Been There, Done That

I have been a lot of places and have been fortunate to have done a lot of things in my career, but I have not stopped learning, adapting and changing. How many times have you heard someone who has been coaching for a while say that they have been there and done that? If you notice once that is said all conversation stops. They send a message that they know it all and there is nothing new to learn or experience. So what if you have been there – what if there was no there there?

You may have been there twenty or thirty years ago but times change and people change. I know for sure that the young developing athletes of today do not bring the same the movement literacy skill set to the table that the young athletes did forty-three years ago when I started coaching. That does not mean that what I did back then is not valid now, no it simply means that I need to build on that and modify and use my past experiences as a reference point in some cases and as a starting point in others.

I look at coaches like Frank Dick, Anatoly Bondarchuk and Joe Vigil with over fifty years coaching in track and field and see how they continue to challenge themselves to learn and grow. They have not grown complacent, nor do they think they know it all, certainly they have been there and done that but they are here now looking ahead to move their athletes forward and advance. They use the past as a reference point and use their cumulative experiences to continue to produce. So challenge yourself no matter how many years you have coached, keep learning, keep growing, keep experimenting. Everyday and every workout is an opportunity to learn and see the world with new eyes. If you have been there and done that then you can do it again only better.