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Episode 6-Skills Coaches & Club Sports
5 Plays12 days ago
This one I'm talking about individual or private skills coach, and club sports for youth athletes. Key points I hit on are multiple sport participation, athlete recovery and a proper strength and conditioning program
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Transcript
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello again, everyone.
Introduction to Coaching Focus
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome back to what I've now decided call this the first 15 coaching cast or coaching cast. Maybe I'll just go with that. But anyway, mostly because I'm talking about coaching in a variety of ways, not so much exercise, but yeah, more coaching, but yeah. So we're going to go with that is because I'm a coach in many aspects in many ways. I think it's appropriate title.
Skepticism on Individual Skill Trainers
00:00:23
Speaker
In any case today, I'm going to talk a little bit about, I want to talk a little bit about, um,
00:00:29
Speaker
getting a individual skill trainer for ah youth athletes and club sports. And those of you that have been around the block for a time or two with me already know my opinion. So buckle up um if you don't hang on for the ride. So first off, I want to talk just hit a little bit on um getting a skill, an individual skill trainer for an athlete for a particular sport.
Key Factors Before Hiring a Trainer
00:00:56
Speaker
I think for the most part, they have good intentions, and but I also think they kind of rob people blind a little bit and they try to be more than they are. and So here are my thoughts on it and um first,
00:01:15
Speaker
Yes, you I don't think that getting one is a bad idea if you have high aspirations in a sport. Most youth athletes have big aspirations in sports, or at least they start out that way. And to pursue them to the every limit that you possibly can means that you're probably going to go out and hire one of these folks. Okay. Before you do that,
00:01:38
Speaker
here are three things that I would advise that you, ah three boxes I would advise that you tick. So let's check these three things off first. One, is the athlete playing more than one sport? At least two. So maybe a fall and a spring or a fall and a winter, something like that. And then make sure that they take the time off ah for the most part in the summer in terms of their actual sports. Because whether or not you realize it, there are crossover benefits for either sport, depending on what you're doing. I've talked about this a couple of times, but yeah, hand-eye coordination that comes from something like baseball is gonna come in real handy for a sport like football, whether even though it's not they're not really related, but it will work. but It'll work out well, I promise. Just one
Benefits of Multi-Sport Participation
00:02:35
Speaker
example.
00:02:35
Speaker
so the athlete should be playing more than one sport, first off. That's the first box to tick. Second box to tick, is the athlete getting proper strength and conditioning? Are they in a proper strength conditioning program with a coach that is well-versed in the field? Not, and I'm a rare example, and so I don't count, um not ah the coach of one of the teams.
00:03:05
Speaker
that most times that doesn't happen. you know i i I am in that field and I practice it on top of the fact that I love coaching rugby. That is not a common thing. That is a rarity, I would say.
Strength and Conditioning Essentials
00:03:17
Speaker
um So should you find your athlete is only on ah any sort of program but where they're getting their strength strength conditioning, their training advice from ah just a coach on the team,
00:03:33
Speaker
and they're not a practicing, um, SNC coach trainer, whatever the hell you want to name, you want to put to it. I'd say that you need to ditch that and find your athletes and proper training at least two days a week.
00:03:48
Speaker
So there's that. And then lastly, this is the hardest part that people are going to have to understand.
Importance of Recovery
00:03:57
Speaker
these athletes need time to recover. And I'm talking on a weekly monthly basis and I'm all talking also talking on a yearly basis. If they're, um this is why we're gonna get into club sports too. If they're not having any downtime from sports in general, during the year, you need to consider that first before you start booking in more time to their schedules. And I understand,
00:04:25
Speaker
yeah We want to keep kids busy. I was a kid that stayed very busy. I get it. But at the same time, proper recovery for um in seasonal is necessary, but also weekly. You know, if you're trying to squeeze an extra hour, 90 minutes, I have an athlete and it's already a jam packed schedule for one reason or another. The advice I would give is pass.
00:04:51
Speaker
pass What you're doing already is probably going to be what they can handle for the moment. Should the schedule be become freer? Okay, now look at maybe an hour a week. And the reason that I'm saying okay to the skills skills coaches, um to a point at least, is because I get that.
00:05:15
Speaker
Some of the sport coaches that are out there aren't very good and they aren't trying to learn. They're just out there, just there. And that's unfortunate. And that's not the athlete's fault. So they shouldn't suffer and they should find ways to get better always. And that's one way to get better with that. I would.
Warnings on Overstepping Trainers
00:05:34
Speaker
advise that if you come across your athletes, your young athletes, um, skills trainer, and they're trying to be more than that, that I would advise if your athletes, um, skills trainer, skills coach is trying to be more than that and trying to put them through conditioning drills, so on and so forth, timeout, they better be.
00:05:55
Speaker
well-versed, they better be someone that you that that has practiced this and is actually doing it off some sort of science basis and not because that's what they used to do, which is the freaking dumbest reason to do anything. I hate that. you know Just because i used to I used to do it and where it worked then, cool, it worked by accident probably at best or something else was working and you created it to that instead. So that's my point on that.
00:06:24
Speaker
Let's get into one of the previous points I made about recovery.
Risks of Year-Round Sports
00:06:29
Speaker
Year-round sports sucks for athletes. Like one, they need a gap, gap time to recover and probably to get some proper training in. And I'm saying that from a strength and conditioning coach of you. And that might make me biased, but it doesn't make it not true. Okay.
00:06:47
Speaker
athletes need proper recovery time and some time to get themselves a little bit more resilient, a little bit more bulletproof because the seasons are long and heavy and hard and it sucks. yeah it's It's not good. It it wears on them. It makes things hard on these young athletes and they grow to hate certain sports and they go to hate sports in general sometimes. And that's, that's no good. I don't see that as a positive by any way. Um,
00:07:16
Speaker
For example, I did have one of my, uh, rugby players a long time ago that was finding themselves constantly, um, with injuries, injuries, like just nagging injuries, like calf and hamstring. And one day she says, Oh, you don't want to get a leave early. I'm like, why do you have to leave our practice early? Well, I have to go to, um,
Challenges of Multi-Sport Seasons
00:07:39
Speaker
club soccer. I'm like, what? Like.
00:07:42
Speaker
two sports two sports in one season is absurd, number one. i I really just despise club soccer and club sports in general. so And that's one of the reasons as a coach of a school team, um I do everything I can to take care of these players and yeah know getting hindered by another sport because yeah that's what everyone else does.
00:08:07
Speaker
is pretty bothersome and also very dangerous. so And we're also talking about things like overuse injuries and constant, constant. yeah yeah If you're gonna constantly be using yeah know your soccer your soccer skills and your and the muscles that are used in soccer primarily, yeah, the chances are you're gonna pick up something that you didn't want and it could be a stress fracture, it could be a strain of a joint, it could be a pull of a muscle that's often used. And again, if you haven't taken the time to recover, if you haven't taken the off season, if you haven't taken ah steps to make yourself more resilient, make your body more resilient,
00:08:48
Speaker
Then you're going to continue to have these injuries and succumb
Balancing Club and School Sports
00:08:52
Speaker
to these injuries. And they will, the athletes are going to continue to just wonder like, Oh man, especially like when they get to their school season, which for me, matter mattered the most always. Um, I play club sports, but still like.
00:09:06
Speaker
I know that the school seasons were the ones that were most important to me, just the same. Um, and I know that was the same for my teammates that did play club sports. Those were the most important seasons. And so if you're run down and ragged before the club season, for before the school season even starts, you wonder why they pick up an injury early and then go, Oh, you know, I'm missing so much time in this, in this year. And.
00:09:29
Speaker
Yikes, just yikes. you that's That's hard. and you know Especially those four high school years we have here. Missing one of them because you picked up a hamstring injury that keeps you out for six weeks and now you got to recover for another two. That sucks. That's really hard emotionally and mentally on an athlete too. So all those reasons.
00:09:54
Speaker
are reasons that I dislike club sports and why you need to make sure that you check all the other boxes before you go get yourself ah your athlete, a skills coach. You get all that tight taken care of, you get those done. We can talk about the skills coach and how they enter into the program and how they enter into the schedule and whether or not they're
Closing and Gratitude
00:10:15
Speaker
worth it. So that's what I have for you all today. I appreciate you all for listening to me when I babble into this thing and I hope that I'll catch you all soon and thank you. Thank you once again. Have a good one everyone.