Running As Punishment For Poor Performance
3
Running As Punishment For Poor Performance Does Running As A Punishment Do An Athlete Any Good? By Tim LaVallee A couple of years ago I help with the local high school football team as a line coach, trainer and did the physical conditioning. It quickly became apparent that running and push-up were the means of promoting individual and team discipline. If a player jumped off sides or made a false start I’d hear, “that’s five after practice.” After practice the entire team was taken over to the old ski jumping hill adjacent to the football field and the team paid the price for whatever number of errors were committed during that practice session running hill sprints. I address my concerns with the head coach telling him I wanted athletes to be in good physical condition and look forward to the benefits derived from the conditioning program and not viewing the conditioning as a consequence of mistakes. Now, don’t get me wrong. I am a great believer in hill sprints for the anaerobic conditioning, speed, and strength attributes derived, just not as a punitive tool. Lets do hill sprints at the end of practice but
Transcript of Running As Punishment For Poor Performance
Running As Punishment For Poor Performance DoesRunningAsAPunishmentDoAnAthleteAnyGood?
ByTimLaVallee
AcoupleofyearsagoIhelpwiththelocalhighschoolfootballteamasalinecoach,traineranddidthephysicalconditioning.Itquicklybecameapparentthatrunningandpush-upwerethemeansofpromotingindividualandteamdiscipline.IfaplayerjumpedoffsidesormadeafalsestartI’dhear,“that’sfiveafterpractice.”Afterpracticetheentireteamwastakenovertotheoldskijumpinghilladjacenttothefootballfieldandtheteampaidthepriceforwhatevernumberoferrorswerecommittedduringthatpracticesessionrunninghillsprints.IaddressmyconcernswiththeheadcoachtellinghimIwantedathletestobeingoodphysicalconditionandlookforwardtothebenefitsderivedfromtheconditioningprogramandnotviewingtheconditioningasaconsequenceofmistakes.Now,don’tgetmewrong.Iamagreatbelieverinhillsprintsfortheanaerobicconditioning,speed,andstrengthattributesderived,justnotasapunitivetool.Letsdohillsprintsattheendofpracticebut
makeitknowit’sfortheconditioningbenefits.Howeverthepracticecontinuedthroughouttheseason.ThereasonI'meventhinkingaboutstufflikethistodayisbecauseyesterdaySurgewasoveratthehouseandinthecourseofconversationIaskedhimhowpreseasonsoccerwasgoing.Herolledhiseyessaid“good!”Hesaidhelikedhisnewcoachwithoneexception.Thatbeingdisciplined,havingtorunsprints,ifsomeoneontheteammadeamistake.Hesaidhishighschoolcoachpunishedtheteamforpoorperformancebyhavingthemrunsprints.Iaskedhimtogivemeanexample.“Well,ifsomeonetakesahardshotongoalandtheballsailsoverthenet,theentireteamhastorunwindsprints.”Isaid“so.”Hesaid,“well,theendresultisafterthat,thenwheneveraplayertakesashotongoal,theytendtobackoffanddon’ttakethehardshotforfeartheballwillmissthenetandeveryonewillhavetopayaprice.Theresultisthatwearenotplayingthegamealloutwithmaximumintensity,powerandspeed.”Confession!Ourconversationgotmethinkingaboutskiracing.IreflectedbacktomydaysasayoungcoachdoingasummerskicampatBlackcomb,BC.IrememberedadaywhenifanathletehadabadrunIsaid,“noliftandhadhimorherhikebackuptotheslalomstartanddoitagainthinkingiftheyhadtodothatenoughtimestheywouldgetitfiguredout.IttookmeacoupleofdaysandIgotitfiguredout!Itwassimply“lazycaching,”unproductivetimeonsnow,andaverypoorcoachingdecisiononmypart.Ineededtofindamoreproductivewaytogetmypointacross.AsacoachIwanttheathletestowanttogoalloutoneveryrunfromtoptobottom.It’swhatwinsskiraces.IfthereisatechnicalortacticalissuethatneedstobeaddressedIslowitdowntocorrectsomething.I’llasktheathletetoslowitdown,wefixtheissueandthenit’sbackontheliftandanotheralloutmaximumspeedruntryingtoapplythecorrection(s)knowingfullwellitmaynottobeperfectyetandtheremaybesomemiscues.Iwanttheathletetrainedtomakeeveryruncount.Oneoftheultimateironiesofsportsoccurswhencoachesdisciplineplayersbymakingthemrun,dopush-uporsomeotherformofphysicalactivityasapunishment.Whyisthatironic?BecauseInowbelieveit’ssimplynotthebestwaytocoach.Ifplayersneedconditioning,helpthemgetit.Ifaplayersneedsdiscipline,helpthemgetthat.Butdon'tfallbackonrunning(orhikingtothestart)asdiscipline.Youwantkidstodevelopwithagreatdesiretotrainandseekthebenefitsofgoodhealth,physicalwellbeing,andfitness,nothatingit.Thereatleasttworeasonsformewhythisisimportant:1)Playersmaycometodespiserunningandotherformsofconditioningforalifetimeifitfeelslikepunishment.Youwantathletestolovephysicalconditioningsothattheywillwanttotrainhardandbecomethebest-conditionedathletespossible.Besidetherearelifelongbenefitstoconditioningandfitness.2)Youmaybeabandoninganopportunitytoteachlifelessonsaboutdisciplineandphysicaltraining,whichisbestdonebytalkingaboutthesubjectsandsettinganexamplebyexercisingthedisciplinenecessarytocoachwell.
Forexample,let'ssaythatinanintra-squadfootballscrimmageyourplayersarejumpingoffsidesormissingthesnapcount.Don'tdefaulttopunishingthemwithextrarunning.Instead,recognizetheproblemasoneofpossiblyinsufficientrepetitions,lackofpracticeorplayingtime,etc.Recognizeitmaybeatimingissue,ahearingissue,nervousness,oranxietytoperformwellunderthescrutinyofthecoaches,etc.Addressbothissuesbyinterruptingthescrimmage,discusstheimportanceoftheissue,figureoutwhat’scausingtheproblem,conductadrilltocorrecttheissueandtryagain.Iknowdisciplineisahugepartofsportsbutsoaremakingmistakes.Correctingmistakesandhelpingathletes’performbetterandmoreproficientlyisanimportantcoachingrole.Thisway,theathlete’sskillsandplaybothimprove.Runtheplayagain!Forsomeyoungathletespunishmentforforgottenindiscretionsinfact,therunningmaybewhatsticksoutmostintheirmindabouttheirseason,whichmaybethelastseasonplayingwhateverorganizedsport.Goodcommonsensewouldindicatewe'repastusingconditioningandrunninginapunitivemanner.Whilesomepeoplestillbelievethatphysicalactivityusedaspunitiveand/orabehaviormanagementtooliseffective,mostsportspsychologistperceivethepracticeasa'quickfix'thatactuallymightdiscouragethebehavioritisintendedtoelicit.However,usingnegativeconsequencestoalterbehaviorsuppressestheundesirablebehavioronlywhilethethreatofpunishmentispresent,itdoesn'tteachself-disciplineoraddresstheactualbehaviorproblemlongterm.Therefore,ultimatelyathletebehaviorpatternsareusuallynotchanged.TheNationalAssociationofSportandPhysicalEducationcameoutagainstrunningaspunishmentina2009.
