Chula Vista Olympic Training Center: Day 1
We are about to start day two of coaching clinics on the National Training System (NTS) at the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center!
Monday was fantastic and even Sunday night was full of lecture! I learned rationale and mechanics for set, set-up, draw, and load (steps of NTS process) that I have been eager to improve on. Coach Lee lectured for maybe 7 hrs yesterday; it is an honor to be able to learn directly from the most successful coach in the World. Besides lectures, we’ve engaged in on-the-spot-oh-my-god-will-my-voice-work question answering, and done a few hours of stretch band training. The Coaches 5 others?) running the clinic are fantastic and I am so grateful for their guidance. There are 20 candidates like myself here; some have been here more than twice to try and pass. I’m thrilled to be here, love the iteration and subsequent growth that takes place when learning with other coaches.
Shooting in the indoor facility last night for 2.5 hrs helped me improve form. The indoor facility is huge! You can shoot full 70 meters (maybe 90?), picture attached. I used a stretch band in a room that had a big projection screen and a projector mounted to a camera. The camera was directly above your head by 3 feet or so. The screen is in front of you. As you go through your set-up position you see if you are correctly forming the straight line from bow wrist, bow shoulder and drawing shoulder that I always talk about.
The Olympic and Paralympic athletes and Resident Athletes from BMX, Rugby, Archery, Track and Field (and maybe others) are here with us…..we eat together in the same dining hall and pass each other on the walkways (how cool is that?).
It is 5:00 AM here so I’m going to sign off, get some more sleep, go for a run, eat, study, and get back to the classroom. It will be another 12 hr day full of lecture, dialog and stretch band. So the running is helping me clear the head and stay sharp….so far. One thing is for certain: no matter what the outcome at the end of the week is regarding my coach status, no one can take away what I learned while being here in this fantastic environment with World Class guidance. I’ll certainly return a better Coach with a deeper understanding of NTS. We are on the right track, AAA, and in the words of Will Rogers, “even if you are on the right track, you better keep moving or you’ll get run over.”
Stay tuned for more posts!
Love to everyone back home.
Coach Kyle