Fundamentals

This past weekend I had the distinct privilege of leading a USA weightlifting sports performance coach alongside coach CJ Stockel up at Buford high school. Despite the fact that Buford is a weightlifters dreamworld with 12 fully equipped Eleiko platforms, the certification was good perspective for me. One of the things coaches and lifters who’ve been in the game for a long time neglect to do is go back to the fundamentals. We often are focused on the small minute pieces around lifting as we try to improve and forget some of the more basic fundamentals that we learned years and years ago. A good example is hand pressure in the jerk. At a very early age I learned that your hands should be relatively loose at the beginning of the jerk and should squeeze the bar to punch only after the bar has left the clavicle. This was a good reminder for me as I had not thought about this for years. Another good example came from answering some of the attendees basic questions on why squat below parallel? Most of the coaches were high school or college strength coaches so this question came from them. Thinking back on why I made this decision and where I’ve validated it from many years ago was not only good for my own personal knowledge but was good to help me respond to their answer. (The answer is, for those who are wondering, the size and strength of the ligaments and tendons around around the knee not only prevents injury but creates stronger faster athletes.)
My point is simple: don’t forget the fundamentals. In a world of slow motion video, overly technical coaches, and the iPhone we often get caught over focusing on the smaller minute details. This is good in some capacity but we have to remember the fundamentals. The fundamentals are what got us where we are. It would be like forgetting how to make a layup or shoot a free-throw in basketball while you focus on the angle of your wrist in your three-point jumpshot. Clearly I’m not a basketball player but you get the point. Don’t forget the basics.