craft , he loses so much less energy ,hitting the ground , than the others , one day when i fix the rest this guy is going to levetate 42 km in under 2h50 , you can bet your arse on that , he might not be fast , but he is as smooth as a babies bum .
so he went home ,
with his new cricket swim style his weird  set up on a much bigger bike , and the same run but with the confidence , that
the guy that does know , thinks i got the best technique to run a marathon out there .
Read his blog ,
2nd in a 1/2  beaten only by keiron doe ,
who is a swim and bike monster , on a world scale , and team tbbs little age grouper  hovercrafted his way past the rest to finnsish only  5 min down ,on a world class 1/2 ironman specialist , he got out the water 3packs earlier and held his own on the bike .
mystic training sessions? at a facility that has every mod con
known to triathlon . ?
NO!
Guys , i cant promise nothin, but my best efforts to make you the best you can be , but , some of you might be like , these 3 out of the 9or 10 there , that i spotted , where they were hammering down the wrong path , for what would suit them .
i yelled stop , come back here , and go that way .
All 3 had the brains to say ok thanks i am heading the sutto highway , or the nievity to do so ,
sometimes , ignorance is bliss .
however , whatever the reason , they transformed their performance , by little changes , that had they not came to camp  never knew could exist for them .
the intial camp , i cant say how important it is or what a time saver it could be for you .
chrissie wellington , when asked , what she thought her biggest single help was in winning hawaii, said
"the intial start of season boot camp ,which was like 3 months
minmum was what made my hawaai , it gave me such a base ,that when i had little problems thru the season i had time to adjust ,my last month into hawaaii was fine tuning ,
it had all been done in the previous 2 camps "
Dont worry about the facilities ,the most important facility will be there every day .
its only in subic bay , No other sofisticated training facilities all over the world have it or will get it , so get to camp as long as you can , and use it well .
You, too could be like the above mentioned , and just need  something tweaked , to make big  change in performance ,
it does happen .


epilogue
now when we look back on that camp ,  2 of thew three people  we had written about have went on to win  ironman races around the world .
also one of the campers not mentioned , tereza marcel  , went on to not only win but dominate ironman races but also have the best finnish in kona an magnificent  4th .
it all started with me balling her out infront of all the new and old recruits , in subic bay , " i think that i challenged her perception of her ability and how she was selling herself short of what her best she could be .
however our three charactors  in the story  illustrates all that is good and bad about boot camp .
 Our newzealander   , went on to  run that sub 2m50  and to realise his dream of winning an ironman .
he now still races successfully on the world stage , has a coaching business happiily married with a beautiful baby girl , keepgan williams did succeed in being the best he could be .
james cunnuma  went on the giddy heights going on a tear 2 yrs ago thruout the united state winning 1/2 ironman and ironman distance races with devastating effect , struck down with an injury on his comeback  he competed and won the most prestigous long race in europe roth , by out running timo bracht  who is an outstanding athlete
james , in my opinion has still some way to go , before he can say im the best i can be , and that bodes well for his future .
last and leastly   when it comes to performance wise , our little energisor bunny , who while racing much faster , and still racing today  , did not rise to the heights of the other 2 .
hers is an even more telling look , into what boot camp is about and can do .
while her initial camp went well , her insistance on coming to swiss , might have brought her new found confidence down around her ears , may be coach should have  been more insistant that she didnt ride as good as she thought and thus hitting the mountains while sounding auxilerating can be any thing but .
mixed  with the force of the  whole team tbb  warriors , its a very daunting atmosphere .
each day  you face 2 fires , and it is too much for the majority of athletes .
  after  a couple of weeks , it sinks in that the ride up to leysin  is not going away ,as  the same for the coach ,  to withstand the  triple whammy can be overwhelming even for the strongest athlete .
as i explained to robbie , this is where a coach  needs to know how to protect  certain athletes in 2 ways .
1/, 
 from  one self , when  the athletes place so much pressure on themselves , to succeed too early and too fast 

 2/
is some athletes dont need to be pushing  crazy hard to get optimum  performance , this in a group situation is the hardest task , as the athletes  feel  competitive in camp , and it takes great fortitude , to hear that , getting involved in day to day   head to head clashes is not in their best interests long term .
sadly for a coach , its a difficult balancing act .
some times the coaches fortitude is tested as the right call is to tell some athletes that camp is not the best place for them to be for their long term development .
so if the article  , gives some insights , the one that might not be so evident , is the coach  may be more understanding , to how severe  boot can be nit physically but mentally .

cheers doc

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22504255

I am sure the doc will like the video at the bottom....
All the best to the team for 2013

doc, would you recommend the green catalyst paddles for my times?

and when to move up?

 it depends on what you do with your legs
if a heavy kicker then you dont need more cadence ,
however if you have not a lot of legs
smaller paddle and pull bouy does effect cadence

Hello doc,
still about swim toys, what kind of gear to get a better swim cadence like describe before and on the video ? thanks a lot

hi
yellow paddles are too big for those times
you are letting the paddles do the swimming for you
as you are just muscling the paddles and the surface area is doing it all for you
however
paddles are very important , the trick is to get the shape and size that yes you will swim faster  but you will have some carry over into your natural swimming once the paddles are not worn for a race .
thats key .
do they make your stroke better absolutely
do they make you stronger  absolutely
is bigger always better  absolutely  not .
chers

I've a question that might contribute to this thread:

when I swim with paddles (catalyst yellow) I'm consistently 10sec faster per 100m at same effort level. so 15*100 in 1:33 on 1:50 is a really tough workout for me without paddles; if I put them on, 15*100 in 1:23 on 1:40 is equal. maybe even easier.

I thought that's normal but all the others in the triclub told me it doesn't work that way for them...they're not faster.

so does that say that my regular catch&pull is poor and hence the big improvement with paddles? or what should I work on?

maybe you've any insights...

Hello Matthieu,

thanks a lot, i understand what i have to work.
For the gear, if i understand you, i should use only small paddles ( i have tyr catalyst green ) , no pull buoy and just elast or band on my ankles ? It's very hard !!! i can't do 25m like that 

Hey Seb - for 1 you should eliminate the idea that what tri distance you race.
Should have a bearing impact on your swim style or advice you will receive.
The thing that should differ with duration is your stroke rate.

Tone down your catch up, eliminate the over extension & no bilateral breathing.

If you look at the shots where your arm is fully extended.
Your head ‘bobs’ down under water and is fully submerged.

Breathing every 2nd stroke will help to keep your head higher.
As well to develop more a 1-2 rythym cause presently you don't have any.
And you should just switch breathing sides per length for ‘balance’ & versatility.

Your hand also pulls BESIDE your body under-water.
It should pull UNDER your body.

As for swim toys.
Small paddles so you have leverage and ease to maneuver your hands.
Only a band (no pull/buoy) to kill the gliding, contain your wacky kick and develop a hip thrust.
And shorten up your stroke out of survival - muahahaha

Dear Doc and team,

thanks a lot for your comments on youtube.

Considering what i have to work ( shortening my strokes and get a quicker catch ), why kind of gear would your recommand ? (pull, double pull, bands,littles paddles, big paddles...nothing... ?)
I precise i train for short distance triathlons.
thanks very much
seb