Jordan at Pepperdine - Week 1

Jordan Webster at Pepperdine University

My first day was busier than I expected, there was no shortage of information or experience. On my first day, I’d met up to 100 new people I would see on an almost daily basis, helped with 4 team sessions, received an Olympic Weightlifting Presentation, shown how to administer 2 of Pepperdine’s movement screening protocols, been given a project to work on for Friday and had two workouts. The coaches at Pepperdine were passionate, informative and hard workers (12-16 hour days were the norm). There was a reason Pepperdine was renowned for being one of the best internship programs in the USA.

Ranked one of the most Beautiful Campus in USA.

Intern Education

This week the internship program had Nick, Billy and I receive an Olympic Weightlifting Presentation followed up by a practical session. This was extremely useful, particularly seeing how they coach their athletes in the Clean and how they make it so simple. Part of the education process involves the interns submitting a summary paper of everything we took from that particular module. We also were given a project to present to the other coaches on the Performance Testing, followed by a Q&A where we had to defend our methods.

Pepperdine Waves' weight room

Coach Interaction

During my first week, I was just getting to know the coaches and soaking up all the little nuggets of information they shared. I think some of the most valuable conversations I had during this week were one on one with coaches, where the topics flowed from one thing to the next. These types of conversations are where you really figure out how passionate the coach is, and how in depth their knowledge base is. The staff regularly lifts together during the day at some point. These sessions are always fun to observe as it’s a blend of great technical proficiency, positivity and “getting after it”. On Friday, I was invited to join the workout with Matt (Assistant Director of Athletics and S&C Coach for Men's Basketball and Beach Volleyball) and Adam (S&C Coach for Women’s Basketball). It wasn’t until I was warmed up they revealed the workout:

Every Minute On the Minute for 30 minute: 2 Bench Press + 2 Deadlift (Increasing weight)

It was tough but I enjoyed being put to the test and “initiated” into the Pepperdine Internship.

Team Sessions

The week was busy; it was a blend of Men’s/Women’s Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Water Polo and Baseball. My original plan was the mainly observe how these sessions are run, and how the coaches communicate with their athletes. What I saw was plenty of different coaching styles, ranging from quiet to loud, mellow to energetic and detailed coaching points to very simple distinct coaching cues. It was really interesting seeing how the Men’s Basketball sessions operated, and the amount of positive energy these guys brought to every session. There was constant encouragement, loud noise and raw hard work. Despite starting the week mostly shadowing and asking questions, by Friday I was spotting the guys and building more of a rapport with the athletes.

Coach Adam calling an end to a great 6am conditioning session with Women's Basketball

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California Life

4^th of July fell on Tuesday of my first week, meaning we had to day off. So I decided to go to Santa Monica and Venice Beach, and see what the area had to offer. The place was absolutely crawling with people enjoying Independence Day and spirits were high. There was a bodybuilding show on at Muscle Beach, everybody riding rental bicycles and some amazing beach homes looking out over Venice Beach. Matt (who is also an avid foodie) took me a restaurant in Malibu which was awesome. We also ticked off another “American First” by taking me for a Philly Cheese Steak.

Overall it has been an amazing first week of learning the ropes, meeting new people and enjoying sunny Malibu.

One of the beach properties overlooking Venice Beach.