Truthtellers

As I mentioned below, the "i am not a heavyweight" article reminded me of "truthteller" questions I've used on occasion to help me understand the priorities and philosophy of a coach. There is no right answer to these questions and there can be many of them, but a good series would be as follows:

- Would you rather make the Dad Vail finals in the light 4 or the Dad Vail semis in the heavy 8?

- Would you rather win a Dad Vail gold in the light 4 or make the Dad Vail finals in the heavy 8?

- Would you rather make the IRA lightweight 8 finals or win a Dad Vail bronze medal in the heavy 8?

- Would you rather win an IRA bronze in the light 8 or a Dad Vail gold in the heavy 8?

(I've left the Dad Vail light 8 out of this mix because all boats went to the final last year.)

Any coach who mixes lightweights and heavyweights (i.e. probably doesn't have a dedicated lightweight program) implicitly answers questions like these whenever she decides what boats to race and who to race in them. Of course, she doesn't have perfect foresight, but she consciously or unconsciously makes assumptions about her chances in these races. If you ask direct questions like these, many coaches would have a difficult time answering, but they answer them every season.

There are other questions like this that are more appropriate for specific programs, but you get the idea. Ask a coach these questions in front of both lightweights and heavyweights and you'll see why they are truthtellers.