A strength & conditioning coach needs to be a great juggler as there are many things that they need to be aware of when considering the training they prescribe to their athletes:
- Physiology
- Biomechanics
- Nutrition
- Psychology
- etc…
What it all comes down to is that, as coaches, we apply stress to the athlete and ask their bodies to adapt to that stress. Being able to juggle all the things that influence how an athlete will adapt to training stress is no easy task and it is important to remember that no two athletes adapt the same way to the same program.
One of the most difficult things to do is to train large groups of athletes while simultaneously trying to be aware of all of these potential influences with regard to each individual athlete’s adaptation to the program. However, as my friend Mark McLaughlin likes to say, “Learn to train one athlete first and then you will understand how to train multiple athletes.”
Not only do I agree with this statement but I think it is an excellent experience that all coaches should have. Oftentimes coaches get right into working with teams and dealing with the logistics of handling large groups of athletes (as well as adopting the approach of the individual that they perform their internship or graduate assistance program under) without ever having the opportunity of working with one single athlete and trying to fully understand all the potential ramifications of their training program – train in “fantasy land” so to speak. Without that experience these coaches often have a hard time seeing the big picture when it comes to trying to apply more than a stock strength and fitness/conditioning program. If the coach does get the experience to actually train just one athlete they often have a hard time breaking away from the type of general program that they would apply to a larger group of athletes, even though the logistics of the two situations are totally different and the single athlete situation would afford you greater freedom and flexibility within the program.
Of course, there are great coaches, who I have the pleasure of also calling friends and learning a lot from over the years, who work with large teams and, because they have learned to train one athlete first, are very aware of the individual response to training. Guys like Nate Brookreson, Jeff Fish, Keith D’Amelio, David Tenney, and Charlie Weingroff all understand this concept and have done a great job applying it. Of course, when in the team environment nothing is ever 100% perfect and there are logistics that may handcuff you in certain situations compared to training one athlete; however, because these guys understand the individual response to training, even though there may be logistical concerns at times, they are able to be aware of things with their team of athletes that other coaches are not and, when necessary, create systems to address any individual concerns.
I have had the opportunity of being on both sides of the fence – single athletes, small groups of athletes, and then larger groups of athletes (high school or junior high teams) and having the understanding of how to train one athlete first has been incredibly helpful. This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting a young coach, Neil Baroody. Neil is about to graduate from college and is looking to do some work as a fitness coach for a club soccer team in the New England area, however, this past summer he had the opportunity to work with just one single athlete and it sounds like he had a great experience. He got to do a lot of different types of testing and evaluation, he got to be highly specific with his training prescription and recovery modalities, and he got to coordinate a sound training approach that may not have been possible with a big group of athletes. The summer experience is something that will serve Neil well going forward in the profession, when working with the club soccer team, because he will now be aware of the individual response each athlete has to training because he “learned to train one athlete first.”