US National Women's Team Head Coach,
NCAA Champion and 3x All American (Iowa); Distinguished member of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame
and Emma Randall,
US National Women's Team Assistant Coach,
the first woman to earn Gold Level Certification in the USA Wrestling National Coaches Education Program
Terry Steiner: Peaking and Periodization
While many coaches have a deep knowledge of teaching and technique, it can be difficult to develop athletes over multiple seasons in a way that will allow them to meet their goals.
US Women's National Freestyle Coach, Terry Steiner, discusses the methodology that USA Wrestling uses to manage athletes over the course of a 4-year Olympic cycle. In this plan, Steiner talks about training phases and the development of Personal Evaluation Rating Technique charts. This methodology can easily be adapted to a 4-year high school career or a collegiate career.
4-Year Plan
Coach Steiner starts off by emphasizing that you must figure out what you want to accomplish and what you want your wrestlers to look like. Once you know what you want your athletes to look like, start planning on how to get there. He breaks down the four years of an Olympic cycle and how his coaching staff and athletes approach them. Each year has a specific purpose, emphasizing technique, strength and conditioning, competition, travel, and sports psychology.
Managing Volume and Intensity
It's difficult to manage volume and intensity in a way that allows athletes to grow while staying healthy and being fresh for competition. Learn how Steiner and his staff quantify both volume and intensity, and how he evolves these over the course of a competitive season and off-season. He also explains how to use feedback from athletes to re-calibrate intensity ratings, and how to work with specific athletes to come up with a workout plan that will allow them to thrive.
PERT Charts
Athletes develop differently and individual assessment is a piece of the puzzle to look at as they move toward achieving long-term improvement and realizing their full potential. The main methodology used by Coach Steiner to identify his athletes' strengths and weakness is the PERT (Personal Evaluation Rating Technique) chart. PERT charts will drive your curriculum and allow you to know what your wrestlers are learning - and more importantly - NOT learning. These charts will maximize the efficiency of your practices.
Each athlete is rated by both themselves and the coaching staff in a variety of areas. When each attribute is charted, it is easy to see which technical deficiencies the team has, cumulatively, and which areas need additional focus.
Coach Steiner offers a complete methodology for managing the peaks in the development of your team over a multi-year period. This video is great for coaches at the high school level and higher.
Emma Randall: Mental Toughness Training
Teaching a move is easy, but teaching your wrestler to be confident in that move in a competitive setting is a whole other animal. Many athletes are physically the same, so what makes the difference between a champion and an average wrestler? The right mentality and confidence!
Taking care of the athlete's confidence is an ongoing battle. It's give and take with your athletes to get them to open up and make an honest assessment of themselves. US National Women's Team Assistant Coach, Emma Randall, shares relevant sports psychology information and data to help improve all wrestlers and coaches.
Understanding Your Athletes and Preparing Them for Matches
Each of your wrestler's weaknesses will be different, but their mental preparedness may be the most difficult issue to solve. Coach Randall has created a program that helps coaches analyze their wrestlers' confidence levels. She discusses techniques that can be used to help build confidence before stepping out onto the mat. By setting goals and focusing on what they can control, Coach Randall has helped some of the best wrestlers in the country improve their mindsets.
Match Day
How wrestlers react to match situations and officials also impacts their confidence. Coach Randall covers the different aspects wrestlers will face throughout a competition that may decrease their confidence in themselves. She builds an environment of learning at all times and knows how to deal with distractions at the competition location. You'll also learn how to handle outside variables wrestlers can't control, like officials and the crowd.
Coach Randall can help wrestlers and coaches at any level achieve a mental competitive edge!
Produced at the 2016 USA Wrestling Silver Coaches Clinic in Iowa City (IA).
159 minutes (2 DVDs) 2016.