Austin Sutter

Responsibilities

Set up weight room and field daily, then clean up and organize after lift groups were finished. Help set up Catapult devices, placing in each players locker before practice. I would coach during pre-activity preparation and throughout lift/field work, helping out coaches throughout the lift. Most times I would coach injured players through different exercises, since they cannot participate in the big lift groups. Body tempering when needed, helping players stretch before and or after practice. Conduct testing with NordBord, where players pull hard on their hamstrings as they lower toward the floor. Force Plate testing as well, where players put their hands on their hips, and jump as high as possible.

Accomplishments

My greatest accomplishment is gaining a coaching voice throughout this experience. It may be hard at first to find your footing, but working at it each day makes it easier. Getting to know players and understanding the lifts makes it much easier to understand. Once I understood everything that we were doing, coaching and changing equipment throughout the lift became much easier for me. This experience gave me a better understanding of what it takes to be successful in this business.

Learning experience

The greatest lessons I learned is the importance of the programming itself. Learning how to structure lifts throughout a mesocycle, and every microcycle inside of it as well. Learning how to set reps and sets, percentages of 1RM for certain players, understanding that not every player has the exact same strength. It was a great lesson for me to practice how to program using max effort, repeat effort, and dynamic effort. It opened my eyes on how football players need to train, and how this training translates to the practice field, and games as well.

What advice would you give?

Advice I would give future students is to make decisions at a million miles an hour. Always have your head on a swivel, and be ready to make decisions quickly. It is a good impression if a coach asks you to do something, you do it as quickly and effectively as possible. Also, know when to ask certain questions. Before a lift and after a lift is when I found to be the best time to ask questions. Get a good understanding of what the day is going to look like, and be ready to attack it head on. But do not be afraid to ask questions. These coaches are here for you, and want to see you succeed.