Matt Whitcomb is the head coach for the US Cross Country Ski Team, where he’s coached at the past three Winter Olympic games.
Even if you don’t know much about competitive cross-country skiing, you understand the value of a good coach and mentor when it comes to achieving anything in life, whether it’s athletically motivated or not.
Today, we focus a lot on the ingredients in developing a world-class athlete. Is it the number of hours you train, or is mindset the superpower of success? Does a dictatorship coaching style breed success, or does it come from a more autonomous “hands off” approach to coaching?
When you’re working with a group of people at the top of their game (especially at the Olympics), how do you get that extra 1%, and how do these athletes deal with the pressure of a glaring spotlight, where that light shines extra bright every four years?
We discuss definitions of success, failure, and the most important question: “Could Coach Whitcomb Ted Lasso his way into coaching a completely different sport altogether?” Essentially, are the key elements of a successful coach transferable to any sport?
It’s an eye-opening chat and if you’re going to learn from anyone, heck, it may as well be an Olympic head coach.
Episode Resources:
US Ski and Snowboard - Cross Country Ski Team
US Ski and Snowboard on Peacock
"I Could Never Do That" Website - https://www.podpage.com/icouldneverdothat/
"I Could Never Do That" Instagram - @icouldneverdothat
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Theme Music: Your Love by Atch -License: Creative Commons License - Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
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