Listen & Learn From Your Competitors
From Coach Shane Martin
If you want to be a great lifter and/or Coach it’s important to listen and learn from your competitors.
When coaching at meets where podium battles happen, it is worth your while as a coach to eavesdrop. Is your closest competitor telling his coach he cramped last attempt? Important. Are they discussing their next attempt jump? Important. Athlete tore a calus last pull? You hear them discussing a strategy mistake? Important.
All these instances have happened and when utilized, can be a great tool.
Strategically standing within earshot can be beneficial when devising potential outcomes to better assess your athletes potential placing. This doesn’t mean be a poor sport and interfere in anyway of their day, but having a tuned ear can help. Hang around the score sheet display, lots of coaching goes on right in front of that TV.
Same goes for assessing your competitors warm ups. In many cases watching your competitors last few warms up can give you more data to assess how they may fair on the platform. Their last warm up a grinder or a rocket? Good to know.
All this ends up being is data collection. And the more usable data you have, the better decisions you and your athletes can make.
Listen. Watch. Process.
Image courtesy of the IPF.
Shane Martin is the owner and head coach at Smartlifts. Shane is an International Level Referee, Team Canada and Alberta Coach, and multiple time National Champion. He has recorded a 2025lb total and has a medal from the IPF Worlds. Shane coaches beginners to world champions and focuses on longevity through smart programming and technical mastery.