Can You Go? by Dan John, (09) Troubleshooting - How to deal with obstacles, Notes

Post date: Mar 2, 2016 12:47:23 PM

Can You Go? by Dan John

Chapter 9. Troubleshooting - How to deal with obstacles.

• 1. When a student is having trouble with a move the task is clear: look to find the source of that trouble and address it. Some coaches do too little which leads to flailing, ugly efforts. Some coaches do too much which leads to no movement. Not all people are created equally so not everybody will look the same. We need to troubleshoot but not make trouble by looking for it. Think of it as managing risks.

  2. Managing Risks: Protecting the system. Much of 1-2-3-4 is simply managing risks. A life of both longevity and good health requires a little risk management.

  3. The simplest tests of a safe life: (1) Standing on one foot, (2) Height to waist ratio, (3) Getting up and down off of the floor

  4. Dick Notmeyer: Life comes down to roughly the following formula: Genetics 50% + Habits 40% + Luck 10%

  5. Managing risk for most people is simple: do the basic daily safety tasks of life. Eat your veggies and go for a walk. Sadly most people want cutting edge when they aren’t even making the basics. Three ways to increase luck: (1) Keep body weight under 300 lbs. (2) Exercise about a ½ hour daily (3) Eat colorful veggies. Three ways for managing risk for health and performance: (1) Minimize risk by performing the basics of safety, exercise and diet. (2) Practice moderation in all that we do (take the minimum effective dose. (3) Strive for mastery.

  6. The goal of any program is to increase ready. When the moment comes on the big stage of life, you’re ready. Bend, don’t break. We, as teachers, need to get our students to build up a little resilience, a bit of wiggle room, a bit of flexibility. For example, in terms of personal finance, have an emergency fund. For most of life, have at least $1,000 to $2,000 to replace a water heater on Christmas Eve. Sometimes a friend , teammate or community can stand in for you. But consider the next step: Be ready when it’s your turn.

  7. Stay on the right path. The three principles of coaching: (1) Decide on the key to the goal. What’s the core? (2) Schedule plenty of weeks or months to address it. (3) When it’s time to correct something, step back and see the whole picture first. Then take time with submovements, drilling and, finally, look at smaller units if necessary. But always tie it back to the bigger picture. Combine these three principles as often as possible.

  8. At the end of the day we need to assess. If not assessing we're guessing. Decide what’s important.

  9. Imagine the Prisoner’s Dilemma: What would you do if you only had three 15 minute sessions per week? The answers to that should be the core of training. Focus should be on the fundamentals. For example, if the goal is fat loss, then this time needs to be spent on food prep.

  10. Little and often over the long haul. If you want to be good at your sport: Lift weights 3 days a week and play your sport four days a week. Repeat for the next 8 years. There are no overnight sensations in mastery

  11. Concept - Drill- Frankenstein’s Monster (Train movements not parts.) When teaching a movement, begin with the big picture, the concept. If a student understands the concept then there is no need to break things down any further. (S)he is good to go. For example in the squat, the concept is to squat between the legs, not on the legs.

      1. Drills are valuable in schooling the concept if something is missing or needs more work but don’t let drilling get in the way of the big picture

      2. Ignore individual parts as long as possible Only after lots of reps that are still subpar should we go after the limiting joint.