Stop Taking Credit for Natural Selection: Self-Evaluation, Efficacy and Humility in Coaching

Derek M. Hansen @DerekMHansen

www.SprintCoach.com www.StrengthPowerSpeed.com

Whenadmiringthetalentsandachievementsof topathletes,weoftenexamine– ingreatdetail – the contributing factors behind their successes. Qualities such as good genetics,hardwork,mentaltoughnessandsheerdeterminationarecommonlycitedastheprimaryinfluences for high levels of achievement. In some instances, the athletemay point to amentor,coachortrainerthathasmadeallthedifferenceintheircareers.And,wehaveallseen instances when a coach overtly takes credit for the achievements of a particularathleteorgroupofathletes,whileselectivelynotmentioningthemassfailuresthatresultedfromtheirdirectionofothers.Rarely,ifever,doesanathleteorcoachsay,“Well,IguessIwasjustlucky.SomebodyhadtowinandI’mcertainlygladitwasme.”I would like to believe that any coach or athlete with an ounce of humility wouldoccasionallywonder if their successhasbeen the result of luck, chanceor circumstancesbeyondtheircontrol. SimilartothelottoplayerwhosenumbersarerandomlyselectedintheprizedraworasoldierstormingthebeachesofNormandywhoescapedthebulletsofthe enemy, somepositiveoutcomes canbe the result of chanceor good fortune, andnotdeliberate,pre-meditatedaction. Some lotterywinnersdonotneeda complexsystemofnumber selectionwhenpurchasing a ticket. They randomly select theirnumbers. Manysoldiershave survivedbattlesnotdue to anyexceptional training techniques,Matrix-likebullet-dodging skills or strategies, but by pure luck. Could the same be said for athleticprowess? And, do self-promoting entrepreneurs only take credit for success after it is aforegoneconclusion, creatingrevisionistnarrativesaroundanathlete’spath toglory? Ofcoursetheydo!Thebottomlineisthereisgoingtobeawinner.Thisisanabsolutecertaintyeveryyearinprofessionalsports,barringalabordispute.IntheNFL,32teamsfaceoffagainsteachotherat thebeginningof theseasonandone team isgoing tobeholding theLombardiTrophyoverheadbytheend.IfIrepresentashoemanufacturer,clothingcompanyorsupplementproducer,IamtryingtogetmyproductouttoeveryteamsothatIcantakecreditwhenoneofthemwinsitallandsay,“TheSuperBowlChampionusesourproduct!”Thenyoucanletyourfansandaudiencedrawtheirownconclusionsaboutthewhy’sandhow’sprecedingthevictory.Legendarystrengthcoach,AlVermeil,isverycandidabouthisSuperBowlandNBAChampionshiprings.“IwasluckyenoughtohaveJoeMontanaandMichaelJordanonmyteams!”

@DerekMHansen

2

Examining Charles Darwin’s Theories within the Context of Sport Inhis1859book,OnOriginofSpecies,CharlesDarwinproposedthemechanismofnaturalselection to explain how life on earth has changed over geological time and how newspecies emerge from common ancestors. Darwin proposed natural selection as amechanism of how populations change through time, or evolve. The five principalcomponentsofnaturalselectionareasfollows:

1. Organismsproducemoreoffspringthanwillactuallysurvivetoreproduce.

2. Everyorganismstrugglestosurvive.

3. Thereisvariationwithinspecies.

4. Somevariationsamongmembersofaspeciesallowtheirbearerstosurviveandreproducebetterthanothers.

5. Organismsthatsurviveandreproducepasstheirtraitstotheiroffspring,andthehelpfultraitsgraduallyappearinmoreandmoreofthepopulation.i

The sports examples in relation to the concept of natural selection are extremelycompelling.Butforthepurposeofthisdiscussion,Imustmakethedistinctionbetweentheterm,“naturalselection,”asused inanevolutionarycontext,asopposedtoathletesbeing“naturally”selectedtohigherlevelsofperformanceintheirsportduetotheirinnatetalent,persistence,durabilityandotherspecificvariantsthatallowthemtosucceed.Alternatively,certainathletesarede-selectedfromfurthercompetitionbasedontheirlackoftalent,skillordurability.Wearenotdiscussingathleteachievementthroughmutationandthepassing

@DerekMHansen

3

on of traits from generation to generation. We are simply saying that the strong willsurvive, thrive and rise to the top despite numerous external factors and interventions,manyofwhichmayhavelittleornothingtodowithanathlete’ssuccess.IfwelookattheAmericanFootballexperienceandothersportingorganizations,therearemanyofDarwin’sprincipalcomponentsthatapply.“Producing More Offspring Than Will Survive” Atotalof1.23millionyouthages6-12playedtacklefootball in2015intheUnitedStates.Flagfootballparticipationforthesameagegroupwas1.14million.Forthe13-17yearagegroup,participationintacklefootballwasat1.98millionduringthesameperiod. Thus,atotalof3.21millionkids fromtheagesof6-17played tackle football inAmerica. Add tothis,approximately92,000collegefootballplayersandyouhaveanextremelylargepoolofathletes to draw from. In comparison, USA rugby has reported that they had 50,000registeredyouthathletes in2015,althoughtheirnumbersaregrowingyear toyear. Thegameisnowplayedby35,000highschoolathletes,10timesmorethanwereparticipatingover a decade ago. The growth for rugby in America is encouraging, but does not evenregisterasablipontheradar incomparisonwith football. The latest informationontheconsequencesof repeatedhead traumaandconcussions in football seems tohavehadanimpactonparticipationattheyouthlevel.However,aslongastheNFLreignssupremeintheprofessionalsportsworld, therewillalwaysbea“healthy”supplyofathletesreadytosuitup,providedtheymakeitthroughthegauntletofchallengesandcollisionsfromhighschoolthroughtocollegeandbeyond.Thepotentialfinancialrewardsmaybetoohighasshown in Figures 1a and 1b for people to turn their back on the sport in the wake ofemergingbraintraumaresearch.

Figure1a–TopsalariesintheNFL–2017

@DerekMHansen

4

Figure1b–AnnualRevenuesoftheTopSportsLeaguesintheWorld-2016TheNorthAmericanexperiencewith icehockeyalsopoints to thepowerofnumbers. In2016,CanadaandtheUSAhadoverjustunder1.2millionpeopleparticipatinginicehockeyas illustrated in Figure 2. These two countries account for 74% of all players in theNationalHockeyLeague (NHL). It couldbe argued that SwedenandFinlandhavebetteryouth development programs and get more value out of every player, but the resultsachievedbyproducinga“largenumberofoffspring”isprettycompelling.

Figure2–WorldwideIceHockeyParticipationbyCountry–2016

@DerekMHansen

5

IntheAmericanFootballexample–withwelloverthreemillionyoungathletesfeedingintothesystemof“development”–alotofmistakescanbemadealongthewaywithtalented,resilientathletesstillfindingtheirwaytothetop.And,eventhoughmanyofthesemistakescanbefairlyegregious–whetheritisintheformofpoorcoaching,inappropriatephysicaltraining or intentional abuse – a good number of outliers will continue to thrive andsucceeddespitetheseobstacles. And, invariably,someoftheseegregiousactorswill takecreditforthesuccessoftheoutlierandtouttheirmethodsasbeingthedifferencemaker.It becomes quite clear that every coach and sport organization can benefit from a largeathlete population, asmargins of error aremuch greater and none of us are immune toerror,despiteany illusionsportrayedbyoursocialmediaramblings. CharlieFranciswasalwaystellingmeabouttheimportanceofkeepingyourtraininggroupaslargeaspossible.“Howdoyouknowwhichathleteisgoingtoturnouttobeyoursuperstar.Wehadover30kids who showed up to train with us in the beginning. One of those athletes was BenJohnson, but therewere no early indications that hewas going to be the athlete that heturnedouttobe.Andmanyofthekidsthatshowedpromiseearlyneverpannedout.”I also remember Charlie saying something rather profound during a rant about theineptness of the numerous sport federations and government-funded organizations inCanada that were overflowing with useless bureaucrats. These weremany of the samebureaucratsthatwouldsetunrealisticstandardstoavoidfundingtripsforathletestomajorcompetitions,whileatthesametimebookingtheirownfirst-classticketsandfive-starhotelrooms so that they could attend the opening ceremonies and various parties while theathleteswerelefttotheirowndevices. Charliethoughtwecouldeasilydoawaywiththeredundantoffice-dwellersandsimplyprovideincentivesforathletes.“PutamilliondollarsincashatthefinishlineandI’llbetyoutherewouldbesomeonethatwouldrununder10seconds!”“Every Organism Struggles to Survive” Sometimes, even the existence of a struggle – outside of the regular training andcompetitions–isenoughofanadditionalstimulustocreateextraordinaryresults.Thisissometimesobservedincaseswheresocio-economichardshipsexistandcandriveathletesto dowhatever is necessary tomove up the development chain. This concept could besupported by the experience of sprinters in Jamaica, boxers in Mexico, long distancerunnersinEasternAfricaorbaseballplayersinLatinAmerica.Financialmeansarelimited,but the athleteswithin a rather large population aremotivated to improve and combinetheir hungerwith talent to achieve success. However, the biggest stressor or struggle –even in the aforementioned cases – must be in the form of specific and formidablecompetitiontodrive thedemandfor improvedskillsandphysicalabilities. Thiscanonlyhappenifyouareplayingtopcompetitorsonaregularbasis.Oftenthiscanbeanexpensiveventure in the form of payments for school, joining a club or academy or attendingspecializedtrainingcamps.

@DerekMHansen

6

Hence, financial struggles do not always translate into greater outcomes later in life,particularly forcertainsports. Inhis2013article intheNewYorkTimesentitled,“IntheNBA,ZipCodeMatters”,SethStevens-DavidowitzfoundthatmoderndayNBAplayersmorethanlikelycamefrommiddletoupper-middleclassbackgrounds.Hepointsoutthat:

“These results push back against the stereotype of a basketball player driven by anintensedesiretoescapepoverty.In“TheLastShot,”DarcyFreyquotesacollegecoachquestioningwhetherasuburbanplayerwas“hungryenough”tocompeteagainstblackkids fromtheghetto.But thedatasuggest thatonaverageanymotivationaledge inhungriness is far outweighed by the advantages of kids from higher socioeconomicclasses.”

Stevens-Davidowitz points out that the socioeconomic advantages also include non-cognitive skills such as persistence, self-regulation and trust, as well as physical heightachieved through the availability of good nutrition. He adds that, “In basketball, theimportanceofeveryinchisenormous.IestimatethateachadditionalinchalmostdoublesyourchancesofmakingtheN.B.A.”

Figure3–“TheStruggleforExistence”byGeorgeBouverieGoddard,1870

Hence, the struggle must be specific in nature, imposing the demands of the task to beencountered in future competitions, but also making the most out of every advantageavailable in order to be victorious over competitors. Without an ongoing struggle forexistence,athletesarenot required toadaptand improve. This typeof strugglewithinavery large athlete population can have profound effects, regardless of coaching, facilitiesandtacticalpreparation.

@DerekMHansen

7

“There is Variation Within a Species” An article by Abhijeet Bardapurkar provided a very useful description of the power ofvariation. “When an individual varies from others in the population, and when thisvariationisusefultotheindividualinitsownsurvivalorreproduction,thenthevariationisnaturallyselectedandpreserved:inthesensethatthevariationisrepeatedlyreproducedinthe following generations, with more and more variant individuals in the population.Selectionandpreservationofavariation isanaturalconsequenceof itsusefulness to thevariant. See the analogy here: be it artificial selection or be it natural selection, thepreservationofvariationistheconsequenceofitsusefulness.Ifthevariationisusefultothehumanbeings,theselector-breedercausesitspreservation;ifthevariationisusefultothevariantindividualitself,thisusefulness-to-the-selfcausesitspreservation.”iiTheconceptofvariationwithinapopulationiscriticaltothesuccessofindividualmembersof thatpopulation. Ibelieve this iswhyathletes thatenterearlyspecializationprogramsandareplacedon “All StarTeams”at anearly agedonot farewell in the long run. Thewhole point of bringing athletes together in a large group is to determine – over time –which variations are useful. In basketball, taller athletes with longer arms are useful.However, early specialization and artificial selection may precede the growth spurts ofmanypotentiallyusefulcandidates,renderingthemunselectedforlongtermdevelopment.In the case of boxing, athletes that cannot “take a punch” are quickly filtered out of theathletepoolbyessentiallyplacing them inharm’s way and seeing what happens incompetition. While not ethical, it is veryeffective. Idistinctlyrememberoneofmyolder boxing friends telling me aboutCassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) having atremendous ability to take a punch to thehead, making him so difficult to defeatgiven his already blinding speed andpunching abilities. These variationsmadehimanaturalwinnerinboxing.Inthecaseofperipheralinjuries,variationscan be either a curse or a blessing. Mygoodfriendandveteranphysicaltherapist,Robert Panariello, believes that manyathletes in the NFL have made it to theprofessional ranks because they haveanatomicalvariationsthatallowedthemtosurvive in such a brutal sport. Someplayers may be selected out of the talentpoolbecauseoflaxityorinstabilityinkneeorshoulderjointsthatareexposedintheir

@DerekMHansen

8

highschoolorcollegeyearsandabruptlyendtheircareers.ThosethathavemadeittotheNFL and are enjoying successful careersmay have variations that havemaximized theirchancesofstayingintheleague.Ineithercase,coachingandtrainingmaynothavemadeadifferenceintheirdurabilitythroughouttheircareers. Naturalselectionandanumberofvariablequalitiesmayhaveplayedamoresignificantroleintheirfate.

Becoming “Facilitators of Natural Selection” Thebacklashthatmayfollowfromthisarticlecouldveryeasilycomeintheformofphysicalpreparationcoachesandstrengthcoachesthrowingtheirhandsupandsarcasticallyasking,“Sowedon’treallyhaveanimpactonanathlete’ssuccess?It’sallduetochanceandnaturalselection?”Myresponsewouldbetoconsiderallofthefactorsatplayanddoyourbesttobea“facilitator”ofnaturalselection.Understandingyourroleintheprocessiscriticalformaximizing theprobabilityof success foranyparticularathleteunderyourcharge. Herearesomefinalthoughtsonthesubject.Get Out of The Way: Cultivate and Refine Talent Wemustbethankfulwhenexceptionalnaturaltalentsandathleticoutliersarepartofourtraininggroupsandteams.ManyofthegreatathletesthatIhaveworkedwithmademyjobeasierbecause theywereremarkable responders toalmostanyheightenedstimulus. Myprimaryfocuswastomaintaintheirabilitiesandallowthemtoflourishorganically,pickingmyspotscarefullywithprecisedosagesoftrainingstressatdifferenttimesduringtheweek–notfloodingthemwithhighvolumesofwork. Ifoneacquiresafootballathletethatcanrun4.3secondsover40yardswithlittletrainingorpreparation,thereisoftenanautomatic– albeitoverly simplistic – assumption thatheor she can improve this athletewith theirbrandoftrainingtoa4.2or4.1performance.Mostofthetime,itisveryadmirableifyousimplymaintainthisathlete’s4.3-secondspeed,whileimprovingtheirabilitytorepeatsuchspeed throughout a game and consistently throughout the season, as well as improvingtheirstrength,changeofdirectionabilitiesandoveralldurability.Butpushinganathletetorun4.1secondsat theexpenseofotheressentialqualitiescouldbedeemedirresponsibleandprovecostlyinthelongrun.Embrace Chaos I believe it is also important to realize that fantastic things can emerge from chaos anddisorder. Mustwecontroleverything?Havingtoomuchstructureinasystemcaninhibitgrowthandintuitiveabilities,leadingtothedown-regulationoftheveryqualitiesthatmakeanathlete–oramusicaltalentorintellectual–great.Inmyexperience,greattalentsthriveonnon-linearityandspontaneousscenarios.Itisthejoboftheexperiencedcoachtoknowwhentosticktotheplanandwhentodeviatefromthescript.

@DerekMHansen

9

Avoiding the PR’s Promises, prediction and prevention for the sake of promotion – although a playfulalliteration–canbeadangeroustrendforsportprofessionals(PRisironicallyusedtorefertoPersonalRecordsinindividualsports).Egooftengetsinthewayandwecanallbeguiltyofplacingtoomuchemphasisonourcontributionstoanathleteorteam’ssuccesses,whileunderreportingourlessefficaciouscasestudiesandfailures.Providingnarrativesafterthefactwhethertellingusthatyouknewateamwouldwinoryouknewthisathletewouldgetinjuredisunprofessionalandunscrupulous. Also,standinginfrontofacrowdandtellingthem that you will prevent something – such as injuries – can backfire spectacularly.Sometimesstuff justhappens. Athletesmayprevailbutsometimestheyfail,andwehaveno means of explaining either scenario most of the time. Standing back from thecompositionandtaking fullstockofallof thecontributing factors inanobjectivemannercanbeadifficultprocess in thewakeofour insecurities,butcanalsobeanexceptionallyliberatingexperienceandleadtofuturediscoveries.Closing Remarks Asaparentofyoungathletes,Iamacutelyawareoftheneedtokeepmykidsinvolvedinavariety of sports for as long as possible. My children continue to amazemewith newlyacquired abilities and greater determination coming to light almost everyweek.Most oftheseabilitieshavenotbeendevelopedthroughdeliberatecoachingattemptsonmypart.Theysimplyappear.Astheyencounterstressandstruggles,theinitialinstinctistoshelterand protect them. However, their built-in desire to succeed, along with their inherentadaptabilityalmostalwaysseemstoallowthemtobothsurviveandthrive.Interveningorimposing structure could likely domore damage than good. The one thing I am certainaboutisthatabsolutecertaintyisafleetingandoftenunattainableconcept.Aslongasweareawareofthefactthatnaturalforcesareoftenthemostpowerfulinfluencers,wecanbebetterpreparedasbothcoachesandathletesfortheuncertaintiesoflifeandsport.i Curtis,AnthonyD.ALessonOnEvolutionandNaturalSelection.TheAmericanBiologyii Bardapurkar,AbhijeetS.Whatis‘Natural’inNaturalSelection?Resonance.May2013:475-482.