NSCA’s Coaching Podcast

Joe Siara, Manager of Peak Performance Programs for the New York Yankees Major League Baseball (MLB) team, joins NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, to discuss the path from Minor League Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coach to sport scientist. The discussion includes a recap of the 2021 Professional Baseball Strength and Conditioning Coaches Society (PBSCCS) Baseball Sport Science Virtual Clinic, an explanation of the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist™ (CPSS™) exam development process, and practical applications of technology across a variety of performance settings. Find Joe via Email: jsiara@yankees.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think that the two big things are just the scalability of whatever you're wanting to do. So we work with the Major League team down to our Dominican League teams. And I think staff education, so making sure everyone is educated on the technology, how to use it, how we're going to give this information to the players. So we really try to put a big emphasis on building a sports science culture.” 4:36 “I think my number one thing that I've kind of realized is always stay curious. You know, you can be skeptical about stuff but always try to be learning.” 9:41 “So I think the less invasive we are with people in the future, the less invasive you can be, the simpler you can be with the athlete, the better. And I think that's kind of like where I said the biomechanics is kind of that next step. You've had all this statcast data, you see what the ball does, now as a pitcher or a hitter, what are your actual mechanics in game that's producing that result?” 14:19 “I think as schools and teams and people start to add performance science, I think getting that key leader in place first, having a true director of sports science, is going to kind of build the culture up.” 23:25

Christina Rasnake, Director of Sport Science and Analytics at the University of Delaware, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the budding future of sport science in college athletics. Topics under discussion include the staffing of sport science initiatives, effective communication across departments, and how technology and wellness surveys can support actionable change in the coaching process.  Find Christina on Twitter: @Coach_Raz26 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“I think having an understanding of different ways to measure power, power output through just jump mat, for instance, or a Vertec utilizing the metrics that you're collecting to use equations to give you power in watts is really easy to do. Most universities, D1 to D3 to NAIA to JUCO, they're going to have something there that you can measure jump height, even if it's a wall and a tape measure. You can make that work.” 8:30 “If I get a red flag from a student athlete and let's say their sleep is poor and their muscle soreness is really high, we can ask our athletic trainers to provide self-care information for the athlete on what they should be doing to help with their nicks and bruises.” 13:21 “I'm going to have about nine sport management majors that are going to assist me with the administration of our performance technology, assisting the strength and conditioning coaches and athletic trainers with providing self-care, as well, to our students, and to help me with dashboards. And yet again, I'm looking at it as an opportunity to help educate and build the field, grow the field, because it is young.” 15:00 “So a lot of what I took from it was understanding how to communicate to different people and different personalities. If I spoke to everybody on staff the same way, not everybody is going to hear me correctly or understand or take it the same way. So it really taught me to get to know the people around me.” 18:20

Joe Denk, Applied Sport Scientist and Strength and Conditioning Coach for Naval Special Warfare, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about immediate and actionable sports science data for tactical athletes. Topics under discussion include the dynamic of working with tactical athletes, how resiliency and recovery are connected, and how technology has enabled coaches the ability to implement training programs effectively from a distance. Find Joe via Email: denkjc@gmail.com| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And I wanted to find a way to manage our measures, so to speak, to make data actionable in real-time. So the guys I'm coaching, how can I use the information and the analytics we're collecting to immediately help them and help me make better decisions as a coach.” 3:39 “So I came up with a system that allows us to combine some wellness data with some physiological readiness data to merge it together and to come up with the thresholds that we could deliver through an athlete management system so that they could actually get the recommendation in real-time on their application on their phone.” 4:07 “You don't have to generally tell these guys to work harder. You're often acting as a governor trying to help them preserve as much of that resiliency. Because our goal in tactical strength and conditioning is long term sustainment.” 8:38 “For us, we might be trying to get somebody to sustain high performance for 10, 15, 20, 25 years. And that's way different than what I think a lot of traditional team sport coaches are dealing with.” 8:59 “Still do something, still train, still have a meaningful training session where we can accomplish something and get the right stimulus we're looking for, but train appropriately.” 16:55 “. The end user themselves, the military member, needs to be able to have some ownership of his data so that he can make better behavioral changes. If we can show guys their own information, show guys their own data, I'm a firm believer guys will make better decisions. They'll drink less, they'll sleep more, they'll prioritize recovery to your point, or because they want to see better data trends. They're very excited about looking at their own information and their own analytics so we can create awareness around that.” 20:49

Dr. Allison Randall, Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vanderbilt University Women’s Basketball Program, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about how her path to the 2012 London Olympic Games as an athlete led her to pursue the strength and conditioning profession. Topics include the use of appropriate cueing strategies to optimize work with young athletes, differences with team versus individual sports, and the importance of education for coaches. Find Dr. Randall on Twitter: @AllisonVRandall or Instagram: @allisonvrandall | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“When it comes to my research in instructional design, it basically went over the teaching pedagogy or teaching practices and methods surrounding coaching. So what can I do as an instructor to facilitate the learning process for my learners or my students or my athletes in a more efficient way?” 9:00 “So for me, I felt like it was important because, not only did I want to be a better coach, but I wanted to learn how to teach better.” 9:41 “I think coaching cues are important. What you say is important, how you say it, how often you say it, what's the timing of it. Am I going to say it on every single rep or I'm going to say it every other rep or every three reps?” 14:08 “So I think in the next five, 10, we're not just looking at strength conditioning coaches. We're looking at performance coaches that have degrees, that have strength conditioning, that have nutrition, that have sports science background, that have some level of-- could be counseling or some sport, like mental counseling or performance counseling, in my opinion, because I think we're trying to make sure we stay relevant to the times. And all those things are relevant and they're going to continue to be relevant moving forward.” 26:08

Mike Minnis, Director of Performance Nutrition and Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Philadelphia Eagles National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, and guest co-host Jon Jost, a 27-year veteran collegiate strength and conditioning coach and Gatorade’s Team Sports Manager. This Gatorade Performance Partner Special Episode, highlights “The Power of Mentorship” and the importance of building quality relationships as the foundation of meaningful mentor and mentee experiences.  Find Mike on LinkedIn: Mike Minnis, Twitter: @MMinnis89, or Instagram: @MMinnis89 |Find Jon via email: jonathan.jost@pepsico.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“What is a mentor? What does that mean? And what does it mean to be a mentor? And I really think it's somebody that you can trust. I think that's important. I think it's somebody where there's mutual respect. And then I think someone that can provide you a vision.” 6:46 “And so when I look back at that, I think that’s such a beautiful thing because I think there’s got to be a level of comfort within yourself and within your role and your position before you can start mentoring people. Being a mentor isn’t just telling people what to do and having people work on XYZ projects and things like that. There’s a lot more to it.” 13:41 “But I would say probably to me, one of the biggest things is just to enter into the relationship or to approach the individual with the attitude of, what can I do for you? How can I help you? How can I assist? And that goes a long way, to approach a mentor or a coach with, hey, is there anything I can do for you? What ends up happening is you get an awful lot in return.” 24:12 “And I think it’s our job to give feed back. And it has to be honest feedback. And it has to be transparent. And just transparent communication all the time.” 29:17 “They’re a sponge. And they are learning all the time. And they’re looking at you as a professional and how you conduct yourself, whether that is showing up on time and being punctual or showing poise under pressure, being able to adapt to change. And I think also how you treat others. Treating others fairly. Treating others with respect, with compassion.” 31:20

Carmen Colomer, Director of Sport Science for the Philadelphia 76ers National Basketball Association (NBA) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about translating numbers into actions. Topics under discussion include periodizing athlete’s recovery in the NBA and how learning to code can help with data analysis and application. Find Carmen on Twitter: @CarmenColomer1 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“So I collect a lot of the data. I analyze it and then interpret it. So there's always the terms of inferences, like am I appropriately analyzing the data instead of understanding if there has been a meaningful change there as well? So I think that's where sports science comes in. Rather than just looking at, say, a percentage change, we can actually look at a few more high level statistics and understand when a change has occurred.” 5:20 “I think broadly speaking, with my role, it's translating the numbers into the actions. So it's sort of asking yourself, OK, well, what can this coach do with this information? So I think how you can get certain messages across probably becomes one of the most important parts of the job.” 7:27 “I think the last point is that in most sports or most of the literature you'd hear them talking about having 72 hours to recover post games, but unfortunately, we don't have that luxury. So I think we just sort of capitalize on, I guess, finely tuning things. If there's any low-hanging fruit, that's where we migrate towards first.” 12:00 “And there's no point of doing that and just collecting data for the sake of collecting data. And I think, in any organization, when you first come in, you need to be careful that you're not just trying 100 things at once. It's typically an iterative process. Implement one thing and maybe fine tune that for a little while before implementing more.” 20:27 “I don't think anyone in sports science is ever right. I think you just become less wrong.” 22:42

Thadeus Jackson, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Green Bay Packers National Football League (NFL) team, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about the importance of a support system in your career. Topics under discussion include the dynamics of working with professional athletes and how strategic data collection can make your organization better. Find Thadeus on LinkedIn: Thadeus Jackson | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“If you're going through things, call us. Ask him what do you recommend if you got a situation or problem going on. If you were trying to do some things different, what is your philosophy and your beliefs on that. So I think that, overall, everybody can help everybody in this business. And it can just only make things better. Like I said, develop those relationships, make things better, and just keep expanding.” 9:28 “So have some good foundational principles from a training perspective and from just more administrative perspective That you hold your hat on. And keep in mind those things may change. You may get a different job. You may go down a different avenue. Those things may change some time.” 11:44 “You got to have balance in life. You can't be all work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And you got to get yourself time, some rest time, recovery. We tell the players that. We all know that. You gotta get some adequate rest, recharge, and recovery. So I think that goes with the profession as well.” 15:43

Dr. Lorena Torres Ronda, co-editor of the new NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science textbook, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about creating the textbook and how the Certified Performance and Sport Scientist® (CPSS®) certification will benefit the field. Topics under discussion include the use of technology in sport and the specific role that strength coaches play in supporting better performance and recovery decisions. Find Dr. Lorena Torres Ronda on Twitter: @lorenatorres07 | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“And I always explain innovation like technology are very related and linked. But technology is only a form of innovation. So the fact that you are using technology doesn't mean that you are doing innovating. Because it's more about how you use information and how you want to analyze information.” 11:56 “…learning is what matters, and knowledge, getting knowledge is what matters. Technology is the accelerator to that knowledge, or helping in that journey.” 12:35 “So I don't think we should drive programs, putting the emphasis, or the focus point in technology. But how we use technology in our favor to get knowledge and keep learning. That is what I try to explain when I talk about technology innovation and sport science.” 12:44 “I still amazes me how some devices are big, heavy, I wouldn't like to use it. So why we're pushing the players to do things? We should be pushing the companies to listen to us and do things more user friendly. So a lot of transparency, a lot of empathy with the athlete, a lot of education with the athlete, this can help you in this, this, and this way.” 17:40

Dr. Josh Secomb, lecturer in exercise and sport science (strength and conditioning) at the University of Newcastle, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about being a self-aware and authentic coach. Topics under discussion include finding new areas to employ different skillsets as practitioners, the value of training progressions and understanding your athletes, and his unique opportunity to research and coach surfers. Find Dr. Secomb on Twitter: @37Seco | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“We want them to be doing it in 12, 15 years time. And still doing what they need to do, making those gains along the way. And still finding it enjoyable. Then I can't hammer them too early.” 00:05 “So because essentially in surfing, the more water you displace-- the harder you push on the bottom of the board, the more water that is displaced. The judges determine that is how much power there is behind the maneuvers.” 18:03 “We know from all of our GPS, time-motion research that pretty much no matter what type of wave it is where you are in the world, so whether it's Europe, Hawaii, Australia, pretty much 50% of the time that you're in the water surfing, it's paddling. So, again, we know from that 20 to 30 hours. So it's 10 to 15 hours a week just of paddling. Again, there's a lot of issues around-- also just wear and tear and sort of fatigue around the rotator cuff.” 22:59 “I can be too talkative. So I said, I need to be aware that particularly when giving feedback, giving cues. Because whilst I try to practice and make sure that I keep my cues as minimal as possible not to confuse them.” 42:37

Ali Kershner, Director of Creative Strategy for Art of Coaching, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about overcoming adversity on the road to win the 2021 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Women’s Basketball Championship at Stanford University. Topics under discussion include the inequalities found at the NCAA tournament, being true to yourself as a coach, and working outside of the weight room to help strengthen coach-athlete relationships. Find Ali on Instagram: @kershner.ali or Twitter: @alikershner | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscsShow Notes“But our head coach Tara VanDerveer, she has a good saying, which I now completely buy into, which is to be at the elite level and to win a national championship, what she's now done quite a few times, so I feel like she has some ability to say this, you need to be good, you need to be healthy, and you need to be really lucky.” 5:07 “I'm definitely more of a observer, I am more of a like, let's talk to the athlete at an individual level, try to figure out what they need, where they want to go, and then try to problem solve from there.” 19:12 “It was just like, had I not given them choice, had I not empowered them on the front end to have some autonomy and have some leeway, I personally would have really had a hard time dealing with this year and all of the nuance and gray area and change that occurred.” 24:53 “…it's truly all of the periphery, it's the interpersonal, it's the communication, it's knowing how to negotiate, it's knowing how to build your resume. And all of these things we don't learn until we need them. We learn them in almost like it's not a proactive approach, it's a reactive approach.” 35:52 “Coaching is storytelling. It's relating to somebody else and putting a message in terms they'll understand.” 33:45