Doing Simple Better

I was covering a high school basketball game this past weekend and started to reflect on a conversation I had the previous day with a friend of mine. Our conversations usually consist of brainstorming ideas around biomechanics and data science. One of the commonalities we share is the appreciation for the need of simplicity. Those who know me well may laugh at the idea of me praising simplicity, but hear me out. 

I think I was reminded of our conversation during the basketball game because of the apparent complexity in the coaching style of both teams. There was constant instruction to the players as to what to do, what not to do, and what to look out for. My head was spinning, I can't imagine how the players felt. 

So what is it about simplicity that can make us better athletes, clinicians, coaches, and teachers? Well...it comes down to how much can you really process at one time? If we think back to the post I did about motor learning and external vs internal focus, it is impossible for the body to organize every process or position in a complex movement. In the same way, it is difficult for us to process multiple commands and instructions, especially during activity. 

I am reminded of a common phrase from one of my favorite podcasts, the Perception and Action Podcast by Professor Rob Gray. Professor Gray has a similar format to my blog where he takes current scientific research around motor learning and interprets it for athletes, coaches, and clinicians. It's a wonderful series and I highly recommend checking it out. The phase that he continually uses is, "paralysis by analysis." Basically, it alludes to being in a frozen state as a result of too much information. Often he is referring to data analysis but it applies to larger concepts.

I find myself doing this with my athletes. If I am evaluating an athlete, it is easy for me to go down the rabbit hole and try to identify every dysfunction and every exercise that I could do or prescribe to address it. However, this can become too intensive and worse, I can give the athlete too much to consider to where we may both be figuratively paralyzed.

When I am in this state, I try to fall back on simplicity vs complexity. I have had some formal training with the Functional Movement Systems (FMS) and their Selective Functional Movement Assessment (SFMA). I find their way of thinking and evaluating to be one of my favorite and one that I hope to post about. Their design is based on an algorithm similar to computer language; if...then...

Their assessment seeks to identify limitations in movement and explain their cause through a few categories. They then recommend addressing the most obvious limitation that does not cause pain. Without getting into the details of the evaluation, I think we can appreciate the simplicity of the design and feedback. My goal is to identify a limitation, and provide a simple solution. 

There are situations where the complexity makes it difficult to keep it simple. However, I think if you tackle the complexity in simple stages, you create a better process. 

I was fortunate enough to work with the Chicago Cubs to start my professional career. I was in AAA the year that we won the World Series. One of the resounding messages that Joe Maddon brought to the organization was, "do simple better." What a perfect example of what I am talking about. It's easy to get focused on the end goal and all of the obstacles in the way. Focusing on the process and simply addressing those leads to a more manageable task.

My goal is to identify a maximum of 3 things that each of my players needs to work on that is as objective and simple as possible. In all honesty this doesn't necessarily occur in practice but it is my ideal scenario. I want to identify simple limitations to each of my athlete's health and performance and provide as simple of a solution as possible. I think the important thing here is to communicate and make those apparent. Ideally, I should be able to ask each of my athletes what they are working on and how the process is going and we should collectively be able to discuss it on the same page. Furthermore, if the coaching staff can be involved that's even better.

Lets look at an example. If I have a pitcher that I have identified as having a tight front hip, that may inhibit his ability to "finish over his front side" and make him more susceptible to decelerative arm issues. I need to objectively evaluate this, communicate that with the athlete (including why that is important), and give a simple exercise or series of exercises to address it. Ideally, we communicate with the pitching coach as well. Perhaps the coach identifies the same limitation. Now two professionals with two different backgrounds are approaching the same issue together and reinforcing the message to the player. We can both consistently check with the pitcher to see how his progress is going and make adjustments as we acquire more information and feedback. 

The above example is definitely an ideal situation. There are various limitations to the process. However, I do believe that addressing the simple solution or the "low hanging fruit" is a great way to start. 

From an athlete's perspective I think this can apply to anything from health to performance. Perhaps you don't sleep very well. We have already discussed the side effects of poor sleep in a previous post. I would recommend trying to address the situation as simple as possible vs making a major overhaul to your lifestyle. Perhaps you make a conscious effort to stay off your phone while in bed. Maybe you set an alarm in the off season to have consistent sleep and wake times. 

I think diets are a fantastic example of building on simplicity. Diets can be a major overhaul in lifestyle. I am reminded of an athlete I worked with regarding his diet. His goal was to lose some weight, so I had him track his diet for a few weeks. Admittedly, I am not great with nutrition and dieting advice so I reached out to some of the people I had access to that were. One of the things that was consistently pointed out was his lack of protein intake. What was our plan? We told him to have a protein shake in the afternoon to hold him over to dinner and to make conscious effort to add forms of protein where possible. This didn't change things overnight and he didn't suddenly lose a bunch of weight, but he did develop better patterns because he was given a simple task to focus on. 

The challenge I leave you with is this...whether you're an athlete, clinician, coach, teacher, parent etc., figure out a way to simplify the process and do that to the best of your ability. Tackling complex issues and address limitations starts with doing simple better. That's all for now...from the training room.