When I was coaching tier 3 junior hockey, the owner of the team was also my assistant coach. He was also my “overwatch.” Looking out for me from above. From his perspective, he could see what I didn’t want to see…
I needed help.
After an abysmal practice during a massive losing streak, I threw my gloves off and I started bitching… About the players, the team, everything… He sat me down in the coach’s room and told me some hard truths.
“You look like you don’t want to be here. Do you want to quit? Do you need a break? Maybe take a week off, I’ll handle things here.”
There were two answers, the one I gave him and the one I needed to give him.
The answer I gave him was full of pride, stubbornness, and defensiveness after he called me out…
“I want to be here, I don’t need time off. I can handle it, I’m an adult.” I replied.
I was once “that coach” too.
The one that “grinded.”
The one that “let his ego get in the way.”
The one who was burnt out, lost, and felt like shit in every aspect of his life.
The answer I should have given him was this…
I Need to “De-Load”
I should have said, “I appreciate you coming to me with your observation and I think there is some truth to it. I’m struggling with the fact our team is struggling. I’ve never been a head coach before and this is affecting every part of my life. I know it shouldn’t be, but it is. Maybe I need a de-load week.”
If you’re confused as to what a de-load week is, I’m going to explain this strength and conditioning term that organizations and sport coaches need to adopt right now.
A de-load week is a 3-7 day period in a 4 week block of training where the athlete significantly reduces the amount of weight lifted, the amount of sets done or some other measure that reduces the amount of stress the athlete is under during this period. It is all done in the name of making an adaptation. When too much training is done without a de-load week… Your athletes break.
Too Much, Too Little or “Just Right”
It’s called the Goldilocks Principle by no mistake. When an athlete has a “bad strength coach” or “nobody looking out for him” it’s easy to do too much training. When you follow the red line in the graph, you don’t make positive adaptations in that 4 week training block. You burn out or break down.
A properly timed de-load week placed after 3 weeks of intense training allows for a phenomenon known as “supercompensation.” It’s a big word that means, if you de-load at the right time, you’ll actually come back much stronger and faster. Just like a plant grows during the night, the strength and speed gains come during the de-load week. The de-load is the space needed for the growth to occur.
This Goldilocks Principle and idea to de-load applies to coaches too. Just like me in the intro story above. Coaches need to deload too… It’s just “not a thing yet.”
Most owners and GM’s aren’t like my former boss. They wouldn’t tell their coach it was okay to “take a week off in the middle of the season.” They would guilt you that you have a responsibility to the players…
And that isn’t entirely wrong. But my former boss added some words to the end of the statement.
“You have a responsibility to the players to give them “your best.” Which you aren’t giving them right now. If you need a break to come back at your best… Take it.”
So the new rule is this…
You have a responsibility to the players to be at your best. If you aren’t… Don’t come back to the team until you are at your best.
I was coaching in the future there, I just didn’t know it at the time.
The Future of Coaching
The coach needs oversight from someone who can spot burnout. The “overwatch” person has a responsibility to the coach to tell him that he is “overtraining” and needs to de-load.
The coach has permission to take de-load weeks during the season to refresh and come back at his best.
If an athlete can’t train in the gym or practice intensely for 7 months straight, we can’t expect our coaches to exhaust their mental, emotional and spiritual reserves for 7 months straight…
Athletes that stay healthy de-load.
Coaches that stay healthy de-load.
P.S. Did you get your copy of The Wave yet? For those enjoying last weekend in the US and Canada, you might have missed it. The Wave came out two days ago, and the response has been great!
If you haven’t purchased yet, here are the links!