While attending games at Lipscomb, fans can witness the direct impact of the coaches, as they get timeouts at crucial moments and as they call plays.
What spectators don’t witness is what goes on behind the scenes to get a team ready to succeed.
One crucial element in game prep is the strength and conditioning coaching that is necessary for players to stay in shape and healthy.
“Our main goal and focus is to keep the athletes healthy,” said assistant strength coach Sean Johnson. “We want to make all of the athletes at Lipscomb better at their sport by making them stronger, and keeping conditioning up to par.”
Though strength and conditioning are pivotal during the season, it takes a front-row seat in the athlete’s training during the off-season.
John Hudy, Lipscomb’s head strength coach, said that while some athletes build muscle during the season, most muscle and stamina gains happen when the sport is not in season.
“As soon as the season ends, we start training immediately,” said Hudy. “We can really build strength and stamina during those times not dedicated to games, and build for the upcoming season.”
Most athletes are full-time students, while also having to attend practices daily and games at least weekly, or even more often. In the offseason, though, is when the training broadens.
“Especially in season, players will get turned off to lifting weights, because they believe it’ll make them sore or have ‘heavy legs,’” said Johnson.
“But we let them know that’s not our goal; we know that consistently training with us will help them recover faster and stay healthy.”
While most coaches work consistently with one group of athletes, the strength coaches work with all of the athletes at the university, and the payoff is in witnessing the players’ success.
“For us, it’s to see that progress play out on the court, the course, or the field,” said Hudy.
“And that’s what’s fun, to see them realize all that hard work is paying off.”
Photo courtesy of Lipscomb Athletics