Have you ever noticed that there are times when you’re in the gym and a coach walks right past you, clearly watches you do a rep or two of whatever movement you’re performing, and they say nothing??
And you think: “Hey bozo, give me a tip or two…I’m dying over here!”
That is by design.
One of the biggest things I’ve taken from my coaching mentors over the years is this – many times, less is more.
New coaches often fall into the trap of “cue vomit.” They are anxious and excited and so eager to showcase all the knowledge that they’ve gained to whomever will listen, they do what is referred to as “over coaching.” It’s not necessarily a bad thing.
But it can be paralyzing to a client.
Allow me to paint you a vivid picture: on any given day, you are all doing approximately 437 things wrong during one rep, no matter the movement. If us coaches were to try and correct all of those at once, one of two scenarios is likely to play out:
1. You’d punch us in the face for pointing out so many deficiencies.
2. You’d nod as if you understood and then proceed to do an extra 74 things wrong on top of the 437 you already messed up.
In our coaching development program, we have a few rules concerning this:
– Triage Concept: selective ignoring
– Singular, Positive Cueing: give them a chance to apply it…
So why do we have those rules?
Simple: many times, one quick, simple cue is all you need to repair many deficiencies at once. A cue of “elbows tall” when coming up from a front squat may also serve to put you back on your heels, keep your chest tall, and flatten out your back. One cue – four fixes.
Why do we say nothing sometimes?
It could be that we’re giving you time to process and implement an earlier cue.
Or maybe, just maybe, you were moving well enough at that time that we wanted you to continue focusing on whatever it was you were focusing on.
