TEAMWORK: Why it's a PRIVILEGE

I have always said, with absolute sincerity, that to be a part of any athlete team is a great privilege. Whether we're considering an Olympic team, or a team committed to getting a young athlete ready for their National Champs, it is all the same.  Teamwork, in the athletic space, does make the dream work, as long as we're all working as a team!

But I had a really bad experience a number of years ago. 

As a young sailor, growing up worshipping the likes of Sir Peter Blake et al, I was beside myself with excitement when I was invited to come and test working with Emirates Team NZ (for the San Francisco edition).  I was to be working directly with Dave Slyfield, an absolute legend in the NZ strength and conditioning community, as well as being one of my lecturers that I looked up to at Auckland University.  

The initial test he set me was to video analyse the Camper Round the World boys (from behind and side on) doing an all-out 8 second max grinding test.  I had to take my video files home, look at them in slo-mo and come back to Dave with my assessment as to who was putting out the most amount of power, and why, in a ranked situation.  I passed the test.

Once the Camper boys had gone, I started with the ETNZ squad. 

I loved every second. 

Initially they were a little resistant ("Now Greg, these boys have only lifted heavy tin in the past, so be prepared for some push back when just doing body weight/core training as it's completely new to them" (this was especially true from one of NZ's greatest rowers, but that's a story for another day (and don't worry, it ended really well!))), but we started making some really good gains and the feedback was sensational.  

Then out of the blue I got an email from Sly: 'It has come to my attention that you have been telling people that you are running the strength and conditioning programme for this team. While that is clearly untrue, what you need to learn is your place in working as part of a team......'

I was beyond mortified.  Beyond embarrassed. 

To be raked over the coals like this, by my immediate boss, someone whom I profoundly looked up to, was too much to bear.  And for the record, I never did say any of those things, and I never did find out how Sly got told this, but that wasn't the point.  We sat down the following week and cleared the whole situation up, and I carried on with the boys until they left for San Fran.  But you never forget experiences like that, and even though I didn't deserve to chewed up like that, it is still a feeling I take with me today when working in an athletic team environment.

Why?

Because the nature of competitive sport is not just about getting out there and 'doing it' - repeatedly. It's a profoundly complex layering of physiology, strength, nutrition, psychology, and even athlete welfare (to name but a few).  I listened to an interview with Lewis Clareburt last year, when (ironically) I was driving up to MISH to treat the paddlers, and he referenced how when you're at the top of the game in swimming, he believes your success is down to 60% psychology and 40% physical (you can listen HERE).

So to be a part of a team, to work super collaboratively with the rest of the support team, and clearly with the athletes, is as exciting as it gets (in my field).

I have always said, that I am a cog in a big machine.  

I believe a necessary cog (otherwise why would I be there?), but when all the cogs are working harmoniously, we're like an Omega Seamaster (my dream watch): accurate, smooth and timeless.

Up at Millennium Institute, where I head every Thursday to treat the K4 Womens kayakers and Corbin Hart, Parakayaker, there is a countdown whiteboard in the window of the Strength and Conditioning team office window.

It simply says "Days until Paris: 99

Make every training day count.

If you're watching the Olympics, the America's Cup, the Tour de France or the National Age Group Swimming Champs, spend some time thinking about what has gone into getting these athletes to where they are now.

So to all the teams I have, or are working with, I thank you. While we're all there, ultimately, to extract the absolute best out of our athletes, we're also there to grow, to learn and to strive to continue to bring these best versions of ourselves.

That's what a great team does.