Today we debut a new blog entitled “Heart & Sole” which will feature training tips and expert advice from trainers at the Athletic Workshop, a branch of the Kettering Health Network. The goal is to enlighten and help our readers and potential athletes. Enjoy – and get educated.
By Andrew Winkler, Fast-Twitch Performance Enhancement/Athleticworkshop.com
In the real world, the cliché of being a jack of all trades and a master of none is strongly frowned upon. But, as a strength and conditioning professional, I take the position that I want every athlete I work with to be a jack of all trades. In most sports, the greatest athletes possess the ability to be powerful, strong, fast, quick, and flexible. They also have great footwork, balance, anaerobic conditioning levels, nutritional/recovery habits, and excel at their sports specific skills.
Everyday I work with athletes who each have their own set of strengths and weaknesses. It is my responsibility to identify and design a program that will correct those weaknesses. It is the athlete’s responsibility to put in the effort and focus to eliminate the weaknesses. The realistic and mentally strong athletes will choose to focus more on their weaknesses and less on their strengths, while the delusional and weak minded athletes focus only on their strengths. There can be many possible reasons why an athlete may choose to stay away from their weaknesses. Embarrassment or failure comes to mind very quickly, but it is the athletes who work to improve and eliminate their weaknesses that will begin their journey toward reaching their maximum athletic potential.
For example, if you’re a football player who has a great 40-yard dash time, but cannot move laterally, you have 2 options. First, would be to improve your lateral movement with agility drills and lateral strength work. Your second option would be to continue with your current training regimen. While I would endorse the position of following the first option, many athletes would follow the second option because they don’t want to perform any drills or exercises they might not be good at. In turn, the athlete will fail to achieve the success they otherwise could have had.
The point I am trying to make is athletes have to be able to do many things well and working on improving your weaknesses is the only way to reach your genetic potential. I have seen many athletic training programs that only work to improve a few aspect of performance. Some high school strength and conditioning program only train their athletes for strength improvement. In doing so, the athletes are being trained like power-lifters and bodybuilders. This is a great idea if you are going to be competing for your high schools power-lifting or bodybuilding team, but I imagine you aren’t. When was the last time you saw someone from the power-lifting or bodybuilding world make it in professional sports? Better yet, have you ever seen a power-lifter or bodybuilder run? They can’t…they waddle! Strength training is a crucial component to every athlete’s success, but the proper design and implementation of the program should facilitate power and speed enhancement, not hinder it. This is why our athletes spend 50% of their total time training outside of the weight room and might be the reason our program will graduate 9 division one athletes this spring.
I believe every athletes needs to be given the opportunity to understand what their strengths and weaknesses are in order to get to the next level. This is why every athlete in our program goes through an evaluation before beginning. I am sure you have heard the quote stating that each team is only as good as their weakest player. This is outstanding wisdom that needs to be applied to the individuals so they understand each athlete is only as good as his or her greatest weakness. Your strengths will take you to a point in your athletic career for you to realize there is potential for greatness, but to reach the top the weaknesses must to be eliminated.
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Coach Winkler is the director and combine training specialist of Fast-Twitch Performance Enhancement in Dayton, Ohio. Coach Winkler served four years as an assistant coach for Football Strength and Conditioning at The Ohio State University. While on the sidelines at Ohio State, the Buckeyes appeared in two straight BCS National Championship games and won three straight Big Ten Championships. Prior to his arrival at Ohio State, Coach Winkler played quarterback at Mount Union College for two seasons and won the 2002 Division III Football National Championship. In addition to coaching athletes for the field of play, he has prepared many Ohio State football players for success at the NFL Combine and is considered among the best in Ohio for high school combine prep. Coach Winkler has earned the distinction of Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).
You can contact Coach Winkler with any comments, questions, and suggested article topics at coachwink@fast-twitchperformance.com or by reaching him at 937.236.7276.
