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There is so much that upsets me about this story, so I am going to address a few in a thread. It's so disappointing that the coaching profession is still rife with people who operate this way. Let me say first that I only know what has been written and that is my lens. https://twitter.com/JoriEpstein/status/1290984808387092481
1/ I have worked with, observed and experienced coaches who view abusive behaviour as a necessity in a high performance environment. Sometimes these coaches are successful, sometimes even legendary. The rub is that they are often the exception, not the rule.
2/ For every coach experiencing sustained excellence, who believes their athletes need to hate them in order to win, there are dozens who aren't as successful. See Mike Rice, Bill Peters, Tim Beckman. The literature is replete with evidence to the contrary.
3/ See: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304404218_Serial_Winning_Coaches_People_Vision_and_Environment or https://www.researchgate.net/publication/222217922 as a start.
4/ To use heart rate as a measure of effort and then punish athletes based on this metric is ridiculous. Time spent above 90% max HR in a game is NOT a Key Performance Indicator of successful basketball performance. Somebody prove me otherwise.
5/ Being a good basketball player is certainly a KPI, which means ↓ wasted movement, ↑ efficiency meaning ur best players may actually spend less time in these higher ranges. GOING HARDER doesn't matter if you suck. I can run around for 4 quarters but trust me we ain't winning.
6/ Does anybody remember the controversy when GPS data showed LeBron was one of the slowest players in the playoffs? Could it be...maybe, just maybe he was just getting better, more efficient? https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2777308-lebron-james-on-data-saying-hes-slowing-down-the-dumbest-s-t-ive-ever-heard.
7/ Your fittest players will also likely take longer to reach a higher HR. So what, you punish your fittest athletes for...being fit? And make them do extra conditioning for what? To fatigue them and put them at a higher risk of injury?
8/ "Texas Tech players say they sometimes jumped up and down without regard for the game to elevate their heart rates." The logic here is absurd. Players were actually making themselves tired IN A GAME with unnecessary movements to satisfy an arbitrary coaching requirement. WOW.
9/ They sequestered an athlete from the rest of her team because they thought she was out of shape and then used shame and fear tactics to scare her into getting in shape. Have these people never heard of behavioural psychology?
10/ “After that,” said DeGrate, “we were like,‘ We don’t know who we can to talk at this place.’ ” This might b what upsets me the most. Even when coaching staff fails the athletes the administration is supposed to exist to protect & support them.Too often they fail them as well.
11/ Not until hiring processes change, and accountability measures put into place will we see a shift IMO. Schools need a Sports Performance Director or similar to ensure data is being used to benefit student-athletes NOT hold them hostage. /end
