The TCP Podcast

Building off of part 1 (early phase off-season), I talk about how middle stage off-season could look and then finally how late stage can look. There are so many different ways to program and periodize, what I mention in this episode isn't the end all be all. It's just a way to go about things, do your own research and make sure to apply it to your own setting to make sure it works for you.Middle off-season is pretty simple, you want to progress off of the early phase and continue to build the base. I mention a 3-day full body split but like I said it doesn't have to be that, I think that split is good for a lot of athletes and it's worked for me in the past especially for this phase of the off-season. We want to continue progressing things like our plyos, strength work and build movement proficiency.Late off-season will become more specific to the sport, you want to overload specific joint angles and get the athlete prepare for the demands on the sport. This phase or stage will be more power based, contrast training can be utilized, MB work, speed-strength and so on. 

This week's guest is Matt Cooper, Matt is a performance coach out of Los Angeles filling the gap between rehab and strength and conditioning. His training philosophy is unique in that it's not quite your traditional style - he's interested in neurological adaptation, training his athletes to become better movers and integrating health and wellness into his training.Matt is extremely intelligent and I love his approach to the weight room and all things health, he displays his wealth of knowledge in this episode talking about things like proprioception (feeling your joint in space), merging the gap between rehab and performance training, nutrition and why exactly injuries might be on rise.***When we discussed "Game Changers" and teams specifically we referenced a couple teams, but in fact the teams that were discussed and actually brought up in the documentary was the Tennessee TitansMake sure to check out Matt's website, social medias and the article we reference below:IG: https://www.instagram.com/rewirehp/Website: https://www.rewireperformance.com/Article: https://simplifaster.com/articles/proprioception-training-sports-performance/

Kerri is one of the promising up and coming player development coaches in this industry, and specifically on the female side. She's a phenomenal role model for the girls and women she works with (anyone she works with really), she brings her experience as a pro as well as the information she's gathered from her mentors and from her travels to her sessions to make sure each session her athletes are getting better.Over the past year Kerri has grown at such a rapid rate, her player development coach Matt Dyck has been a guiding hand for her in the process from transitioning from player to coach and she's done a great job networking with some really great people in this field (Coleman Ayers, Tyler Leclerc, Joerik Michels, Drew Hanlen and more).The information she's been able to gather has been pivotal for her, but it't not just the information but it's the application that makes her growth so rapid. She's doing a great job and becoming a great resource for the people in her community, make sure to keep her on your radar!Check out Kerri on socials!IG - https://www.instagram.com/coach.kuzz/Website - https://www.unboundedathletes.com/

Danny Cooper round 2! Danny is one of the best up and coming young trainers in this industry and his work ethic, passion and drive speak towards it. He's a guy that works for everything he has and nothing happens by accident, he and I catch up and talk a little about his summer as well as his last year in general which has been very impactful for him.He was able to connect with Mac McClung and helped him out for a camp that he put on in Gate City while also training Mac, then he tagged along with Mac during summer league in Vegas. He's built a really good relationship with Mac. He also worked with Lamar Stevens of the Cavaliers for 5 weeks towards the end of the summer.He was training all summer as well as working out himself and preparing for his upcoming season at Moravian University in Pennsylvania, he's going to have a great year individually while also being a huge piece in the leadership needed to get his team into the playoffs and make a push!Make sure to keep up with him on all socials:IG: https://www.instagram.com/dcoopbball/YT: https://www.youtube.com/c/DannyCooperBasketballTik Tok: @dcoopbball

Why does Russell Westbrook choose to drive when Steph Curry chooses to shoot a three on identical plays? Different affordances, they see different opportunities to act based on their own abilities, intentions and the characteristics of the environment as well as how they perceive those characteristics within that environment.I'm a 5'11 white guy with maybe a 6 ft wingspan, if me and Lebron James both drive into two defenders there will be different results based on our individual affordances. Lebron is bigger, stronger, faster and obviously overall more skilled than I am. When he drives into two defenders he may see that as an opportunity to lay the ball up or even dunk on both of them, whereas when I drive into two defenders I see that as an opportunity to pass the ball out. This is based on the fact that Lebron is 6'8 and has a 40 in vertical, so he can easily get higher and lay the ball up but I can't do that so I don't see it as an opportunity to lay the ball upThis is extremely important when training our athletes, if an athlete is pass first and wants to get better at scoring the ball, then we need to manipulate the training environment so this athlete can start to see scoring as the opportunity to act. How do we do that? Use constraints, create small-sided games to isolate specific skills and actions we want to improveRecognize your athletes affordances and take them into account every session

Do you wanna go to college because it's going to push the envelope for you and open doors, or do you wanna go because it's been conditioned by societal standards? Now more than ever we can accomplish so much without a degree, I'm not here to downplay a formal education but more so to spark thought - real genuine critical thinking. If your goal is to be a teacher, doctor, physical therapist or a division 1 strength coach amongst other professions then you'll need a bachelors or higher. There's no if, and's or but's on that. But have you sat down and thought about what you want to do and if getting a degree actually opens that door for you, or if the position you want requires a degree?If you want to be a small business owner then maybe you don't need that bachelors degree, less than 50% of small business owners have a college degree. If you want to be a player development coach you probably don't need a college degree, think about what you want to do and where you wanna be before going to school and taking out thousands and thousands of dollars of loans and going in debt for the rest of your life. There are other things (IMO) that are more important than a degree:- Traveling- Networking - Experience - Saving & Investing your money in the right things that actually matterI don't want to put down getting a formal education, it's still important and better than not getting one. Some people are the first in their families to do it and that's a massive accomplishment, I just want to spark some thought. 

A lot of times in this industry we tend to have to work for free, whether it's early in our careers and we're just trying to get in front of new athletes or it's an unpaid internship. Working for free is usually a common factor in a lot of our careers at some point, but how can we leverage that free work and turn it into future paying clients?I talk a little about utilizing 3 specific ways we can leverage working for free, like I said, usually working for free happens in a lot of our careers. That doesn't mean we need to get into a bad spot where people expect it, we should have a calculated approach when providing our service for free - we shouldn't just do it to do it. Is doing this session for free or this internship unpaid, or this clinic for free setting up future clients, opportunities or connections? If no, then maybe we shouldn't be doing it.Remember to always value yourself and set boundaries early, don't be afraid to be the asshole and say no to someone who can't pay. The more times to just "let it fly" and let someone hop in a group session for free the more that narrative is going to spread, that narrative then becomes an actual reality. Hopefully these 3 ways to leverage free work help someone!!

Ethan Khoza is a player development coach in State College PA, he's not your typical PDC. He does things "against the grain" and steers away from the more traditional approach on-court training, but what separates him the most is his passion for and ability to communicate with his athletes and figure out what they need Ethan talks a lot about emotional intelligence and what exactly that means for both coaches and players, why it's so important to both possess and nurture emotional intelligence. Possessing extremely good emotional intelligence and being able to communicate extremely effectively alone will make you way better a lot of the coaches and trainers out thereYou can know all the X's & O's but ultimately if you aren't able to communicate it properly and effectively to your crowd in a manner that they'll interpret it and apply it to to the court then none of the knowledge and experience you possess really mattersCheck out Ethan on social and make sure to check out his podcast as well:IG - https://www.instagram.com/visiondrivenbasketball/YT - https://www.youtube.com/c/VisionDrivenBasketballPodcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-vision-driven-basketball-training-podcast/id1508830824

Dario is a very intelligent and talented professional in the performance world, what's even more impressive is that a lot of his knowledge is from his own research and experience. He's done a phenomenal job acquiring high level information in order to apply to his sessions and improve every athlete he works withDario is a real life example of his work, at 5'9 he's trained his way to a 37 in vertical and is nearing putting down a dunk with ease. He's able to emulate the same training philosophies and principles in order to help many athletes grow their athleticism, vertical and ability to move.This episode we dive into some of the science behind building elasticity, why it's important to train fast, building basketball strength, and even some sports psychology. This is a great episode I know you guys will loveCheck out Dario's IG & Online training:IG - https://www.instagram.com/saisantraining/The Spring System (Online program) - https://www.saisantraining.com/https/wwwsaisantrainingcom/https/ferret-sealion-fjn5squarespacecom/https/ferret-sealion-fjn5squarespacecom/the-spring-system/p/a2c022oqpekzhvkts89hqdwowscil3/p/a2c022oqpekzhvkts89hqdwowscil3/p/a2c022oqpekzhvkts89hqdwowscil3

Mike Dunn is one of the best shooting coaches in the world, you can tell why during our conversation in this weeks episode. What I admired about Mike the most though wasn't necessarily his knowledge and expertise for shooting, but his compassion and drive to help build his players character! He makes a massive effort to provide the best experience for the person in front of him, but he also displays the same effort and energy for the people working with him online. He responds quickly, 24/7,  always trying to make sure he's available for his clients.He's traveled around the world helping thousands of athletes improve their jump shot, Mike does a phenomenal job breaking down some really cool concepts.Follow and subscribe to Mike:https://www.instagram.com/seemikedunn/https://seemikedunn.com/product/seemikedunn-keep-shooting-subscription/