If this was a multiple choice quiz, most persons would go with the choice that says “Both” because it seems like the most sensible answer. But in real terms and working with real people, the seemingly simple answer of developing both strengths and weaknesses may prove to be a huge task that will require a lot of time and patience for both athlete and coach. Time might not be something that the coach may have a lot of, as it will depend on what the weaknesses are and when in the season they were identified. The overall performance of an athlete or player reflects a combination of their strength
s and weaknesses; that which they are good at and that which they are not so good at. The level of experience of the athlete, as well as their Training Age, how long they have been doing the sport, will make the strategy interesting. Do you make them better by developing their strengths versus going after the weaknesses head on?
A proper assessment of the athlete will require some expertise and experience. The coach may have to draw on external experience to guide this aspect. It will be important to assess the improvement that is possible in the performance if the particular strength improves or the particular weakness. This will help to eliminate the time you spend improving something that does not result in any significant improvement in the overall performance. For example, trying to increase the athlete’s Squat max from 500 to 600 lbs. How will the increase strength add to the performance especially if Flexibility or some other component is decreased? Balancing the development is critical.
One would expect that an athlete with a low training age would have more weaknesses than strengths. Let’s not talk about that one exceptional athlete who is a natural talent and therefore does not fit that mold. In addition, some athletes with a low training age may also be coming from another sport where a different set of fitness components were being developed. For this type of athlete doing a profile of their strengths and weaknesses should be the first move, and the coach will yield some good results in the initial stage. The caution for the coach and athlete would be…”don’t rush”. Sip a bit of patience as you journey each day.
It is important to note as well, that the strategy should be to start with the simple activities before you get into the complex ones. What is simple versus what is complex can be athlete specific and should be monitored with both eyes wide open. Mastering the simple can never be a waste of time and the coach should resist the temptation of moving too soon to the next 
step. Paying attention to the order in which activities are done is often time more important that the activities themselves. Teaching the player/ athlete how to give feedback will help to fast track how well they adapt and what changes are necessary to continue the improvement. All parties should be listening. The athlete should be listening to their body. The coach should be listening to the athlete and the athlete should be listening to the coach. Getting those things right will allow for everyone to sleep peacefully at nights. 🙂
As the athlete gets better their weaknesses will change and therefore the activities and the focus should change as well. So many times I hear athletes talk about a problem that they have been having for years and what they have done to address it. I have seen cases where the issue they speak of is no longer their main problem but mentally they are still zoned in on it as their problem. Usually this happens in the absence of objective assessments of the things that can be measured, as is available at Technique Lab, the results of which would have indicated the improvements and what their “new” problem/weakness really is.
Am I suggesting that an athlete can always improve in their performance? Certainly not, but there is almost always room for improvement in performance especially if the performance is considered in the context of age. The reality is that there is a certain age at which peak performance occurs, beyond which the best one can hope for is maintaining but not improving on that performance. Being able to maintain while others are falling off is desirable, achievable and commendable.
The key things are to lay out all the options, measure those things that can be measured and set out a realistic plan to improve the athlete’s performance. If time permits, experiment a bit without flipping coins, and be sure to individualize the plan.
If you need more information and some expert guidance on this and all other fitness and performance factors, then feel free to contact us at performance@techniquelab.com.
Be safe and healthy.
David Riley
Performance Coach
World Athletics Level 3 Academy Coach
I can definitely see that being true when it comes to the Individuals improvement years ago. I had a young man in the past that could squat 500lbs in the squat. However, he was very tight and lacked very basic mobility through this hips. I took him out the weight room one day and we only worked on range of motion and flexibility. He went from 10.7 to 10.4
The earlier a coach learn these lessons the better their athletes will be. Thanks for sharing.
As a former athlete who sustained repetitive and chronic injuries over the course of my career I was urged to focus on improving my weaknesses, that imbalance between stronger muscles and weaker muscles was a major contributor to the circumstances that caused my injuries. Now I’m wondering if I had focused on my strengths things would’ve been different. An Interesting discourse on a very crucial question!
Makes me wonder too. Some will say that a chain is as strong as its weakest link and therefore we should always address the weaknesses. Weaknesses aren’t always physical, and physical weaknesses may not be musculoskeletal either. This is why the assessment is so important and trusting the naked eye can be as dangerous as ignoring it all together.
Great topic and thought provoking article. Definitely worth a follow up with how programming, cueing, focus, changes for a 28 year old double Olympic medalist for example.
I’ll refer to Dan on the weaknesses or strengths. Something along the lines of “we want to keep our strengths as great as possible and slowly fill the gaps. Focusing on weaknesses makes everything average.” Or something to that effect.
Dan also mentioned one time to clearly define the problem weakness wise. E.g same problem outcome but is the issue force production or movement expression?
For me personally I have an very balanced program across the board so athletes are not hammered by any particular component but continue to grow as well rounded coordinated healthy athletes.
I think too much focus on any aspect can be troublesome, decreased learning, injury, not being CNS or physiologically ready etc. especially college they are still developing as athletes. I have not had the fortune yet of having one athlete for 10 years after college yet either.
Im going to try and incorporate a building analogy as I’ve been adding a bathroom so in that mode.
I think fokes forget about the foundation, brick walls, load bearing walls that have already been built with an experienced athlete. It’s easy to get distracted by the weather vain but that isn’t what made this house great. It is like Boo mentioned while I was at LSU “favourite workout is like which individual brick is his favourite.”
A great point you raised was diminishing returns. If you can squat 200kg is squating 210 a huge difference maker. So weight room
Is somewhere directly where may be big shifts in focus. On track decreased GP time for experienced athlete and decreased volumes and/or increased rest when get toward ceilings of performance, speed, speed endurance, special endurance etc. I always think of Ben Johnson or Donavon Bailey with so little volumes at times and so huge rest intervals within and between workouts as output was so high.
Great topic!
Great insight and your suggestion for the follow up is partially where my mind was.
David,
First of all, thank you for sharing this great piece with me, and more so for reminding me to offer some feedback.
There are many elements to be discussed further on this topic. I agree whole heartedly with all the points you have raised. Going further it may be useful to differentiate between elite and amateur performers, between developing athletes and professional athletes. In addition to the training age that you enunciated I would also explore the relative age effect in relation to this question.
Hope these few, undeveloped points will add to the debate in a meaningful way. Kindly continue to include me in this and other such debates.
Blessed to be a blessing
Great suggestions for the discussion to proceed. Distinguishing between the elites and the developing athletes is important. So many of the developing athletes are being treated as elite seniors much to their detriment. Age appropriate training is also an important requirement and I will address that in a later post.
Good post Riley…
my take is a balanced one..
I think this all depends on the goal for the athlete, the athlete’s perceived ceiling/potential, the knowledge level, support systems and training resources at the disposal of the coach… probably more.
– The goal i believe is of significant importance as it sets the framework for the training regime and determines what are the weaknesses to Develop, the strengths to improve upon, and to what degree..
This also sets a LOT of context for work ethic and is also impacted by culture… For instance… An athlete’s weaknesses at one school chasing the Mortimer Geddes trophy (Champs), will be treated differently from weakness at schools where qualification and participation is the main goal…
-The perceived ceiling/potential of the athlete… This is a tricky one because it takes into account intuition, expertise, and draws from the implicit cognitive faculties of the trainer/coach… I think the article is implying in all positive light that the coach actually has the requisite skills set to determine what a weakness looks like, what to do about it, and why…
What you see when you look at an athlete may be different from what I see, what Loren Seegrave sees, what sir Alex Ferguson sees or what Franno sees…
– Philosophy of the coach/trainer… This may actually be the biggest determining factor that influences what the coach actually chooses to work on.. some are caught up with strengths.. while others are obsessed with developing weaknesses… Much more to be said here.
– Support systems and training resources… You cannot properly improve what you cannot measure… So it is within good reason to take stock of what you have that can be used… If you do not have “supplements” or access to a functional gym then this might actually force your hands as to what you focus on… the constraints may influence the program much more than is recognized.
To be more direct though..
I think the best answer is what WORKS for the athlete… each athlete is aptly unique. And these idiosyncrasies might prove that even significant improvements in some areas (strengths or weaknesses) might be ineffective in performance output for the athlete..
At the end of the day the MAIN GOAL is usually to IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF THE ATHLETE…
So whatever combinations in improvements of weaknesses and strengths deliver the results, is usually what the athlete, coach ( agents & managers) subscribe to…
Even if sometimes it contradicts ones own philosophy
Decent balanced article Riley.
Thought you would have elaborated a bit more on which areas to focus on based on time available. Like strong areas that you can improve closer to competition and weak areas to be left alone until after a major competition provided they are not too detrimental to performance.
Also from a health perspective the need to improve certain weak areas to reduce the risk of injury which may be critical in Some cases.
Interesting article, that requires a part 2 perhaps with a “specific example” or a case study.
I have seen professional athletes get by with glaring weaknesses wrt particular skill sets that they should have. They get by by building on the “strengths” they have
Ultimately it catches up