Coaches Call-out! Are YOU doing these things to hurt your athletes?
Shawan Myszka
This Top 15 article comes from my good buddy Shawan Myszka who is the Performance Director at Explosive Edge Athletics here in Minnesota.
I first met Shawn back in about 2005 when I first joined the NSCA and we have kept in touch since then. Shawn does a great job coaching is one of the top experts on plyometrics in addition to being very passionate about learning and teaching.
This was something Shawn wrote up for his newsletter and it was so good I wanted to run it here for more people to see. Let me know what you think!
Take it away Shawn! —Mike T Nelson
Over the last number of months, I have witnessed (or heard stories) of an alarming number of sport and strength coaches who I feel have no business training their athletes in regards to Strength & Conditoning/Athletic Performance. SO…rather than keep my mouth shut any longer I decided it was time to unleash havoc on the training world! I can just imagine many of you out there already hitting delete on this email, but it’s about time someone put it out there straight! Thus, let’s face the FACTS! There ARE a lot of good coaches out there who make their athletes better every single day. Unfortunately, there is also A LOT of bad coaches out there who are doing a tremendous disservice to their athletes and actually slowing down the progress of their athletes (and in some cases taking steps back in their development!).
WARNING:I wrote these as a No-Holds Barred List…so, if you are scared of the truth, do NOT read any further!! It was also written to shed light on what I see all too often when it comes to the lack of innovation and advancement of coach’s knowledge as it pertains to athletic performance.
So, without further adieu, here is Shawn’s Top 15 List of What Coaches Do Incorrectly That Directly Hurt Their Athletes’ Performance!!!
1. Lack of Individuality
Let’s face it; we are all different in every way. That’s what makes the world go round. We all have different abilities, bodies, and weaknesses. AND we all respond differently to any given system of training. These differences NEED to be taken into consideration when designing your athlete’s training program. Thus, it should be obvious that the most effective type of training for a given athlete is dependent on the components and characteristics in which the athlete is most deficient in. The easiest means to an end is to target the weakness to make it more of a strength. How do we do this if all of our athlete’s have the exact same training plan? Answer: we CAN’T! Every athlete will respond differently and thus, after this particular solution is determined, we must train each of our athletes as different as humanly possible. Yes, I realize that this becomes time consuming. However, if you want to give your athletes the best possible map for success then
there is no other way. Now I am not dumb to the fact that some coaches have an enormous athlete-to-coach ratio and that definitely creates some issues. However, at the very least, it’s important in these situations that you (at a minimum) split the larger groups into smaller ones that possess similar weaknesses and tailor the program around that characteristic.
2. Don’t train for the speed of game movement
Sport is fast. Sport is ballistic. If you want to perform optimally, and you want to play without getting injured, you better be training the way that the sport is played; ballistically. This means that speed is king at all times with all movements. There is no exception. Some people believe that fast strength training is overly dangerous. However, sport is played in a ballistic manner. And if we don’t train for those demands while we are in a controlled setting (i.e. training!), then sport becomes dangerous. The problem is that coaches often do not prescribe movements and exercises with adequate attention being paid to the entire program of the interaction of specific exercises or execution rather than the mode of training (fast and ballistic) itself.
3. Training with emphasis on max/limit strength
Strength does not result in speed. For most athletes, training for strength alone will inevitably lead to added bodyweight, slower movement speed, inability to achieve positive acceleration curves, and power decrease. Along with this too many coaches athletes simply continue to add more and more load for an athlete to overcome in even slower fashions (moving the athlete’s capabilities further away on the force-velocity curve). Yes, you have to have a quantitative value to assess and measure an athlete’s force output, but it’s time to realize that tests of 1RM strength are of limited practical value because that specific type of strength is employed in only a few athletic endeavors (pretty much only powerlifting). 1RM type of strength is maximized during slow muscle actions and minimized as velocity increases. Again, most sports require the acceleration to produce the necessary force. Yes, you do want to have more force available but whether or not an
athlete’s performance will improve by heavy strength training will depend on how strong an athlete is at the onset of a training program. Explosive movement (such as that witnessed during jumping, running, throwing, etc) will only improve via limit strength training in subjects who have little strength training experience and/or average strength.
4. Lack of patience in regards to skill acquisition
Rome wasn’t built in a day right? So why do so many coaches expect athletes to easily attain certain attributes or skills? Learning is hindered by a culture of criticism in which mistakes are attacked rather than used as guides for improvement (taken directly from the Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance). SO if an athlete has been doing something a certain way for a long period of time, don’t expect it to change overnight. Now, many coaches often give their athletes the impression that they will be patient and don’t expect unrealistic results but then in the next breath yell at the athlete for the lack of immediate improvement. All this does is create an environment of resent and frustration. It’s important to remind yourself what level of athlete you are working with! What they do then is revert back to old and wrong behavior in order to achieve “success” so they don’t get punished. In contrast, to improve performance it is necessary
to seek out practice activities that allow individuals to work on improving specific aspects, with the help of a EDUCATED teacher in a protected environment with opportunities for reflection, exploration of alternatives, and problem solving as well as repetition.
5. Too much negativity
Newton told us long ago; for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Well, this applies to actual athletic performance variables as well as for feedback. If all you do is give negative feedback, all you will get back is negative results. In movements that occur quickly (like what happens in sport), it has been proven that what one is feeling will definitely impact the speed of the movement. Thus, if you as a coach usually only provide negative instruction (even if it’s only perceived by the athlete), the athlete will imply that stimulus as an emotion and that very emotion can turn into something bigger that keeps the athlete from performing at their best. I am not saying that as a coach you should only paint the picture that everything is flowers and rainbows. But what I am saying is that you need to choose your communication method, tone and style very carefully because it will impact how the athlete performs the subsequent movements.
6. Paralysis by Analysis
This refers to the well-known phenomenon (at least in other countries where they are actually aware of it!) that may result if the athlete tries to correct or advise himself/herself immediately before or during skilled maneuvers. Often this is due to a coach or colleague shouting instructions to an athlete to correct faulty technique during rapid movements. Word to the wise; this does NOT work. This is actually useless b/c it is not possible to consciously change the course of any movement which lasts less than .4 second (400 milliseconds). This means that the movement that occurs within that time frame (which is most sport movements and tasks) are completely involuntary which means that it comes as a result of the central nervous system. Fortunately for us, Russian physiologist Pavlov proved long ago that we can condition nervous system reflexes. We just have to stimulate it in the right way.
7. Lack of proper hydration
Gone are the days when we push our athletes over and over without allowing them to get water breaks. This leads to the idea that you SHOULD be encouraging your athletes to consume water at any opportunity that they get. Water is absolutely the most essential nutrient (even ahead of macros such as protein, fats, and carbs) that can impact one’s performance immediately! Research even proves that a dehydrated muscle is 10-15% weaker! So why would we subject our athletes to that? It’s simple; we wouldn’t. So keep them hydrated. Also remember that thirst is NOT a reliable indicator of hydration. In fact, if you are thirsty you are already dehydrated. As a guideline, shoot for 8oz/15 minutes of training/sport activity.
8. Quality vs. Quantity Training and knowing the difference
Just because it is written down on the training program that someone should do 5 sets of something that doesn’t mean that you have to do that! Every athlete has good days and bad days. As a coach, it is your responsibility to control the amount of training-induced stress around the many aspects of that athlete’s life. If it’s finals week, or if you know that one of your athletes is stressed about something in their personal life, do NOT push them to perform at their normal capacity. This will be contradicting to their performance on that given day and in the whole scheme of the plan, as well. To achieve optimal sport prowess, every rep of every set of every exercise of every day must be of the highest quality possible! That said; if an athlete is not reaching their normal performance parameters, maybe it’s the body’s way of telling the coach that intensity/overload variables need to be backed off on not only on that day but in the program as a whole
before the athlete becomes severely overtrained. On that note, some coaches do not use any feedback mechanism thinking that they can ‘outsmart’ the body. However, this type of guesswork training will only hinder performance and increase the risk of injury.
9. Training for the wrong sport/SAID
This should be the fundamental basis of sport training. However, I am alarmed by the number of coaches (sometimes b/c of lack of knowledge and sometimes out of sheer laziness) who train with incorrect emphasis. The SAID principle is defined as Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands. In simple terms this means that again, you must train the way you play cuz you will play the way that you train! So, if you are a volleyball team, and you have a football coach training your athletes, there may be time for a change!
On this same note, this principle also applies to conditioning. Work-to-rest ratios should be incorporated into EVERY thing that you do. This means not only in the weight room but also in the gym, track or field…during practices, warm-ups, EVERY thing!!
10. Incorrect movement mechanics/efficiency
We, as coaches and/or specialists, should not be a prototypical health club personal trainer who sits back with his/her clipboard and just counts reps as the athlete goes along haphazardly on some fixated piece of machinery and offer slight encouragement here and there. We are better and more educated than that. Every movement, especially in regards to the biomechanics needs to constantly be coached and adjusted to ensure that the body is attaining the correct response that we are after. If you allow poor/incorrect/inefficient form in the weight room during movements, it WILL carry out into the athletic arena almost immediately.
11. Lack of proper evidence and/or research
I always love the times when an athlete asks the coach why they are doing something in a certain way and they get a resounding (and oh so reassuring!) “because I told you so!” Often times to me this means that the coach quite simply doesn’t know the answer himself/herself! What’s even better is when I ask a coach why they may be doing something and they aren’t able to provide me with a greater response than “it’s what I used to do as an athlete 30 years ago!” If you can’t prove it, you shouldn’t be doing it! Simple as that!
12. Muscle isolation instead of kinetic chain
Your athletes are not bodybuilders. Or at least I hope they aren’t. Bodybuilders are not fast. In order to gain muscle hypertrophy (and sometimes muscular strength) bodybuilders need to isolate muscle groups to bring up weaknesses so they look better on stage. However, the human body doesn’t work that way during sport movements. The whole thing must move synergistically. Therefore, we must focus on incorporating big movements that emphasize the primary movers of the action we which to enhance (and again at near the same speeds/velocities as the sport event requires).
13. Instable surfaces to train for stability or balance
Who started this insane method?! The last time I checked a volleyball/basketball court or a track…they do not change its compliance haphazardly to react to one’s foot. Stability is not about standing on a “stability ball”! Stability, more accurately, refers to how the foot is in contact and positioned on the ground, the firmness of that stance, the joint tension, and the coordinated control of dynamic movement. So get off the stability balls and do some ground-based movement instead.
14. Olympic Lifts as a do-all and end-all
First, let me start by saying that I am a fan of Olympic lifts…at least when they are used at the right time and with the right athletes. Yes, Olympic lifts produce the highest possible peak power and force production of pretty much any exercise that we can do…if done correctly that is! Thus, OLY lifts are a terrific way to increase concentric power production and increase triple extension phase (at the hip, knee, and ankle) efficiency in many sport applications. However, what I see all too often is coaches (strength and sport coaches) who believe that if they do OLY lifts…then that’s all that they will have to use! The problem is, OLY lifts are highly technical to teach and some athletes may waste more time learning them than actually getting benefit from the exercise. Remember, we are not trying to make an athlete a competitive OLY lifter (at least in most instances)…we are trying to make them more athletic so these lifts, like with any other,
are just another tool in the tool box. Plus, I see coaches all the time who just preach to use greater and greater loads without requiring their athletes to practice flawless form first.
15. Do not seek out experts who may know more than they do.
Many athletic performance specialists, such as myself, are often more than willing to share pieces of valuable information to the training of your athletes. Nothing drives me more nuts (ok the other things on this list come close) than a close-minded coach who refuses to come to the conclusion that they cannot wear all hats at once. Listen; I am not a volleyball or football coach (or insert any sport there) and will never pretend to be. So I don’t know the exact tactics and strategies of every single sport. In the same way, you are probably not expected to know everything about the development of athletic performance either. So please, for the sake of your athletes, seek out someone who spends all their time (and probably lots of money on education, etc) being an expert in that respective field.
There you have it!! My Top 15 List of Things That Coaches Do Incorrectly With Their Athletes!! I am sure that I left some hot topics off the list but it should give you a short inventory of rules that you need to avoid in the training of your athletes and also some ways that you can start to point your program in the right direction.
Shawn Myszka
is wealth of experience begins at a personal level as a competitive bodybuilder, winning the NPC Wisconsin State Championship in 1999 and 2001, and eventually competing at the National-level. Shawn took his passion for training athletes to the next level, the professional level, as a strength coach on the Strength & Conditioning Staff with the Chicago Bears in 2003. Shawn has also spent time working with Louie Simmons, regarded by many as the top strength coach in the world, as well as 6-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. In addition to all of this, he has trained Collegiate National Champion Athletes, Professional Athletes, and has also worked closely with various high schools / sports organizations to implement the best possible athletic performance program available for them!
Now, he brings his knowledge, experience, and intensity to any athlete and/or sports organization looking to take their ability further than they ever imagined. Are YOU ready? http://www.explosiveedgeathletics.com
Thanks again Shawn! Any comments, place them below! Agree? Disagree?
Mike T Nelson
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