Neil Shanks , Lead Physical Preparation Coach - Scottish Swimming , shares his journey from sports science to elite swimming coaching, emphasising the importance of environment, continuous learning and data-driven practice in high-performance sport.

Key topics

• Pathway from sports science to elite coaching

• Creating athlete-centered environments

• Utilizing data and technology in training

• Transfer of training principles in swimming

• Managing pressure and performance at Olympics

#sports science, #strengthandconditioning, #eliteswimming, #athletedevelopment, #coaching, #Olympicpreparation

In Episode 141 of the ASCA Podcast, we’re joined by Michael Davie, Director of Strength & Conditioning and Sports Science for BYU Men’s Basketball and former NBA Championship-winning performance coach with the Milwaukee Bucks. Michael shares his journey from Australia to the US, offering insight into the realities of working in the NBA, building athlete trust, managing elite basketball performance and helping shape a championship-winning environment. Packed with practical insights for coaches working in high-performance sport, this episode also delivers valuable leadership and career advice for both emerging and experienced practitioners.

Listen now for a practical look at what it really takes to develop young athletes in a school environment.

This episode of the ASCA High School & Youth Podcast features Jonathan Dore, a strength & conditioning coach and teacher at Ipswich State High School, who is also heavily involved in rugby league pathways.

The conversation explores the realities of coaching in a school setting: highlighting that it goes beyond physical development to mentoring young people, guiding pathways and building skills for life beyond sport.

Jonathan shares his journey of stepping into a head S&C role at just 21 and learning on the job, gradually developing a strong and sustainable program.

A key theme of this episode is making the most of limited - Limited equipment, limited time and still finding ways to develop athletes effectively.

He also discusses integrating his dual roles as an S&C coach and sport coach, ensuring physical preparation directly supports on-field performance.

Underpinning it all is a strong focus on culture and standards, creating an environment where athletes take ownership and consistently buy into the process.

Takeaways:

• Constraints can improve coaching.

• Aligning S&C with sport for better transfer.

• Culture and consistency drive results.

• Focus on long-term athlete development.

Keywords:

S&C, Youth Development, High School Sport, Coaching, Culture, LTAD

Glen takes us back to the early days of his S&C career, when coaching meant doing it all: Strength, conditioning, sprint work, even video analysis. He contrasts that with today’s high-performance environment, now highly specialised and driven by sport science and technology.

Takeaways:

• Early S&C requires coaches to be generalists - doing everything across performance and support.

• The human element (intuition, experience, and connection) matters more than all the data.

• Trust athlete feedback - they often know what works best for them

• Listen and observe first, especially in new environments

• Importance of adapting your communication - Different athletes require different approaches

• Great coaches are people coaches, not just technical experts

• Communication, empathy and relationships drive buy-in and results

• Mentorship is key to developing coaches and sharing knowledge

• Long-term success comes from passion for coaching, not titles

In this conversation, Joseph Coyne shares insights from his extensive experience in the strength and conditioning field, discussing major themes such as the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and practical skills. He highlights the strengths and gaps within the S&C industry, misconceptions about the role, and valuable lessons learned from working with elite athletes. Joseph emphasises the significance of mentorship and offers advice for young coaches entering the profession, advocating for a focus on interpersonal skills and practical experience.

Takeaways

- Coaches are constantly learning and improving.

- Adaptability is crucial for success in coaching.

- There is a gap in practical skills among S&C coaches.

- Logistics are essential for effective coaching sessions.

- Connection before correction is vital for coaching success.

- Technical mastery is important for coaches.

- Inspiring moments enhance athlete engagement.

- Practical experience is key for young coaches.

- Interpersonal skills are critical for building relationships.

- Former athletes bring valuable insights to coaching.

The Constant Journey of Learning in Coaching

Strengths and Gaps in the S&C Industry

In this conversation, Joseph Coyne shares insights from his extensive experience in the strength and conditioning field, discussing major themes such as the importance of continuous learning, adaptability, and practical skills. He highlights the strengths and gaps within the S&C industry, misconceptions about the role, and valuable lessons learned from working with elite athletes. Joseph emphasises the significance of mentorship and offers advice for young coaches entering the profession, advocating for a focus on interpersonal skills and practical experience.

Takeaways

- Coaches are constantly learning and improving.

- Adaptability is crucial for success in coaching.

- There is a gap in practical skills among S&C coaches.

- Logistics are essential for effective coaching sessions.

- Connection before correction is vital for coaching success.

- Technical mastery is important for coaches.

- Inspiring moments enhance athlete engagement.

- Practical experience is key for young coaches.

- Interpersonal skills are critical for building relationships.

- Former athletes bring valuable insights to coaching.

The Constant Journey of Learning in Coaching

Strengths and Gaps in the S&C Industry

Chapters

00:00 The Constant Journey of Learning

05:27 Strengths and Gaps in the S&C Industry

14:20 Misunderstandings of the S&C Role

19:56 Lessons from Elite Athletes

28:05 Key Lessons Learned Throughout the Career

34:19 The Importance of Mentorship

37:43 Advice for Young Coaches

In this episode, Robbie Tissera shares his unconventional journey into strength and conditioning and the lessons that shaped his career across coaching, sport science, academia, and business ownership. From his early days stepping into a kickboxing coaching role to leading high performance environments and co-founding a performance facility, Robbie reflects on the importance of adaptability, lifelong learning, and building strong athlete relationships.

The conversation explores youth athlete development, performance culture, integrating rehabilitation and performance, and the realities of leading in high school and emerging athlete settings. A practical and honest discussion for coaches looking to grow their impact and build sustainable performance environments.

In this conversation, Daniel Baker shares his extensive journey in strength conditioning, discussing the evolution of coaching practices, the history of strength conditioning in Australia, and the current challenges faced by coaches.

He emphasises the importance of adapting training programs to individual athletes, the lessons learned from working with elite athletes, and the balance between scientific principles and the art of coaching. Baker also provides valuable advice for young coaches entering the field, highlighting the need for strength, fitness, and proper movement in athletic training.

Takeaways:

- The coaching journey involves evolving programming and coaching methods.

- Programs must adapt to the athlete's development and new research.

- Coaching is about how programs are executed, not just written.

- Strength conditioning in Australia has evolved significantly since the 1970s.

- AI presents challenges but cannot replace the human element in coaching.

- Athletes must be strong, fit, and able to move well for their sport.

- Textbooks are not sufficient for understanding elite athletic training.

- Effective training requires making decisions about exercise selection.

- Young coaches should focus on strength and fitness in their athletes.

- The coaching environment must include both technicians and professionals.

James Tatham is a senior strength & conditioning coach at the Australian Institute of Sport, where he helps prepare Australia’s very best, young basketball prospects with Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence and Gymnastics Australia’s Male Artistic Gymnastics National Training Centre (MAG NTC) athletes. James has also worked for Tennis Australia, Volleyball Australia, NSW Warratahs and Canberra Institute of Technology. James has completed a Bachelors Degree with Honours in Exercise Science and is an accredited Elite Level 3 Strength and Conditioning Coach.

QUOTES

"The narrative I push is that the weight room is for supplementary training to help unlock new higher difficulty scores to make gymnastics feel easy and to lengthen the career window"

"I think as coaches we're nurturing an environment to unfold a challenging future that's very uncertain"

"Training happens around high days being high, low days being low all based on gymnastics apparatus bias"

"A lot of incline press that correlates really well to a lot of what gymnasts do on the parallel bars and the pommel"

"I think there's some other things we can learn from gymnastics as well, the way they have difficulty scores and execution scores, I think we can gamify training that way to build … junior development with a novel scoring system that the athletes buy into"

SHOWNOTES

1) From small town NSW to the Australian Institute of Sport

2) What does strength & conditioning for elite gymnastics look like?

3) Unlocking the physical qualities that drive gymnastic skill development

4) How context, relationships and content influence coaching philosophy

5) Challenges in the Australian gymnastics’ environment

6) A typical training week for elite gymnasts and “building the armour”

7) Using gymnastics to gamify training and the normalization of risk with gymnastics

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Stephen Bird

Haydn Masters

Tom Tombleson

Simon Cron

Julian Jones

Stephen Smith

Ben Serpell

Stephen Larkham

Christian Bosse

John Mitchell

Angus McEntrye is a Chiropractor, Athletics coach and Strength & Conditioning Coach. He works out of his practice AM Health & Performance in Sydney and specialises in injury diagnosis, management, and rehabilitation. Angus has worked with several different athletes and teams and has coached athletes competing at World Championships, Commonwealth Games, and the Olympic Games in athletics. Angus is also an accredited Level 4 Athletics Coach and ASCA Elite L3 Strength & Conditioning Coach.

QUOTES

"So what is VBT to me? It's all about speed output. So moving the bar or the body as fast as we can."

"The most important part about the competitive season is that they're competing. We're not trying to be Olympic lifters. We're not trying to be power lifters. We want to make sure that their transfer to the sport is as high as possible. That's submaximal loading, accelerative strengthening, power on the force velocity curve. 60-70 % 1RM comes in as the heavy and then we muck around with 50-30 %; lighter, faster, ballistic tosses, jumping, loud noises, trying to get things moving as fast as we can..."

"How many sports generate force up and down like a squat? There aren't too many. In track and field, it's the hammer throw, skiing, rowing, a couple of examples there, but most of what we do is we're generating force in a split based position"

"So then, you know, going into those lighter loads, and doing it with a snatch, Cameron can lift up to four meters per second with 30% 1RM on the bar"

“I've always been somebody that likes to be creative and just think outside of the box and how might this work? How might this better the output that we're trying to achieve? And then in the gym, it just bolsters that as well. So, you know, as long as you're not being stupid, think being creative in your environment … especially with VBT”

SHOWNOTES

1) Angus’ journey in strength and conditioning, athletics coaching and chiropractic influences

2) Velocity based training (VBT) basics and split snatches in Tokyo

3) Periodizing VBT across general prep, specific prep and competition phases

4) Different exercises, including Olympic lifting variations, that Angus will use in his coaching

5) How VBT metrics and speeds can be adapted for power development, including lifts above 3-4 meters per second

6) The benefits of different coaching cues combined with VBT feedback

7) Being creative in your environment as a coach and the use of different exercises to influence technique

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Cam McEntrye

John Mitchell

Nick Winkelman

John Manenti