The Ice Cream Theory

Becoming a father was, and continues to be, a transformative experience. My humor has always tended toward "dad jokes" and deliberately bad mixed metaphors. With the birth of my son I gave myself permission to embrace those proclivities. To my surprise, this led to a substantive change in how I think about and coach cross sides.

The thought occurred to me that the different cross sides top pressures could be thought of like the different flavors in a Neapolitan ice cream. They could function separately, but worked best in combination. I really don't think I would have phrased it this way a year ago, and I certainly wouldn't have coached using this metaphor before having the "I'm a dad now; I'm supposed to make terrible jokes" defense. Having coached my "ice cream theory of cross sides" several times now, I think the metaphor holds up. The approach has helped students to grasp some fundamental principles, and the trauma of exposure to my humor makes the lesson stick in students' minds.

What follows are video excerpts from a beginners class I taught recently on the subject of cross sides. Unusually, my wife and son were visiting the gym when I was coaching this class. The eagle eyed observer may be able to note their presence.