PHYSICAL PREPARATION SHOULD
BECOME A PART OF YOUR SEASONAL
ROUTINE. A PROPER TRAINING REGIMEN
CAN GO A LONG WAY IN IMPROVING YOUR PERFORMANCE ON THE SLOPES,
PREVENTING INJURIES, AND HOPEFULLY AVOIDING THAT WEEK OF SORENESS
AFTER YOUR FIRST BIG DAY OF SKIING.

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muscle sports conditioning >

Coaches Tips : By Chris Wall

Coaches… good coaches can make or break an athlete. They can help or hinder progress so many different ways that I can't even begin to explain them all to you. So as an athlete what do you look for in a coach? Well, as an ex-athlete let me tell you what I would consider to be a good coach.

1. Someone who doesn't feel the need to tell you how much they know all the time. People who talk, and talk, and talk most of the time don't know anything. They try and blind you with fancy words, super technical babble. These people and their smoke screens generally don't get results from kids. Why you ask? Because kids are smarter than us… they can see through the act, and most of the time these people have forgotten what it like to be a kid. Kids simply don't understand them.

2. As weird as it sounds someone who looks like or acts like a young person. As much as parents are saying “you're crazy” kids have a tendency to listen more to people that obviously remember what it is like to be a young person. Looks can be deceiving, and just because someone looks like a hood doesn't mean they are. Your child would listen much closer to them than John Q parent.

3. Yellers… I never worked well with coaches that chose to yell at me when I made a mistake, or didn't perform the way they felt that I did. Coaches should be there for support, and encouragement, not to tell you how stupid you were for making that mistake. Most or the time I knew that I was stupid. I needed someone to tell me that it was ok and to prove to everyone that I was smarter than that. Authoritative people just encouraged me to rebel.

4. People who don't want to listen to anyone else. These people have what I like to call the “School Teacher” disease. What I mean by this is that they think they know everything already, or feel that they need to know everything. These people are a waste of time because the last time they listened to someone about their sport was most likely when they got certified. This means that there is the potential that when they learned how to teach technique we were all still skiing on 205 SL skis. Do the same rules apply? I think not!! Look for someone who isn't afraid to say “I don't know” or to shut up from time to time and listen to what others are saying.

Anyway just some thoughts on what I feel makes a good coach. That all being said, keep in mind that everyone works differently. What works/ed for me not be the best thing for little Suzie Ripper. The best thing to do is research which club has a quality staff and a good reputation for being diverse, and having staff that are educated on who to coach athletes as individuals. Hope that maybe you all take something from this… Have a great time ripping arcs.