The idea of educating athletes is at the heart of Slowtwitch and there is perhaps no better way to advance that mission than to work with coaches. The fundamental approach of every Slowtwitch Coaching seminar is: more practical – less PowerPoint. Coaches will leave presentations early and often and move out to the pool deck, on their bikes, and on their feet.
The plan is to take good coaches and make them great by equipping them with the drills, exercises, lesson plans and workouts.
We'll kick off this endeavor with a unique opportunity for coaches. It's the chance to learn from some of the best minds on the subject of cycling with power, combined with access to North America’s largest bicycle industry trade show, Interbike. This initial Slowtwitch Coaching Seminar will take place in Las Vegas on September 16 & 17. Lectures will cover all existing cycling related power devices, the basics of training with power, establishing power training zones, power file analysis, and more. The seminar schedule will combine both in-room presentations on all things power and presentations from the top powermeter manufacturers in their booths on the floor of Interbike.
Look for more announcements soon about Slowtwitch Coaching’s swim seminar, bike skills, run and more. Register for the Slowtwitch Cycling Power Coaching Certification.
On a personal note, and because there are a number of coaching schools and certifications now to choose from, why another one from Slowtwitch?
1. A coach whom I work with and admire greatly, Ian Murray, and a key person who has keen experience in putting coaching platforms together, Loryn Cozzi, came to me with a concept.
2. They felt strongly, as I did, that an emphasis on practical skills is missing from coaching programs, that is, many can teach you what HR zone your client should be in when he crashes on his bike going around a corner; we would like to teach you how to teach your client not to crash going around the corner.
3. We (Slowtwitch) already have a history of successfully teaching professionals how to best service triathletes (Slowtwitch built and offers the bicycle fit system—F.I.S.T.—that is the basic template for most other dynamic systems). Indeed, a lot of people have asked me over the years why we didn't offer coaching certification, and my reply has always been because I don't know what we could offer new and novel. Ian and Loryn presented an idea to me that was new and novel.
4. Ian and Loryn felt as I did on instructors: They must be the best in both knowledge and in the skill to translate that knowledge.
5. I said you bet, let’s do it.
We aren't interested in competing with USAT, Ironman, or any other school. We'll host a school that issues "merit badges" for successfully learning very specified skills in an applied setting. We would rather not teach a comprehensive seminar on coaching, as others fulfill that mission.
Well keep to specific, practical, technical skills and knowledge that we feel has been underserved.
