Like any training modality, the two paths of training and teaching are necessary to fully exploit the benefits of plyometrics. With so many different exercises and development levels to work with, sometimes plyometric training is dumbed down to make this easier to administer, which is boring the advanced athletes. On the other hand, workouts that are too advanced can injure athletes and discourage them from doing plyometrics in the long run. 

I have revised what I do from learning from other coaches, but sometimes you have to look at your program and simply judge what can be done better.

Here are six lessons I have learned the hard way, and some I have learned from just knowing which coaches provide the best advice.

But First...Before You Start Adding Plyometrics...

As a coach, you probably spend an awful lot of time and effort tinkering with the details of each workout. Whether it’s tweaking sets and reps, figuring out optimal lift percentages, or messing with rest periods, there are an almost infinite number of ways to alter, and hopefully improve, the quality and impact of each session.

One of the great things about being a coach is the ability to impact the lives of your athletes and clients. After the initial meet and greet with a new athlete, you are often bombarded with questions like:

• How does your system work?
• Is it OK for beginners?
• What are some things a beginner needs to do to get started?

I had never been a huge fan of accommodating resistance, but after a month of testing athletes who performed a full cycle of chain and band work, I am a believer. To me, accommodating resistance was useful for advanced athletes, but now that I have seen it used at the high school and college levels over the last two years, I recommend it for developmental athletes as well.

In this article I want to offer coaches and athletes a comprehensive approach to addressing some of the most common issues seen with developing weightlifters, CrossFit members/athletes, and general fitness and sports enthusiasts.

As strength and conditioning coaches, we all need programming strategies that deliver both safety and predictable results in the most efficient manner possible.

“Anything works” when you are dealing with novice athletes.

You can do 5-3-1, Starting Strength, 1x20, Triphasic, Husker Power, APRE, and the list goes on. There are also plenty of vertical jump programs and 40-yard dash workouts that will deliver good results for those who haven’t done much serious training.

When it comes to injury prediction and prevention, there is no magic bullet (despite the almost universal acceptance of heart rate variability or HRV monitoring as the oracle for athlete recovery, readiness, and preparedness).

Despite the adoption of such monitoring, players are still getting injured. Every game, every practice session, it seems like you hear of an athlete who’s down for the count and ruled out of an upcoming match...or longer.

The simple yet inconvenient truth is we’re never going to be able to accurately predict all injuries, much less prevent them.

But over the course of working with a range of athletes, I have a few simple guidelines for physical preparation that are important to help reduce injury rates. These tips don’t just apply to rugby, but to players of any sport and at any level.

Online coaching and programming has done wonders for coaches around the globe looking to maximize income streams. The draw to online programming for the masses is that it allows you to reach infinite amounts of paying customers in one shot... and does not affect the amount of time you need to spend when you're coaching 10 athletes or 100 athletes.

This means the more paying athletes you have on your online programming, the more you make per hour and the more freedom you have to do whatever you desire (travel, train, be with family, sleep, eat, etc.).

As high school strength and conditioning coaches, it’s essential for us to make great use of our time. But in a room that may have 8 to 10 young men or women at each work station (50-60 in total) and sessions ranging anywhere from 15 to 70 minutes long, sometimes that’s easier said than done.

To enhance session density and improve session quality in my programming, we use the many tools our room has to offer to keep our students moving. These tools include the more traditional barbells, racks, platforms, dumbbells, kettlebells, bands, PVC pipe, and more.

One of the less "conventional” tools we place a great emphasis on has gotten some recent well-deserved exploration: the landmine.

The ability to manipulate and master movements in all planes of movement makes the landmine perhaps the most efficient tool we have.