Jordan at Pepperdine - Week 3

Week 3 at Pepperdine

Getting more and more coaching responsibilities, from taking athletes through full sessions to just assisting the process of how the facility runs on a daily basis. More intern education from Matt going through the pros and cons of different types of periodization, linear speed development and how they integrate it into their athletes programs, along with a Knee Injury reduction Presentation by Bri (S&C Coach for Soccer and Women’s Volleyball). With my weekend I spent some time by the pool reading up on a few things I’d learnt through the week AND went to Hollywood. It was a cool place, very busy with loads going on and would definitely recommend going to see this tourist destination that is obviously very well known.

Intern Education

As part of the Intern Curriculum at Pep, the expectation is that you will be working on a 12 week S&C program for one of the teams here. You will have one or two meetings per week with the coaches and other interns to pick up ideas and receive guidance. You are also expected to be able to defend your program and explain your rationale. We had a few of these meetings this week, which I took a lot from as you also pick up what the other interns are doing well/not so well. The presentations on the knee and linear speed were useful and it is always nice to see how different facilities use and apply the research to a team setting.

Periodization presentation covering the benefits of different types and how they use them at Pepperdine. 

Coach Interaction

Been trying to find out more about the coaches here, and the path they had taken to get to where they are currently at. The career path at Pepperdine is typical of the USA’s way of developing interns into S&C coaches. The current structure Matt has in place for his career pathway at Pepperdine is as follows:

1.       Complete a 6-12 week internship, with the best intern being invited to progress to a Volunteer position.

2.       Complete 12 month volunteer position at Pepperdine, with increased responsibility (Leading a team) and additional education.

3.       Providing a successful year, Matt can help arrange interviews for future positions (usually Graduate Assistant or Assistant S&C coach positions).

All of the current S&C coaches at Pepperdine have gone through this and have come out the other side with a paid position in a very prestigious school.

We are still going strong with the pull ups, 70 reps per day.. we are mixing up rep ranges and method e.g As Many Reps As Possible, Weighted, Every Minute On the Minute ect.

Team Sessions

It’s been a big week of training for the guy at Pepperdine. Next week is testing week before the end of summer and they go home for a few weeks. So this week served as the last big push before we see where the athlete’s strength and conditioning levels are at. I’m curious to see how the testing days are run and as a movement orientated facility, how far the coaches will push the athletes and whether we will see any “ugly” reps. Seen some fun sessions this week, with Women’s Basketball playing “Medicine Ball Volleyball” as an extended warm up with a hill run forfeit for the loser. Men’s Basketball had off the feet conditioning on Tuesday with a 30 minute spin bike workout. There is always an abundance of energy and encouragement from the Men’s BB team – even when gasping for air between a 30 ON/30 OFF uphill climb.

California Life

The benefit of renting an Air BnB in Calabasas California is that a pool is never too far away. I spent Saturday reading and relaxing by the pool. My body clock is so used to waking up at 4am (my usual week day wake up time) so I couldn’t sleep past 6:30am so I tried to be productive with my time and work on my programme too. On Sunday I caught an Uber to Hollywood to do the touristy stuff. Saw all of the Hollywood Walk of Fame stars on the ground and the huge Hollywood sign. There was lots of aspiring music artists, gymnasts and Hollywood definitely catered to my inner fat boy and had a burger spot and dessert shop every 100m.

Matt at USFCA - Week 2

It’s now the end of my second week here in the states and its honestly going way to quickly, time must fly when you’re having fun. I haven’t been able to do much more exploring of the city this week but I’m making a list of things to do while I’m here, no.1 is definitely get to and cycle across the Golden Gate Bridge!!

My work with the athletes has continued to be full of lessons, especially about working with basketball players (the team I spend the most time with) and how to adjust a training plan around any injuries the athletes have or might of picked up in recent training. One of the coaches reminded me that there is always a way to work around an injury and still get the most out of each training session.

 

It’s been a cold week here and very foggy on most days, I’m almost starting to regret only packing one jumper! I’m not complaining though as I don’t see myself getting another chance to be in a city like this any time soon!!

Myself and the other intern have been challenged by the coaches to put together a small presentation each about a topic of interest which we will present and discus early next week. It had to be a relevant to S&C and something we either are reading about or interested in. I have decided to talk about the use of velocity in strength based training, as It is somethi8ng I have experience with and something they do not use here with their athletes. Hopefully it goes well! I’ll let you all know next week!

Jordan at Pepperdine - Week 2

Jordan Webster at Pepperdine University

My second week in Malibu has given me more tools in my toolbox including detailed presentations/practical for the Functional Movement Screen, Titleist Performance Institute (TPI) movement screen and Beach Volleyball Rating (BVR) system. Setting up for team sessions is a big part of an interns responsibility in USA so it’s important to do it right. Once the coaches see you’re competent in these minor tasks, you’re allowed more responsibilities coaching wise. It is very much a “you have to earn your stripes” situation. Had the opportunity to help out with data collection at the World Series of Beach Volleyball in Long Beach which was great to be a part of. This was a Asics sponsored event with free trainers, t-shirts, shorts and merchandise - it was the real deal.

Movement Screening at Asics World Series of Beach Volleyball

Intern Education

It was another informative week for me at Pepperdine. With Pep being a very movement orientated facility, assessing movement is obviously a very useful part of their process. The Interns and I were shown the Functional Movement Screening. I had performed modified versions before, but was nice to go through a presentation on it, followed by the practical application and how Pep use it. We also went through the Titliest Performance Institute’s (TPI) movement screening for golf. This is a very extensive mobility and postural control testing protocol which can be used to identify problems with a golfer’s swing before you’ve even seen them swing.

Part of the resources given to interns at Pepperdine.

Coach Interaction

My second week into the internship and I think I’m really figuring out the different types of coaches around me. They are all “Strength and Conditioning Wizards” in a way that their knowledge base seems to be never ending. I had numerous conversations where I felt humbled by how much I really didn’t know. I always took notes on interesting points and especially made sure to go and research concepts that were brought up often so I could follow future conversations. After speaking with Matt about how bad I was at pull ups, I’ve somehow been talked into doing an extra workout every morning of a minimum of 50 pull ups a day and increasing the reps every week. On Thursday we trained at 4:30am as we had a busy day of coaching and travelling to Long Beach ahead.

The BVR Clinic set up (http://www.idrills.net/beach-volleyball-rating-bvr/#get-your-bvr)

Team Sessions

Before their S&C session, I went down to watch Men’s Basketball practice in their state of the art basketball hall. Coaches at Pepperdine attend 90% of their team’s practice and games when scheduling allows it. I find this inspiring, as the coaches aren’t just “Strength coaches”, they fully integrated into the sport and the culture This comes from spending a lot of time around the team, even when they aren’t lifting. Really starting to get stuck into some coaching now, after learning the specific way the coaches like to cue movements and like sessions set up. I’ve been given a few Freshman to take through sessions which has been cool. We have been struggling with slight language barriers, as people don’t seem understand me through my thick Northern accent. This is making me much more aware on being clear, loud and speaking slowly during coaching. The energy in the team sessions is always cool, its exactly like those videos of American weight rooms with athletes shouting and getting each other hyped for every set. Sessions always finish with a quick word from the coach and a bringing together of hands and chant for a positive finish.

https://youtu.be/MxfXK4ZTB6o

California Life

I spent the weekend at Long Beach this weekend helping out at the Asics World Series of Beach Volleyball. Matt has created a Beach Volleyball Rating system which he used to analyze different physical properties of athletes and compares them to normative data. This includes testing strength, jumping ability, anthropometrics and mobility. It was a great atmosphere with lots of hype between Beach Volleyball Enthusiasts with a music concert taking place 200m down the beach. It was good to see “in the field testing” and see behind the scenes of such a big sporting event over here. Ticked off another American food brand with an In N Out Burger, and probably drank my weight in Gatorade.

World Series of Beach Volleyball.

Matt Goosey at USFCA

 So I’m finally here in San Francisco and I can honestly say that I’m a good balance of excited and nervous of what’s to come over the next six weeks!! I can’t wait to get started and see what’s to come.

My first day in the gym was a great one; I was introduced to and started working with the women’s basketball team. From there we were straight down to business with their workouts and immediately I was aware of the total respect the athlete had for themselves, the coaches and the work they were doing. It was clear that there was a specific work ethic required from them and they respected and kept to that.

The sessions themselves were great as it gave me a chance to watch how the athletes move and get an understanding as to what they were capable of. But it wasn’t all watching and shadowing the other coaches; I was able to get involved with a few individual athletes while they completed different stages of their workout. I enjoyed every second of it and I know that I will continue to do so as my involvement progresses.

 

Throughout the rest of the week I’ve had a few early starts for conditioning sessions on the football (soccer field) which were an amazing time to learn but surprisingly cold! I thought California was supposed to warm!!

All in all my first week here have been amazing and a great learning opportunity and I’ve already gotten a much better understanding of the standards required of both athlete and coach at this level of performance. In my free time I’ve managed to get in a little sightseeing and believe me when I see this city is amazing!

 

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.

Interview with Aden Flannagan

Team Hallam S&C Blog Interview

Name: Aden Flannagan

Job Title: Graduate Strength & Conditioning Coach

 

 

 

What sports do you currently work with?

I’m currently the lead S&C coach for several teams at Sheffield Hallam including; Swimming, Netball, Men’s American football, Men’s Lacrosse and Trampolining; in addition to this I also lead Women’s Rugby Union and Triathlon alongside Lewis. I also deliver one to one support and programming to several Team Hallam scholar athletes in a number of sports, particularly Heptathlon, Decathlon and Cricket. Away from Team Hallam I am also the lead S&C coach for a German American football team, the Potsdam Royals. I also assist and deliver sessions for the City of Sheffield Swim Club Elite Squad and the Regional squad.

How did you get into S&C?

As an undergraduate student, I probably spent most my time in the weight room, which was mainly due to competing in American football for the university and the hope of one day making it to a pro team. Once I realised being 5ft8 that it probably wasn’t going to happen I turned my attention towards coaching, which led me to get involved with the internship program here at Sheffield Hallam. After sitting in on the backside of several programs and being involved with S&C delivery with Team Hallam, the Sheffield Eagles and Sheffield Lacrosse team, I began to pursue a career in S&C, which has led me to where I am now.

What is your philosophy for S&C training?

Although research is forever advancing; practice and opinions on the correct training method to implement will always be changing but for me there are three keys to developing successful athletes:

1.       Improve movement proficiency

2.       Effective programming to minimise the risk of injury

3.       Maximising athletic performance capabilities

However, for me attempting to improve any of the above would be extremely challenging without first developing an effective and positive coach-athlete relationship. I am a firm believer that by creating a strong coach-athlete relationship you will create significantly greater results! Remember being able to engage with an athlete is the key to building a successful relationship.

Who are some of the main practitioners you recommend reading?

The number of practitioners that consistently produce good content is endless, personally I don’t come from a science based background, I come from a more practical coaching based background. However, there are several authors that I currently read on and off to keep my knowledge base growing and more importantly to keep my athletes interested by applying different training methods to their programming. I currently read a mixture of books, blogs, articles and listen to a few podcasts, but to name a few:

·         Mike Boyle – NEW Functional Training for Sports

·         Paul Gamble – Strength and Conditioning for Team Sports

·         Joe Kenn – Coach’s Strength Training Playbook

·         David Joyce - High-Performance Training for Sports

·         Baechle & Earle - Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning

·         Ron McKeefery – CEO Strength Coach

·         Mick Hughes – Physiotherapist & Exercise Physiologist Blog

·         SimpliFaster – Athletic Speed Development Blog

My advice is don’t just read S&C based literature, try to read around it, you’ll more than likely always be working as a part of a multidisciplinary team, it’s important to understand how they’re thinking and how you can apply certain aspects of their practice, to your own.

What are your main areas of interest in S&C?

Working with Team Hallam we have an irreplaceable opportunity to work with a multitude of athletes of different physical capabilities from a variety of sporting backgrounds. I’ve developed a huge interest based around understanding how each athlete moves through different movement patterns, which could be due to countless reasons including; injury history, limb length and movement inefficiency. Being able to understand this and individualise a program to the athlete is always a challenge that I enjoy.

In addition to this I also have a huge interest in the use of velocity in strength training, which is currently growing in the industry with accurate technology becoming cheaper to purchase. I’ve been using velocity measures in strength training for roughly the last 6 months, predominantly with our performance athletes and focus sports, and it’s showing great results! The benefits of using velocity enables me to assess an athlete’s strength without physically taking them to a 1RM, meaning that all loading is submaximal, therefore reducing the opportunity for injury, which links in with my coaching philosophy. Finally, the use of velocity measures also allows me to monitor the athletes daily and adjust their training loads accordingly through some very basic submaximal loading and estimations based upon the relationships between load and bar velocity.

 

 

What advice would you give to up and coming practitioners who would like to be in your position?

I’m only just taking my first steps into a career in S&C but the biggest piece of advice I should have taken is to get involved with as much as you possibly can; whilst I was an undergraduate student I could have used my time more wisely to gain more experience. Get involved with as much as you physically can, whether it is delivery, shadowing or even helping with testing days!

One thing that you will never get told until you work in the field, nothing will ever run perfectly, no matter what you learn at university or read out of a book, things change whether that is the training times or equipment breaking, always try to have a back-up plan!

Finally, Network as much as you possibly can, it’s a hard profession to get into, the more people you know the chances are that you’ll get the job over someone who isn’t known.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

There are several things that I would like to achieve in the next five years, but the biggest thing for me is to keep striving towards leading my own program. Whether that be in university or professional sport, I’m looking forward to where my journey will take me.

 

 

 

S&C Graduate Coach Interview - Alex Bugg

Name: Alex Bugg

Job Title: Graduate Strength & Conditioning Coach

What sports do you currently work with?

I am currently working with Women's Volleyball, Women's Lacrosse, Badminton, Korfball, Cycling and Squash.

What is your philosophy for S&C training?

Keep it simple. Don't do too much or overthink things; just what is needed to get the desired results. I'm also a firm believer in making athlete's think about what they do in their sport and in training, and helping them understand the importance of certain elements of training.

Who are some of the main practitioners you recommend reading?

Henk Kraaijenhof's book "what we need is speed"

Eric Cressey has lots of useful information around shoulder health and injury prevention/rehab.

Keir Wenham-Flatt puts good articles and podcasts out there about the demands of working in a professional sport setting, as well as how to progress in the S&C industry.

Brett Bartholomew has lots of good information relating to the softer aspects of coaching, how to work WITH people, and have a positive influence.

If you want to delve deeply into the scientific rationale behind S&C methods and programming/periodization then I'd say Vladimir Zatsiorsky, Dan Baker and Tim Gabbet are all essential authors.

What are your main areas of interest in S&C?

Improving sprint speed and acceleration, making athlete's self-sufficient/independent, injury prevention and fatigue monitoring.

What are your favourite sports?

Rugby union, Golf, Mountain Biking, Cricket, Combat Sports

What is your sporting background?

I grew up playing football from the age of 7. I also did kickboxing for around 5 years. I played cricket for a few years from 14-18 and then started playing rugby. I also enjoy golf and mountain biking. I like to consider myself average at most sports and good at none.

What is your academic background?

I qualified as a level 3 personal trainer before coming to university. From then on, I've acquired a BSc in Sport Science for Performance Coaching, and if everything goes to plan, this summer I will have an MSc in Applied Sport and Exercise Science. I have also completed the introductory MINT course on Motivational Interviewing, and hope to complete the intermediate and advanced courses.

How did you get into S&C?

When I realised I wasn’t good enough to play any sport professionally, I thought the next best thing would be helping people reach their maximum potential in their chosen sport. I started off working with the general population and getting coaching experience.

I then was fortunate enough to get a place on the internship scheme with Team Hallam. I spent my first year observing and shadowing, and helping out here and there. Towards the end of the year I was fortunate enough to be offered the chance to work with the Hallam Cycling club. The year after that I was invited back to the programme as a lead junior intern and given the chance to train the Women's Hockey 2^nd team. I learnt lots about programming and progressing and regressing athletes, as well as forming and managing relationships with teams. This year I was fortunate enough to be appointed as a paid Graduate intern.

I've also worked within the universities Centre for Sport and Exercise science (CSES) providing S&C to small training groups. I've also had experience working with professional Rugby Union and national standard youth netball.

What advice would you give up and coming practitioners who would like to be in your position?

Get as much experience as possible, and always be humble and willing to learn. Sometimes just turning up to a meeting or non-mandatory training session can get you a lot of opportunities. A great way to develop is to immerse yourself in unknown sports or environments and learn as much as you can about how different people approach coaching and what methods they find to be successful.

Everyone you meet has something they can teach you so always have an open mind.

What is your favourite aspect of working in Team Hallam?

The sheer volume of athletes, and the range of different sports and abilities in the university. It is equally rewarding helping someone jump higher or lift a little bit more weight, as it is helping someone learn how to squat properly, or recover from an injury and be able to compete again.

Hundreds of athletes come through the doors every week so new challenges and opportunities present themselves every week.

Where would you like to be in 5 years?

I change my mind about this every day. Ultimately I would like to be self-employed, and have the opportunity to surround myself with positive people with a similar approach to life and coaching. However, there are so many opportunities all over the place, so anything within my reach or anything that is offered my way could always change my path.

As long as I'm having fun and feel I'm making some sort of difference I'll be happy.