The importance of educating coaches on what we do...

      You can have all the knowledge in the world as a strength and conditioning coach, but if the coaches and teams that you are working for have no clue as to what you are capable of, it means very little.  In Canada, we are in a unique setting.  Strength coaches either work for a professional team, the Canadian Sport Centers, Universities or in a private setting.  Sounds like everywhere else right?  Well, sort of…In Canada, there are a fraction of Pro teams compared to the U.S., the sport centers are all still relatively new in comparison to the Olympic training centers and so are strength coaches in the collegiate systems.  You are probably asking yourself where I am going with this?  Regardless of which sport you coach, what are your earliest 2 main resources you have developed your coaching philosophy from?  If I had to venture a guess, I would say much of it is drawn from your own experiences as an athlete and from your past coaches.  That does not mean we do not draw from others in the industry, our education and certifications and our experience, it just means we are products of our environment.  In general, coaches begin their careers at the lowest level (internships, volunteer, graduate assistants or positional coaches) with the hope of moving up the chain.  Similar to any other industry in the world, we start at the bottom and work our way through the ranks (unless you work for your daddy’s company).   The following points are some of the thoughts that I have gathered over the years that I hope may be of some use to both aspiring and current strength coaches. 

Stumbling blocks:

·         Considering that the strength and conditioning field is still somewhat in its infancy stages, many coaches in Canada have either never worked with a strength and conditioning coach or if they have; it has been on a limited basis.  

·         Another potential concern is the fact that the sporting community assumes that education and certifications account for experience and skill when hiring new strength and conditioning coaches.  I can’t think of many sports teams that would hire a head or high level assistant coach right out of university unless they are exceptionally skilled.  I am not trying to knock on anyone in particular or to rip on the sport industry, but I have never seen so much merit put into hiring people with little or no experience in the field as we do in Canada. 

·         Buzz words and gimmicks are memorable for coaches.  Most sport coaches travel with their teams and see what their competition is doing and some will assume that what works for their competition will work for their team.  I am a big believer in learning from others, but the best thing that coaches can learn from each other is structure over systems or devices.  As strength coaches, we should be helping coaches to understand “WHY” certain gimmicks are being used and how they may or may not benefit your situation. 

·         Egos.  Our neighbors to the south have one of, if not the best non-professional sporting systems in the world (NCAA).  Surely, we can draw some insight as to how some of their systems may fit into ours.  When your ego gets in the way, you are more likely to learn from your own mistakes instead of others that have already made the same ones in the past. 

 

      So where do team and positional coaches draw their strength and conditioning knowledge from (other than YouTube)?  The answer should be fairly simple, but it is not.  I have been involved on some level with all of the sectors I mentioned in my opening which has lead me to believe the answers are as follows: 

What can we do?:

·         Regardless of whom you collect a pay check from; you need to educate coaches and athletes on what our scope of knowledge is and how we can make their teams better.  Share as much of your knowledge as you can with the staff and athletes so they will embrace what you bring to the table.  There are still coaches out there calling strength and conditioning “fitness”.  I am not one for semantics, but when I think of “fitness”, I think of Jane Fonda.

·         Tradition is a touchy subject.  It needs to be embraced, but if the team or athletes you are working with are not the best in the world there is going to be a need for change.  By nature, coaches are fairly superstitious and set in their ways.  We can’t get frustrated with things we can’t change, so make small impactful changes to garner the rest of the staff and teams trust.

·         Don’t bitch when you don’t get enough time with your athletes.  Encourage the coaches as to what the benefits are of you having more time.  If you cannot get more time, make do with what you have and make sure you are giving the best product possible.  Once the coaches notice changes, so will the time you get with the athletes.

·         Be professional.  Save your cut off jean shorts and tank tops for the beach.  Athletes are not there to see that you work out; they are there to get better and learn from you.  If you have sweet abs, save them for your Facebook profile picture.

·         Do not believe that the role of the strength and conditioning coach involves working Monday to Friday from 9-5.  The fact is you need to be available.  If you are in a Sport Center or a University setting, you may have a little more luxury as to having set times, but in the private industry, you have to make do with whatever time you can get.

·         If you get an opportunity to travel with a team, do not think of it as a vacation.  Chances are this will be the most contact hours you will get with your athletes outside of the gym or field sessions.  Your ability to help with nutritional advice, hydration, recovery work, session planning etc. will help solidify your value to the team. 

·         Learn from every coach you work with.  Systems that have been implemented with one sport may not have been with another.  Your ability to share information with coaches shows that your spectrum may be broader than just strength and conditioning.  Unless you are working with only one team, you are privy to some very useful information that can help progress whichever team you are working with. 

·         I struggle with this one sometimes, but it is very necessary in order to move ourselves forward.  Do not speak poorly of your competition or others in the industry.  It does no good for anyone and it is time wasted that could be used on bettering yourself and educating other coaches as to what you do differently.  This industry does not need more ego’s, it needs people that understand coaches and athletes.  The more you pump yourself up over others, the more you more you alienate yourself from potential learning experiences.

·         Do not allow yourself or coaches to get caught up into the rigidity of testing.  I understand that in some sports (specifically at the national level) there are expectations to follow a strict regimen of testing protocols in order to garner funding.  I also understand the need for testing and encourage it, but there is a fine line here.  I get the fact that coaches want to see improvements over time and have baseline scores for all of their athletes to chart progress, but again we need to educate them as to why we are doing these tests.  When programming starts to shift to enhance test results instead of performance we lose sight of the ultimate goal of success.  If you have never watched the NFL or NHL combine, you should.  I get the fact that it puts the athletes on an even playing field and gives scouts an opportunity to see how athletes move and how hard they work.   My issue is that athletes spend 3-4 months prepping for tests instead of working on skill work that may actually make them a better athlete.

·         Individualize programs and explain to your coaches why you are doing this.  Does the 7 year veteran need to be loading the same as the 1^st year athlete?  Specifically in contact sports where the years of physical abuse may be catching up to them.  This is very difficult to do if you are the only strength and conditioning coach, but loads and movements can easily be manipulated on the spot while working with teams as you see fit.

·         Speak in a language that coaches will understand.  Do not assume coaches understand the rhetoric of a sport scientist.  Save your technical jargon for your buddies in the lab or on chat rooms.  If you feel you are dumbing things down or going to lose credibility in what you are doing, re-read the part about egos.

·         Unfortunately for the strength and conditioning professional, many coaches assume they can do what we do.  We need to make sure that coaches understand that what we do from a skill or technical standpoint is the same as what they would do on their field of play.  This is what we do for a living and our countless hours and experience should mean something to them.

      As always, this is just my opinion and a collection of thoughts I have gathered over the years.  I hope that you may be able to learn from my past experiences to build a better future for yourself and the teams you may be working for.   Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or comments at joe@level10fitness.com

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training and Staff Development

Level 10 Fitness

Directing your Child in Sport:

 

                To start, I would like to let everyone know, all of my articles are purely anecdotal and opinionated based on my years of experience as a coach.  Being involved as both a strength and conditioning coach that works with many individual sport athletes and as a past wrestling coach; I wanted to touch a little on some of the differences I have noted from my involvement from team based sports.   To clarify, the term individual sport does not mean one does not work within a team.  The strength of any individual lies in their training partners or team, but when they step on their perspective field of play, they are individuals.  I believe what I have found is extremely interesting and would love to see further research on the topic by people that are far smarter than me and who would also most likely be individual sport athletes themselves. 

                For those of you that do not know me, I am fairly crass in my approach and you will quite often hear me joke about the social skills of the individual sport athlete.  This is a generalization that I have adopted over the years and does not account for all of these athletes.  In my experience, I have noted that there are some different social aspects between the individual athlete and the team based athlete.  I do not know if some of these athletes are drawn to their sport because they like to beat to their own drum, if they are so driven that they do not want to rely on others for their successes or failures or if they just happen to love their sport.  Before I go any further, I want to ensure you that I don’t care what sport your child or you did yourself, I just care that you were involved in sport.  I truly believe in the power of sport in terms of shaping one’s life, regardless of the level in which they may have played. 

                To get back to the title, I am now at the age where all of my friends are cranking out kids and as we know, there is never an easy answer as to what is the best sport or discipline to put them in.  My thought is to expose them to a mixture of both team and individual sports and see what they enjoy the most.  When people ask me which sports to put their children in, I always recommend they encourage a mixture of both individual and team based sports.  Here are the main sports I believe to help build your kids not only into better athletes as they age, but offer life skills that may not be picked up in math class.

Soccer Benefits:

·         Promotes socialization of the kids.  We live in the most technological time in history and between practice and games we can guarantee there are a few hours per week the kids are not looking at a screen to communicate. 

·         It is played primarily outdoors.  Sometimes even when it is raining or cold outside.  So parents should bundle up as well.

·         The cost relative to some other sports is reasonable. 

·         The daily physical activity requirement for adolescents is about 60 minutes a day.  Sure some kids stand around and pick their nose as I did dreaming of doing something else, but it is better than picking your nose while playing on your parents iPhone or ipad (for obvious reasons).

·         There is an element of body control, body position, hand eye coordination, footwork, team work, team bonding etc.   Whichever path your child may chose; this may serve as a stepping stone.

Swimming Benefits:

·         You may save your kids life.  I do not think I have to break this down much more, but learning water safety is an important aspect of life!

·         The more we can get kids used to moving their bodies functionally in space, the better.  Even if it is underwater! 

·         You can start at a very early age and most lessons encourage the parent to be in the pool with their kids at the same time.

Taekwondo Benefits:

·         Most great schools have an amazing coach to student ratio.  My friend Tony Kook of North Shore Taekwondo has approximately one instructor for every 5 to 6 kids.  Although his philosophy may differ from other schools, most of them keep to a fairly good ratio.

·         The setup of most individual sports (specifically martial arts and wrestling) involves a group of kids sitting in line facing toward their instructors.  Unlike team sports, there are very few distractions, specifically if your child is hyper or easily distracted.

·         The format of formed lines allows for those with shorter attention spans or learning disabilities to view those in front or beside them should they get lost.  Couple this with a good coach to athlete ratio and you will see a great progression of success.  This style of coaching also commands a certain level of attention by the athletes and makes it easier for the coaches to oversee the group.

·         One of the key attributes of any of my elite athletes (regardless of sport) is having the combination of suppleness, body control/awareness, balance, hand and foot speed, and discipline.  All of which are key aspects of this martial art.

·         Many martial art schools are doing a great job of building confidence in youngsters and aiding in giving them the tools needed to deal with societal pressures and bullying. 

·         Respect!  Part of being a martial artist is respecting your parents, instructors and fellow man.  The earlier this is engrained, the better! 

·         Discipline in any sport is a very key defining factor.  The belt system acts as not only a great goal setting tool but forces the discipline of the athletes to continue to hone their craft even when they are not in classes.  This is something I am looking to steal and make my own in our industry for our young athletes of all sports!

Gymnastics Benefits:

·         Plain and simple, gymnasts at the highest level are some of the most freakishly amazing athletes in terms of strength, power and flexibility.  Having said that, I am not telling parents to push their young ones to be competitive gymnasts as it is one of the most grueling and physically demanding sports in the world.

·         Body position and awareness.  There is a pattern here if you haven’t noticed.  Body position and awareness are skills that are difficult to teach and the earlier our athletes figure this out, the better! 

·         Tumbling, balance and jumping mechanics are cornerstones of understanding one’s body.  The ability to figure out how the body should move in space is a great tool that will speed up progressions as your kids advance in their perspective sport. 

·         Concentration!  I am no expert here, but regardless of one’s attention span; I like to think standing on a raised beam forces some level of concentration for anyone.   It also forces a little critical thinking.  There is a potential consequence for not paying attention and it cannot be blamed on anyone other than the individual doing the movement.  I know this may seem harsh, but think about how many times you see a kid walking on a dark street dressed as a ninja while listening to their headphones.  Are they thinking of consequences?  Are these two relatable?  I like to think to some degree maybe. 

Before I conclude, I would like to note my observations and success that I have had with some of my kids that have been labeled to be learning disabled, attention deficit disorder, hyper, autistic etc.  (I realize you can’t lump all of these in one, but there are some similarities in terms of learning styles).  Because the majority of my work is done in either a team session or one on one, I have seen how behavior can change in these kids.  I have noted that these kids tend to respond well to set patterns.  We all learn in different ways: whether it is visual, audible or kinesthetic but how you tie it all together is what will help you achieve the best results.  I will be touching more on this in a future article.

As always, there is more to this than what I have written and there are many other great sports or activities that may offer similar benefits as the ones mentioned above may.  Of course all of these sports have their cons, but the concept behind them is solid in my opinion.  I feel compelled to write this as I am blessed to work with athletes from all walks of life and I can honestly say that the majority of the top athletes I have worked with did not just specialize in one sport since an early age.  They have filled their tool boxes with physical literacy skills learned at a young age.  At the end of the day, the goal of youth athletics is to encourage physical activity, teach team work, set and achieve goals, make commitments to others, social interaction and to have fun.  Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments!

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training and Staff Development

Level 10 Fitness Inc.

joe@level10fitness.com

 

A Coach is a Coach is a Coach?

A Coach is a Coach is a Coach?

                After receiving my 900^th email requesting information about some of our staffs hockey “sport-specific” knowledge, I decided to change from writing about my exploits with pain, work and life and switch gears to coaching.  I completely understand the questions that are being asked by these parents as their greatest source of information is usually under informed coaches, other parents or the internet pumping them with sales pitches.    My full-time career involves working as a strength and conditioning coach and personal trainer and depending how you look at it, they are one and the same.  I am just starting my 13^th year in this field and also volunteer as an assistant coach to local club and high school football, wrestling and rugby teams.  The beauty of my job is that I get exposed to all different walks of life from many diverse backgrounds.  I have worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach at the University of Utah where I was fortunate enough to work with 16 different teams and coaches, many of our national teams and athletes, professional athletes from Kabaddi to the NFL, NHL and more; though my passion lies with working with development athletes.   What I am hoping to share with you is a brief collection of thoughts that I have amassed from spending numerous hours with different coaches, management teams, therapy staff and athletes.   What I have found is quite simple; we all have different coaching styles, but the fundamentals are the same through almost every sport and individual I have worked with.

                I am going to open with something I learned from my friend and a great mentor Jim Miller.  Jim was the Canadian National Wrestling Coach for years and is the owner and operator of Jims Gym in Parksville.  “The best coaches are thieves; we steal/learn from each other, take the good stuff that can be incorporated into our systems and scrap the rest.”  I may have butchered that quote, but you get the gist of it.  Please keep in mind, if you are using someone elses ideas, it is important to give credit where credit is due.  The day the learning stops or you let your ego take over is the day that your job loses meaning and momentum.  Learning isn’t always just about what you should or should not do; it’s about making decisions as to what will fit within your given system at that moment.  Every group and individual  athlete, housewife, rehab client or weekend warrior is different and if you don’t treat them as such you may be doing them a disservice.   As coaches, we should hold our values and traditions tightly without the fear of change.  Over the years, my philosophy has not changed much but my methods are ever evolving. 

Before I get into it, I would like to thank some people that have helped shaped my philosophies and have made me a better coach.  Barry Callaghan, Giulio DeCotiis, Ian Macdonald, Gianni Buono (wrestling), Mike Morgan, Rick Majerus (basketball), Earl Henderson, John Buchanan, Craig Rigsby, Alex Gerke, Ron Mcbride (football), Doug Barker, Jimmy Martin, Tom Larisch, Tim Murdy, Tony Healy, Ian Hyde-Lay, Quentin Fyffe (rugby), Tony Kook (tae kwon do), Bob Joncas (snowboarding), Tina Moberg-Parker, Al Clark (sailing), Chris Doyle, Joe “Big House” Kenn, Jason Veltkamp, Mark Uyeyama, Cheyenne Pietri, Anthony Findlay, Scott Vass, Carmen Bott, the Level 10 Fitness team (strength and conditioning), Greg Kirk, Ben Suen, Isabel Grondin, Clayton Cross, Jay Innoue (therapy) and all of my clients, teams and friends that have supported me over the years.  I apologize if I missed some of you, but I am trying to keep this under 10 pages!

What I have stolen and made my own:

·         Everyone is an individual (even in team sport).  The strength of any team lies in the effort and cohesion of each member.  Some people like to keep to themselves, some share all, some are nightmares, some have learning disabilities, some are highly skilled, some are not, some are strong or fit, some are not and your ability to bring them together is key.  This may differ a little in individual sport, but I can’t think of too many individual sport athletes that have not made it without the help of other team mates pushing them on a regular basis. 

·         There are plenty of grey areas.  I know many coaches that like to try to have set systems with no leeway and I completely understand why.  But there are always circumstances where those systems will be tested and your reaction to it may be the difference between success and failure or an athlete buying in or fading out.

·         We all learn from our shortcomings or failures far more than we do from our success.  We can’t dwell on the past, but if you can’t take an educated look at your shortcomings and make adjustments, you enter a downward spiral.  The exception of mediocrity and fear of change fast tracks us to averageness.

·         The strength of your team or athletes heavily lies on the strength of your support staff.  This includes management, strength and conditioning, therapists, receptionists, assistant coaches and all other support staff.  One weak link in the chain can make a bigger difference than you may think.  One of the greatest aspects of my playing career and two years as a strength coach at Utah was the fact that everyone in the University was in support of each other.  Other teams and athletes, receptionists, janitors, everybody! 

·         Understand the rules and regulations like the back of your hand.  This applies heavily to the strength and conditioning coach as well.  A few examples may be: we need to know the governing body’s rules for weight cutting sports, banned substance lists, work to rest ratios etc.

·         Time management.  In the private industry for strength and conditioning, I usually have one hour with my clients.  I have to have the ability to place the most pressing issues on the fore front whether it is spending more time on technique or on the table.  In many of our National team settings, we have a short duration with the teams and coaches must triage their time effectively to get the most out of it (skill work, tactics, positional work, recovery work, strength and conditioning, therapy, team building etc.).

·         We must have the ability to break down all points but only cue what is needed in any skill or technical sessions.  Over cuing can be equally as detrimental sometimes as under cuing and at the end of the day, athletes need to be able to figure out certain things on their own (with our guidance of course).  When we are in a group setting, this becomes very difficult as not everyone will learn at the same speed. 

This is a loose guideline that I use:

o   You must know the technique from both the ground up and top down.  Not all athletes will learn at the same speed.  Some may need more visual cues, some may need audible cues, and some may need kinesthetic cues.  As a coach it’s our role to figure out which, if any combination to use.  If you have not used the VARK guide to learning styles, I suggest you try it.

o   Explain and demonstrate the movement (minimal time speaking depending on age and group size).  If you feel like you are leading a lecture, you probably are.

o   Have the athletes execute the movement.  While they are working, combine your observations with what your predetermined thoughts may have been. As an example, if I am teaching a young group of athletes a bodyweight squat, I can assume I will see their heels come off the floor, knees buckling, excessive trunk flexion etc.

o   If a large number of the athletes are struggling with technique and are showing similar issues, repeat your original cues then add new ones in order of most importance without overwhelming the group (this process may take many attempts).

o   If only a few athletes are struggling, walk around and cue one thing with each one as they are doing it until they can correct it.  If the group is large, I may say “if ‘X’ is happening, do ‘Y’ to correct it and repeat”.

o   Given we are in the most technologically advanced stage in history, I would suggest filming movements as often as possible for instant feedback.  In the strength and conditioning world, mirrors may suffice for your developing athletes.

·         Your ability to progress and regress movements is key.  For every technique, there are many progressions.  Where you start within the progression is dependent on the group or individual you are working with.  If I am working with a younger or untrained athlete, I may start at the beginning without fear of jumping forward (I will never hold an athlete back based on age alone unless I feel there is a risk of injury involved) and with an older trained athlete I may start near the top (without the fear of working back).  In the strength and conditioning industry, many coaches put specific movements on a pedestal (Olympic lifts, squats, deadlifts etc.) and force their athletes into something they have not quite physically qualified to do yet. 

·         If something doesn’t look right it probably isn’t.  Having said that, there are some athletes that have the ability to put themselves in the right positions at the right time all the time with technique that may not fit what you have coached.  We need to have the ability to decide if this is a potential precursor for injury or if the athlete’s body type or style is forcing them to modify.  We have all coached athletes with unconventional technique that have been successful and how we deal with this should be on an individual basis.

·         Picking athletes based on size or body shape, test scores or past success over the best athlete because they do not fit into a specific mold.  This also includes moving athletes to different positions.  There are always athletes that are too big or too small that wow us in the sport world and their chance to do so lies in your open mindedness.   

·         Talk to other coaches as much as possible.  Most great coaches are more than happy to share with you and love to talk shop.  Take advantage of it! Read other historically successful coaches books.  Along with that, I read books that relate to people, business, teams, war etc.   History repeats itself and so do people’s behaviors.  Like it or not, if you coach you will be dealing with a lot of people and every person you meet may give you a small bit of advice that can help you in the future.

·         Some may argue this point, especially with new coaches, but I am not a huge fan of certifications.  I see the need for them, but when one comes out that couples experience with knowledge and a teacher that is not hung over for the course, I’ll be into it.  Personally, I put my professional development funds to learning from others in the industry rather than certifications.  I would rather spend a few days with another coach and pick his/her brain over a weekend.

·         Raise the bar for your standards.  Find the bare minimum you are willing to accept and encourage your athletes or clients to jump over it then repeat. 

·         If you do not believe in the mind body connect, you may be in the wrong industry.  Part of being a good coach is noting when your client or athletes are shit kicked, unfocused, tired or spaced out.  In camp or tournament settings, this can be a huge issue.  I do not just mean in terms of work on the field of play if you are working with a team.  A few examples may include: If you have to use the same place for meals, ensure variety is available (trust me, I ate hedgehog for 3 weeks in Russia-and not the delicious chocolate kind), if you are in a large accumulation phase make sure that part of their recovery work includes some fun games or team building activities. 

·         Not everything can be quantified.  Trying to find absolute numbers for everything will make you batty.  Not everything needs to have an explanation or a number attached to it.  Use the sport science principles to your advantage but do not be afraid to steer away from them. 

·         Put your best coaches with young kids.  Part of my big issue with sport in Canada is the lack of a development model.  You can talk about the LTAD plan as much as you like, but if you do not have a charismatic, enthused and skilled coach with your younger athletes you are just letting them get away with bad habits earlier.  It seems a lot of people in my industry are drawn to working with elite athletes, and don’t get me wrong I love it too!  But, if you can work with a group of kids, keep their attention and make them better you are one of the best coaches I know.

·         Encourage feedback from all of your team members (players, coaches, therapy staff and management).  It’s called a team for a reason and if you treat it like you are the captain of a ship, you will go down like the Titanic (which I have never seen, but I know the outcome).

·         Lastly, give a shit about everything you do and everyone you coach.  Caring about who you work with and taking pride in what you do goes a lot further than your ego will ever take you.

There is no cookie cutter answer as all situations are different.  There is no formula for success and dreaming will only get you so far.  These are just a few points that I have gathered and wanted to share with you all.  As I receive feedback, this will be modified. 

I have been blessed to work so many different walks of life and I am happy to say I have learned something from all of them. 

Although we all come from different backgrounds and may work with different athletes or clients, to answer the title, coaching is coaching….

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training and Staff Development

Level 10 Fitness Inc.

Email: joe@level10fitness.com

What’s missing in our industry?

Sharing is caring

I don’t sleep well, I never have.  There is always something pressing in my mind at the time where I would like to be falling asleep.  Lately, my thoughts have been somewhat cheesy by my own standards.  I started thinking if it is possible to affect change in people’s attitude to the point where they actually give a shit about what they are doing.  I am pretty lucky to work with a great group of people that I like to think are pretty driven, but there is always room for improvement, including from myself.   My collections of thoughts come from years in the industry and learning from both mine and others mistakes.  This is just a few to start…

Ask yourself the following questions:

·         Are you confident enough in your knowledge to share it with not only co-workers but others in the industry?

o   If you think you are doing something “innovative” or “new” in this industry, you are probably wrong.  Just because some dipshit Guru hasn’t written about it yet or sold his soul to YouTube, doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done.   Instead of trying to hide your “secret method” try sharing it with others to get their feedback.  Every person we work with is different, and learning from others in your industry will help hone your skill set.  Having said that, we need to learn from both the good and the bad, and if you have an ego, it makes it hard to find out the flaws in your system.

·         Are you thankful for your clients that make your job a possibility?

o   One of my hairstylist clients told me you need about 600-700 regular patrons to maintain a busy schedule.   Our physiotherapists estimated about 400 plus clients.  Personal trainers, strength coaches need about 40-60 regulars.  Can you see where I am going with this?  Piss off one of those 40 clients that may see you 2-3 times a week and it puts a big dent in your schedule.

·         Are you driven by the fact that the results your clients achieve can be life changing for them?

o   If you are driven by the results your clients achieve for the sake of your own benefit, please become a stock broker.  Don’t get me wrong, your client’s success will build your referrals and in turn make you busier.  Having said that, there are a lot of trainers that are more driven by publishing the success of one client instead of all of them. 

·         Do you put your client’s needs ahead of your own?

o   Clients are not paying to hear about your weekend.  It is their hour!  We are not psychologists or whatever Dr. Phil is, but we can be there to offer support and advice when it is asked.   Save your weekend stories for your buddies.

·         Do you call, email, text or whatever instagram is your clients to see how they are doing occasionally?  Or receive and respond to their calls, emails, texts or whatever instagram is in a timely manner?

o   There is something special about the little touches you put forth to your clients.  Do not mistake that with touching your clients inappropriately.  A simple message seeing how their rehab is coming, how they felt after a tough workout, how their birthday was will go a long way in separating you from your competition.  Our time away from the office is just that, our time.  You need to find a way to show some level of customer service so that phone calls, emails etc. are answered and followed up on relatively quickly. 

·         Do you put the same amount of effort into your preparation for your clients as you do on social media?

o   Social Media is MEDIA now.  If you are not using it in your industry, you are behind the competition.   BUT, it consumes many people to a point where it is taking away from time that could be used more beneficially.  Look at the time you are putting in creeping peoples Facebook pages and see if that time can’t be used to actually make you better.  Then creep on the weekends….

·         Do you volunteer with anything?

o   This is one of the first questions we ask new applicants to the company.  “Do you volunteer with anything”?  Personally, I like to know that fellow employees are willing to offer their time and skill outside of the work environment.  We are only as good as our community will allow us to be!  Aside from the personal reward, it is an opportunity to build relationships and build up your actual REAL hours of working with people.  Which is kind of a big deal in our industry.

·         Do you take every aspect of life from coaching to business as a learning opportunity?

o   There are very few, if any scenarios that haven’t been played out in our industry already.  The more you understand the concept that we are a people driven industry, the more you will realize the importance of every conversation you have. 

·         Do you take care of yourself physically, mentally and emotionally?

o   When your day is spent helping others, it becomes difficult to help yourself.  I still find it difficult to balance the physical, mental and emotional aspects of this job and I am in my 13^th year of doing this.  No matter how busy your day may be, you need to find time for self-preservation.

·         Do you have the willingness to refer your client to someone else within the industry if you are unable to help them with their goals?

o   We can’t answer all questions and we can’t help all populations, specifically in rehab settings.  There is a time and place where you may need to be honest with yourself and your clients that you are unable to help them at this point in their sessions.  Building a network of good doctors, coaches, trainers and therapists will help you give your client the best opportunity for success.  I have referred clients in the past (sometimes outside of our company) to others in the industry and at some point, they all return. 

·         Do you show up late for your sessions?

o   If you show up late, you are dead to me.  It shows you think that your time is more valuable than your clients.  Give yourself plenty of time to get to your sessions, if you can’t achieve the times you have set, give yourself more time!

As always, these are just some of my opinions.  If it pisses you off, we can hug it out at a later date.  Please feel free to contact me should you have any questions or comments at joe@level10fitness.com

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance and Staff Development

Level 10 Fitness

 

A collection of thoughts on coaching.

                I want to open with my playing and coaching experiences to share a little of my back ground in sport.  I do not think of myself as the best coach in the world, I just want to share some of what I have learned over the years.  I grew up playing football, wrestling and rugby before moving to the States to continue with my football career.  I graduated from the University of Utah in 1999 and stayed in Salt Lake City for 2 more years where I worked as an assistant strength and conditioning coach with all 16 teams.  I started working for Level 10 Fitness in 2002 and began coaching wrestling and football at Carson Graham Secondary.  In the past 12 years I have worked with hundreds of coaches and teams as well as thousands of athletes from all disciplines.   I have worked with professional, national team(s), development, high school, paralympians and everyone else under the sun.  Coaching is my passion, whether it is an athlete or a recreational client or an active rehab patient.   There is nothing better than the feeling of helping someone reach their goal regardless of its magnitude. 

I think we can all agree that there is more to coaching than just teaching tactics, skills, technique, practice, game preparation, and team and player management.  What I have found is that there are many qualified coaches (and sometimes over qualified) on paper.  Certifications, experience and education all play an important role in one’s ability to coach, but there is more to it than just that.  The ability to talk to individuals or a group in a way that commands respect without asking for it and the ability to drive and motivate your athletes comes from something that cannot be quantified by any of the above qualifications.  If you lack personality, charisma, flare or passion; you will lack the ability to be a good coach.  Not all great coaches have all of these attributes, but all great staffs and teams do.  The mixture of theory, experience, personality and qualifications should be balanced amongst the staff to ensure the highest success rates.

I have been blessed to work under and with some amazing strength and conditioning coaches.  And with this position, I have also been fortunate to work with some outstanding head and positional coaches from all age levels and from the amateur level up to the professional level.  I have also coached sport as a head coach and as an assistant and I can honestly say I have picked the brains of all of them and have come up with some coaching points that I deem worthy to share.   As coaches, we need to learn from others successes and failures and formulate our own style while maintaining the concept that we must be able to evolve on a regular basis.   I have learned equally as important lessons from coaches that lack success and I deem the ability to learn from failures both as an athlete and coach an important attribute.

WHAT I HAVE LEARNED

The use of motivational quotes or videos:

·         They are often over utilized.  If they are used too much, any meaning that may be attached to the message becomes lost. 

·         Quite often the message can be misconstrued.  “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” is perhaps my least favorite.  The message is great, but I hate to admit I have worked with hundreds of talented athletes that don’t work hard and are still very successful.   How do you prepare your kid that works his ass off, yet he gets no playing time because he is not a good athlete?

·         The majority of one’s motivation needs to come from intrinsic forces.  If you rely on quotes or motivational chants, you are a little too late.  Our athletes should be instructed how and when the best times for this type of stimulation is appropriate.  Minutes before kick-off is usually a case of too little too late!

·         Some athletes will connect very closely to certain quotes and ideologies.  Although this isn’t always a bad thing, it can lead to unrealistic expectations.  I am not a fan of the thought that every athlete just needs to “believe “or “dream” and your goals will be met.  Unfortunately you can’t dream yourself into a winner.  Athletes need to have a clear understanding that failure is often a great measure of your athletic prowess and mental fortitude.  At the highest level of sport, we are not training these athletes to get a participation ribbon, they are here to win.

·         They are great for sparking creativity and thought, especially in young athletes or those that may be searching for something to relate to.  There are no or very few new scenarios that are being played out that haven’t been repeated in history. 

·         I like to use them to hammer down important points and to disguise repetition.   Visual, mental and vocal points can easily be repeated and play an equally important role as the physical aspects would.

Commanding Respect

·         If you need to raise your voice to teach or coach, it means you are talking over people that are probably not listening.  There is a time and place to raise your voice, but if you are talking over people you do not have their respect.   By speaking in your regular tone to small groups or teams you can also determine who your keeners are and who your disrupters may be.  I find when working with groups of young kids, this is especially important for determining leadership.  The natural leaders will tend to quiet the rest of the group as your message is important to them.

·         You don’t have to have been an athlete at the highest level of sport to coach, but you do have to have the ability to understand what the athletes are going through at all times.  Your knowledge and ability to read when to push and when to pull back will garner more respect than trying to make up your short comings by being a hard ass.  At the elite level, I find this to be a big issue.  For the most part, the athletes are of the highest skill levels and the grinding attitude to push may lead to injury.  The problem arises when you are unable to read the athletes body language.  Most of them will do as they are told and will run through walls for you if they respect you and this can be a fault on both parties. 

·         Don’t be a cheerleader, be a leader.  There is a time to pump tires and show positive and negative emotion, but if you are doing this all the time, you will quickly set yourself up for both exhaustion and failure.  We all get emotionally tied into our athletes, but to make accurate and fair judgments; we must maintain our roles as coaches.

·         If something doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.  If you see a negative pattern or concern (change in behavior, formation of cliques) forming, step in immediately and rectify the situation.  Team management is as important aspect as any for a coach.  The same goes for technique, specifically in the developmental ages.  The longer an athlete can get away with poor technique or skill set, the longer it takes to rectify it.  This becomes a problem more so when we coach toward an athlete’s strengths.  If an athlete is very fast and agile, we form a plan around this, if they are powerful they may get away with poor technique against weaker athletes, if they are highly technical but weak or lack power they may get injured etc. 

• Be clear and concise, if your audience doesn’t get what you are saying, you don’t know what you are talking about.  We need to have the ability to ensure that our knowledge base is high enough that our message can get through to an entire group regardless of age, ability and experience.    Quite often we coach to either the least experienced (and lose the focus of the more experienced athletes) or to the most experienced and lose the attention of the less experienced athletes.  If you frequently find yourself saying “they just don’t get it”, maybe it’s time to try another approach.
• You must have the ability to tell your athlete(s) confidently that they have to work on a particular aspect of their game if you do not think it is up to par.  Athletes will always inherently gravitate to what they are good at and if we don’t recognize it, we are missing out on their overall development.   I have found that a large amount of coaches can identify the strengths and weakness of their athletes, but they approach it in a manner where they tend to drop doing what the athlete is good at to bring up the imbalances.  Instead of dropping what someone is good at entirely and only working on where they are underdeveloped, I like to keep their strengths strong (simply reduce the volume of work in stronger areas) and spend a larger amount of time bringing up their imbalances or weaknesses.   For someone to be at an elite level, practice may not always be entertaining or fun, even though we can all attest to the fact that repeating what we do well is usually fun.  Take it out completely and you will deal with an athlete that hates training.

Learning is not “past tense”

·         It’s ever evolving.  If you are stuck in the same method day after day and year after year, you are missing the boat.  Our main principles and philosophies do not need to change with every group we work with, but how we work with them may have to. 

·         There are many ways to skin a cat, but if you use the same method every time you will lose interest of your athletes.  We all understand the importance of repetition in skill development, so attempt to disguise it so that you can get your desired results. 

·         For the most part, we are working with a “bored” generation.  They are over stimulated daily from the electronic boom and they have the answer to everything at their fingertips.  If you do not use social media, smart phones, smart boards or any of the latest video analytic software, you may be living in the past. 

·         Learning doesn’t necessarily mean just honing your skills within the sport.  Learning how to read an athlete’s mood, demeanor and learning style(s) is equally as important when trying to get the most out of your athlete.  If you have not used the VARK, I strongly recommend taking a look at it and seeing if it is something worthy of placing in your tool box.  The VARK is not the be all to end all, but it does give you the opportunity to see how you may best relate to any given athlete. (http://www.vark-learn.com/english/index.asp)

·         Practice and repetition are big keys to any successful athlete.  Playing games and competing is fun.  To quote my friend Jim Miller (former National Team Wrestling Coach) “you don’t get better at school by writing tests, so why would you get better at sport by just playing games.”  Incorporate competition into your skill and tactical work to keep the athletes enthused.

·         Your support staff of doctors, assistants, strength and conditioning coaches and therapists is keys to your success.  Quite often they notice specific trends that may be either detrimental or keys to performance.  They spend countless hours of individual time with the athletes and may pick up on some cues that you may miss when dealing with groups. 

Surround yourself with good people that everyone can relate to, not just likeminded people that don’t challenge you.

·         Have you ever noticed the age, ethnicity and experience level of any of the NFL teams and their organizations?  Do you remember when you were an athlete?  Not everyone is compatible, but it’s important to have a mixture of different people on your staff so the athletes have someone they can relate to.  Quite often younger players will draw on the connection of a recently retired from playing coach where older players may gravitate towards the wisdom of someone that’s been around the block.  We can’t fulfill all the properties of a great coach, so your weaknesses need to be filled by surrounding yourself with people to fill those needs to create the most balanced approach.

·         Like the business world, it is important that your staff is not full of “yes men” or “hero worshippers.”  If your staff does not challenge you, make you think, or have the ability to give you input you will never be able to determine any flaws in your program.  Obviously there is a fine line here, but your staff’s input is one of the determining factors between being good and great.

·         Check your ego.  It is not possible to work with others that may challenge you if you let your ego get in the way.

·         Draw on the experiences of others (not just coaches!).  There is plenty of merit into reading up on the top inventors, innovators, business people etc.   As coaches, we all have times where we may be placed in a unique setting, but chances are, so has someone else. 

Identifying Different Populations:

·         Coaching kids, young adults, young men or women, adult men or women, master’s athletes, special needs or differently abled populations are all quite different.  If you can’t adapt to the specific needs of your group, you will not be able to get the full benefit of your message.   Here are a few points that I have noticed and are worth review.

o   Most females have a pre-conceived notion as to how they should look based off of what media tells them.   From a sport perspective, body type/composition and weight should only be a concern as to how it pertains to your sport.  Quite often, these two ideals are conflicted and can cause problems (especially for development athletes).  It is our job to understand the potential complications with this identify them and react quickly. 

o   If you are a male coach, it is quite hard to relate to young women.  As much as I do not ever want to talk about this, you need to be aware of the hormonal changes that occur in these athletes.  This becomes especially difficult in weight control sports.  You must be prepared to understand why cutting weight is tougher at different parts of the month than others or why attitudes or moods may change quickly.

o   Females are usually wonderful to coach.  They are very eager to learn, take your coaching to heart and give you everything they have.  As great as this is, it can also sometimes be to a fault.  Because they are so coachable (and the same can be said for male athletes that are very coachable) they can lack creativity at times.  In sports with set moves or plays, they will run it perfectly but may neglect to see an opening that may be more advantageous.    I am not going to say that it is because they don’t have huge ego’s, but it is a big part of it. 

o   Most male athletes already know everything so your job is redundant.  Obviously that is a bit of a joke, but there is some truth behind it.  Ego and confidence are slightly intertwined, but like everything there needs to be some balance.  

o   I have noticed that social pressures are making it harder and harder to find leadership amongst our young male athletes.  In the past, we could rely on the born leaders to emerge and groom them to fit our team dynamic.  We have to be creative in finding ways to bring these leaders out of their shells and encourage them a lot more than we did in the past.

o   Elite or masters athletes (25+) - Depending on their sport, special attention needs to be given to past, present or potential industries.  If they are a high level athlete, it is safe to assume their technique and skill level is very high.  There should be a high focus on refining technique, skill work and strategy.

o   Special needs or differently abled populations-Like all athletes, they want to be treated the same.  They don’t think of their disability as such, so either should you.  Obviously in my realm of strength and conditioning it plays a different role as there are some movements that will need to be modified.  I don’t believe in holding back for any athlete and they are no different, it just may take some time to determine limitations.  If anything, it gives you an appreciation to the essence of what a true athlete is. 

o   Kids or developmental athletes need to have the best coach’s available working with them (this is when they are most pliable with the largest learning curve).  It requires a tremendous amount of energy and attention to detail to ensure we are instilling perfect technique balanced with fun.  If you grind kids, you will lose their focus quickly, there needs to be balance of technique, fun and games, discipline and an upbeat energy. 

o   For all populations, we must identify the athlete’s strengths and weaknesses.   If we leave it up to the individual, they will continue to work on what they are good at.  At the elite level, we need to keep the athletes strengths strong, and bring up their weaknesses. 

As I mentioned, I don’t profess to be the greatest coach, but these are some of the attributes I have picked up on over the years that I deem important for success.   The majority of my time is spent in the weight room or on the field, but at the end of the day, coaching is coaching.  If you have anything to add or comment on, please contact me at joe@level10fitness.com

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training

Level 10 Fitness

www.level10fitness.com