Great coaching involves…
Monitoring progress, managing stress and ensuring safety/effectiveness.
We will discuss…
1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
2. Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
3. Rating of Technique (RT)
Key Performance Indicators are the main objective measurements that we are using to track progress towards a specific goal.
Example Athlete 1: Hitting exit velocity, for an underweight narrow slender baseball hitter who needs to improve his hitting power, he demonstrates a limitation in force production during middle propulsion.
Example Athlete 2: Improving relative proximal elbow internal rotation for a baseball pitcher with complaints of medial elbow pain, he has good throwing velocity and poor command.
Training processes for the example athletes above will differ to achieve the intended outcome. Testing for each examples involve different types, and frequencies of testing.
Embedded Testing
Throughout a training plan it's important to have strategies to ensure we are on track to improve. These strategies involve making daily decisions, as well as objectively measuring short term progress.
Embedded Testing For Example Athlete 1: Body weight every two weeks, did he increase his body weight? 5 repetition maximum squat, broad jump distance, dumbbell bench press 5 repetition maximum, medicine ball throwing velocity.
Embedded Testing For Example Athlete 2: Relative motions during table test measures, ability to capture ground contacts during exercises, ability to load pain free.
It's important to understand the many variables involved in short term progress. Rest, nutrition, social support, etc. With that being said, as a coach it is crucial to seek to identify what might be interfering with progress. Eliminating the interference is the number one priority. This could be the diet for athlete 1, and doing too much throwing for athlete 2. Once the interference is eliminated, then we can decide if we are doing enough of the exercise prescription. Sometimes we are doing everything right, but the athlete just needs to do more of it.
Embedded testing during each training day involves using both RPE, and RT.
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
Intensity of an exercise will have a direct impact on effectiveness. Most commonly intensity is prescribed as a percentage of a one rep maximum which is an attempt to objectify intensity. The problem is, the one rep maximum may not be the same based on readiness and fatigue, and sometimes it's not only about the load, based on the intended outcome.
Using RPE is a subjective intensity scale. There are two ways to best use RPE.
1. 1-10 scale, how hard is an exercise? 1 being the easiest, 10 being the hardest.
2. Reps in reserve, how many reps are left until failure?
Exercise execution will determine whether or not we are achieving the intended outcome. For example, on a positional breathing drill we want as little effort as possible, while on an exercise geared toward compression and force production, we want a high amount of effort and stress.
RPE For Example Athlete 1: Athlete perceives SSB Box Squat as a 8/10 difficulty. The coach wants the athlete to have enough load on the bar to improve force production, the program is prescribing 2 reps in reserve.
RPE For Example Athlete 2: Athlete perceives his positional breathing activity as easy, but hard to get a full breath. Coach tells the client to melt into the ground and let go of tension. The goal of the activity is to improve relative motions, so we don’t want superficial muscle activity. This activity should involve effortless breathing to drive relative motions.
Rating of Technique (RT)
Keep the goal the goal.
Understanding the sport demands and individual needs help us determine the intended outcome of each exercise. The technique used during each exercise must be specific to ensure safety and effectiveness.
Rating of Technique Example Athlete 1: While performing the SSB Box Squat, the athlete’s hips shoot up when coming off of the box and the knees cave in. Because the goal is to improve in hitting, we know we don’t want this to become our force production strategy. As a result, we decide to decrease the load.
Rating of Technique Example Athlete 2: While performing the breathing activity, we see a massive anterior orientation, (an undesired forward posture, that is unbalanced). As a result we decide to change the activity, we make it easier so we can use a better position with better breathing.
So when we are prescribing training intensity for athletes, it's important to keep the goal in mind. Combining RPE & RT will help us improve in our KPIs.