SECRETS
For training on the water, I asked Mark Hosegood to share some of his coaching secrets with us.
Mark: “The biggest thing is: it is not race practice it is race training – meaning being able to get direct feedback on the course. It also means practicing with specifically designed technical drills. That is drills which cater exactly to what is needed within the different aspects of racing.”
Exactly what these drills are I am not allowed to share, these will remain our top-secret methods for now, but another aspect of the coaching was video analysis. Whilst filming our starts and jibes, Mark would usually give feedback right into the camera and each evening we could then review the footage and analyse it. The level of slalom is so high that it is more about technical and tactical feedback. Another thing that is great about being able to watch all the video analysis with feedback is that we are learning not only to improve from our own mistakes, but also those of others! Furthermore, Mark made it clear that of course whilst coaching at such a high level he is not there to teach us jibing anymore but that he saw a big part of his role as being able to teach the riders to be more self aware about their strengths and weaknesses. This he believes would ultimately give the athletes the right tools to be able to become better at tactical racing. He added, “My goal as a coach is to give the riders the tools to be able to be self analytical and gain in awareness tactically and technically – this should allow them to dynamically develop. As a coach my role is to challenge convention – plant seeds with individual feedback and hopefully watch my athletes achieve and grow.”
On the theoretical side of things, Mark has been adamant at installing a ‘never give up attitude’ and we have been going through potential problems and effective solutions, all so come ‘race day’ we will be more relaxed no matter what life and the ever unexpected conditions of our sport throw at us.