Familiar with the quote or not, the version we are most likely to hear attributed to Greek philosopher Heraclitus is, “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man”. With no surviving writing from Heraclitus himself, we are attributing this to him via records of his students and counterparts-in-thought. With much less appetite for an open-ended and subjectively vague philosophical diet, the gaps are filled in thusly. Of the accepted primary references to this concept, Heraclitus’s words left much more to the imagination:
We both step and do not step into the same, we both are and are not
In a profession of planning and counter-planning, in a profession of scouting, predicting, gameplanning and then throwing it all out the window when the competition starts, in a profession of ego-meets-ego-meets-(hopefully)-egolessness, in a profession where individuality ideally gives way to solidarity, we must embrace that Heraclitus may have identified coaches as fish out of water…while in the water…drowning. Choose your sport. Take the number of athletes on your team and multiply that by the number of coaches on your staff and multiply that by the number of potential moment-to-moment perceptions of actions, words, and outcomes and multiply that by the number of outside influences on each individual at any given time and multiply that by the infinite combinations of thoughts, feelings, goals, dreams…you get the idea. The variables and dynamics involved make a daunting task seem impossible, and that’s just upon dipping a toe into the water.
Not to add fuel to the fire, but the prefrontal cortex doesn’t reach full development or maturation until the age of 25. “This brain region has been implicated in planning complex cognitive behavior, personality expression, decision making, and moderating social behavior”. (Shoutout to rental car companies for identifying the minimum age to really trust a human’s decision making…in theory). This is a horrifying reality of the young athletes we choose to lead and to whom some trust their livelihood. What this means is that from neighborhood park district leagues to high-level professionals, we are engaging with humans who are still spending a lot of time and energy on learning how to human. Before they even reach the practice facility, they are spending an entire day trying to navigate creating an image that aligns with their beliefs while figuring out their beliefs. They are experimenting with social interactions with parents, friends, and teachers. They are balancing effort, performance, and expectations that are being defined by themselves and their people. At the same time, we are demanding they learn the ins-and-outs of a sport at increasingly advanced levels, how to be a good teammate, and how to manage a social media identity and brand. (A future post will address the dissonance created by social media for young athletes and how it can be used in a positive way).
Let’s take a moment to embody the words of Heraclitus. Either visualize this or do this the next time you arrive for practice or training:
Stand outside your facility and take a deep breath. (Close your eyes if it is safe to do so).
Imagine you are standing on the bank of a river.
Imagine the river waters swirling, cresting over rocks, a different pace wherever you watch.
Imagine the sound of the river, constant yet ever-changing, mesmerizing, peaceful.
Think of taking that first step.
The moment your foot hits the waters freeze the entire scene.
Mentally pull yourself back to the bank and look at this snapshot.
If you were given the opportunity to coach within that singular moment, with the time and insight to evaluate and identify everything in stillness, you could eventually recall every detail and use it to your advantage. This is not our job. This is not what we prepare for. This is not what coaching is. And we are the ones with a fully developed prefrontal cortex. If we expect this from our athletes, the ability to freeze everything and operate objectively in regards to a snapshot of a river at one moment in time, we will find we are all up a creek without a paddle.
So what do we do?
Every moment we have with our players is special, unique. Who they are today is fleeting and fragile. They may return to practice the next day a completely changed person. YOU may return to practice the next day a completely changed person. This part of human nature is what makes coaching so dynamic, and eventually, so rewarding.
As it relates to performance, it is our responsibility to remember the humanity of each person involved in our operations. Connections and understanding always have and always will support success defined in many ways. Relationships not only allow for coaches and athletes to build trust and garner commitment, but also allow these young people to explore what relationships in general can be. From the highest level of competition down, the fluidity of the river can manifest in performance. Be it an angry outburst on the professional stage or a five year-old sitting in the middle of the soccer field crying about a caterpillar, the river flows with or without our permission. Being a beacon of consistency and doing our part to teaching the tactics for creating consistency are gifts we can provide.
For success attached to another nautical metaphor, see: PJ Fleck and “Row the Boat”.
We are coaches. We don’t get into this profession for smooth sailing. Often we can get caught up in thinking we are more Captain Ahab than we are The Old Man and the Sea. Sometimes we end up being George Clooney in “The Perfect Storm”, sometimes Mark Wahlberg. But think back to the mental exercise, the visualization of stepping into the river. We don’t go into the water for its present state, for that one particular moment in time, we go into the water to be invigorated, to be given life. We go into the water knowing it flows, it changes. We go into the water considering depths, temperatures, gifts and dangers. We go into the water understanding it has been there for much longer than we have existed and will continue to be there for much longer than we will exist. But just as we can see ourselves being the ones stepping into the river, with our athletes as part of the water, we need to remember they are taking the same step into their river which includes us as part of the water. As a voice of philosophy himself, Bruce Lee encouraged those moments as well.
Whether we are the explorer or the water, reflect upon your current state and the state of your current. Coach in the river.
Resources and Research
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/heraclitus/
PJ Fleck - “Row the Boat”
Bruce Lee