
275: Championship behaviors (with Hugh McCutcheon)
10/01/23 • 43 min
Championship results require championship behaviors from both athletes and coaches. Having guided multiple men's and women's teams at the highest levels, volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon knows a thing or two about what championships behaviors are. On this week's GAINcast he joins us to share his input on finding intention, putting skill acquisition into practice, coaching, and more.
For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2023/10/gaincast-episode-275-championship-behaviors-with-hugh-mccutcheon/
The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic:
- The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more.
- You can learn more about McCutcheon's background in his University of Minnesota biography. If you like this podcast, we highly recommend his recent book Championship Behaviors: A Model for Competitive Excellence in Sports.
- Coach Clay Erro has talked more in detail about the role of rules in coaching. Our HMMR Classroom GAIN Video 3 has a detailed presentation from him on the topic. Erro was also a guest on GAINcast 90, where he discussed similar topics.
- Wade Gilbert was mentioned as another top expert on championship behaviors. He presented in HMMR Classroom GAIN Video 15 (highlights here), as well as discussions on GAINcast 7 and GAINcast 121.
- We mentioned a couple of New York Times essays over the years on flow and focus. Most recently climber and philosopher Francis Sanzaro wrote about "When I Stopped Trying to Self-Optimize, I Got Better" and philosopher and former dancer Barabara Montero's "The Myth of Just Do It." We also wrote some comments on Montero's work here
Championship results require championship behaviors from both athletes and coaches. Having guided multiple men's and women's teams at the highest levels, volleyball coach Hugh McCutcheon knows a thing or two about what championships behaviors are. On this week's GAINcast he joins us to share his input on finding intention, putting skill acquisition into practice, coaching, and more.
For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2023/10/gaincast-episode-275-championship-behaviors-with-hugh-mccutcheon/
The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic:
- The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more.
- You can learn more about McCutcheon's background in his University of Minnesota biography. If you like this podcast, we highly recommend his recent book Championship Behaviors: A Model for Competitive Excellence in Sports.
- Coach Clay Erro has talked more in detail about the role of rules in coaching. Our HMMR Classroom GAIN Video 3 has a detailed presentation from him on the topic. Erro was also a guest on GAINcast 90, where he discussed similar topics.
- Wade Gilbert was mentioned as another top expert on championship behaviors. He presented in HMMR Classroom GAIN Video 15 (highlights here), as well as discussions on GAINcast 7 and GAINcast 121.
- We mentioned a couple of New York Times essays over the years on flow and focus. Most recently climber and philosopher Francis Sanzaro wrote about "When I Stopped Trying to Self-Optimize, I Got Better" and philosopher and former dancer Barabara Montero's "The Myth of Just Do It." We also wrote some comments on Montero's work here
Previous Episode

274: Lessons learned
We take a look at some current events and current happenings in our own training to reflect on some lessons learned on this week's GAINcast. To start with we debrief the USWNT's disappointing performance at the World Cup, before sharing lessons on how to best draw parallels from past experiences to working with new sports, including some examples from new sports we've been introduced to in the last year.
For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2023/08/gaincast-episode-274-lessons-learned/
The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic:
- The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more.
- GAIN Swimming will also take place from September 15 to 17. You can learn more here.
- On the last episode, we discussed another topic relating to the women's World Cup: ACL injuries.
- View our resource hub on field sports for more about preparing and coaching sports like soccer, rugby, and more.
Next Episode

276: Thoughts on strength
A recent interview on HMMR Media shared some of the weight room numbers of the hammer throw world champion. After hearing them, everyone asked: how can a champion be so weak? Strength is complex. Strength is contextual. On this week’s podcast we share some ideas about the role of strength in athletic performance, transfer of strength, training strength, and much more.
For more information on this topic, read the complete show notes at: https://www.hmmrmedia.com/2023/11/gaincast-episode-276-thoughts-on-strength/
The following links were also referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic:
- The GAINcast is sponsored by GAIN and by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more.
- We kicked off the episode by talking about Ethan Katzberg. We recently wrote about his strength levels and interviewed his coach on HMMR Podcast 308. Our world championships recap also summarized the magnitude of his success this summer.
- Vern has also written a lot about strength including a definition, some global considerations on strength, and a multi-part series on the evolution of his thoughts on the topic: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 and Conclusions.
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