Clean Run - September 2014 - 63

Getting it
Right the

FIRST TIME
Secrets to Perfect Timing

By Kathy Keats, The Agility Coach

It's easy to be good at handling a course the fourth time we
run it, but sadly, we aren't given extra chances at trials. We
need to be able to get the course right the first time we run it.
There are two ways to get a course right-nailing it and surviving it-and you have to be able to do both!
Great competitors know how to stay alive, to save the Q and
get to the next round, or, in events where the score is cumulative over multiple runs, to do damage control.
To develop this skill, you actually have to practice getting
things right the first time. I learned this lesson early on in
my sport years, but it came crashing back to me when I took
up a musical instrument. I kept stopping whenever I made a
mistake and going back and fixing it. The problem that developed was not only had I conditioned myself to stop every
time I made a mistake, I found it nearly impossible to jump to
the next part and keep going, which is very detrimental when
playing in a band and disastrous when playing solo (there's no
one to carry you while you sort yourself out!).
The same thing happens in agility, both in handling and in
training. If you go back and fix every little mistake, you never
learn to flow. And, perhaps even more importantly, you never
learn to recover from errors.
Sometimes I think we put the cart before the horse. We try to
make everything perfect before we can even really get around
a course properly. A friend of mine used to say, "Get around,
then make it pretty." This is so true. There is no point working
on fancy stuff when you aren't regularly nailing 20 obstacles
in trials and training with basic "meat and potatoes" handling.
Many of us are too busy experimenting with handling. Remember, the purpose of experimenting is to see if you like
something better, but then make a decision to fully incorporate
that into your handling. You can't get things right the first
time if your handling and training is always in a state of flux.
I know learning and trying new stuff is exciting. But to get
results the first time, at some point you have to do the boring
stuff of drilling and repeating the things you have decided are
going to become your meat and potatoes handling.
September 14

| Clean Run

Some of your training needs to revolve around doing a drill and
not stopping no matter what. Then immediately go on to another
drill-and this is important-even if you didn't get the previous
drill right! There's no going back and fixing anything because if
you do that, you are no longer practicing getting it right the first
time. In addition, fixing it leaves you with a false sense of security.
As a basketball player, I used to shoot thousands of foul shots.
I could often hit between 92 and 95 foul shots out of 100. It's
easy to get into a rhythm when shooting 100 shots. But that
is much different than hitting two foul shots at the end of the
game when you are tired and under pressure and can't build
up a rhythm. So part of my practice routine was to shoot two
foul shots, go do something else or run a set of lines, then
shoot two more, etc. I helped win many games over the course
of my career because of this approach.
You need to do the same with your agility training. When
you are getting closer to big competitions, practice longer
sequences and only run them once. Instead of going back and
fixing something, move on and run a completely different sequence. If you feel that something needed to be fixed, you can
go back later on and work on it.
Make sure to practice at a level where you are having some
success. So, if you are trying to be right the first time with a
sequence that is technically more difficult for you, make the
sequence shorter. If you want to practice nailing a longer sequence, make it simpler. But whatever you do, don't stop, no
matter what happens. Some of you may find you have quite a
habit of stopping that you didn't even realize. Just keep fighting through it.
When you can save a run, it keeps you alive in the game. As
you start getting good at getting around the first time, you will
find that you start having more brain space to make it "prettier," tighter, or faster.
So pick five sequences appropriate for your level that are nested within a set of obstacles. This allows you to move between
sequences quickly. They can be a mix of short and technical
and long and easier. Some examples are shown in Figures 1
through 5, but whatever you have room to set up is fine.
63

Clean Run - September 2014

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