10 TIPS FOR NEW S&C COACHESLessons From the Field — Coach Sunz

1. There is no perfect program.

Stop stressing over whether your program is perfect or some magical script. Understand the athlete in front of you — their goals, how they actually move, their strengths and weaknesses. That's what should dictate the areas you address and the program you build. Back yourself.

2. Train the muscle groups, not the action.

Stop chasing exercises that look exciting. Flashy, high-velocity, multi-phase movements are useless without a solid base of strength and clean movement mechanics — without that foundation, you have no business loading someone into multiple planes of motion. Train the muscle groups involved in the action; the action itself gets trained in the sport. The strength, power, control, and speed you build is what lets athletes execute that action with greater impact, more often, for longer.

Building the foundation before adding the flash.

3. Be patient and disciplined enough to stay the course.

Once a program is set, be disciplined enough to run it for as long as you planned. Don't get tempted by athletes who want new exercises and a new style every week. Run the protocol, let adaptation take place, make small tweaks along the way — be patient. You'll never know what actually works if you keep jumping around.

4. Listen to your athletes — don't let them coach you.

Take the information athletes give you about their body and history seriously. But you're the professional. I won't let an athlete tell me how they want to be trained — they came to me for a reason, so let me do my work. This means being flexible and agile enough to achieve the same outcome in more than one way. Listen and adapt — but don't bend over.

5. You don't need fancy equipment to test.

Don't stress if you lack expensive gear — as long as you can repeat a test the same way every time, you're good. 1-3RM squat and bench, a bronco test, a 1200m time trial, a 6-minute max-distance run. If you want deeper data, outsource a testing battery, train your block, then retest.

6. Know your shit.

You don't need big words or scientific jargon for everything. As long as the person in front of you understands what you're trying to achieve, you're good. But that means understanding your own work well enough to explain it in terms a 7-year-old could follow. If you can't break it down that simply, spend more time learning it — or find a mentor.

Every explanation should land — no jargon required.

7. Work across different sports to build your toolbox.

Have your target market — that's fine — but train a few different bodies from different sports too. I've worked with athletes across almost every sport, and a setup built for one has often transferred straight to another, because I listened to the individual first (see tip 4). That's what builds your toolbox.

8. Coach your session, not the clock.

Don't pad a session with exercises and conditioning just to fill time. If the plan takes 43 minutes, it takes 43 minutes — session's complete. If it takes 69, it takes 69.

9. Keep it simple and basic — simple doesn't mean easy.

You don't need magic formulas, fancy programs, or exotic exercises. You need a step-by-step plan that ticks toward your athlete's goals — that's all that matters. Not every session needs to leave someone a sweaty mess. Be comfortable having an athlete come in, do 1-5 exercises, and go home.

10. Lastly, be a good human being.

Athletes and clients are trusting you — take that seriously and actually care about helping them. Help where you can, but don't let people walk all over you. Smile, enjoy the moments, good and bad — we're both human beings. I'm hard on the people I work with because I want the highest standard from everyone. But I'm still a good human being.

Coach Sunz  |  CS Performance Strength & Conditioning