If you have been training for some time or perhaps you grew up playing sports, you know the importance of good coaching. I remember a Soccer coach I had during U-14's. Thinking back on that time I recall 1) What a handful we all were at practices 2) What I remember about his coaching was less about the skills and more about the delivery. Therefore I propose that its not the ability of the coach or athelte to achieve greatness, it is the communication between the two that matters.
I am reminded of something I heard a pilot say ( and I'm paraphrasing), "Its not about how you are flying when the plane is good, Its about how you fly when the shit has hit the fan". That is essentially coaching and communication in a nutshell. A coach can talk the talk all day about super high level shit but can he/she teach and correct a hideous squat?
The first rule of proper communication in coaching is establishing guidelines and expectations from an athlete. Just like any other process of education that you have taken part in, there are rules and there are expectations. If you cannot follow the rules, if you cannot pass the test... sorry start again!. Progressions have always suited me well in my years as a coach and I respond well to them as an athlete. This is obvious in the Olympic lifts with such high speed dynamics but I find the most rewarding progressions have come in gymnastics. As a coach, if you can develop a progression and communicate that progression to an athelte in a clear manner, you have essentially won. Expectations allow for very little ambiguity in regard to the end product for an athlete. Guidelines allow for simplicity and nuances between coach and athlete which Create bonds and personal trust.
Utilizing the trifecta of Cueing; Visual, Verbal, Tactile helps the communication process immensely.
Throughout time explorers have ventured to foreign lands and found indigenous cultures that dont speak the same language let alone understand the same reality.... and yet communication still prevailed. Coaches and athletes many times speak the same language but the message is far from verbal simplicity. Often times a coach is attempting to decipher the athletes own personal language between their brain and muscles. No one has the same coordination, no one has the same perception of their body in space. The coach must analyze the movement, devise a language of touch, demonstration and words to teach an athlete to move in a way that is completely foreign to them. This process is truly one of the great challenges and rewards to being an athletic trainer.
When I envision myself as a coach I try to emulate Zen Buddhist masters who teach through simplicity and understand the path of teaching is not measured moments, its measured in years.
Coaches normally fall into two catergories. Those that try to fix too much, and those who fix nothing at all. You know exactly what I'm talking about. Communication involves language and language must be translated. If you are giving the athelte too much information to translate, they will shut down and in my experience; begin to degrade and implode right there in front of you. Like a monk, communication is spoken in simple language with relevant meaning so the pupil is able to digest and transform. But it is communication nonetheless. I have also seen coaches who lose control of the communication because they lose the ability to put a situation in perspective. Coaching large groups is all about triage and proper leadership. Displaying leadership allows for all the athletes to maintain attention while learning. Large groups offer the ability to see how clear your communication is by the amount of errors that are being witnessed. If you dont like what you see... revise your communication approach and begin again.
Coaching is like a stick in a stream, sometimes it may hit rocks but it always rights itself and keeps on flowing.
The language of greatness is a hard and long road to forge. Developing great atheltes takes time and the ability of the coach to speak a multitude of languages. On top of this is the ability to display confidence and personability. No one wants to work for an asshole. The ability of all atheltes awaits the patient coach. To draw out such ability from a person is truly the most rewarding thing that you can do. Practice this communication in your daily life even if you are not a coach; the world will most certainly be a better place if we could all attain such a virtue!
4/3
Baseline:
Agility Warm Up:
-Marching High Kicks
-high knee pulls
-quad pulls
-high knees
-butt kickers
-groiners
-duck walk
-frog hops
-figure 4 drill
-lateral shuffle
-Carioca
-sprint W/ Change of direction
Deadlift Prep:
3X8
-Romanian Deadlift
-Bent Over Row
**increasing load each round
WOD:
"Mr.Joshua"
-Joshua Harris died August 30,2008 in Afghanistan. He drowned during combat operations.
5 Rounds for Time
400m Run
30 GHDSU (sub weighted Sit Up)
15 Deadlift 250#
4/4
Baseline:
2X :30 @ each
-Squat Jacks
-Piked Push Ups
-Russian Twist
-Alternating Knee To Elbow
-Jump Lunges
Snatch Warm UP:
7X Romanian Deadlift
7x snatch high pull 7 x muscle snatch
7 x tempo overhead squat @ 23X1 7 x snatch balance 7 x power snatch to OHS (hold PSn receiving position each time, each rep little deeper)
7 x snatch pull under 7 x hang (squat) snatch
Skill Development:
8X
1 Snatch Balance W/ :03 pause at the bottom
2 Overhead Squats (quick Tempo)
**increasing load each round
WOD:
5X
10 Overhead Squat 75/55
10 Burpee Pull Up
10 Toes To Bar
4/5
Baseline:
5 Min Mobility
-lat band
-bully Stretch
-Trunk Rotations
-Hip Capsule Stretch
Kettle Bell Warm up:
W/ Light KB
12@ Each
Head Circles 'L'
Head Circles 'R'
Trunk Rotations
Up right Rows
Press 'L'
Press 'R'
Romanian Deadlift
Squat Up and overs (outside right foot, up and over to outside left foot)
Single Leg Deadlift
Goblet Squat
Lateral Lunges
Windmill 'L'
Windmill 'R'
Sit Ups
Snatch 'L'
Snatch 'R'
Squat Jumps
A)
5X
:20 Superman Hold
:20 Hollow Rock
:20 Rest
B)
5X
:90 Ring Dip
:60 Pistol Squat
C)
5X
10 KB Swing 70/53
10 KB Overhead Lunges
10 KB Press
