10/28/13

First day of internship at Defranco Training Systems!  So much to write about so I apologize if this seems jumbled a bit...

Overall really cool first day.  Got to meet all the coaches and Joe D. himself, who I have followed for a longgg time on the internet.  I wish I could do more, but gotta pick things up as I go along before I can really start helping coach.  So far I got my cleaning duties and the other intern duties but I don't mind that, as long as I get to learn as much as I can while here I'll do whatever they ask lol.  Saw a lot of really strong, really fast guy at the gym, but I got to see some more normal human beings walk through the doors as well.  I guess the thing about Defrancos is it while it has this whole aura about it that this is the spot where absolute beasts go, this absolutely isn't a requirement.  The thing that the athlete's had in common big or small was that they all seemed to love their sport and were willing to work hard to get better, even if that meant busting their ass for 2-3 hours and Defrancos.

Got in at 12 o'clock to 2 of the coaches warming up with one of the powerlifters doing some foam rolling and mobility drills.  From there about 5-6 athletes came in over the next 20-30 minutes.  The thing with Defrancos is that the athletes all have individualized warm-up, workouts, and programs so depending on the length of the warm up (anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour) athletes get to the gym for their session accordingly.  We had a triple A baseball player for the Twins, a sophomore Rutgers baseball player, a football lineman recovering from a "blown-out" knee, two NFL guys, and varying other athletes and non-athletes come in over the next few hours.

A big thing I took away from the day was how hands-off the coaches were.  I  guess the experience I have had is coaches watching over like a hawk and nit-picking everything, whereas these coaches step back and let the athlete be more responsible for a large part of their workout.  When I say this I don't mean the coaches don't watch at all or are lazy or reckless with their athletes; its actually the complete opposite.  The coaches teach the inexperienced athletes how to work out and how to go through the exercises so they become smarter with their own training.  This was especially evident since one of the athletes took me through some of the circuits they prescribe and actually taught me some exercises.  Also, even with the athletes who have worked out with the coaches for 2 years or more will be scrutinized and coached through the more difficult aspects of the training.  For instance a collegiate baseball athlete was performing some med ball accelerations to work on sprint performance and overall power development.  Because of it's explosive nature with a lot of focus on technique the coach took time to make sure everything looked good while working with 2 other athletes (while watching the coach had 2 stop watches going to let the other athletes know when to hit their next set).

I can already see why I was asked to read the Charlie Francis book coming in.  The "art of coaching" is something I never though about coming into this experience, but multiple times throughout my first few hours I saw the coach cut the exercise sets short to due either breakdown in form or the athlete hitting a PR, constantly asking how the athlete felt, and being able to treat different athletes differently.  Being able to adjust on the fly is a critical skill for strength and conditioning coaches.  It could save your athlete's performance or physical well being, as well as help you connect with your athlete!

As far as readings go, I definitely have to read more CF, as well as get into some of the older Russian texts which I have wanted to do for a while.  Whereas I got a lot of coaching aspects and certain sprint development strategies from CF, from what I have gathered the overall programming  of the Russians is huge with the coaches.  So much reading so little time!!

Day 2 tomorrow.  I'll be writing more frequently to keep you updated.