Weight Room Issues

For me the shoes wouldnt matter. As long as they can safely perform all that I want them to do I could care less what shoes they have on.

Now the guys not listening to coaching about lowering the weight is another story. If they can't listen to coaching in the weight room how are they going to do it on the field.

I would work specifically with those "heavy-bad technique" guys. Tell them exactly how much weight to lift on each set. If they get mad and stop coming, then chances are they would've quit on you on friday night anyways.

Coach,
Do you have a program that the kids follow? All our kids get a printout for 3 weeks worth of workouts. Our coaches patrol the weight room. It's pretty easy to tell when someone isn't following their workout. They struggle a ton or are repping weight too easily. We check their card and give them one warning. If they do it a second time they're tossed for the day. If they don't come back they don't come back. If I can't count on a kid to simply read his card and do the right weight amount, he's probably the type of kid who is going to want to do his own thing on Friday night anyway.
And it's funny but we rarely deal with this problem anymore. We set the standard, followed through a few times and the kids accepted it. Same thing with the dress code. If it's something that is that important to you, address it. Shoes don't bother me. But our guys do need to wear grey tops and black shorts to lift. Again, a bit of a struggle at first, but if you stick with it and enforce consequences, they'll get it eventually.

I would worry about it if they can perform the lifts safely. I know where you're coming from with it; I'd be hounding the kids to get athletic shoes. But, it's just a battle that's not worth fighting; it's hard enough to get the kids in the gym.

Simple way to get them to wear athletic shoes is make them do a good conditioning component to the weigh troom, they won't want to be doing agilities and sprints in vans or other non athletic shoes when their feet are hurting. Not trying to sound callous, but sometimes this is the only way.

I don't see a big problem with wearing vans for lifting. Plus there's always some kids who's parents don't want to buy another pair of shoes even if it's only $20. So I wouldn't go there unless whatever is on their feet is a safety risk.

The part of them not listening and doing too much weight with poor technique needs to be addressed. It's doing them no good and if they don't want to listen and don't comeback then you're not losing anything because what they've been doing is worthless anyway. If they continue to not listen to the coaches then theirs a major issue with respect toward the staff.

You've got to work with the kids with the Vans. My biggest thing about that is when they don't have them tied so they're slipping off all of the time. I would much rather have a kid there who could potentially help us in the fall with less than ideal shoes on, than not have him there at all. Just my thought process.

Now the kids doing things there own way in the weight room is completely unacceptable. That needs to stop immediately. I would keep my thumb on these guys as well because we have a program that we do. If they want to get their G.T.L. on then they can find another place to do it. We're not doing bench and curls and that's it. You better get the squats, lunges, straight leg deadlifts, and step-ups in as well.

We are here trying to improve strength, speed, and overall athletic ability, not look good with a shirt off. Now does that happen in the process of what we're doing? Sure. But that's not our focus. If they want to continue to do it their own way then they can find a different place to do it. That simple.

Like other coaches have already stated, if those kids are freelancing in the weight room then they are going to freelance on Friday nights also. We don't need that nor do we want that. Our program slogan is "Count On Me" and we clearly cannot count on these guys. Cut 'em loose. JMHO.

Dont worry about the shoes as long as the are tied up. You will see the same pair of shoes on three different kids in our weight training classes. Alot of kids cant afford good shoes so we have some that just lay around that anyone can use. As some have mentioned the flatter soles may actually be better. You are especially fighting a losing battle if the HC doesnt have a problem with this. Not listening to you is a different story. If they cant follow your instructions they need to leave-NOW before it becomes a cancer. As some mentioned, print out a sheet our give them specific percentages to use and monitor this closely. We call every set in the wt. room. "group 1, 10 reps at 60%, read go!" and follow for each group

Depending on your demographics fighting over vans may not be a fight worth having. I coach in a more hard life district and when you are overbearing like that it tends to put the kids off. Now the same strategy would work well on the other side of town where the kids respond well to more regimented discipline.

That being said. Vans aren't bad lifting shoes. They are flat soled and that is what you want. Maybe some of them noticed that they squat, clean, and pull better in Vans than any other shoe they own. Personally I squat and pull in my socks or in sandals if the gym insists on some kind of shoe. I hate lifting in athletic shoes I feel totally off balance.

With the kids not following directions I would try the following.

1) Do you want to be your best come fall? I want to see you to be your best too. Lets focus on lifting this way, once you mastered it lets max and Ill get your work-out for the next couple of weeks. If kid does it his way: Soft enough to where only he hears it, "I thought you wanted to be the best?" and walk away... Praise when he does it right.

If you have ever watched world class lifters if they aren't wearing custom shoes they are either in barefoot, in wrestling shoes, or boots.

When the powerlifting federations first started requiring shoes the lifters simply used rubber pad with tape wrapped around the foot. I say let them lift in what they are comfortable in.

Good call. We've had kids come to every day of summer weights in jeans and work boots before. We eventually had to find someone with the same sized shoe and a pair of shoes for them to wear b/c I felt so bad that it was hot.

There are so many coaches on here complaining about not being able to get kids to commit to lifting.

Shoes is a secondary at best issue.

Talk to the "Vans" kids 1-on-1 and suggest they get more appropriate weight room attire?

In Summer when we run and then lift it might be a problem. And they would probably deal with it on their own, without us excluding them from lifting now.

Agree with most of the posters on this one... shoes shouldn't be a priority so long as he's in the gym. I understand safety is also a big issue and that would maybe be the only reason I would say something to an athlete. Having said that, I would facilitate getting him a pair instead of putting him in a situation where maybe he has to go home and request a new pair of shoes (we are in an area where we see both low-income houses and middle-upper class)

One thing that we seem to have from year to year is tons of cleats/gym shoes either left or donated to us. We literally have 4 boxes of used cleats/shoes and this is after donating 2 boxes to charity. Every year we have 2-3 guys who dont have a good enough pair of cleats/shoes and we let them pick a pair out at no cost.

We have gone from no off-season work out program 3 years ago to 90% attendance from all non basketball/wrestling players. We tested 16 guys last month (we have about 12-15 guys playing jr and sr basketball and 2 who wrestle - we dont see these guys until their seasons are over). These multi-sport athletes are certainly our most athletic and comparable in commitment to all those who aren't multi-sport. I only mention these numbers because the only way I believe we could have achieved this is by creating a positive environment in that weight room. Changing the culture, expectations - making the kids accountable not necessarily to the coaches but to their peers - the players.... If I was harping on a kids shoes and putting it all on him thats a great reason for him to not show up.

As for not doing proper tech. when lifting thats a whole different story... We try and educate the why, what, when, how of each lift as best we can... I've found supervision is key.. but positive re-inforcement!

I certainly am no expert in this area, I am learning and trying to implement some tweeks to our off-season program (incentives etc) to make it better all the time - these are just observations through my own experiences.

I agree with most on here that the shoes are not a big problem. The students attitudes are what you need to make sure is good. Kids will get better if that is what they want to do. Incentives are sometime a good way to get kids to try harder to improve. I know I didn't need any incentives to try harder or to want to win more but some of these kids that we have do. Just something that you might try.