Never Sacrifice Development

I was watching some of the US Open qualifying tournament earlier today. This is the tournament before the tournament, so to speak. Sixteen slots for men and woman are left open in the US Open for qualifiers. They play a three-round tournament and the winners of those three rounds get into the main draw of the US Open. For these players, getting into the US Open can make them enough money to cover all of their expenses for a year (travel, coaching, etc.) and still leave a little money in the bank. By and large, the ones who are competing in the qualifying tournaments grind it out for most of the year in the equivalent of the minor leagues of tennis, hoping to make enough to keep the dream going.

There are generally two types of players who find themselves playing in qualifying tournaments: grizzled veterans trying to hang on and sustain their career and young players looking to get their first exposure to high-level competition. In many cases, the young players are still developing their game (see my entry on this topic and how forecasting isn't always rock-solid regarding junior players and their success at the senior level).

My favorite tennis analyst is Brad Gilbert (a former top-1o player in his own right, an author, and a great coach). He was asked about some of the younger players in the qualifying tournament, and he made an incredibly insightful comment that resonates deeply with me and my experiences as a coach. He said, and I'm paraphrasing, that the juniors who go on to have the greatest professional careers never sacrifice development for winning at the junior level. The development he's talking about here is all about technique, mechanics, stroke production--whatever you want to call it. It's so easy at the junior level to mistake winning for development; it's a very short-term approach that so often puts a ceiling on a junior player's future.

But I see this all the time in the gym, too (and it happens in all types of endeavors--it's not just confined to physical culture). Folks get caught chasing numbers and sacrifice development. In particular, foundational skills and positions often get sacrificed in the name of hitting some number (doesn't matter if it's a strength number or a time on a conditioning piece). There are many drawbacks to this type of approach. First and foremost, it takes a hell of a lot of work to undo bad movement habits that get ingrained. It's so much simpler to start off correctly and slowly build from there. Another drawback is the increase in injury potential if mechanics get really sloppy and those poor mechanics are repeated over and over again. And finally, no matter how hard you try, higher-level movements will always remain out of reach (e.g., if you can't deadlift and overhead squat, there's no way you're snatching).

I have a long-term bias (see my CI and DCA entry for one aspect of my philosophy on training). Don't put the cart before the horse. Take your time and enjoy the process. It's something you'll be doing for the rest of your life so there's no rush.