Jan. 27, 2011
UCLA Gymnastics head coach Valorie Kondos Field will be answering your questions every Thursday over the course of the season. To submit questions for future Q&As, CLICK HERE.
This week's questions/answers:
Dan (Los Angeles, CA) - UGA did a documentary for tv a couple of years ago. Would your team be willing to participate in a program like that?
Miss Val: I've been asked quite a few times to do a documentary. I've never wanted to go that route because reality TV isn't exciting to watch without the drama. And I would never want to share our team's individual personal drama.
Betsy (Providence) - Hi Miss Val ~ You've talked a lot about John Wooden being a great friend and mentor and role model. Do you have any other role models, in or out of the gymnastics/sports world?
Miss Val - YES, Quite a few. First and foremost, my husband Bobby Field. He is an amazing person and was a great football coach for 29 years. He is the first person I seek out to talk things through and get advice. I study other coaches and athletes from a wide variety of sports. The coaches and athletes I relate the best to and want to learn from are those who are enthusiastic without being frenetic. That's one reason I like to watch golf on TV. That sport can be SO FRUSTRATING. GREAT golfers have such incredible mental discipline, but then again that is true with most anybody that is GREAT at what they do. I believe it was Deepak Chopra who said, "Activity without Stillness is Chaos. Dynamism with stillness is Creativity." I like that. I also liked a blip of an interview I heard with Phil Jackson the other day. Someone said to him, "Coach, I think you're overrated." He responded "I agree." That answer spoke volumes as to what Coach Jackson spends his thoughts and energy on.
Melissa (Irvine, CA) - You guys travel so much. Do you have any packing or travel tips?
Miss Val: Ha Ha ha ... now that's a first! I've never been asked a travel question. I am the QUEEN of travel and packing! Top Five Travel tips: (1) Don't take anything that wrinkles. (2) Wear comfortable and layered travel clothes, including sturdy comfortable shoes in case you have to rush to another gate. (3) Take the time to get sample-size toiletries. Don't lug unnecessary stuff. (4) Don't let delays or schedule changes stress you out. Life is one big fun adventure. And (5) DON'T USE THE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS ON THE PLANE. I was sitting next to a mom and her young son once, and she used the plane blanket to blow her sons nose. It was a 2-leg flight, and when we stopped after the first leg, the flight attendant simply went around and refolded all of the blankets ... snot and all. Ewwwwww!
Robbie (San Francisco, CA) - Do you plan on continuing to coach for many years to come? In my fantasy world you win 11 NCAA titles and then start your own dance company.
Miss Val: OK, I'm in. I'm still enjoying coaching so I don't see retiring anytime soon. One request for your fantasy world, I'd rather direct a School of Performing Arts than just a dance company.
Angela (San Francisco, CA) - How do you get those highly competitive personalities to admit when they are hurting so that you can ease off on reps? As a coach I find this so hard!
Miss Val: I agree. Case in point, Olivia Courtney. She's been nursing a pulled hamstring since 2009. We JUST found out about it because she under-rotated a double back on floor, which is so unlike her. Through the tears we found out that her hamstring has been hurting her. We try to get the athletes to see that they are actually hurting their team if they DON'T let us know that they're in pain.
Christina (Riverside, CA) - I know that Win-Loss record doesn't matter at all in NCAA Gymnastics, but does it affect your team mentally in terms of confidence and team morale to not have a true win under your belts?
Miss Val: YES IT DOES! With that being said, we could have put in a different line-up this past weekend at Stanford, and, believe me, it was very tempting at times to change our line-up mid-meet, but I don't like to do that unless we're in our Championship season. I've always felt that if we take someone out of the line-up to try to win the meet during our regular season it sends a strong message to them that I don't think they can hit. How can I expect them to have confidence the next time they're asked to compete? During regular season it's more important for us to teach ALL of our athletes how to play to WIN. What drives me crazy is that every line-up we put in at any given meet should be able to hit their routines.
Megan (Los Angeles) - I was wondering what you thought of Talia's performance this past weekend? I hope you keep putting her in the floor line-up!
Miss Val: I thought Talia did beautifully on floor. She has worked really hard to clean up her tumbling and dance. I hope to keep her in the line-up; however, she is still inconsistent with her middle pass, which prevents her from being able to compete it well. We'll see.
Maloney (Durham, NH) - Hi Miss Val! As I recall you always seemed so calm and confident at meets. Have you ever or do you ever get nervous before a competition? I hope the injured girls get better fast! I miss you all!
Miss Val: MALONEY!!! How are you? I tell Kristen Maloney stories to our team all the time. You remain the toughest athlete we've ever had! And YES ... of course I get nervous before and during a competition. But, I work at not being a hypocrite. We tell our athletes (as you'll recall) that they can label their energy as Nerves or as Enthusiasm. One has a negative result, and the other should have a positive result. When I get "nervous" I remind myself that it's just enthusiasm and excitement. The one thing I've worked hard at in competition is not letting myself spin out of control thinking about the worse-case possibility in a competition. There's no reason for me to go down that mental neurotic road; it's 100% unproductive.