It is that time of the year again and the sport and performance camps are rolling out all over the country. Parents, athletes and coaches flock to camps during the summer months trying to gain an edge on the rest of the competition. As a coach it can be difficult sometime to seperate yourself from the pack with the number of summer programs that are available these days and as a parent it is sometimes even more difficult to determine which programs are going to be the best suited for your needs and the quality of training that your son or daughter will recieve. I think that it is crucial to do your homework if you are a parent and make sure that you are signing up for quality service from reputable and "qualified" coaches. There are plenty of "assembly line" camps out there that run kids through basic drills, don't teach the kids much and take the money and run so to speak. Additionally as a coach it is important do your homework too. What camps are you competing against, what are their costs, dates and what are they offering? These are some simple tips that should be addressed as a coach or parent.
I find camps and clinics to be a very crucial opportunity to make an impact that will hopefully carry into higer levels of understanind training. I think that it is important to understand the previous statement. I did not say improve performance, or improve 40 times or whatever. I said create a better understanding. Most camps are simply small snippets of time that allow us as coaches to introduce to young athletes, coaches and parents the value in sound training methodology. Time alone will tell me that I will not be able to accomplish any major improvements but moreover will simply provide the opportunity to demonstrate effective variables that will improve performance if said variables are implemented and worked on over time. Thegoal should be to communicate the how, why, what and where of training. It is a basic "tool box" philosophy. If you utilize the tools that are given under the right circumstances, your ability to improve performance qualities will be most likely enhanced.
The more that you can connect with each group that you work with the higher the likelyhood that they will be able to understand and execute whatever drill or concept that you want to teach. This also means that you must create an environment that will be best suited for the campers. This simply means that you cannot expect that the 12 year old will be at the same level as the 16-18 year old. We typically will split up groups initially by age and then adjust them accordingly after the athletes demonstrate their "training age". Training age is key b/c there will always be athletes within groups that perform higher or lower than the projected range. This is the real challenge within the whole picture as a coach. Can you create a challenging environment for each athlete through simple progressions and regressions so that each athlete will be able to be challenged at their own level.
The last bit of information that you may want to focus on is making sure that you keep everyone as active as possible while maintaining quality work. This can be done by creating stations, group distribution and also by having small incremental workloads with breaks built in. If young athletes stand around too much, they tend to lose interest or focus so we like to spend short amounts of time before changing things. This forces the athlete to stay alert and pay attention. I like to do this by being as vocal as I can, involve the campers, ask them key point questions, allow them to ask questions and even create small competitions or incentives to stay engaged.
The most important of all though is taking ownership of your own actions and bringing as much energy and enthusiasm to each drill, segment, or group that you can. Young athletes will feed off you and how you act or carry yourself. If you are enthusiastic, energized, etc, they will see your passion and usually give you good energy. Pull the group together at the end of each session and make sure that they always leave on a positive note and will this energy by creating short rants or cheers that they can be a part of and have some fun with. If they feel like you are simply drilling them and sending them on their way, they will not achieve much throughout the camp. Your goal is to get them excited, keep them excited and this will yield a motivated and hard working camper.
I would love to hear more ideas from those who read this. Give me your feedback, ideas or ways that you make your camp a success! Or if you would like to hear more about how TPEA can help you build successful camps, check out our consulting services from the main page and let us help you!
I find camps and clinics to be a very crucial opportunity to make an impact that will hopefully carry into higer levels of understanind training. I think that it is important to understand the previous statement. I did not say improve performance, or improve 40 times or whatever. I said create a better understanding. Most camps are simply small snippets of time that allow us as coaches to introduce to young athletes, coaches and parents the value in sound training methodology. Time alone will tell me that I will not be able to accomplish any major improvements but moreover will simply provide the opportunity to demonstrate effective variables that will improve performance if said variables are implemented and worked on over time. Thegoal should be to communicate the how, why, what and where of training. It is a basic "tool box" philosophy. If you utilize the tools that are given under the right circumstances, your ability to improve performance qualities will be most likely enhanced.
The more that you can connect with each group that you work with the higher the likelyhood that they will be able to understand and execute whatever drill or concept that you want to teach. This also means that you must create an environment that will be best suited for the campers. This simply means that you cannot expect that the 12 year old will be at the same level as the 16-18 year old. We typically will split up groups initially by age and then adjust them accordingly after the athletes demonstrate their "training age". Training age is key b/c there will always be athletes within groups that perform higher or lower than the projected range. This is the real challenge within the whole picture as a coach. Can you create a challenging environment for each athlete through simple progressions and regressions so that each athlete will be able to be challenged at their own level.
The last bit of information that you may want to focus on is making sure that you keep everyone as active as possible while maintaining quality work. This can be done by creating stations, group distribution and also by having small incremental workloads with breaks built in. If young athletes stand around too much, they tend to lose interest or focus so we like to spend short amounts of time before changing things. This forces the athlete to stay alert and pay attention. I like to do this by being as vocal as I can, involve the campers, ask them key point questions, allow them to ask questions and even create small competitions or incentives to stay engaged.
The most important of all though is taking ownership of your own actions and bringing as much energy and enthusiasm to each drill, segment, or group that you can. Young athletes will feed off you and how you act or carry yourself. If you are enthusiastic, energized, etc, they will see your passion and usually give you good energy. Pull the group together at the end of each session and make sure that they always leave on a positive note and will this energy by creating short rants or cheers that they can be a part of and have some fun with. If they feel like you are simply drilling them and sending them on their way, they will not achieve much throughout the camp. Your goal is to get them excited, keep them excited and this will yield a motivated and hard working camper.
I would love to hear more ideas from those who read this. Give me your feedback, ideas or ways that you make your camp a success! Or if you would like to hear more about how TPEA can help you build successful camps, check out our consulting services from the main page and let us help you!
