I want to thank all my mentors who have not only invested in me as a coach, but also as a person. Coach Court, Coach Higgins, Coach Hoke, Coach Guess, Coach Mannie, Coach Vorkapich, and Coach Burgardt have all played a huge roll in my young career and I cannot thank them enough for everything they have done for me.
Today’s strength and conditioning coaches are constantly bombarded with new technology and ideas that they should be learning and implementing into their training. Companies are always claiming “the next best thing” and “prevention of injuries” if you purchase their device or expertise to oversee your program. The truth of the matter is: 1. The “Best” things have already been discovered – squat, bench, deadlift, pull up, and sprint 2. The best athletes and programs still have injuries. As strength and conditioning coaches our job is not to prevent injuries, but to mitigate the risk of an injury occurring through proper training of the physiological system. So, these claims are abundantly false.
Young Coaches
Young coaches are consistently told the importance of learning technology and applying it to training. I completely agree, but what happens when the technology is all that they know? A lot of internships boast about the opportunity to learn and use different technology. In reality, they work on excel all day looking at numbers in which they do not fully understand. This use of technology is not helping them learn how to coach, program, build relationships, or be a part of a staff on a daily basis. Young coaches must be taught how to be a part of the bigger picture and actually coach and correct technique. To simply look at the value that is provided by the technology is doing the athlete and the coach a disservice.
Technology Limitations
I am not against technology and all the great things it can provide, however, it can be misleading. When looking at technology that calculates bar speed, power production, and movement analysis, we tend to think it is insightful and groundbreaking. However, you should be able to identify good bar speed simply by watching your athletes train. If the bar isn’t moving at the capacity at which you want, have the athlete drop the weight or increase the intensity of training. Coaches should not need to rely on technology to recognize adequate performance. If someone is able to jump high or far, you can say with great confidence they are powerful. When working with athletes coming off injuries, you should not need to rely on a computer to tell you that they favor one side when they squat. When I hear coaches talk about the amount of money they continue to spend on new technology that they don’t understand or know how to use I feel bad for the student athlete. Those resources could be spent on something simple like food, new equipment, or even a new staff member that could assist with training.
Final Thoughts
I want to emphasize, I am not against technology. If you want the technology, purchase it. But make sure that you know how to use the program, what the numbers mean, and how to implement it into your training beforehand. You should not change what you do STRICLTY based off what the unit says. The technology should fit your program just as much as your program should fit the use of technology. Make sure you have the proper funding and support so use the technology. Some institutions across the country have a WHOLE team dedicated to looking at sport science data. I would encourage a two person staff to stay away from investing in new technology, instead, use those resources to hire another coach. Some programs don’t even use the data generated from the units and purchase these programs simply to say that they have it. If this is the case, use the funds instead on something more meaningful to the program. To collect information and not use it is a complete waste of your time and resources. Coaching is an art and opportunity to invest in young people from all ages, but if you are not able to coach the basic movements with great confidence then stay away from technology and focus on coaching.
Dustin Tripp
Strength Coach
Purdue University