I just finished watching our team complete either their first effort or their final effort at 14.2. Everyone of them were able to meet the goal set for them. Most of that is due to some information we have learned over the last two or three days as well as training environment. However, there are specific elements to performance that you can’t teach, prepare for, or create. The element of effort can only come from the athlete.
Rarely, if ever, do training plans, strategy, or preparatory work create perfection. There will always be moments during a competition in which the athlete will either have to step up to the plate and perform in a way in which they were not expecting or will be forced to deviate from the strategy in order to achieve the result required. I saw this in multiple athletes this afternoon. We had a plan. The strategy was good. However with 30 or 40 seconds left and 16 pull-ups sitting in front of you the result is not determined by strategy or preparation but solely by effort in that moment. I could not be more proud of our team for their effort today and their ability to perform at the exact moment that it was required of them. No coaching strategy can fully prepare an athlete for that. That factor and performance solely rides on their shoulders. It’s not a matter of ability or talent at that point. It’s a question of commitment.
We see the same reality in weightlifting at every major meet. Sometimes the plan does not go as it is written. Your competition changes openers. You miss an opener. You have to jump to a higher weight than you were prepared to successfully jump too. Changes happen. In that moment preparation, ability, or talent is not the major factor in producing results. The major factor becomes commitment to accomplishing the task at hand. I love watching weightlifting competitions where a medalist or a winner had to jump six or seven or ten kg to a weight that is well outside of their comfort zone and well above their planned attempt in order to achieve the result desired. These competitions make for the most exciting meets to watch and as a lifter they make for the most exciting and memorable competitions to participate in.
The bottom-line is that coaches can only do so much. They can prepare and strategize for the athletes to perfection. The end result ultimately lies on the athlete shoulders. As a high school athlete I was always told by my coaches you are ready, the result is up to you. I loved seeing athletes step up to the plate today, take their in result in their own hands, and display an extreme commitment to that result. For those of you completing 14.2 this afternoon or tomorrow. I pray in those moments when you are racing the clock to the next round you remember that the pain is only momentary but the satisfaction in knowing that you were 100% committed to the result will last much longer.