The Missing Link

Pretty much my expression, the first time being introduced to working with 8-16year old athletes…however that changed very quickly.

When I first started coaching, I was a student assistant at the collegiate level and worked my way up to the NFL. The athletes I coached were those that took training very seriously. For the college level they were either trying to make it to the professional level or knew that this would be their final few years to compete against competitive athletes. For the NFL,  if you don’t put work on the field, in the film room, and in the weight room that you probably won’t have a long career, so it’s safe to say a we all know a majority of them take training seriously.

As you can imagine, these athletes were very focused and there is a lot riding on the lines for them. This meant that the support staff, including the coaches had to be very structured and systematic with the player development. This is type of intensity and level of focus is what I was accustomed to, until…

Youth Athletes

Fast forward a few years later and I was thrown into working with 8-18 year old athletes- broken up into age groups of 8-11, 12-15, 16+, and pro guys. Going into this this new venture my goals were focused on filling up the time slots, generally 90-120mins of training, to the best of my coaching ability. Making sure each athlete trains to their potential through the discipline we both put into training, was my objective. That means everyone needed to be focused, be ready to train hard, and also take care of themselves outside of the gym.

You know how I talk about expectation vs reality…Well that was very very far off expectation. The young athletes all wanted to have fun while they train, their focus just wasn’t there. I’d give them technical sprinting cues and expect them to apply it just like my previous athletes. The only problem was that these kids, just were not on the same level. The majority of the athletes wanted to talk with the other kids or goof off. Well…that mentality didn’t go over very well with me….

Yep that picture above pretty much says it all. The athletes that didn’t focus were pushing and dragging sleds until they could “refocus” 🙂

Long story short, I was pretty much “Tiger Coach” and needed to ease up. A majority of these kids wouldn’t play at a competitive level but my mindset was to coach them like they would. I was so used to the level of intensity, focus, and dedication at the collegiate and professional level that I didn’t do what a veteran coach would do. And that is to meet your athlete, personal training client, fitness group, etc… where THEY are and find a way to have fun, let them goof off -just a little bit 🙂 -, all the while still working on their performance.

Ease Up

So what’s my point? There has to be a fun factor in training. This will keep the team morale up and believe it or not, keep the group a lot more focused than you may think. Now how you define the “fun factor” will be determined based on your the group. What I’ve found to be helpful is keep the game simple = minimal rules that keeps them moving.

For instance “Wall Ball”. This was a favorite amongst ALL groups, youth to professional. Simply put you throw a heavy medicine ball and the person behind you must catch it within one bounce and it keeps repeating until there’s one person standing.

In the end, one of the biggest lessons I learned and can teach to a performance coach or personal trainer is to meet your client or athlete where they are. You have to give them positive reinforcement, have fun, smile, and not be so serious. This may mean you’ll do a few exercises you may not like to allow them to have fun and keep morale up. And iff you’re a perfectionist this may mean you’ll have give a client more positive reinforcement even if the form wasn’t up to your standards, a hard pill for me to swallow.

I’m not saying to change your coaching philosophy but give it a little wiggle room sometimes. If you’ve ever been coached by me, I’m a very focused coach and that will always be engrained in my style, however I’ll still try to loosen up when it’s necessary.

And if you’re not a fitness pro, this principle still applies for you. Your training may not always be “hard core” or max outs etc… you still have to find an outlet where you have fun. If that means jumping into a soul cycle class, yoga, or what have you go do it. This also includes dieting too, if you’re not a competitive athlete, it’s okay to relax once in a while enjoy a pizza and a glass a wine- stay classy :).

This was more of a random thought blog post, however I hope that this helpful for the personal trainers and fitness enthusiasts out there.

Have fun,
Team Fusion Trained