yscca newsletter (feb-10)

continuing advancement for the premier coaches of today Volume I, Issue VII February 2010

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it ~Charles Swindoll

LEADERSHIP 101 We will never know it all. Despite all the national conferences and clinics, there is always something else to read, learn and apply. Life is a year-round school that we never graduate from. Since we never graduate, the process of learning and leading must bring true value to our lives and the lives around us. To continue to grow as a professional in this field and as a young man/woman of integrity, we must do three things:

1) Surrender. Surrender our egos and become selfless. We must learn from everyone around us, not just those with letters after their last name. Everyone can provide a lesson in the school of life.

2) Commit. Devote ourselves to something, someone, and somewhere and dont EVER give up. We must follow through!

3) Adapt to Change. Change causes growth and growth causes learning.

1) Who were the individuals that mentored, molded and assisted you with your program philosophies and coaching tactics as you got started in this profession?

First and foremost, Coach Joey Batson at Clemson University. I was a GA under Coach Batson and he gave me my first

opportunity as a strength coach. Working at Clemson gave me the basis of my strength training philosophyThe Big Three, and allowed me to experience the behind the scenes administrative and organizational aspects of being a head strength coach. Its always great to go back and visit with Coach B and talk shop.

John Sisk at Vanderbilt has been huge part of my development as a strength coach. I give credit to Coach Sisk for introducing

me to kettle bells; I admit I was a skeptic until Coach Sisk put me through a workout. They are great for posterior chain development and explosion; as well they enable me to have numerous athletes moving at one time with limited space.

Russell Patterson at Middle Tennessee State has also played a role in developing my overall philosophy. Coach Patterson is

great to bounce ideas off and talk strength philosophy as well as conditioning and speed philosophy. He is innovative in all three areasstrength training, conditioning and speed training.

Joe Kenn and his former assistants have played a huge part in the evolution of my program design. I have incorporated my

knowledge from Clemson into the Tier System. They helped me to develop my Block Zero program. Over the last five years of communicating and visiting with Coach Kenn and his staffs, I have developed my Block programs based on training age within our program. This past summer, in-season and currently our winter program have been a great success with the Block programs.

2) Youve done some pretty interesting things with your programming as far as facility space is concerned. What advice

would you give coaches who may have a lot to do and not enough space to do it in? Does everyone need to be on the same program at the same time?

Eric Cash

Head Strength and Conditioning Coach

Eastern Illinois University



BOOK OF THE MONTH

Never Let Go By Dan John

www.davedraper.com T-nation.com author Dan John brings his common sense and humor to a bound masterpiece on lifting, living and learning. If you need a break from leadership or strength and conditioning books, I highly suggest you grab a copy of this online. Not only will his one-liners keep you laughing for hours, but you will leave with a ton of practical knowledge. Why we need to stick to the basics

How to implement Tabata protocols Why 5x5 is so great Real, rugged and realistic lessons of

training from lessons in life

The first thing I would tell a coach is to keep an open mind and think outside the box. As coaches, we always have great ideas we want to implement, but be ready to change! Dont be afraid to scale. The amount of space, racks, and coaches dictates how you train your teams. I havent been blessed with huge rooms or numerous racks.

In the past I had to set my teams up like a conveyer belt; one right after another or even train two small teams at a time. It was

easiest for me to have the teams on similar programs so that I could coach and not lose track of what everyone was doing. I also had my room set up where one team would start on one side of the room and travel across; the other team would come in and start the same way.

Here at EIU, all teams train using a 3 Day Tier Program. Placing all teams on the same program design allows for smooth flow

during the workout and transition between teams. When there is limited space, time management and scheduling play a large part in the design of your overall program.

Another great space saver is kettle bells. You dont need racks or platforms; just a little open space and you can have athletes

working. But you have to be open to something a little different than your typical platform exercise!

3) How do you split up your groups as far as training methods go? Some coaches split their teams into novice, intermediate and advanced groups. Others train everybody the same way. Do you think we need specificity when it comes to training age and maturity within our teams?

I absolutely believe there should be a split based on training age. We have five different programs: Block Zero, Block One, Block

Two, Block Three and Block Four; to separate out athletes from redshirt to seniors. We dont expect our young athletes to train the same way as seniors or athletes that have been in our program longer. All of our freshman start on Block Zero and then advance to Block One. If they are a fall sport athlete and arent redshirted, we place them on a modified Block One Program so they still obtain benefits of applying Block Zero methods.

4) What are three uncommon texts or videos you would recommend every sports performance specialist to check out

and why? 1) I dont think it is uncommon, but I believe it needs to be in every strength coaches libraryThe Coachs Strength Training

Playbook by Joe Kenn. Coach Kenn does a great job of laying everything out; from program setup to exercise selection to the annual plan. Its a great tool to help reorganize and rethink your overall program.



TIP OF THE MONTH

Interview Prep

No matter how many books you read or dry-runs you go through with your friends, job interviews can still be a nerve-wracking experience (if youre unprepared). Prepare yourself to address these topics when its your day to shine General program philosophy and principles Specific exercises to accomplish them How you plan on managing your staff How you would train female/male athletes Policy and progressions for injured athletes Standards for accountability and discipline Teaching a basic skill to the committee Your daily/weekly/monthly and annual plan If you believe in sport-specific training Differences between in-season/off-season Nutritional and NCAA knowledge Books that have had an impact on you Strengths and weaknesses (they will ask!) Qualities that separate you from the others Opinion on machines or free weights Views on flexibility and conditioning

2) 5-3-1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System to Increase Raw Strength by Jim Wendler. This is a great book that reminds me not to over complicate things; sometimes simpler is better.

3) Make the Big Time Where You Are by Frosty Westering. This book keeps me grounded; reminds me to stay focused on this job and not the next one.

5) Any tips or guidelines you would tell young adults preparing for their first head strength coaching position? What are

some things you learned when you first got started? The first thing I would advise is to remember that we are support staff. Sometimes head coaches are set in their ways and want their athletes trained a certain way. If you sell your program and earn the trust of the head coach, you will have no problems. On the same note; spend time with coaches; stop by their office, speak in the hall. If there is a relationship between the head strength coach and head sport coach; training their team is usually much easier. Also dont expect things to go as planned; they rarely do! Be open minded and ready to change and adapt to room size, coaches demands, administration, scheduling conflicts, etc. Be creative and find ways to get things done; whether it includes having something built, warming up in a hallway, using outside space, working long hours, etc. If you have a plan and present it well, the athletes wont care where they train!

As exercise science students, either at the graduate or undergraduate level, we learn a great deal about program design, injury prevention, speed and agility training, lifting technique, and coaching methods. I think we all leave school feeling confident in our abilities to use what we have learned in a practical manor. One of the biggest challenges I have found as I entered the field as a full time Collegiate Strength and Conditioning Coach was the ability to work not only as a support staff member but also with other members of the support staff. In all the classes I took, and even during my time spent as a graduate assistant, never did I fully understand the relationship that exists within a support staff of at a large University. If I am doing my job well, and the other members of my team are not getting it done, my results are insignificant. They say it takes a village to raise a child, I have found that it takes a dedicated and talented support

Mary Kate Jones

Assistant Sports Performance Coach

University of Louisville



COACHS CORNER

You only get ONE chance to make a first

impression with your staff, teams, and administrators. Come off caring, confident and like you know exactly what youre here to accomplish.

Watch your staffs first expressions! You

can learn a lot from your new staff by how they look at you; respond to your message and whether or not they ask you questions.

Come out of the gate full speed and dont

ever look back! Idle time is wasted time and your new athletic family must know right off the bat that you mean business.

Set your office up right away (especially if

it was a disaster). Offices are meant for meetings and development, not storage of Flex bands and vacuums. Coaches and administrators DO take note on how quickly changes take place.

staff to develop an athlete, both within the realm of collegiate athletics as well as in life. I strongly believe that one relationship that all Sports Performance Coaches need to work to develop is the relationship they have with their sports Athletic Trainer. In thinking about this article, I sat down with Jennifer Street, an Athletic Trainer that I have grown to trust and respect here at the University of Louisville. Below are the conclusions that we came to during our conversations.

Athletic Trainers and Sports Performance Coaches truly have the same goals. These goals, to reduce the risk of injuries, prepare athletes for the stress of athletics, and to increase performance, I believe to be indisputable. So why is it that Athletic Trainers and Sports Performance Coaches dont always get along?

Lack of communication. Open and honest communication can solve almost any issue. But its not just listening that matters, you need to hear! Athletic Trainers and Sports Performance Coaches come from different educational backgrounds, read different literature, and have had different experiences. Its important to look at this as an advantage and not let the differences in opinion/judgment turn you away from each other.

The ego. Lets face it; the large majority of people involved in collegiate athletics are competitive, driven, and extremely focused on their career. These are all great traits until the ego of these hard working individuals starts to compromise the development of the athlete. It is only through a united front formed by trust, mutual respect, and cooperation that athletes can reach their true potential.

How do we build trust between Sports Performance Coaches and Athletic Trainers?

Dont be afraid to ask your Athletic Trainer for Assistance in assessing an athlete. For example, an athlete has a drastic weight shift while performing a squat. Yes, the Sports Performance Coach may have watched some great Mike Boyle DVDs, maybe they are even Functional Movement Screen certified, but lets be honest, none of this makes up for years of education on injuries and movement patterns. Get together with the Athletic Trainer and watch the athlete perform some basic movements. Put your minds together and figure out the issue at hand and create a plan to attack the problem. Asking for help may hurt your ego but not asking for help hurts the athlete.

Use the Athletic Trainer to perform tasks at practices and games that you cannot attend. Unless you only work with one team, it is impossible to be at every practice and every game of all your sports. An Athletic Trainer, however, is always present. Dont be afraid to share responsibilities such as warm up, post stretch, regeneration, supplementation, and nutrition monitoring.

Schedule biannual meetings. Pre-season and post-season meetings should be the basis of communication between the Athletic Trainer and the Sports Performance Coach. Things to discuss in a pre-season meeting include warm up routine, post-stretch protocol, regeneration techniques, supplementation, and possibly even nutrition. In a post-season meeting (also a pre-offseason



ANNOUNCEMENTS

We are looking for coaches to review

popular DVDs and books that they have been watching and reading throughout their professional development. Let us know if you can help add quality content!

Remember to sign up for the CSCCa in

May. It will be the 10th anniversary celebration in Orlando, FL.

Check out the new Strength

Performance group. A lot of great discussion going on. Keep it going!

Stay tuned for our own YSCCa website

and forum for continuing advancement!

SPN

meeting) things to discuss include injuries from the past season, techniques to prevent these injuries in the future, specific athletes to target for extra pre-habilitation, and a plan of rehabilitation and integration into team sessions of newly injured athletes.

Insist on daily injury reports. This could simply be an email with the names, injuries, limitations, and treatments of each athlete who is seem by the Athletic Trainer. These reports help the Sports Performance Coach modify workouts of recently injured athletes. They can also prevent the Sports Performance Coach from placing an injured athlete in a dangerous situation. Dont trust that your athletes will keep you informed of their injury status. Beware; a great way to lose the trust of your Athletic Trainer is to go against the listed limitations.

Dont be afraid to just stop by. One of the best ways to build trust is to show that you care. Ask the Athletic Trainer questions, be interested in how they are rehabbing injured athletes, or even just stop by to say hi.

Once trust and mutual respect is established, take it to the next step.

Start to coach together. No, Im not saying the Athletic Trainer should be out on the floor teaching Olympic lifts. What I am saying, is if an athlete is able to perform a body weight squat in rehab, why cant they perform that same movement during a lifting session? If an athlete is starting to jog and learn to cut, why not master these skills at speed and agility sessions with their teammates? Bring the athletic trainer out on the floor/field/court etc with you. While you coach the team, let the athletic trainer modify the exercises for the injured athlete. The confidence of the injured athlete increases substantially when they are allowed to train with the team!

Develop a movement screen. We truly feel that the movement screen is the link between the two professions. The movement screen can show us common trends within a team, something we feel the Sports Performance Coach can attack. It can also determine which individuals need one on one or hands on attention, a job better performed by the Athletic Trainer. Movement screens can also be a great way to assess the negative impact a season had on an athlete, identify new issues that have appeared during the season or during school vacations, as well as analyze the effectiveness of the Sports Performance program in promoting proper movement patterns.

Do research or professional development together. Who better to learn from than each other? Read articles together, discuss progressions, do research, whatever it is, use each other to get better!

In conclusion, I just want to stress the importance of seeing the whole picture. Being at a large University means that the athletes are fortunate enough to have support all around them. Between Athletic Trainers, Academic Counselors, Team Physicians, Sports Psychologists, Nutritionists, and everyone that I am forgetting at this moment, the athlete can be very well taken care of. However, sometimes I feel that the whole too many cooks in the kitchen situation can occur. Put your ego away, talk to the people involved with the care of your athletes, and most importantly listen to them. Put all the pieces together and youll be amazed at the young adults that you can develop.

Adam Feit Head Sports Performance Coach

Eastern Michigan University [email protected]

yscca newsletter (feb-10)

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