Use the Olympics as a Learning Experience
February 16, 2010 by Dennis Chighisola
Ever since my Soviet studies long ago, I’ve kept an eagle-eye out for unique training methods, particularly those done by international competitors. There’s usually a ton of science behind the training methods used by those athletes. And, with that, nothing satisfies my thirst for new ideas as much as the Olympic TV broadcasts.
– Dennis Chighisola
Use the Olympics as a Learning Experience
Now, the video below features the Russian National Team prepping for their 2008 World Cup appearance. But, you get a pretty good idea of what I’m talking about — I mean, the way we can learn just from getting a glimpse here and there of what a team of that caliber might be doing to ready for world class competition…
Ya, for sure, the pros also apply all the science known to man in the training of their athletes – be it in hockey, baseball, football, basketball and numerous other sports. And I’m sometimes lucky enough to be privy to their methods. However, the Olympics (and some World Cup broadcasts) tend to prove awesome for fans (as well as to yours truly).
What I’m really getting at are those up-close-and-personal kinds of segments whereby the television crew shows clips of an athlete training at home or behind the scenes.
And, I’m not just talking about the times they focus on ice hockey players. In most instances, there are a lot of things done by athletes in other sports that we can learn from, and a lot of training techniques are used in most sports, including ice hockey.
By the way… CoachChic.com members are probably going to get a kick out of seeing Olympic athletes doing some of the things I’ve shown in From The MOTION Lab or in video clips on my teams’ off-ice practices. And, my Team NEHI players are probably going to say numerous times over the next week or so, “Hey, we do that all the time!”
Anyway, keep your eyes open for those close-ups of all the athletes, and perhaps watch them through the different kind of perspective you should have gained as a member here. Also, since my coaching schedule is going to prevent me from watching a lot of telecasts this year, I’d love to learn from your observations.
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Use the Comment box to fill me in on what you see, huh?
With all I said above — about my excitement in watching international hockey games, something struck me last night that kind of changed my mind about the current Olympic hockey tournament.
Really, I’d forgotten about how much changes when NHL players are involved.
What I mean is that few of the teams really get to practice together very much, which suggests to me that many of the match-ups are a lot closer to the NHL’s annual All-star Game than what we saw back in 1980 (for example).
To further clarify… Back then — in 1980 and before, squads like Team USA and the Soviet Union (and most others) prepped together for about a year, each focusing (and later demonstrating) their unique training methods and tactical approaches towards that brief tournament.
(So, does anyone appreciate what I’m saying here, or does anyone disagree?)
Oh, the fact that the current hockey games don’t quite excite me — at least as much as a different format might, there still IS plenty to learn when we are able to catch glimpses of various athletes training behind the scenes.
As usual, he was pretty sharp in his observations, mentioning that,”Some of the games aren’t even fair!” Oh, he also ended with his belief that, “The best player from Norway probably couldn’t even make an ECHL team over here!” Oh, I’m not sure that is literally so, but I get his point (as I hope others do).
Getting on to something a lot more positive…
I know that color commentators help to point-out many good things during typical (NHL or NCAA) game broadcasts. However, I think the intensity — or maybe the magnitude of each play in these Olympic contests — brings-out even more great observations.
As an example, I recall an analyst saying the other night something to the effect that, “When you’re protecting a lead, you don’t want to be making any drop passes…” (To learn more about this concept, please see an article I did a long time ago, this entitled “Turning Points in a Hockey Game“.)
Again, there are some really good comments being made before, during and after these games, and I’ll suggest those observations will become even more plentiful as things intensify.
I’ll also suggest that young players can benefit hugely from listening to the comments, and then perhaps having a chance to discuss these with a parent or a coach.
PS: Last night at our weekly Team NEHI skills sessions, I called the kids together for a moment to ask if any of them had noticed a certain attacking move we’d been practicing all year. A number of them had, and they even offered some pretty good observations to the group. So, while lots of learning should have been taking place during our many previous practices, that skill was probably all the more solidified from the kids seeing it used in an elite game, and then it was likely further ingrained because we took the time to discuss it again last night. Oh, and I think I noticed my kids applying themselves a little more in practicing that drill, too, probably because they still had visions in their minds of a star player performing it.
By the way… The move I’m talking about will be featured here shortly. I’m gathering some video right now to show you later, and I also want to delay for a brief time so that everyone has a chance to really absorb “THE Bobby Orr Move“.
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