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112 - Environment, Experience & Excellence w/ Matt Nein, Salisbury University & USA Lacrosse
2 Playsin 1 day
What separates a good strength coach from a great one? According to Matt Nein, it's not the programming. It's the environment you create and the experience you deliver — every single day.
In his 21 years at Salisbury University, Matt has built one of the most decorated strength and conditioning programs in all of college athletics — 14 national championships, 360-plus All-Americans, and the 2018 NSCA Collegiate Strength Coach of the Year award. And he's done it without the budget, the staff, or the square footage of the programs that get all the attention.
We also go deep on his role as Strength and Conditioning Coach for USA Lacrosse's Box and Sixes National Teams, the physical demands of the fastest game on two feet, and what it means to keep a flame lit when your athletes are scattered across the country.
This one is for every coach trying to build something real with limited resources and unlimited heart.
Education - Captains & Coaches course, "Why They're Not Listening - Coaching Today's Athlete": http://listen.captainsandcoaches.com
Training - Old Bull Program - 7 Day Free Trial - https://bit.ly/old-bull-train
C&C Merch - shop.captainsandcoaches.com
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Transcript
Transformation through Weight Training
00:00:00
Speaker
ignite that spark i remember a basketball player that we had here first day in the weight room she's like i absolutely hate this place like i'm i'm not gonna just you could see it right she told it she spoke it it was everything i remember her senior year then she comes up to me and you know and and we're just talking about it that that as a freshman comes up to me her senior year she said where can i buy one of those shirts and i said i got you yeah she's like what are you talking about I was like, do you remember that first day when you were talking in the weight room about how you hated it, you didn't like it?
00:00:34
Speaker
i got you. And she's just like, the light bulb went off. She's like... Yup, like love it. Love being in here, love creating this experience, being in here with my teammates. And you know, to me, like that's what it's really all about at the end of the day.
Matt Nine's Impact at Salisbury University
00:00:48
Speaker
Salisbury University isn't just winning in lacrosse. They're winning in almost every program on campus. And if you spend five minutes with today's guest, you'll understand why.
00:00:58
Speaker
Matt Nine has spent 21 years building one of the most intentional performance environments in all of college athletics. With 14 national championships, 360-plus All-Americans, and the 2018 NSEA College Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year to show for it. Now he's taken that same philosophy to the national stage as the strength and conditioning coach for USA, Box, Lacrosse, and Sixes programs with the eye on the 2028 Olympics.
00:01:29
Speaker
Today we're talking environment, connection, culture, and what Division III gets right that everyone else misses. Matt and I, welcome to the Captains and Coaches podcast where we explore the art and science of leadership.
00:01:41
Speaker
Thank you for helping us raise the game. Ready, ready, and break.
Traditions and Team Atmosphere
00:01:46
Speaker
Action, we're live on campus, Salisbury University. I'm sitting with Matt and I. I've had some Vietnam flashbacks pulling up to the weight room here, man. So thank you for for taking the time today. I appreciate it. Thank you for coming. and Yes.
00:02:00
Speaker
So I've played many ah games at this field over here. It was grass back in my day. Now we've got a beautiful turf. And there's something that I'm very sad about is now the athletic facilities are located next to the stadium versus the long walk that I got to take from the athletic training room to the stadium that is just infamous with the lacrosse team.
00:02:22
Speaker
Yeah, so I mean, it's a definitely something that you know The tradition that
Building a Motivational Environment
00:02:28
Speaker
we had here has been really, really cool with that that long walk. You could hear the echoing. You'd have them paired up walking down that tunnel with with our guys.
00:02:39
Speaker
Definitely intimidating, I think, as you see them coming down the corner. As they then walk onto the stadium, they walk all the way around. They still do the walk around. Okay. um with ah Star Wars music still going, Imperial March, yep, it's still there. And again, they create that, right? It's a mindset and attitude from the very start, as soon as they come out of that building. And again, since we have the new stadium, we don't have that, but we still, you know as they walk out of the locker room,
00:03:09
Speaker
They have, it's still the same from there on. And like I said, we have in our locker room the hammer that they would use to create the the beat that they would then chant to as they walk down coming up the tunnel. Just just so cool. So neat.
00:03:26
Speaker
Yeah, it was it was a a special time. i I had fun with all that stuff and just took in the environment. Well, one, because I knew what score was about to show up and I was a defensive player. So...
00:03:38
Speaker
Those hurt a lot, but got to to stand against the best of the best, and that's always how I viewed playing Salisbury. How about the ah the halftime locker room? I think that's all gone too now. oh that broom closet? the brute Yeah, the broom closet for you guys. That was something else, man it was We pulled the lawnmowers out on game day. Yeah, that is. You had that that gas smell. um It's all coming back. that fun stuff, yeah. Yeah, see yeah. Some scary memories on that one, I bet.
00:04:04
Speaker
Man, just good times, good times all around. So, dude, Salisbury, you guys were winning at everything, not just lacrosse. So historic in almost every single program.
00:04:15
Speaker
And i mean, in my humble opinion, it starts in the weight room, starts within training. So you get this amazing opportunity in this beautiful facility. I'll i'll pan some B-roll here to work with every single team.
00:04:28
Speaker
So Talk to us about just taking in, I can't just be a football strength coach, which is common at the other levels, right? You are everything within this program and your staff.
00:04:39
Speaker
Well, I think it started, the the way in which my job was initially built is I also managed the rec center, which is on the other side of campus, over where the initial locker rooms were. So having to do that and having to do this, I had to have like a lens of what recreation is too, right, in my job.
00:04:57
Speaker
um And because of that, I think it also gave me that lens in here is like no one team gets the priority of anything, whether that's football, basketball, right, or your you traditional sports in that in that sense.
Adapting Training Methods
00:05:10
Speaker
Nobody gets it, right? So like, um which some of our teams who, you know, tend to be on that lower echelon thought side and strength and conditioning, they were going to get the same amount, same treatment that everybody else was going to get. um and And so that was my mindset starting here 21 years ago.
00:05:26
Speaker
um was creating that environment that, you know what, this is, like you said, this is where it begins, right? You know, again, and and we have out here in our hallway, you know, where where champions are are built, right, where legacies are made. um Again, this is that that off-season place where you get to get stronger, get more powerful, come together as a team and connect, grow, um have failures, but then grow from those failures, because you'll see it every day in here. It's inevitable.
00:05:57
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. and ah and And I think it's great, great things for for our athletes to see, right? Because I don't think they see it as often as maybe you and I did when we were younger in terms of of playing. I remember in high school, if we won five or six games in baseball, like in in ah in a in four years, like that might have been about where we were. right So we saw it a lot. We didn't have, we couldn't jump ship. We couldn't go here, couldn't go there. And even in our club teams and things like that. And so now,
00:06:22
Speaker
most of them, they've been the best player. yeah And all of a sudden, you step in here, and you've got multiple All-Americans who over there. We've even had some alumni come back who were you know multi-time All-Americans. And you know they're hopping into some workouts. I remember we had one with lacrosse and um and that and Navy SEAL. And they hop in with ah a circuit that we were running.
00:06:44
Speaker
And those two aren't even tired. Can you imagine, like, you're a freshman. You're looking at these guys, and you're like, I mean, just what is going on here? There are levels to this game. That's what it is And it's, yeah, so it's really, really eye-opening, I think, when you step in here as a freshman and you see that. And, you know, again, that is creating that environment in here, right? I mean, we use a lot of bar velocity. And we used to have, you know, our on our racks here, we would have our tablets. And so the the lifter could see it.
00:07:10
Speaker
but I didn't like it um because it it took an element out that I think we were missing. right Where we would have, you know we have four at a rack and we give that fourth person a job. right So it's not like you've got your lifter, you've got your spotter, you've got your your auxiliary lift that's paired with that and then the fourth guy. right The fourth guy becomes the reader.
00:07:29
Speaker
And so now they're reading it. So I can't have them sit there and say, 0.7. point seven right like No, we need to get get loud, right get energetic about it, get excited, right passion, move, right get them to work. right and And we're doing some bar velocity work where we're we're not lifting in reps. right we're We're based off of speeds. And when we hit those thresholds, then we're done. so But I need you to motivate, push, And so what it does, I mean, we're studying this in terms of, you know, building work capacity work early on in their training. Usually probably starts about third week, second to third week of of training in here. um
00:08:05
Speaker
and And again, it's gonna force you out there to be comfortable now at this point. Like, we're gonna get you as uncomfortable as you possibly can in here. We're gonna make you talk, we're gonna make you motivate, we're gonna make you push, right? You're gonna be with a you could be a freshman who is now motivating a senior who's been here for four years.
00:08:19
Speaker
It's not freshman with freshman, we're spreading it out, right? And get you into that position where you have to communicate, you have to talk, you have to be loud, because that's what our coaches are gonna demand out there.
00:08:33
Speaker
And it it what it ends up doing in here, it opens up an environment that now we can have communication throughout the whole room. Time out. Observation. New coaches getting into the field are really smart and intelligent when it comes to programming or understanding practice plans and their sport, and really bad at people.
00:08:54
Speaker
They have high IQ and low EQ. I spent the past 14 years traveling the world teaching people how to teach people, lifting weights, understanding sport, but most importantly, connecting with people.
00:09:08
Speaker
I've taken all those lessons from all over the world and put them into a new course, Why They're Not Listening, Coaching Today's Athlete. If you want the first lesson free, head to the website, listen.captainsandcoaches.com.
00:09:21
Speaker
to learn more. And now, back to the show. Ready, ready, and break. Having those connections right now where we're working across the room, right, where the senior who is now working with guys who are equivalent to them have that communicative
Challenges in Division III Coaching
00:09:36
Speaker
line back and forth. Or that freshman you know can walk over there, high five them based off of them putting a good a good effort, good set in, because we've opened up those lines early on in here. And again, that doesn't matter the sport, right? I wanna create that environment.
00:09:52
Speaker
Cuz to me, like that's that environment of excellence, right? To be successful, it's not just X's and O's. We've gotta to do these other things and gotta connect and grow. And we we didn't name a sport there.
00:10:02
Speaker
But it was still all things that are important no matter what we're playing here. Now, when designing a new weight room, flow function workouts, you have your style of performance training in mind.
00:10:15
Speaker
But how much did this environment that you wanted to create play a role in designing this new facility? Yeah, I think you know from when I got here 21 years ago, when everything was jammed in, plate loaded machines all back in this area, right away, i had the, you know just thinking, of was like, how are we gonna run this? right And again, I'm young, I'm 24 years old.
00:10:37
Speaker
like I think I know everything, right? um Really know nothing. and Why'd you point at me when you said that? No, I'm just saying. it um And so we're we're we've got our racks over on this far side and all everything jammed here. And we're able to get one main lift in and then it just goes to to crap at that point because some guys have to come on the machines. Some guys have to because we're not going to be able to effectively move through this space at any given at a given point. And so...
00:11:02
Speaker
I think right from then it was like, man, if you had the opportunity, what would you do in this space? It's not gonna be any bigger, right? This is what you got. What do you do? And i would say we maybe did that for two years and it was like, no, we've got it. This isn't going to work. It's just ineffective in what we're trying to accomplish. At that point, again, I'm 24 years old, understanding more than X's and O's I don't think was really there yet, right? Like the capacity of my role as a strength conditioning coach is greater than just X's and O's. And when you're young, like that's all it really was, right? Just nail those things out. And so I think at that point, seeing the way the room was and starting to grow as a professional as well, that we've got to change what we're doing in here.
00:11:46
Speaker
And so we upput opened up everything. We were able to and now this is the hard part right when you're in the state system is like you can't just get rid of equipment And so as we were bringing some new things in some of our Kaiser functional trainers things like that We were able to substitute You know this can suffice for these different types of pieces of equipment We were able to kind of shuttle them out and move them around to where we were able to open up this space and ah and part of it my philosophy is I want athletes to be able to move back and forth If you're over here at this rack, I want you to be able to go to that rack over there and high five somebody who's getting after it. right Creating leadership opportunities in that context where, again, it's
00:12:27
Speaker
you're ah you're a freshman, right? People gravitate to you. um You have that indication that you know you may be one of those people down the road, right? Let's create those leadership opportunities in here.
00:12:40
Speaker
But when I'm closed off and I'm in my group, I can't really do that. You can be a great leader here at your rack, but that's not good enough, right? Like I want you to spread out. And maybe initial spread out is down, and And then how do we get across?
00:12:52
Speaker
And if if the room's cut off, or we usually to have dumbbells down the middle, right? And same thing, it blocks from that opposite side. It really impacts warmups too and you know how we're going through them, how we're connecting, right? Again, you know having the ladders here on the line, like again, we're just going through some general warmup stuff, but how we go back is where you're connecting with people. It's high fives as we go back. um you know If you're passing somebody who's in the front of the line,
00:13:17
Speaker
You're always high-fiving. It's just kind of the way it goes is making those connections. The role you know body contact plays and in creating that environment is huge. And we couldn't do it. And then we had platforms as well. So that took up a lot of space, made a lot of this space really unusable.
00:13:34
Speaker
And I think then COVID happened, and we learned a tremendous amount from that, is we had to train outside. right So out back here we have –
00:13:43
Speaker
14 parking spaces that we were using. And so we had the lines and then it was two people in a parking space. We had to carry everything out. So me and the and the GAs and the volunteer staff that we had every morning, we roll in here at like five o'clock.
00:13:56
Speaker
We'd carry everything outside, set up our stations and then we'd roll. um And when you have to carry everything out, like your dumbbells and all that, like that's a big eye opener.
00:14:08
Speaker
like How can we make this more efficient? We had power blocks, but we didn't have them all wheels. right So we had our our physical plant weld the wheels onto our ah our our power block stands. and So that was made it more efficient.
00:14:20
Speaker
But then when we're in here, thinking about it, like but that actually helps us out. like If we wanna do more things, we can just move them around. um And so yeah, we're we're bound. We have 2300 square feet in here.
00:14:31
Speaker
And so you need to be able to be as versatile as you possibly can with your equipment, with your spaces. We used to have all rubber on the floor, so it really limited what we could do from a on-the-ground types of things to slides and things like that.
00:14:48
Speaker
And so as you start getting is, okay, we can actually, it's not just yet looks cool. It's actually, you know, exceptionally functional to be able to have turf here in the middle and then define our our spaces out on the outside. So where we had platforms to kind of where we're sitting right now, our platforms would come out to here and basically all this space all the way down was unusable. yeah And so going back to your question, is like having that philosophy of what is it that we want to accomplish is number one. right And how do we create that?
00:15:19
Speaker
And then how do we make it look spectacular? A place that people want to be here, right that's part of it too, is man, I want to train in here. um Just from the look of it. and that had to be a big factor too. So functionality was one, and then really just the the look of things was number two.
00:15:43
Speaker
Yeah. I mean, talk about recruit ready. And Maryland's known for pride. And there's there's a lot of pride within this this room for sure. yeah What did it take to get these individuals up on this wall of fame over here?
00:15:56
Speaker
So there's they're different. Some of are different in terms of being on there. um We went to the coaching staff and and looked at, well, who do you guys want? right Who is your, and so some of them wanted a current player, right and some wanted kind of like more of like their legacy player. Someone who is you know like Abby Mace on the door over there for softball. She's one of the best softball players to ever have played the game at the Division III level.
00:16:21
Speaker
um that's our That's their legacy player. They wanted that person on there. So some of them, the majority of them probably just about every single one of them, Looking up here, they're team captains, they're leaders, they're influential within their team.
00:16:37
Speaker
um you know Some of them are all Americans, some of them are not. Some of them are really, really just great leaders. And so really just diving in is like, who do you want as a as a coach to represent your program? So when you bring a recruit in here, and you show them this wall, how are you gonna talk about that player? like and then and And most of them, I would say just about every single one of them, like they work hard in here. right That's why they're up there. They're leaders. right, they're captains, they're influential players, it's because they actually work, right? They grind, they understood what it takes to become the best that they're capable of. And so it gives the coaching staff an opportunity to communicate and talk about that in here. And, you know, i mean we probably had, each person here probably had like four or five pictures.
00:17:20
Speaker
We had horizontal, we had verticals, like, right We use our design team then from SI Designs to come in here and say, okay, figure out how to get it on the wall. I know and you said like the the Maryland, like some of the stuff in the background with the flags. We actually have like our city streets in here. you know our Our athletic director is huge with community service.
00:17:38
Speaker
right And so having the streets of Salisbury right It is, it's that constant, you know what, we're not just going to, we're not just athletes, we're going to give back to the community. um and And really, we've, for the past two years, we've won the Division III Community Service Award.
00:17:54
Speaker
So finish first, you know, by submitting all of our community service each of the past two years, we've won that. um Again, so it's not just being a great athlete, it's how do you give back to your community.
00:18:07
Speaker
And you know I mean, the community around here is is great. They show up for games. um They're invested in in us. And so it's we've we've got to invest back in them, too. And so part of that is you know that our design team came with that. And we're like, yes, we have to have that. you know um And then we were initially going to gold our city our in institution streets.
00:18:28
Speaker
But we went against that. we said, you know what? like We're the whole community. we don't know we're not going to separate o ourselves from that whole community so we have it here in the weight room we actually have it in our lobby as well um but part of that is yeah it really is neat little details that i would have never thought of that you know had some ideas of what we wanted but he came with that and you know obviously the the maryland flag and and so forth right the state of maryland back up here on this side mean Maryland's different,
Maryland's Athletic Pride
00:18:57
Speaker
right? Oh, I get our state. We love our flag. and I would put it number two in respect to pride connected to your state. Yeah, then to to Texas. So yeah, coming in to the East Coast and a bunch of playing with a bunch of Maryland dudes. Yeah, I thought it was the ugliest flag, but the the pride they took into it. hey Oh, yeah.
00:19:15
Speaker
I love those guys. Can't disrespect them. So yeah, in in living within that D3, Man, and i I can't stand this when people start to put down this level or disregard it.
00:19:28
Speaker
Even during an interview as a strength coach, I once got that. math didn't work out it pissed me off though it was like three years at division three equal one at division one and i i laughed in their face because there's much more constraints there's much more challenges we have less resources so we got to be one build better buy-in as a coach and two what do we have that are resources that we can utilize to accomplish the same thing and we have albeit lower level athletes, so we've got to do more to develop them with strength, character, speed, everything.
00:20:05
Speaker
So I didn't like that response or that directed towards me, and but then found more value in my experience as a D3 player and
Achieving Excellence in Division III
00:20:13
Speaker
coach. I would agree. i think it's you know, resources, lot less, right? I mean, like this is this is what we have. mean, were looking at some other facilities that are, you know, four, six, 10 times bigger than this at, you know, 25,000 square feet.
00:20:28
Speaker
And it's like, well, how hard could it be, you know? and When I started here, I was by myself. you know There's still a lot of Division III strength coaches that are by themself. I have three graduate assistants that work with me who are between 22 and 24 years old, and they've interned at generally multiple places, but but they've never been in charge of a team. And all of a sudden, we're saying, hey, you're gonna be in charge of the best baseball and softball team in in the country. right because right there I think last year, they at one point, they were ranked number one in the country.
00:20:56
Speaker
And so it's like, good luck. you know i mean I've gotta develop them too, right? And and help build them. But um I would say even from the athletic standpoint, like I think what we're seeing is here at our level, we're getting a lot of division one players um or they have the capacity to be a division one player.
00:21:17
Speaker
um They do need that little build, right? Like that, they've they come in build work. Part of it is we've gotta create that, right? We've gotta create that. Most of them, you know that desire to wanna be the best, right? And how do we continue to fuel that? A lot of them have it, but we can't create an environment that takes that away or negates that by being,
00:21:40
Speaker
old school terms of yelling and you know, we got to create an environment that's exciting, that's fun, that people want to be part of. You want to come here every day. This is going to, we want it to be the best part of your day. Yeah. Right. And unless maybe you have practice, then that could be the best part of your day too. But this needs to be right. When you're coming here, the music's playing, got to create that. We want you to come in here and develop and grow. um I think at this level, i remember sitting in a conference, um me and Mike Carr, we ran a small school solution session with the NSCA.
00:22:14
Speaker
And um this was a number of years ago. And it was the first time we had done it. And there might've been 20 people in the room. But one of the guys that was in that room was Ron McEfree, right?
00:22:29
Speaker
And again, you're so thinking i again, and where he's been, you know, from the NFL to elite division one, why is this guy in this room? He didn't need to be in that room, right? mean, he's one of the greatest strength coaches that exists.
00:22:42
Speaker
Why is he here? And the amount that we got to learn just from him being in that room, And i think vice versa of seeing that kind of how we have to do it, you know, and taking that. and And all of a sudden this small school solution session over the next two years blew up to where there was just standing room only. And all of a sudden now you're seeing big, bigger division one schools coming in here.
00:23:06
Speaker
I think the division three strength coaches, I mean, you were it, right? You've got to figure out how do you train, you know, again, we have 23 teams, right? But, you know, I have ah five that I'm specifically overseeing. you know from field hockey to basketball to football to lacrosse is, mean, they're they're all different. And so at the end of the day, are they though, right? I mean, there's a lot of similarities. And I think because we we have some of that versatility in multiple sports where there's things that we can take, when you start looking at basketball and lacrosse is and how they play together. or how they play they aren't that different.
00:23:41
Speaker
But there's ah some things that we can take from that that we can can start to implement. in case Some of the running stuff that we do, some of the small-sided game work that we can play when we're playing you know sixes or less and running some of those those those concepts they're you know where There's a lot of cool things that come from that. And if I'm just in in a single sport, I don't know if i ever get all that or or gain some of that information. um And so there is a lot that I think that we have to do as division three strength coaches.
00:24:09
Speaker
I hate it as well, right? um you know From just where where it's looked down upon. you know And I think the the next one off of that too is also like, well, personal trainers coming into the college strength conditioning world.
00:24:23
Speaker
I don't know, I think in in my eyes, if we wanna be different, and we wanna be great in what we do, we have to to do things differently. We can't be the same as everybody else, right? So you gotta think, act, and do differently. right And I think if you look at the elite in every aspect, doesn't matter what it is, they think, to act, and do differently than everybody else, or they wouldn't be elite.
00:24:42
Speaker
right And so we can't keep doing that the same old stuff that everybody else has been doing. And so how do we create that? What does that look like here that that is going to be just slightly different?
00:24:53
Speaker
um and And it puts us in ah in a spot where we have that opportunity to continue to grow and and create that. And again, it gives that then to how do we develop the athlete from a mental standpoint, from a passion standpoint?
00:25:06
Speaker
um you know and And you ignite that spark. I remember a basketball player that we had here, first day in the weight room, she's like, I absolutely hate this place. Like, I'm not going to, just, you could see it, right? She told it, she spoke it, it was everything.
00:25:22
Speaker
I remember her senior year then, she comes up to me, and you know and and we're just talking about it and that that as a freshman, comes up to me her senior year, she said, where can I buy one of those shirts? And I said, i got you.
00:25:34
Speaker
yeah She's like, what are you talking about? I was like, do you remember that first day when you were talking in the weight room about how you hated it, you didn't like it? i got you. And she's just like, the light bulb went off. She's like, yep, like love it. Love being in here. Love creating this experience.
00:25:52
Speaker
Being in here with my teammates. and you know To me, like that's what it's really all about at the end of the day. um But yeah, going back to it, we've we've got to we can't just keep doing the same old stuff.
00:26:04
Speaker
And I think by having those multiple teams, these large groups, you've got to be creative in what we do um is you do. How do you get from here to outside to back in here to making sure that we're working on speed? What you know goes down to your room setups, your distances, things like that, right the equipment that you're going to be purchasing? i mean, there's so many details right that come into it and that that are that come into it and you It's tough, right? Yeah. And build building on that, ah you built a great relationship with that one basketball player.
00:26:36
Speaker
And now she's going to continue to train and have a healthy relationship with fitness and hard work moving forward. There's also that challenge where you have where there's not a lot of off season, where kids don't live here, where they need to go away and still maintain those internal boundaries where alarm's going off.
00:26:55
Speaker
It's pretty cold outside. I'm still going to get up and do what I need to do. I think that's the hardest thing. right I think across the board, probably any strength coach will tell you that, that that that is probably one of the most biggest challenges. um and And again, that's where, what can we create here, right? Where there's team connection, where they're communicating on social media, or not social media, but in their chats, their group chats.
00:27:19
Speaker
and I mean, we had one yesterday that we saw where there was like six of them were out at a, ah out getting wall ball done for for on our women's lacrosse side. It's like, okay, great. Like they send that to the other people and okay, now I gotta go get mine too. um you know You know, those are a lot of,
00:27:35
Speaker
But again, like you've got to create that the more the concept of what do I need to do to be the best? Like that needs to become the habit, right? Like that becomes the standards. And I think it's critical that all that has to be set, right? And what does it look like here in the weight room? What does it look like running?
00:27:54
Speaker
What does it look like playing the game, right? We talk about five components. being the best athlete possible. right You gotta lift, right you gotta train, right you gotta run, right that's your speed, agility, conditionings, endurance work, anything along that line. You gotta recover, right so that's a big focus on your nutrition and your sleep and stress management.
00:28:12
Speaker
You gotta play the game. So that's your, whether that's watching film, depending upon what time of the year it is, right watching film to getting out running drills, activities, wall ball, whatever it is, individually, small group if you can.
00:28:25
Speaker
And then the fifth one would be right your mental game. um ah Those are the, I think if you can work on those five things and fill those buckets up as high as you can, right? And so you'll have some people love the weight room, super passionate about coming in here, but then their other four buckets are like nearly empty, right? Don't eat well, don't sleep well, right? And then you can start showing them with some of your performance metrics that, yeah, we're doing all this work in here, but nothing is really changing. um What happens now? What's your nutrition look like? And again, so if if it's important, you probably should measure it, right? So again,
00:28:58
Speaker
it's not so much even macronutrients. It's like, are you just eating? yeah are you We don't have the nutritional budgets here that that we can supply everything to you. um And so like, are you eating you know three meals and a snack? right So if you're like a 6 a.m. lift or an early morning lift is would be dinner the night before, snack before you came, and then your breakfast after and your lunch. right And again, if you have an evening, then it would be obviously a little bit different with that.
00:29:26
Speaker
But then
Team Standards and Governance
00:29:27
Speaker
it's a point system. It's a competitive piece, you know, using the concept of the competitive cauldron um that Anson Dorrance created out of UNC.
00:29:36
Speaker
And again, you eat you you hit those four, you get four points, right? um You eat eight hours of sleep, you get eight points, right? Those are the standards that are set.
00:29:47
Speaker
um And again, well, I'm not setting. I'm like, I'm i'm advising, right? But okay if you think three is enough to be where you want to be at the end of the season, like, cool, then then three would be enough.
00:29:58
Speaker
um I'm going to help advise you on those concepts. and And we were going to work together, right? So it's a shared governance of their standard. Create greater buy-in because they had a hand in it.
00:30:11
Speaker
It's not me saying this is what you're going to do. It's not going to work. You'll have small portion, right? It's ah the bell curve, right? The people who are the go-getters, the front side people, like they'll they'll they'll buy in right away. They don't even have to. They're already bought in, right? And it's the bell curve, most of the bell, and everybody on the backside, the laggers all the way down.
00:30:31
Speaker
If those are your challenge, I mean, even in that, we've done it where you can assess and analyze like, you know, who are those early adopters to all the way to the to mid to late to laggers and where do they fit? And then how many do you have that fit in that, you know, that first category? And are you at a tipping point, right? Meaning do you have 16% or more of your team falling into that early category?
00:30:53
Speaker
And if you do, you're gonna spread messages better. if you don't like you're going to have to really dive into more of the culture right of of that team and and and really start to find why people are even here um and i think sometimes like it's it's unfortunate like it's just what they've always done right like they're tied to it and um they don't know you can't get mad at them and they're there may be so athletically gifted
00:31:24
Speaker
Athletics came easy to them and they didn't have a coach earlier to instill these lessons So now they're locked into their behaviors and they get here and now their resistance to change because they're not number one it's and they're yeah, and the challenges are now there and they it just and again sometimes they never
Evolving Coaching Practices
00:31:40
Speaker
change, right? Like it it is what it is. it's you know It doesn't mean that we stop working or we stop trying or we stop trying to to you know influence or impact their lives in a better way. um We have to continue to with that.
00:31:53
Speaker
It's just maybe we have to go about a different way. Like this isn't it, okay? What's a different way? And sometimes it's individual talks that we may have to sit down and have. just to kind of see like, where are you? you know and And really ah understanding the athlete a little bit more, learning what makes them tick. um It creates that level of trust and and that could be what's missing because they never had that before. And you know why should I trust you? And I think you know it it helps being here for a long period of time.
00:32:22
Speaker
with with our with my you know background and things that I've been able to accomplish and so forth that it helps, my background helps gain trust quicker. Because I've been in the same location for 21 years. um Having the opportunity to work with the US national team for lacrosse and College Training Coach of the Year in 2018 and some of those little things, like it just it it creates a easier environment for them to say, hey, like just give give me what you got. And I think we move faster in that context. Time out.
00:32:51
Speaker
I get two a half. This one's all about training. I'm talking about my old bull strength conditioning program that I have available on Train Heroic. This is Training with Wisdom. It's the program that I am following. I understand who you are You don't have a lot of time.
00:33:06
Speaker
You're a busy leader, and you're beat up from years of athletics, years of training. Here in this program, we target hips, ankles, knee, back health with the barbell. We have fun variations of the squat and the programs, sexy Fridays, bodybuilding. It is an amazing time.
00:33:25
Speaker
It will keep you engaged. It will keep you involved and keep you on a wise program that keeps you coming back for more instead of digging you a hole you can't come out of that affects life outside a training.
00:33:38
Speaker
Come check us out for seven-day free trial in the Old Bull program, a link in the show notes, or if you're watching on YouTube, just click right here. All right, and now back to the show.
00:33:48
Speaker
Ready, ready, and break. And you you mentioned when you were 24, you were more leaning and locked in towards the program versus the people. When did the light bulb start to go off?
00:34:01
Speaker
where you started to transition more into that EQ development rather than just the IQ book stuff? I would say it was my third year. had an opportunity to take a job with the Toronto Blue Jays, which is where I i worked prior to coming here.
00:34:16
Speaker
And, you
00:34:19
Speaker
you know, got a job offer and I ended up turning it down, right? I was a college baseball player, loved the game, loved everything about it. You know, kind of like the dream job. And,
00:34:31
Speaker
I remember turning that down is probably the hardest decision I ever had to make, you know, but then at the same time, like understanding why we're doing it relative to my family and what I wanted out of life.
00:34:42
Speaker
um And I just didn't see it being the best pathway. But at that point it was like, you know, if you're going to not take that job, which is like your dream job of a lifetime to be the minor league coordinator, then you better make this thing spectacular.
00:34:57
Speaker
And at that point it was like, okay, what does it take? Right? We were just kind of like going through the motions, being average in everything that we did. right and And that's where we say that's where the you gotta think differently, act differently, do differently came into play. um And then it was diving into every bit of everything. right And then part of it is, I can't do this alone. right I gotta get good people in here, but who knows about Salisbury University?
00:35:25
Speaker
I mean, why would you come here? right um I need good people. We're not going to be able to afford assistance. It's just not going to happen. And at that time, like I wasn't even full-time in sports performance. This is my first full year here yeah now ah um where I don't have to manage the rec center. I did that for 20 years. Yeah. And, um,
00:35:47
Speaker
So part of it was that like I've got to get out and talk about what we do, right? I got to get presenting people need to know who we are. But again, who's going to listen to me? right So we went out and started looking at what's happening.
00:36:00
Speaker
ah at these conferences, clinics, and so forth. And I would say 90% or more of the talks were X's and O's. right like I'm not going to come in and talk about speed you know when there's a ah speed specialist kind of right there. you know like Why would they listen to to what I have to say? Or I'm never going to get that opportunity.
00:36:18
Speaker
And say, well, we're doing some cool stuff here because because of this mentality. You know what? Let's start let's start talking about that stuff. Like how to develop buy-up commitment, mental toughness, what does all that look like? um you know Concepts of more, right? Like when we talk about these buckets and so forth and you know that kind of opened the doors, like to be able to get in and start talking about these things and all this the stuff that we were seeing because we were already doing it,
00:36:43
Speaker
you know and and some of the stuff that we were tracking and then bringing the competitive cauldron in and creating this competition and this you saw the passion grow and the excitement grow and successes were happening out on the field um we've got something that that that's here like and that's when it so it started you know and then the gas that we had come in phenomenal um continued to grow continue to get better they're getting jobs before they graduate um you know, getting great experiences. They're all over the country. They're in, you know, MLS or an MLB, Division I down to the Division III heads. um
00:37:20
Speaker
That's where, that's kind of where that started. And it's, hey, you know what? Like, yeah, we are doing some cool stuff here. Now let's just go tell the world because I need better people in, you know, I need better strength coaches.
00:37:32
Speaker
We get better strength coaches in. or 22 to 24 years old, aren't gonna come here if they don't know what they can get when they leave here. Gotta create that environment. When they get in here, that means my athletes are getting better coaching. If my athletes get better coaching, they get better.
00:37:48
Speaker
how about that And then they get a job and that builds our program. And we have this this cyclical action continue to occur and it it just
Volunteer Programs for Deeper Connections
00:37:57
Speaker
keeps growing. And then you know one of the other things with it as well is we're not a big internship school.
00:38:02
Speaker
We have an exercise science undergrad and we have a master's in in health and human performance. We want volunteers in. and part of that too, we you know yeah we we need to help.
00:38:14
Speaker
right But it's nice having them in for two to two and a half to nearly three years. yeah um Where they come in, what we found is that our volunteers are coming in with the same relative like abilities yeah as the as the interns. um The interns that we were having didn't have much experience. and It's like, you know what, like we can teach you in ah in a semester, right? You'll just follow into the curriculum and you'll grow and but you're already passionate. and Like you're you're you're you're inquisitive, you wanna come join us here. And so having them come involved and you know they're, you know one of our guys right now is just heading down to Duke and he'll intern down with Duke. And um I mean, he he had that position
00:38:55
Speaker
lat at this point last year right so he was like a whole year ahead um and had been with us for two and a half years in here it's competitive out there and yeah and and it and it but it puts him in a spot you know where he has that ability to go out it's like here's my resume here's what i'm doing you know and and confidence to just reach out to them and say hey would this be a possibility? And then coming back and saying, well, let's see, you know, let's interview you and and see what's going on. um But I think part of that too is like the connection that the athletes then have with them is they come back semester after semester. So you're seeing these these volunteers on the grad level, you'll see them for for for two years, four semesters, right? A lot of the the undergrads, so you'll see them for upwards of like three to four semesters, you know, um two or three more semesters than that. but They're in for almost three years.
00:39:46
Speaker
And so that connection deepens everything as well. um And it just makes the environment better when they know like who's going to be here. they they They're student to student connections where they're going maybe come to me, yeah but they'll interact with them in a better way.
00:40:02
Speaker
Cool. That's what we want. Like, I don't have to be the show. Like I, you know, be the map puppet master or whatever. But yeah I mean, you come in here like, yeah, man, like if you yeah create that you know environment, create that experience, talk you know get out here, get your one-on-ones in. right And now again, I'm gonna talk to everybody in the room at some point in that training session in one way or in another. But again, like deepen the passion, like that's your job. And again, like you you had said, you know one of our um our our our vision is really looking at lifelong
00:40:35
Speaker
enjoyment of fitness. Like that's our job here, right? At the end of the day, like, man, that this is a problem that you want to continue to do for the rest of your life. And that's where like our vision starts. So again, if you hate this now, like you're not going to do it later. No. You got to love this. And then if you hate it now, you're not going put effort in. You're not going more stronger, more powerful, right? Any of those five components you're not going to do, it's going to impact us out there on the field.
00:40:59
Speaker
And all because of what? Like, because I want to be a tough guy yeah in here. Like, I don't and don't understand that. And you know again, you can have you can be rah-rah, I'm okay with that, you know but I don't think you have to be. you can you can You can create. That's your job, i guess is create the environment, create the experience.
00:41:19
Speaker
And again, those are the two of the big things that we harp on with our staff is the environment and experience. This has to be the best when you're in here. from and And the hard part gets when you're in weeks four, five, six, seven, i at that middle range.
00:41:32
Speaker
You know the excitement of just getting started is already over, right? Like you're really hyped up first couple weeks. And those last couple weeks, you're like, can't wait for Christmas break. And you're still hyped up because testing is in there as well. And so like you really want to show off everything. But it's that mid mid portion. Like, can you bring the juice?
00:41:48
Speaker
And whatever that juice is, like, again, I'm not a hype guy. For me, the action is the juice. Yeah. To quote heat. um You mentioned USA lacrosse. well I want to dive into it's difficult to create experience and environment.
00:42:01
Speaker
when a lot of these guys are out and they're coaches themselves or they're out in their careers and got to come together for this amazing opportunity in 2028.
Building Team Connection in National Programs
00:42:11
Speaker
So how are you aiming to still create that team aspect and environment and value and connection to training? Because those dudes got to train on their own unless they got their own sports performance professional. Yeah and you know some do some don't. um You know they're they're all over so A lot of it's reaching out, you know just connecting to those guys.
00:42:31
Speaker
you know And again, it's not just about fitness. right It's seeing what they've done. right A couple of ah couple of the guys were here with the Baltimore Ravens just this past week. you know it's it's you know reaching out, just saying, hey, you know making those connections, right? Staying, um and we talk it with our staff all the time, like the flame is lit, right? our My job is to light that flame, right? And for them, right? But the flame is lit. Like sometimes it's gonna rage and sometimes it's just gonna be like glowing embers.
00:43:02
Speaker
but you can't let it go out, right? And so it's like, how are you reaching out and connecting to these guys, right? What do you need? What are you doing, right? How's it coming? Looking at some of the performance testing, like where are you at on some of these metrics? um And that that's when we're away, right? And then when we're together, right? um you know Even just how like we warm up, right? Like ah our space, and you know um'm I'm with right now with the,
00:43:28
Speaker
the sixes group, so there's we're generally 24 range at a time. So there's 24 guys, we wanna be tight. We don't wanna spread out very long, and, you know, cause as a coach it's tough, right, to connect all the way at that end and all the way down here at this end if we're spread out. um we wanna be tight, right? Because these guys only see each other when we come to, well, they see them in the PLL games like that, but like they want get to play with each other really here at camp unless they're on the same team. yeah But as one group, like really being able to make those connections I think is is critical. And so like we talked about already, like high fives, body contact is big. And if we're too far away, you can't do that. You can do it with your neighbor, but I need you to do with one through 24, right? As best as we possibly can. So even in some of our lines,
00:44:15
Speaker
throwing some new things at them where we're on our way back, like we're crossing over, right? And so that we're we're crossing over in lines. And where I started at this one, I'm now at that next one over. Well, yeah, it it creates some confusion out there, right? And then how do we accelerate through that? There's some cool things that we can start working on in terms of as part of our warmup.
00:44:35
Speaker
But then as they're coming through, once they hit that crossover, like they're connecting with the next line with them. Not only with their line, but the next line too. right And we can create that and and send that. So it's a lot of it just being creative in how we're creating these worms, still with the same vision of our mission. Like we gotta get prepped and ready for the game. Like we we can't just, or practice or whatever it is. We can't just like go out here and kumbaya. We gotta still be ready. yeah But there's more that we can create in that. And so I think it's it's it's very important that we contact, right? High five. So I had a coach call me, Rob Taylor.
00:45:10
Speaker
When we were over at Sparks, and you know I guess because his his facility is right in Baltimore, and he's a big lacrosse ah guy and in the club scene and so forth, strength and conditioning coach, and some of his parents had said something to him about, who's the guy on the middle of the field high-fiving? Rob's huge on on body contact and things like that.
00:45:32
Speaker
And so he reached out to me and said, hey, just so you know, like it it is seen. right And I think because he puts emphasis with his players and so forth, but this parent has seen it. And so when they come onto the field, I'll be the first person that they meet yeah right before we're going to the full opposite side.
00:45:48
Speaker
And I'll run with them. But we will high five, we'll connect right away, right? And start, that's where, like when they come through that that tunnel and out onto the field, like that's where we'll lock it in, right? Before we get started, right? And the intensity, hype, we'll all start there at that point as soon as we hit that contact. As they get over right into their line, same thing. Right, constant contact, right? Constant engagement, excitement. Like we're fine. I'm sweating more than they are going through, you know, and I'm not even going through the whole warmup. I'm just throwing demo exercise. We're just, I mean, but we're getting after it with intensity and and excitement and focus and being dialed in and making those connections and and then redialing back in when it's my time to go. i mean, that's that's the game though. Yeah. Right, like you can never be 100% checked in 100% of the time, right? Check in, check out, check back in. Right, dial it in. And so when you're up, let's go, we're dialed in. yeah If I only have four lines to work with, like I can dial in four guys really easy.
Focus and Motivation in Training
00:46:43
Speaker
If I've got half the crew, 12 them, and two lines of 12, I can barely get to to twelve guy 12 down there. So what ends up happening, guy 12,
00:46:53
Speaker
just starts going through the motions yeah right and then there's no focus dial in yeah they're chit-chatting with their neighbor and that blows into a full conversation versus ah a focus yeah and so i think like the organization of how you put things together and but at the end of the day like what are we trying to accomplish like our goal is to be prepped and ready but i need you to be focused when we focus i need you to to unfocus which now is our high fives right we we check out right then i need you to check back in and go And it's, you know, five to 10 yards at what we're doing. And then we're in and out of those things. um
00:47:26
Speaker
So between, you know, when they're away from us, when they're with us, hopefully that kind of tailors it a little bit. It's different. It's hard. i'll tell you, it's really hard when they're away because you <unk> there's only so much time in the day to even just reach out. you know And your your player pool is huge right now. um And so it's not just 24 guys. you it's We're in the 60s right now in that player pool.
00:47:53
Speaker
And then there's crossover. Some play box. Some play in the NLL. l you know Shout out Jack Hanna. He's the man. He just got signed. yeah for with denver Denver. Yeah, Joel. um Yeah. And, uh, yeah, so they're, you know, somewhere on the U20, you know on the full field, you know, so working with Jay, um, who's the strength coach on that end.
00:48:12
Speaker
um I think those are the challenges that we have right now is there's so many different guys and we're, we're not quite narrowed down yet.
Lacrosse Strength and Conditioning
00:48:21
Speaker
Um, And then I think the the game is growing in terms of strength and conditioning as well. So, you know, some of them, they've had their their their coaches, but but in the game they have nothing.
00:48:31
Speaker
yeah And I think that was, I think maybe the most eye-opening to me is, you know, have guys are like, man, I've never felt this good for training session before. What are you doing? And so, well, you know, we just kind of go through what we know or kind of do our own thing. It's just like,
00:48:48
Speaker
Yeah, what what was your major? you know Like when you were in school, like business. Business. This. and like Business, that. So like everything that we went to school for and the experiences that we've learned, like we're not implementing that. And so you know um a part of what the SIG and all those types of these groups from the NSCA and nsea and you know working to expand that, I think you know starting here with USA lacrosse and having four of us. So there's four strength conditioning coaches, ah two on the mas on the men's teams, on the men's sides and two on the women's. um you know, starts that process is like, you know, this is, it's important. It's a critical piece to being the best athlete possible. And the goals as we go now is how do we how do we work in with the PLL l and, you know, the WLL and, you know, can those environments be be developed as well? And hopefully, you know, that's the the future as I see it is that, you know, getting in and starting working with some of these players now at the at the national team level, they're the best of the best. They're the ones who are gonna be the driver.
00:49:45
Speaker
um i can I can push them, but they they're gonna be the drivers of of it, I think, in my eyes, to to get it to that next level where,
00:49:56
Speaker
this is what a professional athlete truly needs. um And and ah a lot of it, what I see it as, is really like in season and more so that monitoring maintenance, because they're going to go home, right? In season at PLL, l they're going to go home during the week. They're going to go back to their their day job, right? And some of them are going to have their their personal trainer. That's great. But, you know, coming back, seeing some minor assessments, you know, how are we feeling, you know, checking in, you know, I think that is huge to making sure the safety, health, and wellness of the athlete is in the best interest of where they need to be and where they where they go to help reduce their risk of injury, to extend their careers. um
00:50:35
Speaker
It's coming. Yeah, i I feel it. um I'm glad to be a part of that and NSCA lacrosse SIG. So shout out, Nicole. Time out. Tex here at Train Heroic headquarters meeting with the team to talk about the coaching experience that I'm able to provide for my athletes. So if you're a coach and want to put your program out there on an app that athletes actually enjoy using, Train Heroics for you. I've been using it since 2014. delivering literally over tens of thousands of workouts to athletes.
00:51:07
Speaker
And Train Heroic allows me to provide the unique coaching experience that I want to. Uploading video, providing coaching feedback, directions, and building a community, that's why I love Train Heroic. And if you want to take your athletes where they can't take themselves, that they want to go, head to trainheroic.com slash captains and check out how you can deliver programming to them.
00:51:29
Speaker
And now, back to the show. Ready, ready, and written.
00:51:35
Speaker
Uh, evaluations and testing. That's one of the cool parts because you got to, for USA lacrosse, you had to go you said 60. Now I imagine the pool was even greater before and whittle down to 24 over the next couple of years here.
00:51:48
Speaker
And then down to 12 and then down to 12.
00:51:52
Speaker
I'm just thinking the movie miracle here. What are some of the physical evaluations that you're leading to help provide some more feedback and data for the coaches to make those decisions?
00:52:03
Speaker
I think speed is one, right? The game of sixes is fast. And that's, you know, if we think the game of lacrosse in general is, is earmarked or listed as one of the fastest games on two feet.
00:52:14
Speaker
This game's even faster than that, the field game. And so um that's that's probably the biggest one, right, is our accelerative ability, um top speeds, looking at some of those as well, getting up into our 35 meters with splits, you know, how well do we accelerate? um And there's a lot of directional change, right? These guys, majority of them are offensive players. yeah right They've never played defense before.
00:52:40
Speaker
So being able to ah change direction in that play, to be able to play defense that way, where they're getting in, being able to cut change, your red like theyve they're always offensively cut and change direction. Now we gotta defensively cut, sit into those low positions, get feet wide so that we can get low and be able to stay in a quality position to be able to push and adjust.
00:53:03
Speaker
And so how how well do we change a direction? and can we Can we look at um directional change, change of direction, deficits? you know, some of those types of things. Now, obviously you have to have the explosive power, right? That's your acceleration. Um, you know, so think those are the, those are some of the three biggest, right.
Enhancing Performance and Preventing Injury
00:53:22
Speaker
Um, in terms of just performance, right. Yeah. You pull then in like, um, you know, estimated VO two max work and kind of just see where they are from a conditioning standpoint. You know, i mean, these are the best of the best athletes, right. and In the world, uh, that are out there. And, um,
00:53:38
Speaker
I think with that though, like their movement ability, I think where those where these guys are, um i mean, think about it, like in the NFL, like these guys are the biggest, the strongest, the most powerful, the fastest.
00:53:52
Speaker
At that level, we're trying to get them, you know, slight, and that's where these guys are too. yeah Right? and so you know these guys have been playing, you know, upwards of, you know, rookies, you know, some are still in college up to, you know, seven, eight year veterans, nine year veterans who are still in in that in that mix. And so,
00:54:14
Speaker
they're not going to see a lot of like massive changes coming here into the weight room because they're also playing and they don't have that full capacity. But do they need to get stronger? Do they need to get bigger? No, they don't really. need There's like minor tweaks that need to come in. And the movement efficiency is one of the things that I've noticed in some of – just some of the screens that that we've been able to look at where you know you know we see some you know flat feet and creating that that internal rotation at the hip valgus knees. um And let me be yeah like, you need foot strength, yeah right? So that way you can stay healthy, because you are one of the best players in the world and we need you here. We don't need you hurt. I'm gonna steal that quote.
00:55:00
Speaker
Yeah. it I think like sometimes that that often gets missed, right? As as these, you know we think it's like, oh, we need, what are our performance metrics? you know those They're important.
00:55:13
Speaker
but if we don't move effectively, our likelihood of injury is gonna drastically go up. and you know they're not gonna see performance growth necessarily by improving some of these little details. um They may, but they may not.
00:55:27
Speaker
But hopefully it keeps them healthier, puts them in positions to be able to perform with the high level of skills that they have. That's what, that's to me is where these guys are.
00:55:39
Speaker
And then if we can make any, any little tweaks and ah acceleration, we can get you a tad bit faster. um And we can do that over longer periods of time. I mean, they're, the quarters are eight minutes, right? You're roughly on for about 40 minutes or 40 seconds. And then you're off for 40 seconds. And there's this, this 40 on 40 off one-to-one ratio type of concept, roughly moving. Again, we're still learning the game.
00:56:02
Speaker
And, ah But you know while you're out there, you're gonna you're going to hit roughly one, you know sometimes none, you know zero to three high intensity sprint bouts before you're gonna come off.
00:56:15
Speaker
Rest for 40 and go back and do that again. You do that four times over the course of, you know if you think about it roughly, it's You know, you might get it upwards of six, four to six, depending upon how things shake in your time on the on the on the field, because there's only 12 guys. yep And so it's, you know, goalie and five, and then there's six guys off. Usually your backup goalies, so five and five, and they're rotating in and out, kind of similar to hockey, ah but so but different where you you don't have offensive players in defense. Like, you're you're just you're just motoring.
00:56:46
Speaker
And... um Yeah, so I think that's where some of the like the fitness elements come into play, is just making sure. But again, if if we can if we can move fast, the majority of the game isn't played at those speeds.
00:57:00
Speaker
right But we have to have the capacity to move fast. right um If our sprint work that we're doing, we don't have a capacity in that, volume-wise, terms the number of sprints that we're taking,
00:57:15
Speaker
we're gonna crap out early, yeah right? we're We're gonna fatigue early. um you know you're You're eight minutes, two minutes off, eight minutes on, five minutes off, eight minutes, two minutes, eight minutes, game's over, 45 minutes later, 50 minutes later.
00:57:30
Speaker
It's a very quick game, um very high pace, high speed.
Optimizing Performance with Technology
00:57:35
Speaker
So those those are kind of the areas that that are gonna be you know critical, right? your Your power outputs, your acceleration ability,
00:57:43
Speaker
um You know, force, there's a lot of cool things I would love to see on our force plates. yeah You know, mid-diazo pulls, our our power jumps on there, being able to look at our asymmetries, because i think they're going to tell us a lot about what we need to do to optimize this player who is already one of the best in the world.
00:58:04
Speaker
and Don't forget about style. They go look great. Well, yeah, of course. Yeah, you always have to out there. That's that's that's a given 90 10. Do you know the 90 10? No, give it to me 90 percent. How you play?
00:58:14
Speaker
Excuse me. 90 percent. How you look 10 percent how you play.
Balancing Appearance and Performance
00:58:18
Speaker
Okay. Well, at Marymount, we had to lean into that one a lot. Yeah. So all the looks, especially playing over here. Half the battle is looking good, too. Yeah. I mean, and most a lot of times in here, like, we'll we'll end with some buys, tries, because part of it, too, is like, when we go out here, we got to look good, too, right? Oh, yeah. If going to wear a cutoff, you better your arms better look good. That's all I'm saying. Like, we're not going out here wearing, like, a short-sleeve jersey penny at practice with...
00:58:45
Speaker
you know, noodles little noodles. Yeah. Yeah. ah Man, this has been a lot of fun, dude. I took a lot of notes here, diving in and Now that I've ahve been on the inside baseball of the former performance opponents I used to get my butt kicked, I'm glad it's
Learning through Social Media and Conferences
00:59:01
Speaker
it's by you. So thank you for taking the time to to lead these young men and women and sit down with me for the show. If people want to learn more, follow you, where should they head? Yeah, um email. You can get off the Salisbury Athletics website, um Instagram.
00:59:17
Speaker
ah I think it's at Coach9. Facebook, I follow that as well. Instagram's probably the biggest one you can can hit me up at. um Yeah, feel free. I'd be happy to talk, reach out, chat, anytime. so But I appreciate you coming, making the drive out here. come see Come see what we do out here, see our facility. So much appreciated. Oh, yeah. Yeah, and I'll see at the conferences.
00:59:40
Speaker
Absolutely. Team NSCA. All right. Sounds good. Thanks again, dude. Thank you. And see