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Basic Coaching For The Golfing Beginner
Golf continues to be one of the most popular sports in the world and it seems that almost everyone you know plays the game. But what do you do if you're a beginner and your golf lessons aren't yet paying off? The thing that beginner golfers need...
Fantasy Baseball - Why Traditional 5x5 leagues are outdated.
The "fantasy" in fantasy baseball stands for what a team would be like with a collection of stars gathered together, not for an alternate universe where value has no relation to reality. Fantasy baseball is all about capturing players' performance...
Great Quotes
Great Quotes
I love what prominent baseball people have to say about the great ballplayers. They seem to eloquently capture what we are thinking.
"It was his solemn duty to catch a ball that wasn't in the stands." - Monte Irvin (Newark Eagles...
How to Choose a GPS
You've heard that new sport, geocaching, is fun. Or, you're tired of getting lost on your travels. Welcome to the 21st century. Global Postioning System (GPS) has been around long enough that prices are reasonable and the technology is...
The Road to the Hardwood: The Making of Professional Basketball
Imagine the game of basketball without the slam dunk showcase,
celebrity players and flashy entertainment value we've come to
expect. That's how the game began in 1891, New England. Two
teams, two peach baskets and 13 rules.
James Naismith,...
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Pacing and Avoiding Performance Predictions
No athlete likes to be passed during a race. A natural reaction is speed up and attempt to keep pace with the person whose dust you are now eating, but in doing so you just got pulled out of your game and put into theirs. Most likely you have no idea of their performance potential, pacing, or strategy (if any). Multi-sport events often have a relay team category in which a single athlete will use up everything they have in the one leg. The point is, to be truly efficient and race your fastest you must know and race within your limits, not someone else’s. There is only one pace that is most efficient for you and a very fine line between it and over pacing. Proper pacing becomes especially important in distance races such as marathon and Iron Man distance. It is very easy to get caught in a moment and push too hard at the wrong time, only to pay for it later.
The scenario athlete who passed you could actually be slower and pacing themselves incorrectly, or a faster athlete who is going to eat your legs up and leave you flat. In either case, if you are at the top of your performance envelope chasing them will only slow you down. If you go anaerobic even for a short period of time you are going to have to recover, and recovery takes time. Anaerobic efforts are very fatiguing, especially if you are not trained at these intensities, or to repeat these intensities. It is important to know your performance potential and pace and train yourself accordingly. An athlete should get metabolically tested, or perform performance tests and race simulations to determine such heart rate intensities as lactate threshold and max VO2. These numbers are critical to proper pacing. Where you should be in relation to these heart rates will depend on your race and conditioning. Shorter sprint races may have you at or above LTHR if you are highly trained. Longer endurance races may be mainly at an aerobic level with brief periods above this zone.
Once you established your pacing parameters it is crucial to stay within them. A key element of this process is regularly collecting data as you race and adjusting your pace accordingly. There is a variety of data and methods of collection available to you. Some are more effective than others. A simple example is checking splits at each mile marker during a running race, and adjusting your pace based on your known potential. The best forms of data occur in real time such as heart rate, watts (cycling), or using a new GPS based pacing device. It should be habit to scan this data, and make adjustments if necessary, every few minutes or less.
In the same manner of thinking avoid race day placement predictions. If you achieved a seventh place finish in a race last year and your goal this season is to come in above fifth, you could be setting yourself up for failure even though you are considerably faster. You never know who is going to show up for a race; it could be the national champion. If you find yourself in 10th place and your goal was fifth it could take you out of the race mentally, even though you were setting a personal record. You never want to set objectives that are out of your control. Placement predictions fall into this category.
Racing should be well rehearsed and automatic. Try to leave nothing to chance and have specific performance objectives and parameters. This will also lower your level of anxiety and make you more focused on the process of racing instead of the outcome. The most successful athletes are the ones that know exactly what they have to do; and do it.
About the Author
Matt Russ has coached and trained athletes around the country and internationally. He currently holds licenses by USAT, USATF, and is an Expert level USAC coach. Matt has coached athletes for CTS (Carmichael Training Systems), is an Ultrafit Associate. Visit www.thesportfactory.com for more information.
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