Matt Hurst

Husband. 2xDad. Chelsea Piers Aquatics Club Head Coach. Lover. Fighter. Underdog. Philly phanatic.

[Brenna Greene @BrennaGreene_]

Curt Cignetti on an Athletic article this week where a former player said that Curt is "Never satisfied and never happy.":

"No, that's not right. There's a lot of times I am happy. I just don't show I'm happy, and if I'm going to ask my players, the first play to play 150 the same regardless of the competitive circumstances, then I can't be seen on the sideline high fiving people and celebrating. What's the effect going to be? ... I'll smile and celebrate in the coaches room with the coaches... Of course, in the playoffs you've got to do 9 or 10 different press conferences after the game so that's about an hour and a half later... No, I do smile and I am happy at times."

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

It’s great to have @saquon as an Eagle. PSU to PHL pipeline just feels good. @Eagles

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

This is wonderful for so many reasons.

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

100%. More coaches and athletes need to understand this.

[Mike Anzano @mikeanzano]

Out of all the things I’ve prepared my athletes for this is the most important.

To be successful without me.

If their success hinges on me, I’ve failed.

[David Marsh @SwimCoachMarsh]

We are a racing sport that requires training … not a training sport that offers racing IMO…

[Alan Couzens @Alan_Couzens]

Why?

Intense exercise is a stressor.

(Sufficiently) easy exercise is a de-stressor.

Intense exercise increases the activity of the sympathetic nervous system with all of the associated physiological effects...

* Increased blood glucose.
* Increased inflammation.
* Decreased HRV.
* Poor digestion.
* Poor sleep.
* Decreased immune response.

Slamming your body with high intensity exercise with no low intensity exercise to *buffer* the above, i.e. just going from (stressful) high intensity exercise -> (stressful) cognitive work, leaves you in a perpetual, chronic state of stress where all of the above is happening ALL THE TIME.

Athletes go from sickness to sickness, injury to injury.

The only solution...

*Actively* de-stress...
* Do yoga 🧘
* Walk in nature 🌲🚶
* Sleep 😴

Remedying the problem will be challenging - psychologically and physiologically - like breaking a crack addiction. But it is absolutely necessary for your long term health.

[Greg Berge @GregBerge]

Great Teams Have Great Assistant Coaches.

What do Great Assistants Do?

Here are 7 things.

[THREAD] 🧵

[The Winning Difference @thewinningdiff1]

“If your body language is bad you will never get in the game. Ever,” Geno Auriemma

Leaders aren’t afraid to hold people accountable to standards that build winners.

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

100%

[Jamy Bechler @jamybechler]

"Practicing hard is a choice. Watching extra film is a choice. Lifting weights, being coachable, and going to class are a choice. Your choices here are going to force me to either play you, or sit you on the bench. You’ll get exactly what you want." (Pat Summitt)

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

@Phillies 8:07pm, @Phillies fans everywhere, standing ovation!

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

@Phillies fans, at 8:07pm today, wherever we are, let’s rise to our feet and give a standing ovation. Send good vibes all the way to Phoenix.
#GoodVibesOnly #baseball @RealGlenMacnow

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

Can we universally agree to take this day off? Call it what you want, but call it off. #ColumbusDay2023 #IndigenousPeoplesDay #offday #vacation

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

“You know what we get to do today, we get to play baseball.”

Welcome to Red October!

[BaseballHistoryNut @nut_history]

Someone made a baseball movie montage and it actually deserves an Oscar. Thank you to whoever made this.

[Penn State Men’s Hockey @PennStateMHKY]

🗓️ SAVE THE DATE 🗓️

𝟬𝟭.𝟮𝟳.𝟮𝟰
vs. Ohio State

⚪️ WEAR WHITE ⚪️

#WeAre #HockeyValley

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

All Day

[Jon Gordon @JonGordon11]

Three things you control every day are your ATTITUDE, your EFFORT and your ACTIONS. It doesn’t matter what others are doing or who you think is being unfair. Every day you can focus on being positive, working hard and making others around you better.

[Jaycob Ammerman @Jammer2233]

Geno Auriemma 💯

“If you go to class & you do average work - you get a C - that’s why it’s called average. If you want a B - you have to do more work & if you want an A you have to do even more work. You have to give up stuff - you have to sacrifice.”

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

1 minute of listening. A lifetime of value. #costofleadership

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

@TrainHurst Fun Dip. This is not a question

[Matt Hurst @matthurst966]

Working hard at readiness is harder than working hard.

[Alan Couzens @Alan_Couzens]

Readiness monitoring in the real world:

"But I'm a swim coach with 30 kids in the water at a time. How would I implement readiness monitoring in the real world?"

Daily Visibility:
It starts with simple visibility into how everyone is doing at that time. There are a number of commercial athlete management options that give you a quick overview of everyone's state. I will go through how to build your own in my next chapter. Look at this in the morning before assigning the program.

Note who is needing some recovery:
Jot down those who are in need of a little extra recovery today, i.e. below their normal range in the readiness metrics that you're monitoring.

Shuffle the lanes daily:
"Strong" isn't a trait it's a daily state, i.e. the lane leaders shouldn't always be the lane leaders. This should rotate. Swimmers shouldn't always live in the "A lane", occasionally, they should return to the "B lane" with slower turnarounds for a mental and physical break.

####

These aren't massive changes, but they can have a massive impact. Sprinkling in low pressure days when needed can make all the difference in avoiding overtraining and burnout.