“This is my in-season program. Could you carry it with you and give it to me when I need it? My trainer wants me to do it this year.”
I paused and said “I don't know you and you don't know me, but the answer is NO. We will have a strength and conditioning program in place here and that is what we are going to do” (Internally, I was thinking of other options he could do with that 3 ring binder).
My first impression of this interaction was man, what did I get myself into.
In the professional sport environment, players are used to people saying yes to everything that they ask for. It doesn't matter if they want sock tape or if they want to do what THEY think is best for them in the gym. They are conditioned to get their own way from support staff members.
I came from a collegiate hockey team background. In that situation, I had the opportunity to operate a strength and conditioning program the exact way I wanted it to go. The entire team trained together year-round. We had team lifting sessions at specific times on certain days. We also had team stretching/warm up sessions prior to practices and games and team cool down sessions after practices and games. Players were rarely late for workouts (if they were, there was an appointment with an airdyne bike or the step mill- the old school one with the revolving steps) and they did exactly what I asked and coached them to do. The head hockey coach valued what I did and supported the program 100%. For me, this is how I believed team strength and conditioning should be.
When I began my first job in professional hockey, I took that same belief system with me.
I wanted to bring those same concepts and apply them to the professional environment. I believe that good players embrace a structured environment where they want someone guiding them in the right direction to help them and ultimately the team play better. The reality is, this approach doesn't always work in the professional environment without some give and take. In my opinion, today's professional athletes want to have some say in what is going on- especially when it comes to their own bodies. The key is to allow them to have some say as long what they want fits the philosophy of your program.
When I first arrived to the training facility, there were machines all over the place. We had a leg press, leg extension, leg curl, multi hip, seated row, lat pulldown, calf machine, and a squat rack. At the time, we were lucky to have a total revamp of our training facility. We were now going to have 4 power racks with dumbbells, a cable column, and stability balls (which were cool at the time). I was pretty pumped to have a weight room that could accommodate the whole team at once.
What I didn't realize at the time was that all of the equipment in the room before was for our team captain- Paul Kariya. He was one of the only players who embraced strength training during the season. After the weight room revamp, it didn't take long for me to hear from other staff members that I had better put the machines back before Paul found out because he was going to be pissed off at me.
It was probably the most nervous I have ever been when I met with Paul for lunch. All I kept hearing about was how serious he was. He was all business and had a strict routine which included strength training on the machines. When I met with him, he made me feel at complete ease. He wanted what was best for the team. We discussed the revamp of the weight room and how the new set up was going to help him. He learned about the value of exercises such as squats, split squats, 1-leg squats, chin ups/pull ups, and straight-leg deadlifts (please remember that this was 2002). He embraced change and bought in 100%. We were training movement patterns- not muscle groups. He was awesome and I really enjoyed the only season that I worked with him. Unfortunately, it ended on the losing end of game 7 of the Stanley cup final. Paul was recently inducted in to the NHL Hall of Fame and is a strength and conditioning coach's ideal athlete.
A few years later, we acquired on of the best defensemen ever to play the game. He also brought in a program that was written by another coach. (The coach who wrote the program is one of my good friends in the profession today). I simply told asked him to try what we were doing and if he didn't like it, he could continue his other workouts. After that day, he said he wanted to do what we did. Ten months later we were celebrating a Stanley cup championship and he is also in the Hall of Fame. He bought in.
I tell these stories to not boast about working with Hall of Fame players. It isn't about me. It's about getting players to do what you want them to do and what you believe in. The good ones will never be a problem and most of the time will appreciate what you do for them. These players were great players and teammates who embraced change.
Nowadays, players in the professional ranks depart the city that they play in right after the season ends. They go back to their off-season homes to get away. Today's pro hockey rosters consist of players from all over the world. Canada, United States, Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Germany, and other countries have players in the professional ranks.
At the end of the season, each player is given a strength and conditioning program to follow over the off-season. Included in their program is a list of tests that they will do when they report to training camp next year. The reality is that when they head home, one of the first people that they contact is their off-season trainer/strength and conditioning coach.
When I was younger, I looked at the fact that they would disregard the program I wrote more negatively. I spent hours putting those programs together and believed that I gave them the best program that they could possibly do. It has taken me a few years to realize that when they aren't with me, I would rather them training with someone else who they feel comfortable with versus being by themselves with a strength and conditioning program on paper. When I learn that they are working with someone who I know personally-even better.
I know that those trainers are going to respectfully look at our program, look at what we are doing for testing, and help that player do well at the next training camp. The trainers who disregard our program, or don't return a phone call from me- I don't have time for. These are the same people who try to take credit for an athletes' success while working with an athlete for 6-10 weeks maximum. The reality is that most players want to perform well at pre-season testing. They don't want to perform poorly in front of their peers and make a bad impression on the organization.
Being the in-season Strength and Conditioning coach is the role that I have embraced. Most of these guys aren't seen from the last day of the season until a few days prior to the start of the next season. I have come to realize it's out of my control and there is nothing I can do about it. The NHL players don't have to participate in team organized activities during the off-season.
Although, I do coach a few NHL players at different times during the off-season, I know that I can and will make the biggest impact during the season. With the fact that the season starts in September and could hopefully go until June, I am ok with that. This is the time to get the players on board with your program. It is the time to get them to do things that they don't necessarily want to do when in your gut you know they have to do it. To me, the strength and conditioning coach's job is to get them to do it and then want to do it. Good players want to embrace the grind of doing the little monotonous things over and over again to help them be successful.
Sean Skahan is the Strength & Conditioning Coach for the Minnesota Wild