If you are a high school, college, or tactical ops strength coach; there are only a few certainties... and your job security isn't one of them. Unless you are a few of the elite level institutions, those certainties are: 1. You will usually have more athletes than your facility can effectively handle. 2. You will have a less-than-desirable coach-to-athlete ratio. 3. You will have more teams to schedule than your day will allow. It's not as black and white as this, but the point being is that coaches need to be adaptable and flexible and no situation is perfect. The bottom line is there are athletes you need to spend a lot of time with to get them acclimated to the type of training you want to do. Unfortunately, you won't have as much time as you need. You will have to make general corrections that are relatively standardized. I am not saying this cookie cutter approach is what makes up the bulk of your coaching, but there will be some times you will need to make some general adjustments that will help the bulk of your freshman and beginners. These are a few that have helped me. Olympic Lifts 1. Teach the athletic position first. The easiest way is one I got from Baylor a few years back. - Feet at hip width - Slight bend in the knees - Place hands on the knees - Put the shoulder blades "in the back pocket" Here is a quick video of who we used to teach this position.
Teaching the Athletic Power Position 2. Have the athletes cock (flex) their wrists. Unless you are allowing straps or teaching the hook grip, this will help with their grip. More importantly, it will keep the bar closer to their body on the pull. 3. Turn the elbows out. This is tough for beginners to keep their shoulder blades retracted while doing this, but pointing their elbows out will keep the bar path close to the body. More importantly, it is much harder for the athlete to bend the elbows during the pull when they rotate the elbows out. 4. Use pauses. Pausing at below the knee (when starting from the floor), above the knee (when starting from the hang), and at the catch position can reinforce proper from and help the athlete understand what the proper positions should feel like. This also allows coaches to provide immediate feedback when normally the high-speed movement won't allow it. Here is an article on utilizing paused (static holds) with Olympic lifts
Olympic Lifting for Athletes: Using Static Holds to Improve Technique Squat 1. Turn the toes out. Most beginners don't have the flexibility to squat with their toes straight ahead. With larger groups aligning their knees with the toes in general will keep the bulk of your athletes in a better position. The angle should be around 15-30 degrees as long as their isn't any issues with the foot. As Raw powerlifting gains popularity, this is less of an issue with beginning lifters, but most athletes are taught to have their toes forward on the field or court. Its just different for them. 2. Front load the movement. Change the center of gravity to allow the athlete to "sit-back" to achieve proper descent and bottom position of the squat. 3. Use a box below parallel. This can help the athletes understand what parallel feels like and cutting the time under tension in half can alleviate the athletes ability to keep proper posture while at the most demanding position. Overhead pressing 1. Push the elbows forward while still having a full grip on the bar. Forearm angle should be mostly vertical with the elbows slightly in front of the wrists. 2. Open the window and look through. Finish with the bar directly over the head. 3. Flare the elbows and push the biceps forward on lockout. This will provide much more stability at the top of the movement. Here is a quick tutorial of the movement and how we used to teach it:
Overhead Press Progression Bench Press 1. Bring the bar down to the Xyphoid process (below the sternum at the upper abs). This position will put most athlete's upper arms at a 45 degree angle. This is will be the most advantageous "groove' for the bulk of the athletes you work with. 2. Use one grip. Using multiple grips cuts the amount of reps to master the movement in half. Basically, when the bar is on the chest (upper abs) the forearms should point straight to the ceiling when looking at the forearms from the side and from the feet of the lifter. Summary There are so many more that could be included in this list. But from a generalization standpoint, this may be a good place to start. If you have some more quick tips you think helps most of your team, please let me know here...
TRAINING WEDNESDAY At Showtime Strength & Performance Hang Snatch
Teaching the Athletic Power Position 2. Have the athletes cock (flex) their wrists. Unless you are allowing straps or teaching the hook grip, this will help with their grip. More importantly, it will keep the bar closer to their body on the pull. 3. Turn the elbows out. This is tough for beginners to keep their shoulder blades retracted while doing this, but pointing their elbows out will keep the bar path close to the body. More importantly, it is much harder for the athlete to bend the elbows during the pull when they rotate the elbows out. 4. Use pauses. Pausing at below the knee (when starting from the floor), above the knee (when starting from the hang), and at the catch position can reinforce proper from and help the athlete understand what the proper positions should feel like. This also allows coaches to provide immediate feedback when normally the high-speed movement won't allow it. Here is an article on utilizing paused (static holds) with Olympic lifts
Olympic Lifting for Athletes: Using Static Holds to Improve Technique Squat 1. Turn the toes out. Most beginners don't have the flexibility to squat with their toes straight ahead. With larger groups aligning their knees with the toes in general will keep the bulk of your athletes in a better position. The angle should be around 15-30 degrees as long as their isn't any issues with the foot. As Raw powerlifting gains popularity, this is less of an issue with beginning lifters, but most athletes are taught to have their toes forward on the field or court. Its just different for them. 2. Front load the movement. Change the center of gravity to allow the athlete to "sit-back" to achieve proper descent and bottom position of the squat. 3. Use a box below parallel. This can help the athletes understand what parallel feels like and cutting the time under tension in half can alleviate the athletes ability to keep proper posture while at the most demanding position. Overhead pressing 1. Push the elbows forward while still having a full grip on the bar. Forearm angle should be mostly vertical with the elbows slightly in front of the wrists. 2. Open the window and look through. Finish with the bar directly over the head. 3. Flare the elbows and push the biceps forward on lockout. This will provide much more stability at the top of the movement. Here is a quick tutorial of the movement and how we used to teach it:
Overhead Press Progression Bench Press 1. Bring the bar down to the Xyphoid process (below the sternum at the upper abs). This position will put most athlete's upper arms at a 45 degree angle. This is will be the most advantageous "groove' for the bulk of the athletes you work with. 2. Use one grip. Using multiple grips cuts the amount of reps to master the movement in half. Basically, when the bar is on the chest (upper abs) the forearms should point straight to the ceiling when looking at the forearms from the side and from the feet of the lifter. Summary There are so many more that could be included in this list. But from a generalization standpoint, this may be a good place to start. If you have some more quick tips you think helps most of your team, please let me know here...
TRAINING WEDNESDAY At Showtime Strength & Performance Hang Snatch
- 40kg for 5 doubles
- 250lbs for 10 doubles w/ 1 min rest
- 150lbs for 10 triples with 1 min rest
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