By Mark Clevenger
August 16th 2016
Let me start this by saying that coaching the details is not the same as over coaching. As coaches we start by taking athletes where they are at the moment we start working with them and progress them to where they want and need to be. Don’t be that coach that throws every detail about a lift right out of the gate at their athlete. You could overwhelm them with information and create faults that would have never been there to begin with. Plus, you’d be surprised at how often things come natural to an athlete with just a little general instruction.
As coaches we have to take pride in paying attention to the details of our athletes. We should be paying attention to their lifts, their programming, and the demands of their sport. These elements are the trifecta of success for every athlete, in every sport, across the globe.
Since the ultimate success of our athletes starts with our ability to create the safest, most efficient, and strongest movement patterns possible we will start there. The process for any lift or movement starts with identifying all the faults an athlete has and start addressing them with the one that needs the most attention first. For athletes with very poor technique this can be easy to identify. The athletes with good technique we may need to vary the lifts intensity to find errors that need attention.
Working to fix these faults with our athletes every day will help them maximize the programming we create for them. This programming follows the path laid before it by the movement faults of the individual athlete. Take these into consideration when creating your micro and mesocycles for your athlete. Finding faults is one thing, knowing how to use programming to fix them is another beast all together.
Lastly, understanding the demands of your athletes sport allows you to program exercises and drills that can help prevent injury or muscle imbalances. The stress and demands of many sports can leave an athlete at risk for these things. As coaches we have to understand where these physical pitfalls can occur and make efforts through our programming to counter these. The biggest part of our job is preparing athletes for competition, the most important aspect of that is keeping them safe and healthy. Through our attention to detail in the trifecta of an athletes success they become the best version of themselves possible and will find success, however they define it, through those details.
Louisville Strongman 