Yesterday I was sent a link to an article of why cleans may not be the best option for everyone. What was concerning is that many coaches are shying away from the olympic lifts more and more, and now lifting in any form besides single leg options with light loads is the new normal. No exercise is magical, and ten years ago I wrote an article about overzealous coaches demanding that everyone do oly [...]

The missing link in today’s coaching is pedagogy. Webster’s defines Pedagogy as: the art, science, or profession of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction. My generation of coaches was trained as teachers. We learned teaching methodology and teaching methods as an integral part of our education. A huge influence on my approach to coaching fr [...]

In the late 1990s, I was in college and interning with the then Tampa Bay Devil Rays. During one game against the Texas rangers, Tony Saunders was pitching and I was in the dugout looking down at my bag of sunflower seeds and heard a snap, similar to a bat making contact. It was Tony's arm breaking and he was rolling around in pain. The echo of the snap still haunts me as the dome was empty that [...]

"Athletes evaluated during two seasons showed no changes in their nutritional behavior, consuming similar amounts of energy, calcium and vitamin D at both assessment points."-Dr. Garcia and Dr.Guisado I am not here to place judgement on a gruesome injury, but I think I will look at my blood testing schedule again to ensur [...]

I love James Bond movies as they are a nice blend of story, action, gadgets, and one liners. Taking a mental break I watched Skyfall and loved the plot and of course the fresh look at the darker James Bond. In the story without giving away spoilers, James is injured and returns. It's an interesting take on the pros and cons of technology, testing validity, resourcefulness, and experience. If you [...]

I just left the theater with my wife and it got me thinking about how we need try to look for the silver lining. Recently across the United States had been hit by multiple massive snow storms. Some of the worst of these storms were in Missouri where I coach. Of course our winter had been mild with little action until the start of spring sports. Now in our first week of outdoor track we have only b [...]

In 1973-74 while attending graduate school at Stanford University I also had the opportunity to coach the jumpers and decathletes. This gave the opportunity to apply what I had learned with more mature male athletes. It was also the opportunity to work with Payton Jordan, the track coach at Stanford who was a pioneer in weight training. He had worked with a man named John Jesse who authored many b [...]

I thought it would interesting to share with you a personal approach to the evolution of strength training as I have seen it using my experiences as an athlete and coach who has been involved in strength training for 50 years. When I began weight training in 1963, it was not commonly accepted as a method of training, in fact weight training was discouraged. There were concerns that you would becom [...]

Do you coach Track & Field, Football, Basketball or Swimming? Yes you do but more importantly you coach the people who compete in those sports. The human element transcends all. Anyone can learn the techniques and strategies, but to be truly effective as a coach you must coach the person. Know what makes your athletes tick. Take an interest in them as people, they are not machines, they have feeli [...]

As I finished the book Talent Code before my trip to the Olympic Training Center I came across an interesting concept about John Wooden's communication style during his practice sessions. The author of Talent Code mentioned during Coach Wooden's practices he used a communication style they titled M+, M-, M+. In simple terms it requires the coach to give constant instruction in machine gun burst [...]