DAVE'S ONE TO ONE COACHING IN DENIA .. AND A BIG DECISION !!!
Article Published : 01/02/10
More Pictures:
- Guide Simon with Dave on New Climb for Denia Camp
- DAVE LLOYD.... COACH, NOT EVENT ORGANISER!!
Dave has just come back this Saturday evening from Denia (Spain) where he had his first experience of doing a one to one exclusive Training Camp with ONE rider.. Here are Dave's thoughts...
"I have just had a fantastic experience over in Spain with one of my riders, Ian Blatchly, who hired me for a full week's one to one coaching camp and what a fantastic success it proved to be.
I think Ian will testify, he probably learnt more in those short seven days than he has in his whole cycling "experience" before. The weather did it's best to spoil the first couple of days, but a lot of descending and climbing "skills" were done and Ian's position was minutely scrutinised and changed quite radically. The effect of the change was nothing less than miraculous and Ian suddenly became a "Demon Descender"... It was an amazing sight for me to see such an improvement. After those first few days the weather was absolutely GLORIOUS and we got some really long hilly rides in and Ian's experience just grew and grew.. It was just amazing to see the transformation in an athlete in just ONE WEEK.. Totally mind blowing!!
Ian learnt a huge amount, not just about his riding, but equipment and just about everything cycling.. I was a bit nervous about the venture as this was the first time I have done anything like this.. But, without sounding big headed, my 42 years of knowledge stood me in good stead and I'm sure I learnt how to coach on a one to one basis much better than I have done before.. I have a huge knowledge resource, but you have to learn how to "get it over" and this week certainly aided my understanding of that. But to spend a whole week with one athlete and be with them from 7am in the morning until 10 pm in the evening, it's truly amazing how much knowledge you can impart, especially when they are as enthusiastic and ask the right questions , as Ian did .. Let's hope I can repeat the experience with other athletes.
YOU WILL BE AMAZED HOW MUCH YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR CYCLING IN ONE WEEK !!
I must say a big THANK YOU to Simon Thomas , one of my top class athletes who is about to embark on a season of racing in Belgium with a good Pro Team but now lives over in Denia with his Girlfriend and was a "fab" guide , and also to John Fegan, who organises my Training Camp in March... Thanks Guys !!
** STOP PRESS**
After my week with Ian, I had time to think about my coaching and more importantly, what I wanted to do in the future.. The Bottom line is that I WANT TO COACH!!
I LOVE IT, AND IT WAS JUST SUCH A BUZZ FOR ME TO SEE IAN IMPROVE SO MUCH IN SEVEN SHORT DAYS !
It's for this reason I am pulling out of my organisation of the "Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge" and handing the whole thing over to Terry Bell and it will now be called the "Mercury Mega Challenge".. This will free me up to spend a lot more time on my athletes and work on increasing my knowledge and experience as a COACH.. COACHING is my future and making my athletes better bike riders and not organising events....