Coach Pap thanks for this great insight on training programs. There is so much to take away from this. Thanks for making our profession better. Always be a student of the game and push to get better!!
I’ve been in Strength and Conditioning for seven years now, thanks to some great strength coaches that told me (basically), “figure it out you could be really good in this profession.” Now I owe those guys for pushing me down the path I was meant to be.
Three different schools in that time frame I can say the best thing I’ve realized is this: things are going to change. We can have the best periodization in the world and have everything planned out for the season and we know that things are going to change.
Now, I’m not saying don’t plan.
At my current school we use velocity-based training and it gives us great insight on how athletes are doing, when I’m watching a bench number that usually flies but we can’t seem to fire at the top potential, it’s an easy cut, the athlete just needs a recovery day. We use questionnaires to see how they’re doing daily, are they too sore, where do we need to adjust for volume to get a top performance.
Everything these days has a metric attached to it that we try to interpret. The sports science knowledge has completely grown and will continue to grow over the next couple years. Diving into the GPS’s and the metrics has given me more insight than I ever thought was possible and opened up different sports in ways that are so cool. Some things we can plan for, exam week and midterm week always brings on the stress in athletes. Back to back big games, always has people feeling a little on edge. Late travel nights to an early morning class/practice. Things we can’t plan for relationship issues, a bunch of different classes have projects due, mistakes were made at practice and they ran more than usual, weekend trouble.
This is where communication comes in, what are athletic trainers seeing? They often see the kids first. What are you seeing in their behavior? My men’s basketball team can be the best at letting me know when they need a day, watching them walk in the weight room will give me every clue I need. When I need to take time off for them, they look like a group of sad boys, and I tell them that. But that’s the day, maybe we pull out foam rollers and lacrosse balls.
Finally, the best hint, strength coaches, get out of the weight room, watch your athletes move, being able to see them move in their sport or just in life will help you be a better coach. Is someone moving a little more awkwardly than usual, is that you or just life? How can you help so they are continuing to get better?
This concept is hard, when is the right time to get them up and know that we’ve got to push through the lift and when is it time to take a break and let them recover. The longer you’re around it the more you’ll see it.
Thanks to my athletes for dealing with me as I was a young strength coach figuring all this out and then as I continue to learn and realize my mistakes. Then, thanks to Rick Court for giving me the chance to continue to learn and all my mentors, as you all are the reason I’ve been able to learn all of this and continued to grow.
Allison Papenfuss
Assistant Director of Strength and Conditioning
Bowling Green State University