When a powerlifter is successful, who should get the credit? The lifter, because they did all the work and lifted the weight? The coach, because they wrote the program and taught the lifter what to do?
Clearly the credit is shared between the two sides, especially if the coach and lifter have established a trusting relationship where the most important training and competition decisions are made collaboratively.
More than ever, I’m realizing that the training process is an open source project between the coach and lifter. If a coach and a lifter trust each other, care about each other and understand each other, it’s easier to make tough training decisions to drive the lifter toward success.
Here’s a little story.
I had a very interesting interaction at the head scorer’s table at Saturday’s powerlifting meet. It confirmed what I’ve learned about the importance of collaboration between the coach and lifter, which is always a nice feeling.
At a powerlifting meet, after the lifter does an attempt, you have 60 seconds to go to the scorer’s table to report the lifter’s next attempt. If you don’t get there in time, they automatically increase the weight 2.5kg for the next attempt. It keeps the meet moving in a timely manner, but also provides a bit of drama and suspense. As a coach, I enjoy this kind of high-pressure decision making. Kind of like calling a last-second play at the goal line in football, but without millions of people watching on TV.
After Nick’s second squat attempt (which tied his PR from his last meet), we met at the scorer’s table to discuss his third attempt. The planned attempt I had for him would have been a 5kg PR, which I pointed to on the conversion sheet (because pounds to kilos is hard enough without the clock ticking). Nick pointed to a higher number, what would be a 15kg PR.
Without hesitation, I said, “You just tied your old PR, but if you gamble too much and miss, you’ll finish with the same squat as last meet. Let’s meet in the middle.” I pointed to the weight between our two suggestions, which would be 10kg PR.
Nick nodded and the head scorer punched the attempt into the computer.
“That’s good coaching,” the scorer said after Nick had walked away.
I smiled because he was right. Good coaching is about communication and trust. It’s about two-way feedback to make a final decision on what to do in training, or in this case, competition. The athlete has to trust that the coach has their best interest in mind, but also that the coach values the athlete’s input. The coach has to trust that the athlete can self-assess their capabilities without letting their ego get in the way, but the coach must also be brave enough to set their own ego aside when making tough decisions.
It’s not a one-way street. Authoritarian coaching might work for some, but athlete buy-in is stronger when they’re actively making decisions along the way. And giving the athlete full control of all decisions isn’t really coaching at all. They’re paying the coach for their objective opinion, to take away some of the mental burden of making training decisions.
A few minutes later, the bar was loaded for Nick. He walked it out, buried it and stood back up with ease. A solid 10kg PR with more in the tank. After a celebratory fist bump, I said, “We probably could have taken the 15kg jump.”
“I don’t care,” Nick said. “I’m happy with that.”
And there you have it. This is why good coaches solicit so much feedback from their lifters. It’s why good coaches ask so many questions and don’t spoon feed the weight on the bar to their lifters. It’s why good coaching isn’t, “Do what I say because I said so.” And why good lifters don’t say, “Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”