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STEPHEN GOUGH, U.S. National Short Track Coach Ohno Zone Interview, January 2003, page 2 of 3 Part 3: Coaching the U.S. Team Gough and the U.S. men, Bormio, Italy, December 2002 
OZ: How would you characterize your coaching style? Do you have a philosophy of coaching? SG: I believe in hard work, goal setting and planning, and self-confidence. I want the athletes to be self-critical and be able to analyze their strengths and weaknesses, not only physically, technically or tactically but also mentally. It is also essential that they believe in themselves and their ability to accomplish their goals. I think it’s important for athletes to be self-motivated too. So I try to set up a training environment where the athletes can focus on achieving their goals and work with them to find the solutions. I won’t push athletes too much. They are very driven as it is and I trust that they are putting in the appropriate effort in a given workout. I think questioning their effort can be demeaning and besides, it they are slacking off they are only cheating themselves. I try to be consistent and fair, and I try to help all of the skaters reach their goals. To compete at the international level though requires a serious commitment and they have to carry themselves appropriately. I also like it for the athletes to do other things aside from skating, so most are in school part time or work a little. It helps to provide some perspective and it gives them something to think about besides skating. This is what I strive for, though it doesn’t work so smoothly all the time. There’s so much more to being National coach than just coaching, which means that I usually wind up compromising things and sometimes it seems as though I hardly have any time to do any coaching at all which is frustrating. That’s why it’s so important for the athletes to know what they are working on and come ready to put the work in every time. OZ: Is there a difference in style between the Canadian and U.S. short track? How do you think your background in Canadian speedskating influences your coaching style today? SG: There has been much more depth in Canada over the years so that has a big influence on how they have set up their system and how their skaters have to skate. There are differences in technique, but those have become smaller over the last few years as US skaters have improved. Their technique is more uniform within their team too compared to the US. OZ: What do you think is the most important part of the job of being a coach? SG: It would be impossible to pick one thing. I try to be as professional as possible and consistent when I interact with the athletes. OZ: How much input do the skaters have into their training regimens? Do most of the elite skaters follow the same type of workout? SG: They have a little freedom to do their own thing. They often do extra workouts on their own, or can do whatever they want on some afternoons since they know what extra they need to work on. There is a difference from country to country in how much training athletes do. We know that they skate much more in Korea than we do in the US for example. But as the sport has grown I think the type of training has gotten more uniform. All of the skaters here in Colorado Springs follow the same core workouts but obviously they cannot all do the exact same things. OZ: What is the single problem occurring most frequently with skaters in their training? SG: There’s not really one thing. Sometimes its equipment, sometimes it’s responding to how an athlete feels on a given day in a workout, and sometimes its injuries. OZ: The members of the men’s team train in at least three different locations around the country. How do you handle the challenges this creates for you as a coach and for them in their training, particularly with the relay? SG: When it comes to the relay we try to host camps where they get the chance to skate together and then use the time wisely when we are together at competitions like World Cups. OZ: What differences (if any) are there between coaching the men's and women's teams? SG: I think the type of interaction is a little different. Without generalizing too much, I think women’s and men’s values within sport are a little different as well and that has to be taken into consideration. And there are some differences in the workouts. For example, the women’s relay is only 3000m so at some point you specialize towards that distance. OZ: In Bormio, it was fascinating to see the coach-skater interaction during races and the different approaches of the coaches. Some were really vocal during races and acted out their jubilation or despair. By contrast, you seemed to maintain a calm demeanor regardless of the outcome, encouraging the U.S. athletes without the rest of us overhearing every word. What actually takes place between a coach and athlete during races? SG: Coaches are able to get information to the athletes, telling them things like how far ahead they are, where a certain skater is in the pack, whether to pass or not (inside or outside?). You also provide encouragement. Some coaches do all of this by yelling and some use visuals like gestures or hand signals. Most do a bit of both. For example, you’ll notice Korean skaters looking at their coach very often during a race for specific instruction on what to do. Some skaters get so zoned in that they don’t hear or look over for any feedback. I’m not much of a screamer so I try to make sure I can be at least seen. It’s important for the athletes to have a plan that they want to execute and not rely too heavily on their coaches. OZ: What are the most important challenges for the U.S. team, heading toward Torino 2006? SG: We need to increase our number of proven world-class caliber skaters. The increased depth raises the team’s performance level and is essential if you want to be competitive in the relay. >> Continue to page 3 >> Ohno Zone Home |
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