MENTAL PERFORMANCE
1
Find ways for them to set a PR every week.
2
Program biceps, triceps and trap work at least two days per week.
3
Have a “who needs love list”.
4
Provide an overwhelmingly positive environment in the weight room.
Every athlete needs to have at least one big win each week. Whether it is hitting a new max on squat, a fastest 10-yard sprint time, a PR on pull-ups, or a bench press rep out, each and every athlete needs to get a ‘W’ each week. Keeping accurate records is vital for this. I would suggest selecting 4-5 Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which you track and test 1-2 of them every week.
Do me a favor … Remember when you were 16 and got a savage pump into your arms? Remember how you felt like a badass and like your arms were about to explode? Yep, that’s what we are going for here. At least two days per week we’re going to have our guys walk out of the weight room with a ridiculous pump. This is good for them between the ears, and it is good for the culture in the weight room.
4 Strategies to Build
Confidence in Student-Athletes BY ROB VAN VALKENBURGH, CSCS, TSAC-F, NASM-PES, STRENGTH-PERFORMANCE COACH (COACHVANSTRENGTH.COM)
■■Strength coach Rob Van Valkenburgh
S
trong, fast and physical are three adjectives we want to be able to
use when describing the athletes we coach. Of course, as strength and conditioning coaches, if we check these three boxes, our athletes are going to test well and most likely see performance improvements on the field. However, I’d have you consider that building athletes who are just strong, fast and physical is secondary to what should be our No. 1 objective. As a strength and conditioning coach, our measure of success should be this: Do we develop confident young men? As a coach, I have four strategies that I implement weekly which I believe help build the confidence of young men.
We keep a list of athletes who need to get loved up. Anyone who works with this age demographic can tell you that these dudes are emotional rollercoasters, and sometimes they just need some love. So, we have a list of guys who we need to have more interaction with based on their energy level, body language, or if our relationship feels a little different from the usual. Once an athlete lands on the “who needs love” list, they get a text, a post of them lifting on social media, and more attention during the lift.
This is simple. Every athlete who comes in the weight room gets some form of personal welcome. This can be a fist bump, pat on the back, or a holler from across the room. In addition, we never coach negative, and we never dog-cuss our guys. If there is a time where we have to give negative feedback we follow it up with three positive ones.
Podcast Alert!
ROB VAN VALKENBURGH IS AN EXPERT STRENGTH AND PERFORMANCE COACH WHO HAS TRAINED
D1 athletes as well as pro athletes in preparation for the NFL Combine. He now owns his own gym in Littleton, Colo., where he trains high school football players year-round. He joined the FNF Coaches Podcast to discuss his strength training philosophy in-depth.
31
