Call me coach - need advice!

[bblazer]

After a lot of pushing on my part I got what I wished for (remember to be careful what you wish for). The local High School I teach at has started a powerlifting team beginning this school year and has asked me to be the head coach. To say I am excited and scared as hell is pretty accurate.

Here is what I have going for me:

1) Jason Bergman and Jason Christus have offered their services on a limited basis to help access the form of the lifters and are willing to come in on a once a week or once every other week basis to help out.

2) My wife is going to be my assistant. She is actually a volleyball coach, and 2 of her girls have gone to the Olympics, and she paid for college with a NCAA D1 full ride for volleyball. In other words, she is a real coach with a lot of experience unlike me. She just has never coached PLing.

3) My experience personally and my education background in exercise physiology, and my ties to the PLing community for support.

4) A brand new weight room at the school that was designed by the head football coach that has a lot of knowledge of strength training. I have enough equipment that I could probably host a small (3-5 school) meet.

5) An formal interest list of students including 6 boys and 3 girls. 2 of the boys can squat 500+ and are under 200 lbs. Informally I am told to expect 3-5 more boys and 2 more girls.

6) Football and track coaches are in my corner and highly supportive as is the athletic director.

What I have going against me:

1) I have never coached anything

2) I don't deal with stupid well and have a temper

3) I curse a lot when I am mad

4) I am not sure how to run a practice for both boys and girls of different skill levels, all of whom are individuals rather than part of a team, ie I can't really run drills like in basketball or football.

5) I have no idea how to train each member as an individual and have time for everyone (maybe after initial assessment, they all go on the 5x5?)

6) I have a pissed wrestling coach and basketball coach who lost some players to me, and who don't see the benefit of a PLing team and are gunning for my failure.

7) Individual equipment costs for the team. Several on the team are below (very below) the poverty level, and even for those who are not, asking them to buy a power belt, knee wraps, bench shirt, squat suit and DL suit is going to be a problem. Fortunately I have been able to put some money aside and am willing to help out as much as I can, but I won't be able to help everyone get everything - maybe a bench shirt and power belt.

I would really appreciate any and all advice, help, etc that the group here can offer. This is an opportunity to get these kids on the right track physically for the rest of their lives! I am not concerned about beating records as much as I am getting these kids excited about taking care of themselves and having good clean competitive fun. I'm also really excited to see the turnout from the girls! I really wasn't expecting that. Shannon Hartnet is a friend of a friend and I was thinking that she might be able to be convinced to come over and help inspire these girls even more. Plus, I get to lean on Bergman and Christus - two of the best there are.

Anyway, please, any help, support or suggestions would be really appreciated. I will keep the board posted on the team's progress too - I promise.

Thanks again!

B-

 

[SouthernLord]

Good luck. I think you'll do a great job.

As to point number 7..... I'm not sure if I would involve much if any supportive gear with the exception of wraps and belts. I now PL has gone the way of the quadruple ply hybrid bench shirts, but do high school kids really need this? Coaching gear use will take up a lot of your time imo.

 

[bblazer]

Good luck. I think you'll do a great job.

As to point number 7..... I'm not sure if I would involve much if any supportive gear with the exception of wraps and belts. I now PL has gone the way of the quadruple ply hybrid bench shirts, but do high school kids really need this? Coaching gear use will take up a lot of your time imo.

I know what you mean. But a lot of the other schools are using it.

B-

 

[ExtraMile]

Good luck!

As for what SL said, are there no raw competitions you could enter instead?

And as for point 6, fuck the haters if you want it that bad, make it happen!

 

[Scotsman]

Honestly do not worry about any of the specialized equipment. Maybe get a couple of good belts (I like Inzer) so that they can be shared. Get some knee and wrist wraps that can be shared by those who can't afford their own equipment. Hell try calling up Inzer, Titan, Viking, etc. tell them you are starting a highschool pl team and see if they will send you some equipment.

As for training keep to the basics at first. Work form, form, and form again and when that's done work more form. After you get the kids doing the basics you won't need to be directly involved on an individual basis as much. Have the more experienced lifters help out the less experienced. Do group training so that like in a meet you do progressive weight so everyone gets to go when their weights come up.

As for you inexperience coaching don't fret too much everyone starts somewhere. Seek help when you need it and above all be supportive. Everyone has a temper if you feel like you are going to pop walk away for a minute to compose yourself. Just remember the benefits these kids are going to have by getting proper instruction at an early age. I know I didn't learn much about proper powerlifting until I was in college.

Good luck, have fun, and just do your best.

Cheers,
Scotsman

 

[artificialaspirations]

I think its great and wish I had one in HS. Like scotsman said call up the PL manufacturers, they could have defective gear (like colors bled or something) that is functionally ok. Or you never know, they might want a tax write-off. My highschool gym had community use belts, straps, etc. You just have to make sure to inventory gear and check it out when needed with a signout sheet or something. This will keep the gear in good shape and keep it from walking away./

 

[bblazer]

Thanks for the pointers guys!

B-

 

[b fold the truth]

Just sit down and make a plan...on paper.

For supplements, give me some time and I will see what I can do to help sponsor your team. I own a supplement company and even though I am flat broke (actually just overly "extended" at the moment) I might be able to help you guys out.

As far as equipment, you shouldn't need anything TOO STRONG and EXPENSIVE and if you went open back single ply...a decent amount of gear (especially shirts) could probably at least be used by multiple lifters. Do you have any contacts at APT? They are trying to really push their shirts and I'm POSITIVE that they would give you a deal if you were buying for a team. I can talk to Alan for you if it would help.

 

[timtim]

lucky for you, i was a speed/strength coach and have had experience working as leader for large groups of young kids to college age adults. you lucky s.o.b.

1. you never coached, doesnt matter. have a plan. day 1, 2, 3. do assessments of the big movements. bb bench, trap bar dead (great starter tool to see if they have a weak vmo which would limit both deads and squats as well as every other lower or upper body movement which requires knee stability), and squat if the deads are not complete garbage. if they are, steps ups and walking lunges.

2. never yell. convey your message with a nasty face. dont raise your voice. you lose all credibility. unless its a huge crowd and you need to get attention, never yell.

3. never, never, never curse. its a teachers role. teachers cant curse. i dont care what people say about coaches elsewhere. you can be fired for it if parents complain.

4. get a roster. seperate academic level (seniors, juniors, sophomores, freshman) and gender. go from here. after the assessments have specific levels and then differentiate your groups based on ability. boys and girls mix. strip the weight for the monster chicks and keep them with the boys. the girls are motivated by that and they are great cheerleaders creating a group dynamic based on the whole group versus individuals. i saw a 160 pound female gymnast flat bb press 185 for 23 reps. our program and mentality owned that girl. she became a disciple.

5. you set leveled routines but they arent specialized. novices should not do 5 x 5 due to joint instability alone not to mention lack of power exertion under strict control. make sure the tiers are labeled and out in the open like on posters for all to see. its a visual motivator, it will work. to get moved from one level to another, gotta be this good. ALSO, HAVE A RECORD HOLDERS BOARD FOR LIFTS AND WEIGHT CLASSES! JUST DO IT! LEAVE IT OUT IN THE OPEN ALWAYS AND ALWAYS MAKE REFERENCE TO IT. short and long term girls have to be labeled.

6. make friendly or avoid them. just do what youre being paid to do and avoid the noise.

7. you will not need specialty gear. make it an all raw group. make that a mantra. have chalk. do alot of abs and ditch the belts too.

good luck. remember you are the coach, not a friend. be kind, understanding, give clear/concise directions via tons of examples by you, be very firm. thats all.

and the most important piece -
dont ever put your hands on a kid. after a huge victory in public a hug is obvious. outside of that, i would not make hand slaps a regular reward. verbal praise.

my wife is a teacher and administration certified. i hear about this shit all the time.

 

[bblazer]

Wow, tim, that is the best advice yet!

B-