Why I Love Winter Training

Winter Training is Finally Here, YES!

Yea you heard me, I said YES! Time to bring out the pens and paper and put away the box and wrenches for a while. Why do I love the winter so much, you ask? It is that time of year where I get to work on all the “off” the water stuff that can so often get over looked.

Winter training allows for a lot more one-on-one with all of my athletes. Day in, day out, I put in some great “face” time with Beau Hoopman or Josh Inman, but what about all the other guys in the boat that are NOT sitting stroke?! I love the fact that I can sit and chat or just listen to Walsh and Beery about what is going on with them. This is the time of year when I can poke and prod to see what the men like and what they do not like. It is much easier to find out what they do not like! The great part about the winter training is that you get constant feedback everyday. Often I do not get much feedback, if any during the racing season. All the guys are too worried about getting faster, making changes and winning medals. This is what they are supposed to be doing. The difference is that this time of year they can take a second, relax and bring you up to speed on what the boat wants and needs. The tricky part is staying a step ahead of the game and using all the information that you acquire. You need to improve by checking yourself all the time. I need to take a realistic assessment of what I am doing, whether right or wrong, and fix it. It can be real tough, especially fixing all those things I do wrong, but I rather do it now than make a mistake during a race at Worlds. Taking winter training seriously can set me out of the gates running with a great leg up. I’ll take any thing I can get!