Colorado Springs, CO – The National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) is proud to announce that Coach Joel Raether has been selected as the NSCA’s Professional Strength and Conditioning Coach of the Year for 2020. Coach Raether becomes the sixth recipient of the award, which has been handed out since 2014. Award winners are selected by a volunteer committee, the NSCA’s Coaching Task Force, who determine the winner based on their contributions to the NSCA, their community, and the coaching profession.

Hunter Schurrer, Contracted Human Performance Specialist for Fort Lewis Washington 1st Special Forces Group talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about Coach Schurrer’s experience working with collegiate athletes, his mentors at the beginning of his S&C career, and his transition from D1 athletics to Tactical Strength and Conditioning. Topics under discussion include coaching colligate athletes, transitioning to the tactical setting, and training special forces groups.

Darcie Burde, Assistant Director for Fitness at University of Florida, demonstrates how to translate movement assessments into training clients from all walks of life.

Learn about the 10 pillars of successful long-term athletic development, summarizing the key recommendations detailed within the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s (NSCA) Position Statement on Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD).

The power position is an integral position for a variety of power lifting movements. Athletes can develop their power position via an integrated approach involving sound exercise selection and purposeful instruction leading to enhanced strength and technique.

This consensus statement provides specific conditioning recommendations with the intent of ending conditioning-related morbidity and deaths of collegiate athletes.

Matthew Van Dyke, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach at the University of Denver, talks to the NSCA Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Scott Caulfield, about professional development, working as part of a comprehensive sports performance team, and developing additional knowledge in the field.

Dr. Bryan Mann, from the University of Missouri, discusses the efficacy of using the 225-lb bench press test for measuring maximal strength.

Part 2 of this article series explores the possible benefits of mindful meditation for coach development as well as how it can improve reflective practice and the coach-athlete relationship.

There are numerous complexities involved in teaching the Olympic-style lifts. This article explains one way to teach the power clean progression and some coaching cues that can be used to teach sport or tactical athletes in a group setting.