IN AN interview with Spin.ph, Team Sibol head coach Ralph Andrei “Leathergoods” Llabres outlined his coaching philosophy for the Philippine National Esports Team.
For Llabres, it’s not enough to focus on winning the gold medal. There are specific parameters that must be attained.
“Kase most of the teams ang lagi nilang sinasabi, ‘Ano yung plan niyo? Gusto namin maging number 1, gusto namin na kami yung pinakamagaling,” he reflected. “What I always tell them is in order for you to improve, kailangan deliberate ka sa action mo. Ibig sabihin lahat ng ginagawa mo, there’s a goal.”
He added: “So, it’s not just about winning per se, kailangan I want to win na hindi ako namamatay ng more than two times. So, it has to be more specific kase if you’re not specific hindi mo mababantayan yung sarili mo.”
Sibol needs to go above and beyond
Where did he get this more goal-oriented approach? According to Coach Leathergoods, this is what most companies would do.
“This is what companies would do as well, when you do goal settings. So meron laging parameters na sine-set," he said.
“So, this is one of the things na gusto kong baguhin, na masanay rin yung mga athletes natin na high level performance or high-level parameters, and then yung frequency yung pag-hit nila ng parameters na umakyat,” he said.
It's a philosophy that allows athletes to take things step by step.
"Rather than getting this one big chunk of championship," said Leathergoods, "they’re biting on it little by little. Hanggang ma-reach nila yung goal. Yun yung parang gusto kong matutunan nila.”
For Coach Leathergoods, it’s about breaking boundaries.
“We really just try and guide them on how they can break their boundaries. It’s not really about on how they improve daily, ano lang talaga kapag nahirapan sila on a certain aspect, doon tayo magste-step-in and I’ll try to refocus or re-introduce something na hindi nila ginagawa which is mostly being deliberate in training.”
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