Motivation: Favorite Coach "one liners"

[Trainer83]

In my field of athletic training and sport psychology I have a hobby of collecting favorite sayings or one to two line comments that coaches and trainer offer their athletes for encouragment in competition or practice.
How about posting your favorite line that you either were told or overheard being said to another athlete. Also, describe what you think was the intent of the comment in order to place it in context of the situation if you are able.
Was it in humor to relieve tension, etc.? Comments of athletes, coaches, trainers, officials, etc. are of interest. Please share.

[broncofencer]

I really like and use a very simple one that the members of my college club developed originally as a goal everyone could achieve and later became almost a battle cry. it is simply:


"One"
The idea was a goal ladder of sorts when you got to add one you did just that and started over. everytime someone completed a step they would come to the group and say "one"

one bout at a time
one point in every bout
win one bout
finish ahead of one person
add one

This may not owrk for high level athletes but for the lower levels it is easy to achieve and gives them minor goals to complete. This often gives them a way to measure success when defeat comes more often than victory. Which to me is when athletes need the most motivation.

[Ordway]

One of my favorite sayings from my first sabre coach:

"There is no parry. There is only parry-riposte."

[dramamine]

sit down (when applicable)

get the next hit, next one's yours, etc

work

stay focused

take your time (when applicable)

[ThatReallyHurt]

During my first tournament (made me laugh, which is what was intended):

"He's been fencing for a long time, he's quick and he knows what he's doing. You don't. That's your advantage here - he has no idea what to do with you. Go and surprise him!"


At the club, during drills that I can't quite get the hang of:

"Okay, okay. I just figured out the problem - all you need to do is stop watching pirate movies." - Turned frustration into amusement.

[Aestro]

"He who impales himself is wrong" (i.e. don't perform an action which causes you to run straight into an opponent's attack)

"Always be able to get out of trouble more quickly than you can get into it"

"the best defense is parry 9 (or 0) - don't be there"

"A potted plant could direct electric epee"

nothing incredibly helpful as motivation, but most are amusing and at the very least memorable ways to remember common sense stuff

and this was stolen from an older poker saying

"Have you ever looked around a pool for the easy win and can't find it? That's when you realize it's you."

[Ordway]

OK, I missed the "motivational" part of the quote the first time - guess my first contribution was more "instructional" rather than motivational

But I just thought of another one (again from my first sabre coach) that was very motivational. The scene: a tournament where I was going to fence sabre for the first time, having decided on the spot to try it out. This is maybe the second or third time I've ever picked up a sabre, mind you, and after I'd been doing foil for only 3 months or so.

My coach says, "OK, you get the 30-second sabre lesson." He picks up a sabre. "These are the parries" - demonstrating 3, 4, 5 - "You don't know them, so don't use them. Just attack!"

Very good advice :-)

(And yes, I went on to learn the parries, but it was a funny and motivational quick intro to sabre that, needless to say, I have never forgotten!)

My current coach doesn't really have any one-liners. He's very laid back. He does have an amazing ability to give The Look, which speaks VOLUMES about what I should be doing, and am currently not doing, and ought to be doing now, don'cha think?

[telkanuru]

*faux russian accent* "Make fencing action! You no get touch if you do not make fencing action!"

"Now why the hell did you do that?"

"He's an old guy, go for his knees."

"Why retreat? You're doing too much work."

EDIT: Also, "The American school of fencing is defined by crappy footwork."

[Araznal]

Alright, this isn't motivational at all, but it's the funniest thing I ever heard Bucky Leach say. I was in a small class and was feeling very sick. In fact I was running to the bathroom every ten minutes. So while I'm waiting to see if I can actually fence, Bucky comes up to me and says, "When you're about to make a lunge, and you feel a sudden plunge - DIARRHEA."

That song made me realize that I really was quite sick and I went home. It was good advice, but irrelevant to the subject of this thread.

Please go on.

[edew]

Who was the one who posted, "Your sphincter is not your necklace." Or something to that effect. That's golden.

[telkanuru]

I don't remember if I was the originator of that, but "Your sphincter is not a necklace" is definitely something I got from my coach (and one of my favourites).

[sabreur]

Training "motivators"

Hungarian sabre master: "Fence until your nose bleeds."

Russian sabre master: "You're here to fence, not direct."

[Grasshopper]

when I get hit, my Japanese teamates say "Domai Domai" which means "don't mind, don't mind".

And instead of "Go! Go!" they say "Faito faito" which means "Fight fight".

In fact in Japan, "bouting" is called "faitingu" or "fighting" in English.

[ChubbyHubby]

"Fence a Fighter, Fight a Fencer"

When faced with a fencer better than you, fight them - ie. be twisty turny, untidy and don't slow the pace of the fight down, "fight" them. If you "fence" them you will lose as they are better technically than you.

When faced with a fencer who is twisty turny and untidy who keeps coming at you, slow the fight down and "fence" them.

Similar to another one sometimes heard from a top coach when their fencer is losing badly (say 13-4 down); "Be Strange..."

[sabreur]

when I get hit, my Japanese teamates say "Domai Domai" which means "don't mind, don't mind".

And instead of "Go! Go!" they say "Faito faito" which means "Fight fight".

In fact in Japan, "bouting" is called "faitingu" or "fighting" in English.

We have a group of Japanese university students who come over every two years or so for a month to train. They yell "Shoi, shoi, shoi!" or something similar, all the time. It's really funny--one will start, and they'll all chime in. Drives some of the older Germans nuts.

[rudd]

My German coach from years ago had this classic. Best spoken in a bad german accent.

"You are young. You have the fire but not the eyes.
I am old. I have the eyes but not the fire."

[Gav]

Me: "Oops sorry about being so c**."
Coach: "It's ok it's what I expect. Next time we'll try Fencing, the time after that you can put some cupboards up." (or words to that effect)

Me: "oops sorry about being so c***."
Coach: "This isn't even the difficult bit. In minute we'll do the warmup."

Me: "oops Sorry about being so crap."
Coach: "This is just the warmup. What's up with you?"
Me: "I was fencing X. I've got a dead arm."
Coach: "Are you sure that's all that's dead?"

Me: "Oops sorry about being so c***."
Visiting Hungarian Coach: "hmmmm.... make deception smaller, move feet, start at the beginning." He promptly exits stage left for a smoke.

Coach: "So there I was chatting to the receptionist when in walks this guy. He starts ripping the place off. Right in front of a lady and me!. So I walked over threw him over a table then grabbed him while he was getting up. I grabbed him just so ... [grabs fencer who yelps in pain as Coach bends him into a balloon dog]. Anyway; he had stopped crying by the time the police arrived. Have I missed anyone's lesson tonight?" That was my old coach, an ex-military PE intructor. He was about 70 and only 5'0". The 'Balloon dog' was a fencer about 6'3" and 1/3rd of his age. I don't know about motivational but none of us wanted to be on his bad side. He was a real laugh as well - very un-pc. Pity he's retired.

Me: "How was Bruce dickinson?"
Coach: "Small, funny; in a rock star kind of way."

[CvilleFencer]

"STOP SUCKING", shouted at the tops of ones lungs. Great advice given to me by a clubmate during a tough bout (it actually has become a standard bit of advice we like to give one another on the strip). Right up there with "Do that thing where your light goes off" and "Stop doing whats getting you hit".

[big daddy]

The one use when my students start competition is from the movie Triple X " I live for this s*&T"

[D+F+P=Hadouken!]

If you cant make time to train, can you make time to lose?