My history in strength and conditioning, as well as sport coaching, is strong because of my up brining. My father and brothers were coaches, therefore, my entire life I was able to watch, listen and learn how to be a coach. Before I went full time into the world of strength and conditioning, I coached sports. Even as I began training athletes as a business, I was still coaching sports. It is in my nature to coach and I don’t believe it will ever leave me.

I can honestly say my strengths as a strength and conditioning coach are because of my in-depth coaching in sports. Being a sport coach taught me things that most strength coaches don’t understand. It is kind of like being privy to the insiders’ information. When you strategies an offensive or defensive system based on the athletic abilities of your team, you learn a lot about athletic development. You understand what it takes to be a defensive player in soccer or football. You know what it is like to ask an outside hitter to keep attacking the net with power. You understand what the athletes can physically give you and the team. Being a coach of sport gives you a passage way to deeper information about what athletes need to be successful in a particular sport.

If every strength coach could spend a few seasons on the sideline or on the bench coaching a sport, they would learn information not readily available in the weight room. Not only would they gain physical insights as to what the sport demands they would gain strategies in the art of coaching. They wouldn’t just coach from a text book or disseminate information because they just learned it at a seminar. They would look deep into the eyes of the sport and ask key questions. They would look for answers to what makes an athlete thrive in his or her sport. They would quickly understand the process of development and how it can’t be rushed or steps can’t be skipped, but they would learn how to not waste time on insignificant training.

I believe the greatest gift we can give young strength coaches and sport coaches is the ability to actually coach as it was intended. To decipher what is needed, what will serve best, and to continually seek answers. Far too often coaches pin themselves to a philosophy of an idol, or to a mentor. Although this act is noble and respectful of the followed, it limits and stifles growth. To be great coaches we must breakout of a singular mindset and collect knowledge from others who have proven successful. We must challenge the status quo and ask “why”.

In my posts I always encourage the audience to ask “why”. I encourage this it forces the brain to confirm, deny, or seek more information regarding the topic. Asking questions opens up opportunities and solidifies or confirms doubt. It makes us stretch and get out of our own zones.

Coaching in the field of strength and conditioning has become very system oriented. I like systems, but not at the expense of logic. We tend to look at training methods as absolute truths or gospel. We need to look at what each training method brings to the table in respect to the sport, athlete, or population we are training. I love body weight training, Olympic lifting, power lifting and many other methods of training. Because I have coached sports and realized I had to use what made my team successful, I can easily use what I need in strength and conditioning and not become married to a method.

There are so many great strength coaches out there that have never coached organized sports. What they are able to do is coach athletes on need and not coach purely based off a system. The truth is they are willing to work harder than most strength coaches. They are willing to invest in their knowledge to learn and keep learning. How bout you?