{"id":1118,"date":"2019-08-22T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/reports\/why-athlete-wellbeing-is-a-priority-in-the-pursuit-of-the-americas-cup\/"},"modified":"2025-12-15T05:12:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-15T05:12:30","slug":"athlete-wellbeing-ineos-team-uk","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/leadersinsport.com\/performance-institute\/articles\/athlete-wellbeing-ineos-team-uk\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Athlete Wellbeing is a Priority in the Pursuit of the America\u2019s Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\n Aug 22, 2019 <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>Articles<\/a>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t

Why Athlete Wellbeing is a Priority in the Pursuit of the America\u2019s Cup<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n \n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Ben Williams of Ineos Team UK opens the doors on initiatives at Sir Ben Ainslie\u2019s team.<\/p>\n \n \n \n

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The Leaders Performance Institute is talking to Ben Williams of Ineos Team UK sailing about wellbeing and it doesn\u2019t take long until one of us mentions \u2018holistic\u2019 performance.<\/h4>\n
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By John Portch<\/h6>\n

\u201cI know people talk about it a lot at the moment because it\u2019s in vogue and everyone wants to be on that train,\u201d says Williams, Ineos\u2019 Head of Human Performance<\/a>. \u201cThe reality of it is that we\u2019ve been doing it for a while. We we\u2019re certainly doing it when I worked in motorsport and we truly believe in it here.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re health-first and we have to be because we\u2019re a technology sport and we\u2019re also training athletes to be very powerful to give power to the boat. So, we sit somewhere in the middle but we\u2019re always health-first.\u201d<\/p>\n

This health-first approach is evident in Ineos Team UK\u2019s approach to providing for the wellbeing of its sailors, which must be paramount if they are to mount a credible challenge for the America\u2019s Cup in 2021.<\/p>\n

Williams discussed the matter onstage at the Leaders Meet: Wellbeing summit in Manchester in May and also contributed to the Leaders Performance Institute Special Report on the topic. Here, we delve a little further into the specifics at Ineos Team UK.<\/p>\n

Ben, where does wellbeing begin and end at Ineos Team UK?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> Wellbeing forms a large part of our performance plan because, first things first, our athletes need to be available to develop the boat. We\u2019re a technology sport where the technical development is equally as important, if not more than the physiological and we must be holistic in our approach to wellbeing because it\u2019s not just part of our performance plan – it\u2019s foundational. We promote an athlete-first pathway; if you can\u2019t create relationships and develop an understanding with individuals then it doesn\u2019t really matter how good your technical model is. Once we understand the determinants of performance, we then need to develop an ethos for program delivery which essentially means understanding what we stand for as a performance team. These things mean little however without us truly understanding each individual athlete and for them to believe in our ability to support them through their athletic endeavor.<\/p>\n

How is your program delivered?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cWe give athletes autonomy over their program, they understand strategy, the rationale behind it and the resulting data and, as a consequence, are willing to challenge us\u00a0if\u00a0they don\u2019t think something is right or they don\u2019t think it works for them.\u00a0Clear information in front of the right person at the right time, we don\u2019t want\u00a0anything\u00a0to get lost in translation.\u00a0Additionally, we believe that if\u00a0an athlete is in our stable for three years then we\u2019re not merely interested in what he can deliver for those three years. What we\u2019re actually looking at is when he\u2019s 60 will he think we did a good job in maintaining his health. We always have that in the back our minds.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are some of the pressure points for crew and staff?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re a very unique environment. At the moment, the only thing we actually know is when and where the America\u2019s Cup is going to take place and vaguely what the boat will look like. We can\u2019t periodise our training effectively block to block because we\u2019re always waiting for the meteorologist to tell us when there\u2019s a good window to sail meaning we can go from relatively low load to the guys sailing every day for 20 days, for eight hours a day, to develop the boat. Inherently we have to maintain a high physical load and that can be a pinch point because we\u2019re asking people to take part in a lot of physical activity, sometimes with no \u2018game time\u2019 so those acute spikes aren\u2019t as big and risky. It creates a little bit of friction between the athletes and the support staff because we\u2019re always asking them to do a lot, even when we\u2019re not sailing because next week we could be sailing for 30 hours. The second thing is that we travel a lot. Nearly all of our competitions are abroad, a bit like Formula 1, we have a base here in the UK where we train but every\u00a0time\u00a0we compete we\u2019re away and have quite a hectic travel schedule. We\u2019re bouncing around the globe with a lot of time in airports and taxis. Sleep hygiene, recovery, immunity all become a focal point as a result.<\/p>\n

How might you work around that?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cWe give our guys a lot of autonomy and although they have a high load, we plan their sessions but we don\u2019t plan their week; they do it themselves. I think that mitigates a lot of stress because they feel like they\u2019re the CEO of their athletic career; and we want them to feel like that. If a guy comes to me and says he\u2019s dropping a session because he feels tired then that\u2019s absolutely fine; they have to have that autonomy\u00a0and they have to believe they are running their own program \u2013 if we don\u2019t support that then they won\u2019t come to us when they really need us.\u201d<\/p>\n

What does your approach to education around wellbeing look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cI do believe in not overloading people no matter how smart they are; they don\u2019t want to put their head in a research paper \u2013 that\u2019s my job \u2013 they want to know that I do my job and the support team do their job. We\u2019re \u2018striking\u2019, and what I mean by that is before each block in our sessions, we\u2019ll give them an overview and give them rationales as to why they\u2019re doing what they\u2019re doing; how it carries over to the sport or the next block, for instance. Then during the block we\u2019ll strike;\u00a0so\u00a0as the block goes on we\u2019ll get in and get out with snippets of information so we\u2019re building on their knowledge base of what they\u2019re doing. We\u2019ll periodise that knowledge as well; over the six weeks I\u2019ll say \u2018this week I want to speak about bar speed with the guys\u2019, so if they\u2019re asking we\u2019ll talk about why they\u2019re pushing the bar quickly. Next week we might talk about the modalities, what power looks like, what speed strength looks like, what peak power looks like; let\u2019s talk about those modalities\u00a0and then the week after let\u2019s talk about how it transfers across. We\u2019ll build upon their knowledge base but not all in one big lecture, just in snippets like infographics. We\u2019re going in with a bit of information during their sessions but we\u2019re not so much they can\u2019t absorb it.\u201d<\/p>\n

How will your team work to escalate red flags in sailors?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cThe first thing we do is talk about it as a performance team. Why is it there? Were we expecting it? Is it something that is based on intrinsic load?\u00a0Is a family member poorly so he had less sleep? We will go through the clinical reasoning as an MDT to devise a pathway; our critical reasoning behind it is to have a couple of pathways before we approach the athlete\u00a0and we want to have options for the athlete \u2013 we don\u2019t want to say \u2018we\u2019ll get back to\u00a0you\u2019.\u00a0We discuss it with the performance team, what\u2019s the reality of the numbers, what do they actually mean? Do they need to be spoken about or do we need something in place? Can we give somebody some rest or not really discuss it or can we tell them why we\u2019re giving them rest? Once we\u2019ve done that amongst our team we\u2019ll then go the athlete and say \u2018OK these scores are suggesting we need to change X, Y and Z and we believe that based on this rationale and these are a couple of options for you; how do you feel, what do you want to do, and how does this change sit with you in terms of your current athletic development?\u2019 And then we\u2019ll let them take a lead on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

You spoke before about the team ethos around wellbeing – how does that manifest itself?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cWe\u2019re not perfect and we\u2019ll have days where the athlete might not agree with something. There will be days when people are grumpy, happy,\u00a0motivated, not motivated\u00a0\u2013 we\u2019re all human and all have our own fears and insecurities. So as long as we understand that we can get around anything together and it creates a nice ethos.\u00a0People aren\u2019t scared about being broken or ill or others seeing chinks in the armour. That in itself promotes resilience because you\u2019ll bounce back quicker\u00a0as you\u00a0do not fear the process, you own it.\u201d<\/p>\n

What developments do you expect to see in the field of wellbeing over the next few years?<\/strong><\/p>\n

BW:<\/strong> \u201cI think the days of treating athletes like they\u2019re a vessel for athletic\u00a0and competitive\u00a0delivery are gone. Increasing numbers of athletes are going to be given more autonomy and more technical knowledge [from a culture of education and exposure\u00a0from an early age as academy\u2019s become more comprehensive] and as that happens I think the\u00a0inclusion of holistic models will also grow. Having a robust technical model that athletes don\u2019t understand or engage with is little use no matter how well it\u2019s delivered.\u00a0Athletes who are included in decision making, have autonomy over their program and are educated in the science that underpins the technical model in a way they understand are much more likely to engage with the global program. That holistic model provides a foundation for the technical model in my opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Looking for more strategic insight?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ben Williams featured in our previous Special Report – want the latest insight into data and industry trends? Download our most recent Special Report: Navigating the Data Maze featuring Texas Rangers, Orlando Magic and Australian Institute of Sport<\/p>\n