Thursday, March 21, 2013

Strength & Conditioning Formal Assessments

Requiring Strength and Conditioning Coaches to submit learning outcomes and an assessment plan to the Athletic Director at the beginning of the season keeps everyone in-check and accountable.  It creates an environment where everyone is concerned with the development of the program and the student-athlete.  Winning takes on a whole new meaning.  Perhaps not only are the coaches concerned with winning games during the competitive season but winning year-round.  Having an assessment plan is like having an athletic development road map.  The program knows where it wants to go and how it will get there while assessing progress along the way.  In the field of Strength & Conditioning, assessment is crucial in getting the athlete where he or she wants to go.

Prior to beginning a Strength & Conditioning program, the athlete is pre-screened for movement deficiencies and overall health.  From these results, the Strength & Conditioning coach is able to place the athlete into their own correctional program.  The athlete is then able to improve weak areas and allowed to re-test later in the year to see these improvements.  This information provides the Athletic Director with a progress report that directly reflects the work of the Strength & Conditioning Coach.         

3 comments:

  1. I didn’t realize that each athlete was first evaluated and then created a strength program from there. That is a great way to make sure that athletes can make the most progress with limited injuries. It makes sense to have an individualized plan for each athlete this is created by the strength and conditioning coach. This allows the coach, coach’s staff, and athletic director a way to evaluate and assess the progress, strengths, and weaknesses with your student athletes. I like the comment you made about winning becoming a focus year round and not just during the season. After all, winning is the silver lining!

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  2. I like how Tarleton and many other colleges/schools use assessments with their strength and conditioning programs. Not only is it important to document the athlete's progress throughout the program, but it is also very crucial to make sure that they are maintaining healthy lifestyles while reaching their goals set for them. I believe SLO's and assessment in Strength & COnditioning programs could be the most important assessment to any athletic program.

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  3. From a strength and conditioning coaches point of view this makes total sense it benefits everyone involved from beginning to end. The mobility screenings might be one of the best ideas coaches ever had they let us know where the athlete is deficient in certain movements. The pre-screenings allow us to advance athletes when they are sufficient at performing movements correctly. As for learning outcomes and assessment plans’ being submitted to AD’s and head coaches Charles is spot on again, being able to show someone on paper your plan for their athletes for the year will help them to understand what you are doing. Being able tell a coach that their athletes have gotten stronger and are able to jump higher is very good but they may not always take your word for it, putting those facts onto paper and showing them the steps you took to get their athletes to that ending point will just make the job of a strength and conditioning coach that much easier.

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