Question: A strength coach, an athletic trainer and a physician are in a car driving through the Arizona desert. They get a flat tire. Whose fault is it?
Answer: It doesn’t matter. They are all going nowhere together.
You can argue that the flat tire can be blamed on the strength coach for not ensuring the tires were made to withstand the rigors of the desert, or the athletic trainer for not checking the air pressure prior to the trip, or even the physician for giving the nod to drive over the speed limit even though the engine was never tested to perform at that speed. The fact remains that each professional is stuck together going nowhere.
Sound familiar?
When we work with our athletes who are unable to play for whatever reason we often end up blaming the flat tire on someone else when in fact we are all now stuck in the same car going nowhere. Prior to your next road trip, let’s make sure we all meet in the garage together and develop a plan for our athletes before taking “the car” out for a zip around town.
Remember, if you’re looking to go nowhere, any road will take you there.
Art Horne the Coordinator of Care and Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Men’s Basketball Team at Northeastern University, Boston MA. He can be reached at a.horne@neu.edu.