Doug Larson
Audio Version: iTunes
Stitcher
One of the things I’ve learned as a coach is that if you want an athlete to do something or move a certain way, what you’re saying, IT HAS TO MAKE SENSE TO THEM.
Duh right? But I’ve seen too many times where coaches (and I’ve been guilty of this too before learning better) just shout words from across the room expecting something to click and happen automatically. Sometimes it does but most of the time, the effect just doesn’t play out the way it was intended.
Or you as an athlete are like, “Just give me one cue, just one and I know I’ll PR”. You sound like a junkie dude! That one little cue may get you a little fix but it’s not the cure!
There are better ways to get athletes and yourself to move the way you want. Which brings me to the topic at hand for the day…
This week on Barbell Shrugged we take it back to Power Monkey Fitness Camp.
This time we’re on the mics with Chad Vaughn and Mike Cerbus, two very decorated and veteran Olympic Weightlifters and coaches.
Chad has been Weightlifting for 20 years and during that time, racked up 9 National Championships, 2 trips to the Olympic Games (2004 in Athens and 2008 in Beijing), numerous spots on Pan-American and World teams, and STILL holds the 190 kg (418 lbs) Clean and Jerk American Record in the 77kg weight class. Mike is a 17 year veteran of the sport, earning American Open Championships, 5 National Championship Medals and has earned spots on Pan-American teams.
Both Chad and Mike possess a great deal of experience and knowledge coaching athletes, with Chad on the Power Monkey staff and running his own barbell club, Vaughn Weightlifting and Mike coaching and teaching full-time with Power Monkey.
On this episode we get Mike and Chad’s views on how to use coaching cues. You’ll learn about some specific cues they use for their athletes and themselves, how they use cues, what other types of cues they use while coaching and teaching, and what they’ve learned over the years to make them better and more effective at teaching the lifts. And while our discussion mostly focuses on their use for Olympic Weightlifting, Mike and Chad give some solid advice and insight that could be applied to pretty much any sport.
You’ll also hear what these coaches consider some of the most important aspects of being a coach and some important things all athletes should do when working with a coach, especially in a movement focused and highly technique-based sport like Olympic Weightlifting.
This was definitely one of my favorite interviews of the entire Power Monkey trip and I only wished I had more time to pick their brains. Both these guys possess a huge wealth of knowledge about Weightlifting and coaching and I personally picked up a number of things that I’ve implemented into my own training and coaching.
I hope you can too.
Enjoy
Alex
For more:
Follow Mike and Chad on Instagram: @olychad& @mikecerbus
Not having an Olympic Weightlifting club or coach nearby to teach you the Olympic lifts sucks but that isn’t an excuse!
Get the coaching and feedback on your lifts you need to improve your Olympic Weightlifting technique by joining the Flight Weightlifting team.
Go here for more details about joining the Flight team <<
Add comment