S B Coaches College - Tip of the Month June 2007




		S B Coaches College Tip of the Month June 2007 Share \|

The situation at a mid-major school is somewhat different than many Division I schools. Many of the athletes are in summer school, but not all of the athletes. Several make the commitment to work in the area and continue their preparation for the upcoming school year in the summer program. Due to this set – up, the weight room opens at 1:00 and the football groups are scheduled for 2:30, 4:00 and 5:30. This accommodates all of the players, regardless of their school or work schedule. The few athletes that are at home train out of their summer manuals.

At some point towards the end of summer, all of the athletes will test as part of their workout program. I used a point system devised by Larry Smith, the football coach at Arizona, Southern California and Missouri. Coach Smith taught me this system when I worked for him at USC. I have adapted it somewhat over the years, but continue to use it very effectively with most of the athletes, regardless of the sport. In effect, it makes the athletes accountable for their preparation. It is set up like this:

EVENT OLD MAX GOAL

BENCH PRESS 400 405

POWER CLEAN 125 Kg 127.5 Kg

LEG CIRCUIT 5 SETS

MODIFIED 110 TEST 16 OF 16

BODYWEIGHT GOAL PERSONAL NUMBER - + OR – 2%

BODYWEIGHT GOAL PERSONAL NUMBER – PASS/ FAIL AT OR UNDER

The lifting is done on a sliding scale of 5 points. The goal weight is worth 3 points. Every 5 pounds over your goal is 1 point up to 10 pounds and 5 points. Every 10 pounds under goal is –1 point from 3 down to zero. The leg circuit was devised by Vern Gambetta and consists of 20 prisoner squats, 20 alternate lunges, 20 alternate step – ups and 10 squat jumps. Each rep is executed on a rep per second tempo. The athletes rest for 2 minutes - 2:30 seconds, depending on position, sport and mass and do a total of five sets. If the athlete completes each set in 90 seconds from start to finish with good technique, then that is a point up to 5 points. So for lifting, there is a possibility of 15 points.

The modified 110 test is 16 reps in 16 minutes of running, but the distance is modified for each group based on the size of the athlete. In football, the linemen run 90 yards, the receivers, tailbacks and defensive backs run 110 yards and all the linebackers, tight ends, quarterbacks, and kickers run 100 yards. All the athletes start a rep every 60 seconds and must cross the far goal line in 15 seconds. However, each group begins at different spots. The skill (or speed) athlete is at the back of the end zone, the “middle” (or power) group is on the goal line and the linemen (or strength) group is on the 10 yard line. Each rep of running is worth 1 point or 16 points total. In other sports the same groups are set up by speed/mass in order to make the timing and recording easy on the coach and reliable for the athlete.

The bodyweight and body fat goals are “wild card” points that are pass/fail in nature. The players either make it or miss it. If a player cannot score 70% of the possible points (24 of 34) then we feel the athlete is deficient in some part of his or her preparation, either their strength or conditioning and appropriate steps will be implemented in order to bring the individual deficiency up to par with the minimum standards attained by the team.

The point system has been and excellent tool to help foster a system of accountability among the athletes. The objective nature of the testing takes the subjective bias of the coaches out of the loop. All of the testing takes part as part of the summer program. There isn’t any test dates or test weeks. The scoring of the athletes occurs as a natural part of the progression of the athletes’ preparation for the upcoming campaign.

-Robb Rogers