Annoying

I am going to let you in on a little secret. Here is a sure fire, guaranteed way to annoy a coach.

Go to them promising a certain level of commitment and dedication, don't deliver on that commitment, and then question them as to why you weren't successful with your goals. Give that a go and let me know how it turns out.

I like to think of myself as a pretty tolerant coach. Sometimes I suspect I am overly so, probably a bit soft on athletes if I am honest. But I have to tell you, the above really does my head in. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mind if an athlete can't commit every waking moment they have to a sport. In fact I respect an athlete who knows themselves well enough to say to me, 'I can only give you this much time per week'. That is great, they are being realistic. Depending on the amount of time that an athlete can commit we can then have a frank discussion about expectations. Can't commit much time, that is fine we can get you to the finish line, but perhaps the time won't set the world on fire. Give a bit more time, wonderful perhaps we can give that time a push, etc. In my mind all these are healthy aspects of training. Sport shouldn't dominate life unless an athlete wants it too, if they have other priorities, that is fine, we can work around that too. Happy days.

No, what I struggle with is the athlete who comes in promising the world and asking for the full monty and then only delivers excuses. When you do this you aren't doing anyone any favours. You aren't helping yourself because you aren't letting the coach write a program that suits your true time commitment. You sure as heck aren't helping your coach who ends up just getting frustrated by you and your apparent lack of commitment. You would be much better served by having a frank bit of introspection and then a candid discussion with your coach about what is realistic then letting them write a program for that. You are always better of having a reduced program that you complete than a full on program that you ignore. As I have said, there is no shame in making allowances for life and training a bit less, that is just the reality of being human.

In the end, being a coach means you deal with all kinds of athletes with a whole range of different ages, backgrounds and goals. Most are a pleasure to work with, listening, trying and working hard towards their race targets. However, just sometimes you come across an athlete who may have good intentions, but simply can't find the motivation and instead is always ready to make an excuse for themselves. Boy I these folks can be frustrating.