PASO Day 2

Our first session on Day 2 was "Implementing Performance Thinking Training" by a USOC Sport Psychologist. It's something I've thought a lot about, but not in terms of "sport psychology" and more in human terms - how do I put my athlete into a place where they can express themselves as a fencer? The biggest tag in the presentation that caught my attention: "You are doing it anyway, might as well conscious and systematic."

For those interested, the USOC has some mental training resources available for sale. I haven't done more than a cursory glance, but they look well-prepared and will likely be an addition to my library.

The second session was done by Alex Ryjik, the owner of Virginia Academy of Fencing, titled "Fencing Clubs in the US." More than anything, I felt the cultural divide here - it was educational on how the club system worked in the US, and specifically how VAF (one of the more business-savvy clubs in the country) worked, but for an audience whose stated interest was achieving high-performance goals, I'm not really sure it fit. One of the interesting tidbits was from an attendee, who pointed out that in his country, fencing clubs were not allowed to make a profit! We often complain about how other fencing powers have it easy with state sponsorship, but we're hardly the worst-case scenario.

The third session was "Deveoping a Strength & Conditioning Program", by the USOC's S&C coordinator. None of the material was groundbreaking, but the general principles established were sound, and it covered a lot of ground. I would have loved to see more specific examples -- I'm quite curious about assessment (especially when we're talking about imbalances which develop through hours of skill training), and ended up cornering the presenter in the weight room for a half-hour in the evening.

The final session, "Optimal Nutrition to Enhance Performance," fell a bit flat for me. On one hand, the hydration, supplement, and general ideas were fine. The few specific recommendations seemed off. Or as another attendee put it, "I think that's the first time I've ever been told to eat MORE carbs." However, she did specify that her background was in endurance sports, specifically cycling, which would explain some of the discrepancies. However, the general recommendations on how to create a nutrition plan made a lot of sense, while eliminating the tedium of trying to track down every last calorie.

I do have the material from these presentations, but want to check with the appropriate people before making it available.