Should we really have a focus on the Olympic lifts in coach education?

[Thread]

It has become a popular stance to hate on the Oly lifts

Do you HAVE to use them? Of course not. But like it or not, they are used successfully across the globe in 100’s of environments

They are also very effective at challenging coaches to develop key skills and knowledge

To coach the Oly lifts you need an in-depth understanding of biomechanics, anatomy and physiology

This is a big challenge in synthesising information together in an applied context

These are important higher order thinking skills, as after all, coaching is a cognitive thing

The Oly lifts provide unique challenges in developing these thinking skills

For example:

You are holding an external load which moves independently to your body for part of the movement

The lift has built in feedback which allows for technical optimisation, but provides unique coaching considerations with less margin for error

They are high load, yet high velocity movements requiring optimal positioning and coaching effectiveness for safety and adaptation

They also force coaches to think about fluidity, smoothness, and more general athleticism within a higher risk movement

This means that to be effective at coaching the Oly lifts we need:

Attention to detail
Error detection skills
Error decoding skills (make sense of the error)
Optimal communication
A constant consideration of safety

All via in-depth multi-disciplinary knowledge

But you need a lot of these in all movements! Yes, but doing this in the Oly lifts has less margin for error than in a squat and more restrictions and risk than in sprinting

So you arguably need to think more clearly, rationalise more effectively and communicate better

HOW TO GET BETTER AT IT:

If as a young coach you know what the movements should look like then great

But you should also know WHY they should look like that

Shoulders in-front of the bar at the top of 1st Pull. Why?

Once you can answer that, ask WHY to that Q. And repeat

If you coach and you see a limitation. You should also ask WHY

Why is it happening?

Why is it a problem, and how does it affect the desired adaptation or athletes safety?

Then of course, what will you do about it? And why have you chosen that intervention?

These thinking skills are some of the things that make coaches world class, regardless of what tool they choose to use in practice

And IMO Oly lifts are a great tool which we should be using to develop them