S&C Internships: The 'Difficult' Coach

By: Josh Trammell

For part I of the S&C Internship series, click HERE.
For a fascinating look into the world  (and exploitation) of your fellow interns, check out this book: Intern Nation: How to Earn Nothing and Learn Little in the Brave New Economy

Let me introduce you to Coach Jay*. Coach Jay is an archetypal example of a coach who just couldn't care less about you. He's a dick and he knows it. 

"Stop bein' lazy man! You keep that up and you'll be an intern for the rest of your life." 

(said in front of the ENTIRE football team)

He went on to tell the intern to "go eat some donuts."

Obviously, this is a rather extreme example of a coach who really doesn't give a crap. But, while this is extreme, there are difficult coaches out there, and the goal of this article is to present some options on how to deal with those same coaches.

Option 1: Avoid the Coach in Question

...I would not recommend this option, for the simple reason that you'll be spending the next 2-3 months (or longer) working with this person. Also, you're an intern, which means you're not worth much - there's no reason to dig yourself an early grave.

Perfect example: after the coach in the intro did this to one of the interns, I actively avoided him...for about a week. Unfortunately, this coach used me as an example of what NOT to do when coaching a particular movement for another intern (even though I was teaching it the way another coach requested). I'm definitely human too, and this was a huge mistake that I quickly corrected.

Option 2: Ask for Advice from the Coach in Question

Once I saw how badly option 1 worked, I changed tactics. For every exercise I wasn't 100% clear on, I approached Coach Jay and asked him how he wanted it performed. Everything from depth for front squats to bench press, coaching cues, and so on.

This approach works much better than the first. For starters, by going to the coach for guidance you are establishing him as the expert and presenting yourself as being a humble intern. 

Many interns (myself included) go into the internship thinking they know everything about everything... and while you may know a lot, context is important and you may suck at applying what you know in a team sports context with lots of constraints. So, shutting your mouth and listening while establishing that coach as an authority is a very valuable skill.

Option 3: Does the Coach have an ego? Yes? Show off.

This one may sound funny, so I'll just use another personal example to illustrate the point.

Coach Jay was a former NFL pro for a few years before turning to coaching. He has a lot of confidence (rightly so) and thinks he can do pretty much anything he tries. Awesome.

One day, another intern and I were practicing some handstands, and he comes up and says "Hey man I can do that too. That's easy."

"Sure thing Coach Jay."

"What, you don't believe me man? Watch me."

He proceeds to kick up to a handstand...and falls over. He decides to try again...and gets the same result.

"Dang man! This is harder than I thought. Can you show me again?"

"You want me to show you the same thing, or do something else?"

"Show me something else man."

"Alright Coach."

I then proceed to do the following: Handstands Galore

Coach Jay tries it again...and fails. 

"Mad respect dawg." Bro hugs ensue. 

...And that's how I got Coach Jay's respect. Seriously. Immediately after that, he started talking to me, asking how I was doing, etc. 

Is this option appropriate for most coaches? Probably not. BUT, in certain situations this may work (but KNOW the coach's personality first).

Option 4: Always be seen Working

You'd think this would be obvious, but from stories I've heard from other internships and about past interns, apparently, it's not. One of the biggest keys to getting on a coach's good side is to be working AT ALL TIMES when you're out on the floor. 

Towels need to be picked up? Pick them up.

Weights on the floor? Pick them up.

Working out? Don't rest for 10 minutes between your sets while that coach is around (even if you are a powerlifter).

Does an athlete need a weight gain shake? Make him a weight gain shake.

The point: ALWAYS be moving around, doing something. Don't wait to be told to do something, show some initiative. This, more than anything else, will get you noticed and respected.

Is this stuff simple? Yes. Should I really have to write about it? No. Some of you will run into difficult coaches, and my hope is that you remember these lessons (and my blunders) and find a way to make it work to your advantage. 

*Fictitious name for a real coach.

Have some questions? Want to learn more about S&C internships and what they're all about? Shoot me an email at jtfitnesssystems@gmail.com and I'll help you out as much as I can.

Strength and Conditioning Internships: When Reality Strikes

By: Josh Trammell

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

"Aggghhhh!!!"

That's my alarm. It's 4 AM and I’m pissed off. Welcome to the world of the strength and conditioning internship.

5 AM: "I need 24 reds, 12 blues, and 12 yellows outside."

In coach speak, this means the following:

• 24 reds = 24 45lb plates
• 12 blues = 12 35lb plates
• 12 yellows = 12 25lb plates

In total, this is approximately 1800lbs. What you don't know is that by "need"  what Coach really wants is for the interns to carry those plates about a quarter mile out to the practice field (in addition to 6 prowlers). Additionally, we have to:

• Set up the weight room
• Make smoothies and protein shakes for the athletes
• Make sure all water tanks are full
• Fold and distribute towels to various locations, and
• Stock the athlete's locker room with a various variety of snacks and food for the day.

And all this is expected to be done prior to the 6 AM football group.

8 AM: “Josh, I need you to stay here and make sure all of the athletes on the special weight gain list come in here and drink 2 shakes and finish off a bag of trail mix before they leave.” Awesome. Baby sitter status achieved. “Man, why I gotta stay?? You ain’t make no otha players stay. Mann…” Berated by the players on the special weight gain list for upholding the rules? Check.

11 AM: Lunch time! But oh wait… I’ve already worked 6 hours, and have about 90 minutes to train and eat before setting up for the 1:30 group. Did I already mention us interns had moved over 1800lbs of weight outside? I REALLY don’t feel like training.

2 PM: Three athletes in one particular group have thrown up, and conditioning has just barely started. One coach jogs up to me and says "Hey man, you look pretty fast, go join that prowler group and help them out." Needless to say, this is not what I had in mind on the first day of my internship.

Here, they have a singular rule: the athletes (and coaches) are forbidden to put their hands on their hips, heads, or bend over at all during conditioning. So, an hour later, after doing my best not to wheeze and keel over after several series of prowler sprints, I took the group through their weight training for the day.

5 PM: The last group has finished up, and it's time to clean up the weight room. This includes disinfecting the bars and dumbbells, wiping down any benches or machines used during the training sessions, cleaning out the blenders, and making sure the weights are where they're supposed to be on each rack. But wait, there's more! Remember those weights we took outside? Now we get to take them ALL inside and put them in their respective spots!

Doesn’t that schedule just sound fantastic?!

Contrary to what the tone of the article may imply, I'm not trying to steer anyone away from interning for collegiate strength and conditioning programs. However, I'm not going to ignore the harsh realities of the internship . At times, there WILL be days like this, or days where you’re in the gym from 5 AM to 7 PM, sweaty and exhausted, and just want to hit the drive thru at McDonald’s and go to sleep. That's just how it is. Is it worth it? I’ll leave that up to you to decide. One thing is for sure: you WILL work 50+ hours a week some weeks, WITHOUT being paid. Here, you have three options: 1) suck it up, 2) quit, or 3) be lucky enough to receive one of the VERY, VERY few paid internships that exist here in the United States. By the way, you have to know people to even hear about some of these.

So here’s the deal. You’ve got a crazy schedule. You’re going to be working extremely hard. You may or may not have a good internship coordinator. If your coordinators suck, here’s what you can expect to encounter: coaches who may or may not berate you in front of the entire sports team; coaches who get pissed off at you for teaching a lift how one of the OTHER coaches taught you how to teach it; coaches who decide to change a lift mid-session and NOT tell you about it; and coaches who simply want to use you for what you are to them - indentured servants disguised as ‘interns’. You will experience the feeling of ecstasy you get when teaching an athlete a difficult lift and it all ‘clicks’ for him or her, as well as experience feelings of tremendous self-doubt when no matter what you do, your athletes continue to suck it up. When you look all around you and see players get injured left and right, and realize the programming is probably responsible for most of these overuse injuries, the cognitive dissonance you will experience while continuing to coach said program will be astounding.

“How in the world do you deal with those issues?”

I’m glad you asked! In the coming weeks, this series of articles will contain several tips:

• Dealing with a terrible intern coordinator staff
• Dealing with coaching inconsistencies
• Being prepared for the worst (when sessions get turned upside-down)
• How to address self-doubt and cognitive dissonance

And other issues besides. My internship experience has proven to be very successful despite dealing with all of the above issues, and I think my experience can add tremendous value to any potential internships you may have. It’s not all bad, and if you play your cards right, coaches will grant you more and more responsibility, and your network may just explode with potential.

Sounds good right?

Now it’s your turn - what weird, ridiculous, or otherwise crazy stories do you have from your internships?