Jordan at Pepperdine - Week 5

Week 5 at Pepperdine

Potentially my favourite week at Pepperdine so far. I got to spend 45 minutes with Men’s Basketball’s Head Coach Marty Wilson, asking him about the type of person he looks for in his staff. I also received a presentation from Stew (S&C Coach for Baseball and Tennis) on training considerations for the Overhead Athlete. The Soccer girls were testing this week. It was great to see the behind the scenes work that goes into such a well organised testing day. The day ran really smooth considering the amount of athletes and testing protocols we went through.

Soccer testing day

Intern Education

Stew took me through the Overhead Athlete, which was a really informative presentation. It was full of solid facts and areas where he added in his experience with certain issues. It’s always important for me to relate these presentations back to the sessions I’ve seen him coach. Pepperdine as a whole use KB bottoms up carries a lot for shoulder care and they extensively coach all pulling and pressing movements in great detail.

Coach Interaction

I spent 45 minutes with Coach Marty Wilson. This was a great chat were he shared some nuggets of information that I found very useful. One common theme I’ve realised whilst here is that the coaches around here trust the word of their co-workers. So if one of your co-worker says they have a good candidate for an interview, it is likely you’ll get an interview. This further reinforces the “It’s who you know” phrase you hear a lot in this field. A good impression can leave a lasting memory. Coach Wilson and I also talked about the culture he has created with his Basketball guys. He believes that this culture should be upheld by all members of the team and staff. Especially senior members of the team, as it is their responsibility to make sure new members are held accountable to the team’s standards. It can’t always be the coaches getting on at individuals as this can create resiliency.

110 pull ups everyday, still going strong. These sessions are getting long and intense. It seems like every week we seem to double our caffeine intake just to get through these 5am sessions.

Pepperdine's trophy room

Team Sessions

It was the first time I’d seen Men’s Tennis for a workout, with a majority of them being Freshmen with no S&C experience. It started very basic, with an emphasis on perfecting the warm up and coaching fundamental movements. This is the first time I’d seen where the process starts, to eventually become the “well-oiled machine” that I’d seen previously in team sessions. Women’s volleyball had their testing session to finish up summer training:

Counter movement jump x2

Static jump x2

Drop jump x2

Step close jump x2

Broad Jump x2

Intermittent court shuttle test

I also got my biggest coaching experience so far at Pepperdine on Saturday. I was asked to take 16 soccer girls through their lifting session which I really enjoyed. The session ran smoothly and I was happy that I finally seem to be conquering the language barrier, especially coaching a ton of exercises I wasn't 100% comfortable with. Overall it was a nice to get stuck into coaching a large group again.

Coaching Soccer through Clean variations

The Tennis Boys learning their pre-lift warm up.

California Life

I’ve been to a lot of different restaurants since being here, and this week was no different. Kabuki; a sushi bar that serves great ribs is one on my favourite places so far. We’ve had a lot of Jersey Mikes’ philly cheese steaks and been to Malibu’s local restaurants. This weekend I caught up on sleep and spent more time by the pool. After the hike on my first day, I daren’t go exploring again because the heat killed me and I got lost. Found out that I got a position at Sheffield Hallam University as a Graduate Strength and Conditioning Coach, which I was ecstatic about. I spent all of this week reading up straight away on some of teams I expect to get and putting a first draft plan in place for the year.

Kabuki ribs and sushi