One of the issues that is almost never touched upon in coaching education is how to deal with situations that arise spontaneously during the course of a training session.
Certain events present themselves during training that cannot necessarily be planned for and veteran coaches are experienced problem solvers that can successfully cope with the unexpected. A novice coach accompanying a veteran coach can learn how to evaluate these incidents and how to propose a solution. Each incident is quite individual and as such requires something beyond a canned response.
Examples:
· Insufficient bar speed in the pull: This can occur during the performance of a snatch, a clean or a pull. An experienced coach can tell immediately if the weight is moving too slow and then compare it against the ideal for the individual and the point within the macrocycle. Is it a problem with biomechanics, or lack of recovery, or the number of the repetition within the set? It could also be due to the day in the week or the neural fatiguability of the individual in question. What is the solution to be proposed or is there no need to remediate? Only through a meaningful internship can this type of problem solving be addressed.
· Jerks lost in front: The preceding repetition may have been performed correctly but this one is positioned too far in front. Is this due to fatigue and if so in what part of the body? Is it due to lack of leg drive and the premature involvement of the arms? Is it a footwork error?
· Incorrect Power Position: Was the bar not above the metatarsalphalangeal joint at lift-off? Were the lats relaxed? Did the hips rise faster than the bar during the first pull. Is this due to leg fatigue, lat fatigue, or the center of pressure being too far back on the sole? Is this something that can be corrected immediately or should a strategy be employed? Is it just something that can be ignored, or is this going to improve at a different point in the macrocycle?
Solutions or the Lack Thereof:
To solve a technique problem, the experienced coach must decide if it is a single odd occurrence or a persistent issue.
Then some of the considerations might be
· The position of the exercise in the sequence of the training. For example if it occurs during the first exercise in a session, it is much more severe than if it occurs during the fourth exercise.
· The point in the macrocycle. An 85% lift can look much different in the third week of a preparation mesocycle than it will during the third week of a pre-competition mesocycle.
· Can it be attributed to a lack of recovery on the part of the athlete.
· There is no immediately available solution and consultation with other coaches might be merited.
Internships
A worthwhile internship should offer the intern the opportunity to shadow an experienced coach and observe how these spontaneous issues are mitigated. Watching an experienced craftsman perform his/her craft is an accepted part of the education of novices entering a profession or craft. Any program that fails to allow for such observation and instead reduces the intern to the level of free menial labor is not deserving of the internship designation. This problem solving experience cannot be replicated through course work or video.