‘Starting from the ground up’ is the best way to develop an effective coaching or training program – whether it is in the weight room, on the court, or on the ice or diamond.
First – consider, contemplate and create the purpose, values and goals of the organization or team. It cannot be overstated that an organization (or program) that does not have a clearly defined ‘guide-book’ is subject to failure.
Second – develop strategies to achieve your goals. In the weight room, it is essential that we look at an athletes’ physical abilities (ie. testing) to determine the starting point and long-term development pathway of the athlete. Coaches, similarly, must evaluate the players’ abilities, then prepare a plan for the season. It is unproductive to develop a plan without understanding the skills and athletes to execute the desired plan. Instead, build a plan around the strengths of the athletes, and develop other skills to complement.
Third – when designing a strength program, the ‘ground-up’ approach looks at fundamental movement competency first, before attempting to develop sport-specific abilities. Far too often, ‘trainers’ and parents push athletes to adopt an adult-style training program before measuring or assessing their capacity to perform basic non-structured movements or fundamental movement/motor skills patterns, like running, skipping, throwing, etc.
Fourth – after assessing your athletes, and discovering their strengths and limiting factors, the plan should be to build an environment that challenges the athletes to learn, adapt and grow, with a movement-focused training program that addresses ankle, hip, torso and shoulder mobility and stability.
To read more, and to learn how RPG designs our programs, visit our blog at www.rpgtrainingsystems.com/blog.
Submitted by Coach Rory Kosonic, Owner, RPG Training Systems
