What is science?
A little refresher here to get us started.
· Science is a process by which empirical knowledge about the physical universe is determined to the extent allowed by current technology. The process involves scientific reasoning.
· Science is also the body of knowledge produced by the process. This is also subject to change as new evidence comes to light often by improving technology.
It is largely an endeavor developed as a part of Western culture, though it is currently practiced on a global basis.
Science areas valuable for weightlifting coaches
The following discipline areas are especially helpful for weightlifting coaches.
· Physics as its application aids in understanding biomechanics and the dynamics of the barbell.
· Chemistry provides the basis for understanding the biochemical activities that take place within the body as a result of training and feeding.
· Biology provides a backdrop for the comprehension of physiological adaptation to the stresses of sport training.
· Psychology enables a coach to deal with the athlete’s psyche in the mastery of performance and to improve the process of pedagogy.
A sound background in the sciences will serve the coach well in managing the process of athlete development. Since weightlifting is an easily measured activity, the relevance of scientific application is more evident.
What is Voodoo Weightlifting?
I coined this term a few years ago as I watched my World Team coaching colleague John Coffee take one of his lifters through a training session. It seemed like he was pulling exercises out of the air, prescribing rep and set schemes on a whim, and devising the training in a very general, unplanned style. Certainly John’s approach was not firmly based on the regimes mentioned in the previous section. I could only call it “Voodoo Weightlifting”.
Now John knows a tremendous amount about weightlifting, almost all of it gleaned from his decades in the sport. His approach has worked marvelously well with his team having won 17 national team titles over the years. It’s just that he would have a hard time organizing his methodology into a systematic approach that an inexperienced coach would understand. His is an entirely instinctive approach.
Since we were coaches on 3 world teams, we roomed together and had plenty of time to enter into some deep coaching discussions (and wouldn’t you have liked to have been a fly on the wall for those?). He would ask me about the science of certain approaches and I would query him on his instinctive reasoning. I think a little of each of us rubbed off on the other.
And so…..
We both came to understand better that weightlifting coaching is as much art as science. Though there is a necessity for good, hard scientific facts there is just as strong a need for instinctive action. Both regimes require a great deal of time and effort to acquire and perhaps just as much time spent in experimentation to refine. Aspiring coaches… learn the science and develop the instincts!
Post script: Edward Baker, John Coffee’s athlete and protégé, has taken the term Voodoo Weightlifting and applied it to his gym and team. He is carrying on John’s legacy with a program named after John’s inimitable approach to coaching.