Keep It Simple:
My Mindset when training athletes

As another spring and off-season finishes for some of the student-athletes I work with, the training process emphasized the basics and simplicity. If you know me and how I coach, there is nothing fancy about it. There is a time in place for incorporating new things but I prefer to keep things simple. My coaching, my message, my training progression for the student-athlete is not very hard to follow.

When I started coaching, to give my student-athletes the best possible chance to succeed, I felt that I needed to incorporate different training methods between every team and individual to achieve success. However, as I progressed and learned from many great mentors, keeping things simple is key to achieving positive adaptation.

Below are just a few reasons I like to keep the coaching process simple:

• Fine-tune the basics

  • By sticking to simple exercises and drills, I can ensure we are developing the fundamental skills to promote long-term athlete development. This is especially important for younger athletes who are still learning to adapt physically and cognitively to the training style. By focusing on the fundamentals, I can help them develop a solid foundation of skills and techniques that they can build upon.

• Emphasize quality over quantity

  • When I constantly change a training method or progression, it is hard to elicit any adaptations. When I keep a training program simple, I can better track progress and implement changes when necessary for my student-athletes. Exercise execution of the basic movements becomes the priority allowing for better consistency and growth.

• Avoid overthinking

  • When you keep it simple, I am able to avoid getting bogged down in the details. There are many different ways to reach or achieve a goal, so it is easy to be overwhelmed with what really matters. If I am able to keep the big picture in mind, I am able to keep the training progressive.

It is great to see the progress my student-athletes have made throughout this Spring. They continued to build the foundation and be disciplined with their approach. I am not saying you should never incorporate new training methods or exercises, but utilize them as “supplements'' to the basics, rather than replacements. Keep it simple, and build the pyramid from the ground up to achieve steady growth for our student-athletes.