Sorry for not posting last week. I was only home in Sarasota
two days so I barely had time to get the workouts in with Volleyball
and prepare for the next weekend. It has been hectic but very satisfying time
of travel. I have one more trip this weekend to speak to the Collegiate Swim
coaches and then I have a week break. I am doing my best to keep the airlines
solvent. I have flown 29,000 plus miles on Delta since January 1 and another
4,000 on Southwest. My comment on that is that if you have to fly, fly
Southwest, it is the way to go, they get it. Just like good coaches they understand
it is about the customer. Then why do I fly Delta, because they do not fly out
of Sarasota and Delta does. With Delta you get to the gate, click your brain to
the power saving mode and accept the fact that they will find a way to screw it
up. Delta and the NY Mets have a lot in common (Delta used to be a corporate
sponsor of the Mets – Birds of a feather flock together). They both could screw
up a good dream.
This past weekend I was at the Second NC State basketball
Symposium, it was smaller than last year, but I thought much better. I met a
lot of nice people and got to catch up with friends. The high point for me was
the presentation by Bob Medina, the strength and conditioning coach of the Portland
Trailblazers. The title was NBA 101. He presented it like a class to coaches on
a day in the life of the conditioning coach in the NBA. His story was spot on, and compelling. This talk could have been about any
professional sport. Bob made the statement that in the NBA that if you wanted to
you could be pissed off every day because of the nature of the league and the
structure. I was impressed with how he has worked to create a system of
accountability and motivation, it was impressive.
The audience was composed of many younger coaches with
stars in their eyes, I hope they were really listening to what Bob said. It is
not all that it appears to be. I think it is interesting that Bob started out
as a high school coach, then coached at UNLV before the pro’s. What I saw at
this symposium and a phenomenon I see in my travels is twenty something’s who
have been a GA or an intern with a top DI program getting a job at another DI
program with no real coaching experience. I really think everyone should have
to teach and coach middle school or high school to find out if you can teach,
communicate and organize. It seems the younger generation wants to be at the
top and not pay their dues. I think you really learn to coach when you have to
dig and rake the long jump pit, when you have to line the track, when you have
to teach five classes then coach. That is reality, but I sense there are fewer
young people who want to get their hands dirty and really coach. Sport science
is fine and all the internships at palatial
facilities are great but can you coach? This is all basic stuff. I want to
thank Bob for getting the my motor running and the wheels turning.
Joe P.
At least here in NJ, there seems to be a youth movement that goes beyond coaching and into educational administration. They have learned quick that you don’t get anywhere by going to seminars & reading journals. They get that administrators certificate as quick as possible & pay the big bucks to go to the right political fund raisers to get on that fast track to a high paying administrators job.
Ken Vick
One of the key experiences for me was working as the strength coach and athletic trainer at a high school. You will have to get your act together quickly when you have 60+ teenage boys in a poorly organized and equipped weightroom. It taught me a ton of skills I have used ever since.
Its a situation I run into with our 3 facilities. Yes, we train a lot of top level athletes, but thats not where you start. You will have to spend time working with kids 8yrs-college. I tell candidates and our coaches that the coaching skills they develop with groups of young athletes will create a foundation for coaching in any environment.
The pro and elite stuff is always glamorous and attractive, but the same things you do coaching the kids really does carry over in many ways.
Here’s the challenge for my coaches; Take a group of 8 young athletes, maybe between freshman in high school and a junior college athlete. A mix of male and female. Various sports ranging from football to soccer to figure skating. Some have several years of training Hx and some have none. Some are proficient at the main lifting movemetns and others are new. Each is in different seasons, and some have injury historys. Using the assessment information and athlete profile, along with their training records and coaches notes, plan and deliver a training session that address all these factors, educates them, and delivers an effective training stimulus safely. AND when they leave, I want each to feel like they got the most attention and had a session designed just for them!
Many will say its impossible. It’s not. It does take a great development of both coaching art & science however. It requires passion. It takes the greatest breadth of coaching skills I’ve seen in a single setting.
It’s a challenge that makes them better coaches if they accept it and develop to meet it. We do staff developement 3-5 times a week to develop the coaching skills to do this. I have a hard time understanding why more young coaches aren’t lined up at our door with this opportunity to learn. Many want the money and big time without having to develop the skills.