This exercise selection tip is borrowed from Coach Mike Burgener’s “Yes to the 4th Power”. He challenges you to ask yourself these four questions when deciding if an exercise belongs in your athlete development program:

1. Is the exercise ground based and are you standing up while performing the exercise?

2. Is the exercise a free weight exercise?

3. Does the exercise work multiple muscle groups and multiple joints?

4. Is the exercise performed in an explosive manner?

If you satisfy the requirements to “yes to the 4th power” 75% of the time, then the exercise belongs in your program.

If you answer no to any of these questions, re-evaluate. Determine if the time and energy required is justified. Athletes need to spend time training movements that correlate to their athlete-specific needs.

If the outcome doesn’t directly relate to your goals, drop the exercise or make modifications.

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WHAT IS THE PLAN??

With experience working with over 16 local high schools it never ceases to amaze me how many coaches shoot from the hip when it comes to preparation, practices, seasonal training, or game strategy. Every coach, regardless if they’re coaching peewee or college, should have a PLAN.

You simply can’t (and won’t) get by without having an identified PLAN.

It’s been my experience that coaches who have a PLAN spelled out on paper have more wins than losses. They make more happen with less talented teams. They have respect of parents and athletes.

When a team or school hires FOCUS to come in and consult with their athletic teams, here’s how it usually goes when I meet with coaches (who don’t have a PLAN):

RYAN: “Coach ________, let’s get this started. Let me take a look at your annual plan for this year. I need to see what you guys have been doing, find what’s working and what isn’t, and we’ll go from there.”

COACH: “What… … … what is it you wanna see?”

RYAN: “Your annual plan – I need to see what you have planned for your team. I know when the WPIAL season starts and when you’ll be in season. What I need to see is what you have the team doing during the other months of the year.”

COACH: “Well.. this year we might open up the weight room for those that want to lift. I got some really cool stuff from the _________ clinic I went to this year. Then before the season we’re really gonna crush them on conditioning. I have all practices scheduled and obviously all their games.”

RYAN: “OK, we have the practices and games on the calendar. Do you have anything else on the calendar? What I mean is do you have all the seasonal phases mapped out? And the really cool stuff you learned at the clinic – when and how are you going to implement that into the program?”

COACH: “I’m not really sure. I was just gonna start doing it. I don’t have the entire year on the calendar – mostly just the in season stuff. What do you mean by seasonal phases?”

RYAN: “Alright – let me show you what I mean. Let’s take a look at 12 full months on the calendar and map out, with timelines, how long you’ll be spending time in each season. The four seasons are In Season, Post Season, Off Season, and Pre Season. We’ll want to know the best time to introduce new methods of training and make sure the kids are ready for it.”

From here I walk the coach through the entire process. Once I get the coach to conceptualize the idea of PLANING for the entire year we break it down even further. By the time we’re done we have at least 12 full months of activity mapped out.

In any given week we’ll know the season, desired training effect, intensity (volume) of training, energy system development, and any special dates. We’ll know how our training ties into summer camps, school activities, any anything else that will effect our program.

I give the coach a sweet spreadsheet that lays everything out – it’s completely done for them. All they have to do is fill in the details.

PLANNING enables the coach to fully implement a developmental program that puts athletes in the best possible situation for success. The program runs and feels like and established program rather than a sport a kid plays.

Right now FOCUS is in a huge growth stage. I’m working with three schools doing this kind of consulting and actively looking for more schools and/or coaches that want to learn this type of material. If you know anyone and can point me in their direction please let me know. (Don’t forget about the Introduction Incentive referral program… take care of me and I’ll take care of you!)

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