THE PROGRAM DOESN’T KNOW YOUR ATHLETES

You can write a great program.  The exercises fit together flawlessly, the progressions make sense, the volume and intensity progress perfectly, and most of all, it fits like a puzzle piece right into the sport calendar.

You sit back and appreciate the masterpiece, and then your athletes walk in the door.

One couldn’t fall asleep last night, and they are exhausted; one is frustrated over their playing time, one is a freshman who is terrified of messing something up, and one is a senior who has trained with three different strength coaches which had differing approaches to performance.

You’ve got another athlete that needs to be pushed, one who shuts down if approached and one who is an energy drain and needs supervision for every single exercise from warm-up to cool down.

The issue?

You know all this information, and yet, the perfect program you wrote, doesn’t.

THE PROGRAM IS THE STARTING POINT

Programming matters.  There is no debate about that.

Sets, reps, exercise selection, exercise order, progression, load management, it all matters.

But the program can only tell you what you intended to happen.  Coaching requires you to recognize what is actually happening.

That doesn't mean changing the workout every time an athlete is tired or doesn’t feel like training.  It means understanding the difference between maintaining a standard and blindly following what was written.

A good coach knows the plan.  A great coach knows when and how to coach the individual executing it.

KNOW WHO YOU’RE COACHING

Athletes don’t all receive coaching the same way.  Some want an explanation; some need one cue and then you can leave them alone.  Some respond to being challenged and others will immediately shut down.

Learning these differences for each of your athletes takes time.

It requires conversations.  Observation.  Asking questions.  Paying attention to how athletes respond when things are going well and when they aren’t.

You can’t learn all of that from your Excel file, typed-up program.

SAME STANDARD, DIFFERENT APPROACH

This is where individualization sometimes gets misunderstood.

Individualized coaching doesn’t mean everyone gets different rules.

The standard remains the standard.

Show up on time.  Be prepared.  Train with intent.  Execute correctly.  Treat your teammates and staff with respect. 

Those expectations don’t need to change based on personality but how you help each athlete reach those expectations might.

One athlete needs accountability, another needs encouragement, while one may need a difficult conversation.

Changing your approach isn’t lowering your standard.  It's coaching.

FAIR DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN IDENTICAL

Coaches often want to be fair, as we should always try to be, but fair and identical aren’t always the same thing.

If two athletes require different coaching approaches to achieve the same standard, treating them identically simply because it’s “fair” may actually be poor coaching.

Your job isn’t necessarily to give every athlete the same interaction.  Your job is to give each athlete what they need to continue moving forward toward the expectation that has been established.

Doing that requires knowing them.

READ THE ATHLETE

Sometimes the best coaching decision is to push, sometimes it’s to ask a question, sometimes it's better to explain why and sometimes it’s best to pull an athlete aside and have a conversation.

The longer you coach an athlete, the better you become at recognizing those moments.

Not because you’re lowering expectations but because you’ve built enough of a relationship to understand which approach is best.

Being able to read a situation and more importantly, being able to read your athlete is an important coaching skill.

THE WEIGHT ROOM GIVES YOU INFORMATION

Pay attention.

Who immediately helps put equipment away? 

Who constantly needs reminders? 

Who gets frustrated and gives up easily? 

Who responds well to competition? 

Who helps out their teammates without being asked? 

The weight room gives you opportunities every day to learn about your athletes' character, how they approach situations, and how they want to be approached.

If all you’re doing is watching the barbell and counting reps, you’re missing a lot of valuable information.

THE PROGRAM CAN’T BUILD THE RELATIONSHIP

A spreadsheet can’t ask an athlete what’s wrong.

It can’t recognize when their confidence is dwindling.  It can’t tell when someone needs to be challenged.  It can’t explain why today’s session matters.  It can’t build trust.

And it can’t recognize the difference between an athlete who won’t do something and an athlete who currently believes they can’t.

That’s our job as coaches.

Programming provides structure and coaching provides context.

THE BIGGER PICTURE

We spend a lot of time in strength and conditioning learning how to write better programs.

Knowing more exercises, loading schemes and periodization models doesn’t automatically make us better coaches.

At some point, you have to take your eyes off the spreadsheet and look at the athletes in front of you.

Know what you’re asking them to do.  Know why you’re asking them to do it.  But also, know WHO you’re asking to do it.

Because the program doesn’t know your athletes. You do.

That’s where coaching starts.

-Coach Metz

Great programming provides a plan, but coaching brings that plan to life.  The standard can remain the same while the way we communicate, teach, challenge and support each athlete changes based on the person standing in front of us.

If you’re an athletic department seeking structured, intentional support without the financial burden of hiring full-time staff, AXIS S&C offers contracted systems built around long-term sustainability.