Be an Elite Coach, Build Elite Athletes

Things to develop your coaching and have a greater impact on your athletes. You define what your “elite” is!

By Isaac Leung, Athletic Skills

Hey reader,

Hope you’ve had a good week!

In today’s newsletter, I am going to discuss how your fitness as a coach/trainer is just as important as those you are coaching!

Also I want to discuss a strategy you can do to increase the contact time with your athletes/clients. An hour a week isn’t enough for them to develop!

If you missed last week’s newsletter on Saturday and Wednesday then click here!

Be an Elite Coach:

The foundation of anything you do is your health.

In our profession as coaches or trainers, the work is naturally very active and demanding on the body. Many of us coach for hours each day, throwing, kicking, hitting, or running just as much—if not more—than our athletes or clients.

We constantly encourage our athletes or trainees to stay fit, take care of their bodies, and develop their physicality. But do we apply the same message to ourselves?

Many coaches I've spoken to have mentioned dodgy knees, shoulder niggles, sore backs, and more. If you were to become injured and unable to coach, that could mean losing your work and even your income. It’s not like an office job, where your body isn’t as critical to your day-to-day performance.

So how can you protect yourself? It starts with a mindset shift. Begin with what you eat and your hydration. Drink plenty of water and ensure you eat healthily.

Stretch and mobilize your body before and after training sessions.

Strengthen your muscles to withstand the repetitive actions required in your coaching.

Make sure you get sufficient sleep each night; sleep is key to both physical and mental recovery.

This doesn’t mean you need to go to the gym 5 days a week or run 10km, but it’s worth considering your habits. What small changes could you make to start taking better care of your body? Because once your body starts to fail, it’s a long uphill battle to get back on track.

As coaches, we are role models. If we show that we can live a healthy lifestyle, others will follow.

Build Elite Athletes:

Often, a barrier for us coaches is trying to deliver everything we want to our group, especially when we aren’t working with professional athletes.

So, how can you solve this and get more contact time?

I faced this challenge while working as an S&C coach at an academy. The athletes ranged from the Scottish Borders to South Yorkshire, and our training base was in Leeds. We had just 2 hours a week with this group, which included technical coaching, psychology, and my strength & conditioning sessions.

This group was made up of U15s - U18s, and physical development is crucial at this stage. One day a week for 45 minutes wasn’t enough to make significant progress. They would often forget what we did the week before, and we’d waste time recapping instead of moving forward.

So, what did I do?

I used some of my time with them to educate and build their confidence to train on their own, outside of our sessions. We worked on basic movements, how to set up exercises, and things to look out for. Then, I provided them with a program—gym-based for those who had access to one, and a home-based program for others to follow remotely.

This meant they were now doing strength and conditioning three times a week, which was triple what they had been doing previously.

We had regular check-ins through messaging, and every few weeks, we held a Zoom training session where they’d do a workout from their own home on camera. It ended up being great fun!

With this approach, we saw fantastic outcomes when we met face-to-face. Some were jumping higher, running faster, and moving more effectively both on the field and in the gym.

Of course, this requires trust and ensuring they are safe while performing the exercises remotely. But the reality is that an hour a week isn’t enough for significant development, so the key is finding ways to make an impact remotely.

Need some help in your coaching? Any of this resonate or inspire you? Reply to this email and tell me your story...

Speak soon,

Isaac 🙂 

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