EvelChat

In this episode of EvelChat Derek & Movement Expert & Skill Acquisition Coach Shawn Myszka discuss learning, teaching & technical development within the context of one of sport’s most complex movement challenges, the Hammer Throw.

Shawn has served primarily as a Personal Performance Advisor & Movement Skill Acquisition Coach for National Football League (NFL) players since 2008, working with approximately 12 players each year and has partnered with 5 NFL All-Pro selections and 12 NFL Pro Bowl Team members.

You can find Shawn’s full bio at https://emergentmvmt.com/about/

Shawn’s website: https://emergentmvmt.com  

You can find Shawn on Twitter at @movementmiyagi 

Topics:

• Coaching in northern environments & innovation
• Skill development in varying conditions
• Facilitating skill development as opposed to imparting a technical model (Ecological Dynamics)
• Unique technical and physical elements of the hammer throw
• Nikolai Bernstein’s ideas on problem solving
• The functional adaptive relationship between the athlete & performance
• Movement as a problem-solving process
• Drills vs. whole movement learning
• A coach’s place in the learning process
• Global movements & coaching beginners
• Creating dexterity & “Bulletproofness” in technical development
• The line between fostering individual problem-solving solutions & facilitating ineffective technique
• Barry Sanders & chasing technical models
• “Adaptability Zone” & the confluence of constraints
• Considering Emergence in movement learning
• Global vs. Part learning with beginners
• Ego and coaching technical models
• Authenticity & problem solving “on the fly”
• Creating / exposing athletes to different environments
• The line between ‘thinking’ & moving instinctively.
• One-on-one coaching & over-coaching 

In this 2nd of back-to-back episodes of EvelChat with our buddy Stu McMillan, Derek & Stu discuss learning & skill acquisition.

Topics include:

• Stu’s a “People Person”
• Skill stability & the edges of the technical bandwidth 
• Performance vs. learning sessions
• Variability & the range of accepted movement within a technical model
• The “problem in the hammer throw” 
• Technique vs. Skill 
• Development coaching vs. Elite coaching
• The content vs. the context of a movement
• Removing context to help an athlete learn more
• Challenging athletes to move more effectively
• Prescription vs. facilitation
• Changing an athlete’s technical model
• Guiding the athlete to solve their own technical solutions.

Derek & Stu go at it again...

Topics:

• Derek’s new goggles
• Stu’s modelling career
• The (at times) ugly necessity of a social media presence in online education 
• https://simplifaster.com
• The infamous Shackleton podcast
• What’s new at Altis
• The Altis Foundation for HBCU
• Stu’s thoughts of the latest EvelChats
• Dale Stevo’s training methodology
• Harvey & looking for commonalities when comparing methods 
• Stu’s thoughts on the Nike Super Spikes question from twitter
• Is there evidence for “Surfing the Curve”
• Max Speed / Max Strength & individual needs & approaches
• Transference vs Relatedness in exercise and intensity selection
•  Bondarchuk & Transfer

In this podcast Derek gets schooled. It’s a deep dive into the science and practice of Long-Term Athlete Development & Preparation. In particular, we discuss the science & practice around Peak Height Velocity (PHV) and overall implementation of the LTAD principles and progressions. 

James Baker is a sport performance specialist and one of the world’s top experts in Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) and Preparation. He is the Head of National Talent Identification, Senior Strength & Conditioning Coach and Performance Support Lead for Aspire Academy in Dona, Qatar. He is also the co-founder (with Mike Young) of the LTAD Network (www.ltadnetwork.com), one of the world’s top resources in physical preparation & sport training development for youth.

Tom Crick is the Head of Athletics at Aspire Academy & former Director of Coaching & Athlete Development for Athletics Northern Ireland. Before that he was the Professional Development Manager & Qualifications Manager for British Athletics.

Topics:

·      Check out www.needleeyespikes.com

·      Check out: https://altis.world/product/altis-foundation-course/

·      James’ Background

·      What is LTAD?

·      Pathways athletes take in development

·      Importance of proper long term athletic preparation

·      Technical / tactical development vs. physical development

·      Peak Height Velocity (PHV)

·      Parent height vs., predicted height and Pre / Circa / Post PHV

·      Clown shoes and the order that body segments go through PHV 

·      C onsiderations for loading around PHV

·      PHV & Apophysitis

·      Volume of work around growth spurts & PHV

·      Natural Volume Experiments at Aspire

·      Criticism / efficacy around using PHV

·      James’ data around pre / circa / post PHV

·      PHV, Bioband and early / late maturers

·      Practicality around tracking PHV

·      Average Post-PHV age and the start of formal training

·      Keeping Late maturers within the net

·      Basic strength diagnostics and patterns for beginners

·      Producing ‘elite athletes’ vs. any other athlete

·      Organization for coaching developing athletes

·      Why the pressure to succeed demands more competent coaching practice

·      Why ‘Specialization’ is not a dirty word

Meet Harvey Maguire.  Harvey is a former soccer coach and practicing professional physical therapist in Loughborough, England.  He is also a sprint coach working at the university and club level. 

I thought it might be an interesting conversation to record myself and Harvey discussing some of the things he faces as a development coach who works with athletes new to the sport or training at a relatively young training age.  Mainly we discuss the challenges he faces sorting through the world of information in front of him and how to identify “good coaching” in an effort to cultivate his own model of good coaching practice. 

I think listeners from all walks of sport life will get something from this one.

Topics:

• Harvery’s background.
• Dale Stevo’s training system.
• Navigating the world of information as a young or developing coach.
• Different approaches in training for different coaches and athletes.
• How to assess proven training systems / programs as a development coach.
• Factors that influence results in coaching (facilities, weather, drugs, talent pools, support, etc…).
• Limitations that influence results in coaching (bureaucracy, environment, etc…).
• Objectivity in coaching.
• Shackleton in...

Dale "Stevo" Stevenson, National Throws Coach, New Zealand Athletics.

To me, this is one of the most intriguing podcasts I’ve posted… You don’t have to be a throws coach to get something out of this. I’ve met few coaches who are able to systematically individualize and create a training system around an athlete’s individual performance structure / force-output profile. This is even more impressive given the fact that Dale walked into a national coaching position shortly after retiring as an athlete. I hope you enjoy this, I certainly did. There will be more to come.

Topics:

·      Dale’s history as a competitive shot putter.

·      His current role as Head Coach for the Throwing Events, New Zealand Athletics.

·      Christchurch, Polar Exploration & the Galapagos.

·      Differences between Aussie & Kiwi Athletics.

·      Dale’s current group.

·      Ryan Ballantyne & coaching top juniors.

·      How Dale came to coaching Tom Walsh.

·      Tom’s early athlete development.

·      Super-Coach Ian Baird

·      Tom Walsh’s unique challenges as an athlete

·      Dale Stevo’s unique training system & approach to periodization

·      Throwing the competition implement in competition cycles

·      Dale’s 4 session rolling average & auto-regulated periodization model

·      Differences b/t Dale’s system & the Bondarchuk system.

·      Medium-term planning in Dale’s system.

·      Tom’s competitive ability vs. training marks

·      ‘Freedom’ as a training philosophy.

·      Technical input vs. allowing an athlete to develop their own solutions to technical problems.

·      Using a ‘system’ vs. being an outlier & individualizing training

·      Does coaching attract an addictive personality?

·      Managing your life as a professional coach.

·      The pros & cons with balls to the wall coaching.

·      Being isolated in NZ.

In this special 20th episode of EvelChat, Derek speaks with friend, mentor and sponsor Dan Pfaff about the trials and tribulations of being a recovering alcoholic.

Paddy McGrath is an enigma in coaching circles. That’s because it’s not easy to find coaches, at least in the US, who in the same session, you will find teaching a beginner how to hold a hammer for the first time one moment and directing a long time protégé, American record holder & Olympian the next. But that happens where Paddy coaches, and it happens often.

Paddy was a 2000 Olympian for Ireland in the hammer throw and six time national champion for Ireland. As a coach, he has mentored 7 high school men to over 70m in the hammer. One of these throwers, Rudy Winkler, went on to break Lance Deal’s long-standing US Men’s record in the hammer throw, earning a spot on the 2021 US Olympic Team in the process. 

For a full bio on Paddy’s accomplishments click here.

Paddy and I did this interview in person, in an Irish bar in the Bronx, New York (of course… where else?).  It is easily one of the most engaging talks I’ve had with a coach friend and colleague and Paddy did not disappoint.

Topics:

French Onion Soup, Gander (Newfoundland) & what we were doing on 911, dealing with Games Environments, 2012 Games, Paddy’s background as an Irish Hammer Thrower, mentors Roman Feldman (assistant coach to Dr. B) & Harold Connolly, high school weight throw War Stories… Developing high school hammer throwers, Bob Gourley’s HS hammer list, 4 vs. 3 turns… toe vs. heel turn entry, Rudy Winkler’s progression, implement weight progressions in high school, Rudy’s technical development, Starting beginners in the hammer throw, comparing cueing notes, maximal strength in the hammer, avoiding injury, “nothing gets in the way of throwing”, learning from Russians, planning for hammer training, strength training in hammer programming, VBT, Not ‘pressing’ Rudy Winkler, Rudy’s Eugene 2021 performance, the hammer facility in Eugene, preparing for big competitions, light vs. competition vs. heavy weight hammers in training, Kevin McGill’s ‘Hammer Notes’, potential for scholarships in hammer throwing, will coaching the hammer negatively influence SP & DT technique, The Fat Bastard of SC & expectations we put on our athletes, safety in the hammer.

In this this episode of EvelChat I speak with someone who offers a great tale of performance coaching as therapist/S&C professional/coach/career savior... his name is Luis Mesquita.

Rather than list the topics we discuss, this time I'm just going to say that this is a story any coach or performance professional will find enlightening. Luis found himself in a position of having to take over the entire programming/coaching/rehabilitation responsibilities for Susana Costa, a world class female triple jumper late in her career, a responsibility he still holds. It's a great story of common sense coaching practice & implementation in a special circumstance, leading to a number of career high performances at an age when most athletes would be long retired.

Luis Mesquita (Portugal) is a Physiotherapist & Strength & Conditioning Coach. He is a certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (CSCS - NSCA). He is also co-owner of THE PEAK (Performance Training Facilities) in Portugal & Britain. He has experience working with professional teams & athletes from multiple sports, including being a former S&C Coach at EXOS, Chinese Football Federation, Shijiazhuang Everbright Football Club (China Super League), FC Porto (Portugal) & Sporting Clube de Portugal (Senior Male Volleyball National Champions 2017/2018).