"innovation is, in most cases, a distraction from doing the simple things right"

thirtyfoot

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/jan/10/commenee-athletics-interview

An interesting enough article about Van Commenee.

For the man who has brought British athletics out of a 20-year slump, head coach Charles van Commenee is surprisingly old-fashioned. We are discussing technology and innovation in sport, and OSM has suggested that the head coach might become the Sir Clive Woodward of athletics, improving the British team's performance in one hundredth of a second chunks ahead of London 2012, when the 51-year-old throws back his head and roars with laughter. "Not at all," he says. "In my opinion, innovation is, in most cases, a distraction from doing the simple things right."

Technology, according to van Commenee, is a red herring in a sport where the basics should be the focus. "Athletes are always confused. They say, 'I need this, this and this.' What they mean is, 'I want this, this and this.' What they need is probably less food, or more sleep."

Such thinking is typical of the Dutchman who forged a reputation as a straight-talking disciplinarian – he notoriously branded heptathlete Kelly Sotherton a "wimp" after she won Olympic bronze in 2004. With a background that includes a stint in the Dutch army, working in the Amsterdam markets as a fruit and vegetable seller, and a period as a social worker, he is not afraid to tell it like it is.

Last year that meant making staff redundant and upsetting several athletes by announcing they would need to lose weight to improve. "Sometimes people need to be told," he shrugs. "They're in denial. It's easy to consume technical paraphernalia. It's sexy, it's new. But it can be a distraction, because it takes your focus away from essential things."

So far, the approach seems to be working. Last summer Britain enjoyed its most successful World Championships in a decade, in spite of a wave of injuries that hit the team just weeks before the start of the competition. Van Commenee refused to panic and lower the medal target of five, and the team returned home with two gold, two silver and two bronze.

The difference, though, was not just in the podium places. There was a tangible excitement around the sport for the first time in years, with the public eager to know more about new household names such as the 23-year-old world champion heptathlete Jessica Ennis.

Van Commenee says that indicates the new optimism he has injected. He puts his success down to his emphasis on quality in training, and he has replaced UK Athletics' heavily administrative structure with a staff of renowned coaches.

"I see coaching as the greatest innovation. Today is different than yesterday. The athletes that you work with are different than yesterday so I have to make unique decisions every day; I have to improvise, adjust and be creative. That is the biggest innovation – it's not a new spike, or tighter pants, or attaching the bib number to the body with less aerodynamic resistance. That's why in the future the coach will never be replaced by a robot."

Van Commenee sits back and considers the statement. "Coaching," he concludes, "is cutting edge in itself."

footing

Good 'un; thanks for posting.