Athletes increasingly seem to have a throwing guy, speed guy, hitting guy, or strength guy. This can present a frustrating situation for the strength coach. In the high school setting, we typically get athletes for an hour during the day (or potentially after school) and can be limited by how many athletes we train at once, the training space, time available, or other factors. Even if we can get an athlete in the weight room 3-5 days/week, there is typically more that we feel that the athlete could benefit from. Then, we hear that the athlete is going to a private trainer after school and doing more of the same training. Even though these athletes can recover quickly, our training programs become less effective (both the high school and private trainer). I have been on both the private and high school sides of this coin and know the arguments from each about why one of the two settings is better for the athlete. What if there was another way?
In the past, I was brought on by a high school baseball team to serve as their strength and conditioning coach. Before writing a single day of a training program, the first thing that I did was talk with the high school strength coach, as most kids on the team were training with him during the day. We talked through his general weekly plan as well as what I envisioned the guys on the team doing during team training sessions. Once I knew what his program looked like, I was able to build a complimentary program for the team that filled in the gaps that he and I had identified. By working together, we were able to keep athletes healthier and improve their strength, power, and speed to a greater extent than just lifting in class would allow. During that season, we had fewer sore arms and arm injuries than any season since the coach had been at the school. All of this was delivered to the athlete with no extra work to the strength coach other than communicating with me.
Strength coaches in general want to improve the performance of their athletes while making them more durable and educating them in the process. If high school and private strength coaches develop a relationship with one another, this can be achieved to a greater extent than either one of them doing it alone.
Tyler Dundore
Head Strength Coach
Elite Baseball and Softball
Grand Rapids, MI