Today's podcast features Paul Cater, a seasoned strength coach with extensive experience in both professional and private realms. Beginning his journey in collegiate football at UC Davis, Paul later ventured into international professional rugby with the London Wasps for seven years. Following his rugby career, he spent a decade innovating strength and conditioning systems in professional baseball with the Baltimore Orioles and Los Angeles Angels. With a research focus on performance and injury reduction in Seville, Spain, Paul now optimizes training methods for the tactical community and is designing "The Lab Monterey," a premier 'smart gym' in the USA.

While training is often regarded as both an art and a science, the majority of time and resources are allocated to the scientific aspects, leaving the artistic elements overlooked. The art of training extends beyond communication with athletes, delving into the intuitive process of session unfolding and the natural processes of learning, movement, and community engagement.

In today's podcast, Paul explores the alignment of performance with natural learning, emphasizing challenge and mimicry over verbal statements and rote recital of patterns. He details how to create an environment that breathes life into training sessions, fostering engagement, enhanced learning, and improved results. The discussion also covers the role of science in the context of "smart gyms" and how technology can liberate coach resources for more creative investments. In a rapidly evolving world, this podcast is a landmark exploration of understanding athletes and fostering a meaningful coaching process.

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View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage.

Main Points

2:30- How athletic dance movements fit with culture, and how it works into Paul’s training ideas

12:30- Priming the environment of the athlete for better results, with the influence of music selection

19:00- Key exercises and “attractors” to help drive flow states and learning via mimicry in training

27:00- How to manage structure and basic coaching guidelines, along with creating space for freedom of movement and exploration

37:00- The nature of how children play, and their background, and implications for training and performance

43:00- Paul’s process of teaching, and education for mentors and assistants

53:00- How upbeats, and downbeats fit with rhythmic movement flow and athleticism

1:07:00- What the ideal world is in training and coaching, in regards to the balance of technology and sports performance

Paul Cater Quotes

“To really understand a culture, you have to understand their dancing culture and their music integration”

“I believe right now in America, we are establishing a culture that is devoid of identify and basic movement patterns”

“Dancing is ingrained in battle, and in sport you are mirroring movements, mimicking movements”

“I want to have young athletes be more readily available to accept challenges, versus seeing things as threats”

“Music, and the opening salvo of exercises can (engage an athlete) on both levels (of challenge and innate movement patterning)”

“Birds mimic the sound, and then they vary it”

“Choosing a song, mimicing beats and rhythms, within a drill, with peers”

“I think if we teach young athletes to memorize drills, or plays, we take away that creative inhibition”