It occasionally helps to review the details of a process that involves many of us. Coaching a weightlifter in competition deserves a bit of this analysis. Of late I’ve been able to observe the platform coaching techniques of many newer coaches and at times it seems as if they are not quite sure of the aims and goals of their roles.
The Reality of the Issue
The goal of a weightlifting competition is really quite simple. It is to lift as much weight possible. I’ve long felt that if a lifter equals or exceeds his or her personal record (PR) total, there is nothing more that could be done. If your opponent posts a higher total and beats your PR total, everything that could be done has been done.
Now where this can get tricky is determining the value of the PR. Was the athlete good for a 2 kg PR or a 5 kg PR? This is something that the coach should know with remarkable accuracy. A coach who has written the training and watched the training, and has an extensive competitive history with the athlete should be able to determine the lifts the athlete is capable of to the nearest kilo going into the competition. If you, as the coach, have not developed your perceptive skills to this level you need to note this as a skill to be mastered.
Those of us who have coached internationally can relate occasions when we first met the athlete at the airport on the way to the competition. From that point to the date of the competition (often a span of just a few days), we can quite accurately determine the capabilities of the athlete in competition.
The Job of the Coach at the Meet
Here’s a bullet list of items that should be carried out by the coach at the competition.
· Sheltering from distractions: Including the weigh-in, one major function of the coach is to make sure that the athlete is not distracted from the task at hand. This means keeping the athlete from listening to people who are outsiders or competing athletes or coaches. This is done so that the athlete can focus on performing the lifts correctly.
· Making sure that the athlete is nourished properly after the weigh-in. I usually expect the athlete to either bring food or we go together to get food. This should be discussed beforehand.
· Reviewing the progressions of attempts on the platform. All but the third clean & jerk poundage should be firmly established.
· Managing the warm-up.
· Managing the performance.
The Warm-up
The function of the warm-up is to insure that the athlete is physiologically prepared to lift, and that the neuromotor patterns have been gradually upgraded to the level necessary for the first competitive attempt.
I usually like the athlete to be present in the warm-up room at 15 minutes before the listed session start time in the singlet. I take into consideration the time for the introduction, the break between the end of the introductions and the first attempt of the session to determine when to begin the warm-ups.
The timing of the warm-ups is critical and I like to allow a three minute break between warm-up attempts. I plan on five attempts at 60%, 70%, 80%, 85%, 90%. I don’t like the presence of anyone who is not a teammate nor familiar with the warming-up process. The athlete should finish the final warm-up lift and then have enough time to walk normally to the pre-staging seating area.
The Opening Attempt Snatch
We both know what the weight will be. There is no jockeying around as I see many coaches do, the reason for which I cannot fathom. The weight should be 94% of the planned third attempt weight. The second attempt, if the first is successful will be 97 or 98%. In this way the increments have a cadence that is not upsetting to the nervous system. Knowing the opener also allows the lifter to focus on that lift with no surprising changes. This opener is extremely important from a psychological standpoint as it can set the athlete’s psyche for the entire competition.
The Second Attempt
Provided that the first is successful, the second attempt should set the stage and tone for the third. A properly called and executed second attempt will enable a confident approach to the third.
The Third Attempt
A successful PR third attempt snatch indicates to both the athlete and coach that the pathway to the PR total is completely on track. It provides the athlete with great confidence and aggression toward the clean & jerk. One thing that should happen is that the coach should convince the athlete to completely forget the snatch whether the third was a success or not. Too much psychological celebration over a PR snatch can detract from focusing on the clean & jerk as will too much despondency over a missed lift.
The Clean & Jerk
The provisions for the snatch warm-up hold true for the clean & jerk warm-up as well. I must interject that the coach must take into consideration the possibility that many of the opening attempts (and perhaps second attempts) will be changed by coaches who feel that they must have a function but do not what to do. All they are doing is creating an inconvenience and quite frequently confusing themselves. They are not clever, nor cryptic—just searching.
After the first attempt clean & jerk is successful, strategic thinking may begin. Initially this should involve planning the third attempt lift poundage. Once this is determined, the second attempt poundage can then be determined as the proper run-up weight for the third.
Do You Really Need To Buy Time?
In the last few years quite a few coaches have gone to making every attempt poundage change possible and waiting till the last possible second to make declarations or changes, all in an attempt to buy more time for an athlete who is on the two minute clock. These coaches undoubtedly think they are being clever but in truth are revealing themselves as being quite unfamiliar with the competitive experience. First off more time is only helpful to large lifters who are following themselves after a missed clean & jerk. Secondly most athletes have a finite window of arousal during which a lift has the greatest chance of succeeding. Waiting beyond the window of arousal will actually diminish the chance of success. So thoughtless “buying time” can actually be damaging to the lifter’s performance.
Go In With A Plan!