The great thing about having a blog is you can share your views and opinions on a variety of things. There's no filter or boss I have to be cautious about saying something I should not. I always try and be very open about my opinions, whether they are correct or not is sometimes open for debate.
Today is an opportunity to do a bit of complaining, so if that's not what you are interested in hearing you're welcome to read no further. This particular topic is about the point system that the Coaching Association of Canada has put into place to maintain your certification.
I don't know about other coaches, but having to show that we are continually committing to do coursework to maintain our certification is not going to make us better coaches, plain and simple. I did a 4 year bachelors in Kinesiology, a 2 years master degree in coaching studies and I've trained as a provincial (level 3) coach. I also coach year round a large number of kids, some of whom are quite strong. I also am always posting tips and videos for Serious Squash on social media. Planning practices, doing my own training and trying to develop the best possible junior program and for some reason that isn't sufficient to show that i'm worthy of maintaining my coaching certification?
You can accumulate points for maintaining your certification by doing a variety of things like first aid courses (which I've taken at least half a dozen times) and by doing various online courses and attending clinics that have something to do with sport. I constantly read books about coaching and sport yet that doesn't collect points. So really this system is actually interfering with my already successful system of learning and work. This system will make me register for courses that I have no interest in. They will also cost money and take the away from my job.
I feel a bit better after getting some of this out. Clearly this certification maintenance program wasn't developed by a coach. If you want to be a good coach you will be, not because of some system that forces you to do extra things. If I want to know something I do research or think about it and figure it out. Simply coaching and working with your athletes makes you a better coach too.
Even from squash specific technical coaching courses (1, 2 and 3) I learned just about nothing and spent a lot of time and money to complete these courses. I understand that there are people trying to justify the professionalism of coaching, but I think the Coaching Association of Canada is way off track here. Some great coaches will lose their certification while others who simply jump through the hoops which shows they do as they are told (but it doesn't meant they are actually committed coaches) will follow along because they have no other option.
That's enough of a vent. If you read this far thanks for taking the time to listen. Feel free to comment and let me know if you agree or think I'm off track.
Don't forget to follow Serious Squash on IG, FB and Youtube for lots of tips! Also check out the merch store at SeriousSquashShop.com where you can find loads of cool stuff plus 3 instructional films which can be downloaded and also come with a money back guarantee.
Friday, October 5, 2018
Thursday, October 4, 2018
Monitoring Off Court Training For Groups
When you work with a wide range or age groups it's difficult to have them all on the same training plan and to evenly track all of their progress and offer motivation for both on and off the court. So what I've created was a document where I can track each of their off court training improvements through a variety of exercises which I feel are most appropriate towards their development as an athlete and in particular a squash player. Ideally this chart will also provide motivation and goal setting for the kids too.
How the chart works is they simply get a checkmark when they've completed a certain physical skill task. The idea is to have levels that are challenging for each player so they can continually aim for incremental improvements, which over a long time can lead to a big change in an individual. It's just begun, so only time will be the judge to see how well it works. This is also the first season where the kids are expected to complete 2 off court gym sessions on their own outside of our on court training which is 4x per week.
How the chart works is they simply get a checkmark when they've completed a certain physical skill task. The idea is to have levels that are challenging for each player so they can continually aim for incremental improvements, which over a long time can lead to a big change in an individual. It's just begun, so only time will be the judge to see how well it works. This is also the first season where the kids are expected to complete 2 off court gym sessions on their own outside of our on court training which is 4x per week.
Beep Test
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8.1
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9.1
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10.1
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10.6
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11.1
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11.6
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12.1
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12.6
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13.1
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13.6
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14.1
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14.6
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15.1
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Consecutive Pushups
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10
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20
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25
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30
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35
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40
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45
|
50
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55
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60
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70
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80
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90
|
100
|
Consecutive Skipping
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50 FW
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100 FW
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150 FW
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200 FW
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250 FW
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50 BW
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100 BW
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150 BW
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200 BW
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Bear Crawl with golf T on back
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Width of court
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Length of court
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Length X2
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Around entire court
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Total distance with ball on top of T
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Plank
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1 min.
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2 min.
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3 min.
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4 min.
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5 min.
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1 min. side
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2 min. side
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3 min side
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Lunges (per leg)
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30 sec. hold
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60 sec. hold
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90 sec. hold
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2 min. hold
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50 lunge forwards and back
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20 lunge jumps (40 total)
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30 lunge jumps (60 total)
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40 lunge jumps (80 total)
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Squats
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10 proper squats
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30 squats
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50 squats
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20 squat jumps
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30 squats jumps
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40 squat jumps
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50 squat jumps
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20 burpees with PU
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30 burpees with PU
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40 burpees with PU
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Flexibility/Stretching
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Hamstring
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Quads
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Hips/Glutes
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Calves
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Shoulders
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Trouble Areas?
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Sufficient ROM
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Nutrition?
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Proper Sleep?
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Hydration?
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Warm up routine?
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Cool down routine?
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Anything you feel I'm missing? For the record these kids are between 12 and 18 years old. The coaches have demonstrated and shown that the exercises are all done with proper techniques before adding reps and/or weight.
Legend: PU = pushups FW = forwards BW = backwards. The golf tee is a plastic driving range one that has a round bottom. You can also use a plastic cup or empty yogurt container.
When I was a kid we had some equipment in our basement, but I didn't know what I was doing or how much to do of something. I had no program or guidance on technique for exercises. It's impossible to play squash at a top level without strong glutes, calves, quads, hamstrings and of course core. The past 3 years since a minor knee surgery I've been steadily going to the gym and working with some great trainers and I feel more stable on court than I did when I was competing. Here are a few of the pics from some of the various exercises we've done. It's always tailored to squash. You can find a lot more of them on the Serious Squash Instagram page.
When I was a kid we had some equipment in our basement, but I didn't know what I was doing or how much to do of something. I had no program or guidance on technique for exercises. It's impossible to play squash at a top level without strong glutes, calves, quads, hamstrings and of course core. The past 3 years since a minor knee surgery I've been steadily going to the gym and working with some great trainers and I feel more stable on court than I did when I was competing. Here are a few of the pics from some of the various exercises we've done. It's always tailored to squash. You can find a lot more of them on the Serious Squash Instagram page.
Follow Serious Squash on Youtube, Instagram and Facebook for the most regular posts. Also check out the online shop, SeriousSquashShop.com for all the instructional videos and merch. I'm hoping to be adding a signature racquet to the shop in the next few months!
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