I recently witnessed a coach who had his back turned away from the athletes at the finish line for the entire workout and just stared at the stopwatch instead of observe and monitor how his athletes were completing their reps and responding to the workout. I feel it’s just plain ignorant to not be able to give the athletes that feedback that they deserve.
[b]
Brett, it’s not ignorance it’s total and utter incompetence.
That’s not coaching what you are talking about either. That is someone who has a job , was never taught how to do a correct job and does not think about the relationship between actions for himself as the coach and how that will translate into improvement on the stop watch for his or her athlete.
I find coaching exhilarating , exciting and very energy consuming at the same time. When done correctly, it’s a great deal of time and energy and work. And there is a great deal of responsibility that goes with coaching. Some people are not up for the job.[/b]
This kind of behavior comes from replacing a thought process and philosophy with specifics off Youtube.
It is very easy in 2015 to “see” everything every pro on earth is doing in the training arena. So if 20 years ago you had to figure out the why and whens, now you can skip that and just get to “doing” what is out there.
So yea you can fly Autopilot, but when it breaks…
I made that mistake myself with the acoustic guitar. My brothers all learned and mastered in the 80’s and 90’s doing the kind of work that made them KNOW the instrument inside out, while I learned in 2010 and while I can play very well, their level of understanding I will never match. Or maybe I will now that I see my mistake 
Not that I disrespect our modern era where it is “easy” for a curious mind to learn, but it breeds its own challenges, it’s not all pretty and learning isn’t always understanding.
Of course there is the very real option that not looking at the workout can be considered " a practicing coach" and in that way the mistake is very welcome if eventually realized…
OK, I’ll stop now, hah !
I was speaking to some coaches and they all use computers to write their programs (such as excel etc…)
I ultimately put my programs on to the computer as well, but I start off with a pen (or pens) and paper.
Personally I find, I am more in touch with the program when I write by hand. When I just put on the computer it is easy to put stuff down with out thinking about it?
I don’t find that at all. When I do my season plans for athletes, each one takes me hours. Maybe I’m not very good at doing it efficiently though.
Of course, as you’ve pointed out, in the ideal world, you’d have an athlete monitored by the coach on and off training, including overall lifestyle pattern. A great, dedicated coach who can afford to train just a few athletes can monitor all of warm ups, main training repetitions, and cool downs and make any necessary adjustments without having to insist on pre-planned training schedule.
I was wondering if there are any less demanding poor mans methods of testing (demanding meaning requiring a lot of individualized attention from highly competent coach) for those that are training alone, or with coaches that can’t afford to provide as much of attention. However, as you said, a coach should at all times be paying close attention to their athletes whenever possible, so that they can utilize as much of the information from meticulous observation as possible.
Maybe that’s not a matter of ignorance maybe that’s a matter of knowledge and ability to point out what’s needed to be changed or actually how to change it. If you don’t know what you are looking for, than how do you know what and when to address the problem or reward correct execution.
Some guys are unable to give you adequate feedback but still through the workout producing very good athletes.
BTW have you asked that coach why his back was turned away from athletes?
Sometimes I don’t say anything to athletes, I seat in the stands, that’s it.
They are going to do the warm up and accelerations by themselves for very simple reason. I am not going to be at the competition with every one of them so at least I can watch them during their simulated “prep/ warm-up before competition”.
[QUOTE=Silencer;252058]This kind of behavior comes from replacing a thought process and philosophy with specifics off Youtube.
It is very easy in 2015 to “see” everything every pro on earth is doing in the training arena. So if 20 years ago you had to figure out the why and whens, now you can skip that and just get to “doing” what is out there.
I could not agree more with you Silencer. Further, I wonder if the people watching ‘the professionals’ really understand how a snap shot of training says very little except the end result of years of work, dedication and the discipline it takes or took to get to the video ready stage.
Quote Originally Posted by Angela Coon View Post
[b]What is your approach to testing and monitoring?
The approach is quite fundamental. Most testing and monitoring is done with the eyes - meticulous observation. ( This is how I learned and this is what I was taught)
Generally the cues or symptoms one whole monitor include degradations in flexibility or in range of motion, degraded posture, fatigue, changes in energy status both during training and outside training and changes in personality or mood relative to the individual athlete’s frame of reference.
Testing is not something which is done only periodically according to a planned schedule - it’s constant. and ongoing process that is done with every waking hour. It is done as you observe the athletes training, competition , travel and during social interaction.
Traditional testing or monitoring include the use of the stop watch, actual weights lifted and reps. However , there is not much point in recording this data, or in using this data by itself, because you have to know the athlete looked while generating it.[/b]
Q + A Page 113 Testing and Monitoring “The Charlie Francis Training System”. ( this was a direct quote from Charlie from his training manual written very soon after September of 1988)
I got very angry watching a practice recently because there was not one eye on the group of athletes during the warmup. I was taught to not take my eyes off the athlete and use all the information I had to decide on what work will be done.
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By kwave
Of course, as you’ve pointed out, in the ideal world, you’d have an athlete monitored by the coach on and off training, including overall lifestyle pattern. A great, dedicated coach who can afford to train just a few athletes can monitor all of warm ups, main training repetitions, and cool downs and make any necessary adjustments without having to insist on pre-planned training schedule.
[b][i][u]An ideal world was created by Charlie at great personal and professional cost. Are you aware of this fact?
In theory, an athlete accepts entrance into a university to receive an ideal world for training. What I witnessed was a lack of care , attention and interest in watching the athletes. In my view this is not method. It’s negligence and or ignorance.
Charlie quit a high paying job with many opportunities to coach for free for years before he gained full time employment. He moved back into his parents house, sold his car to finance trips to Europe for his athletes. [/u][/i][/b]
I was wondering if there are any less demanding poor mans methods of testing (demanding meaning requiring a lot of individualized attention from highly competent coach) for those that are training alone, or with coaches that can’t afford to provide as much of attention. However, as you said, a coach should at all times be paying close attention to their athletes whenever possible, so that they can utilize as much of the information from meticulous observation as possible.
I’ve quoted Charlie’s comments from his training manual about methods of testing. He began coaching full time without pay for years and he was coaching alone , did all the therapy alone and when he did get paid a great deal of his paycheck went to giving the money to others who could improve the business of making the fastest people in the world.