Woking Weightlifters and Phil Nourse's Sutton sister club ran 2 workshops on Olympic lifting at Middlesex University. They then exhibited lifting at the University's Student Strength and Conditioning Conference. The Uni is delighted and is keen to stage events, will affiliate to BWLA (the Governing Body of Olympic and all round weightlifting in Britain), and has already got two MSc students joining 'lifting clubs to compete.
At the conference Brian Hamill spent considerable time with young Strength and Conditioning Coaches who are trying to get their UKSCA accreditation, a sine qua non for big jobs in the main sports. It was clear to them that the BWLA lifters present, including 14 year old Chi Chea with a 60 Snatch and 80 Clean weighing 55 kg, were doing something quite different from what they had been taught. The trouble was that the lifters were doing it so fast that they could not see how it was done!
They ended up reasonably convinced that they need to train with Olympic lifters.
After all, if I wanted to assist someone to sprint better you can bet I'd ask a sprinter or a sprint coach. It is such a pity that competent weightlifters are not used in Sport Improvement situations. They are well aware that their techniques may need modifications according to the student's main sport.
But then, there are so few of us and so few places where weightlifting is possible that an aspiring Strength and Conditioning coach may have a long way to go to find help.
BH
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