Just over 15 years ago, the Space Shuttle Columbia began its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere at the end of its 28th mission. As it did so, Mission Control in Houston started to receive unusual readings from sensors within the left wing, with heat recordings higher than the usual 1370º celsius. These sensors then failed, as did the ones in the landing gear well on the left wing, puzzling the engineers. Read more
Culture. Everyone is talking about it these days. When most people think of culture perhaps it conjures up images of highly charged coaches and athletes producing lots of energy in a motivating environment. Is this the ultimate demonstration of positive culture to be aspired? Read more
Sometimes changing culture is about taking baby steps; other times it is about creating a counterculture. Throughout his career in elite sport Steve Myrand started to realize his approach just didn’t match with the traditional strength and conditioning culture. So now he is walking the halls of his local high school trying to start his own culture from the ground up. That means getting head coaches on board, redefining how his success is measured, reprioritizing physical education, and addressing the unique physical and cultural problems inherent in coaching teenagers. On this week’s GAINcast we dive into those topics, as well as some thoughts on training youth athletes. Read more
Over the past few years, perhaps no coach has influence my coaching more than John Pryor. Currently the head of strength and conditioning for Fiji rugby in the lead-up to next year’s World Cup, Pryor has decades of experience in the sport working for Japan, Australia, and top clubs in both countries. He has a unique ability to blend the art of coaching and sports science, and also objectively critique his own performance. Read more
When you arrive in a new situation, there can be a bit of culture shock. Even more so when it is half way around the world. Nick Hill did just that when he accepted a job to teach and coach in Chile several years ago. Throughout the journey he learned several things about getting athletes on board with your approach and developing a culture around it. That served him well in his recent return back to England as the head of athletic development at the Stowe School in England. On this episode we leverage that experience in a discussion about the process of change, how long it takes, and how it works. Read more
Culture is a buzzword now in the sporting world, but the increased attention rarely leads to an in-depth discussion of what culture actually means, what it looks like in practice, and how you go about improving culture. The March theme on HMMR Media is culture and we hope to help create a deeper conversation, starting with this week’s episode of the GAINcast, where Vern draws on his decades of experience to explain examples of what does and doesn’t work in the world of culture, and how culture must be adapted to the situation. Read more
Culture has been a buzz word among coaches that has gained a lot of traction over the past year, but most discussions often just stick to slick slogans and anecdotes. That’s why we’ve chosen culture as the theme this month on HMMR Media. We’re going to present some new perspectives on the topic by bringing together in-depth discussions on what a strong culture can look like and how it is developed. We’ll have contributes coming up this month a half dozen coaches on the topic. But to set the tone for the month I wanted to help get rid of the idea that culture is one thing. Culture is not some formula that can be applied on your team to automatically improve results. Like all of training, it has to be tailored to the athletes and the environment. Read more
Stereotypes of NASCAR might not bring to mind physical preparation, but motor sports have joined in the training revolution over the past decade and NASCAR is leading the way. On this week’s episode Michael Lepp of Joe Gibbs Racing joins us to talk about the role of strength and conditioning in motor sports, the mental side of preparation, and more. Read more
When Great Britain’s field hockey team won the gold medal at the 2016 Olympics, coach Danny Kerry had a lot to be happy about. Over the course of the prior eight years his team had finished five spots higher. But it was Kerry himself who had perhaps an ever bigger transformation. He had changed from a tactical-obsessed coach ready to quit into a culture-focussed coach ready for more. On this episode of the GAINcast Kerry joins us to discuss how his coaching philosophy has evolved, and how he has put that philosophy into practice in terms of creating a team culture and better designing training sessions. Read more
In January 2016 we launched the GAINcast and now, two years later, we’re 100 episodes deep and still going strong. On this episode of the GAINcast we look back at our goals, our process, favorite episodes, topics, and lessons learned from sharing ideas. Read more
