Per$onal Trainer$

Per$onal Trainer$

As you can probably gather from the title I have some serious questions for the personal trainer industry. I am all for Certified Athletic Trainers. They are a critical component of High School and College athletics. I relied on my  C.A.T. as both a coach and a player.

But this new phenomenon of children going to per$onal trainer$ at these workout facilities has me mystified. I do not remember Bob Cousy, Cal Ripken, Barry Sanders, Pele, or any other stars from the past going to these people to get better.

When I look up these people and places that are offering these $ervice$ I am initially struck by the credential$, the client list, and the apparent attachment of their clients to athletic success.

When I see them take a bunch of kids who quit their sport, are out of shape, and are lazy, and turn them into DI athletes, then I will believe.

Am I to believe that because an athlete went to one of these “trainers,” who may or may not have graduated with a degree in athletic training and does not have a license in athletic training, that the athlete’s improvement will be directly related to the trainer’s involvement? It certainly reminds me of the new mantra of “elite” pay for pay travel teams. And you know how I feel about that paradigm.

Their claims are sometimes listed on their website of their list of players who played for them and then went on to Division I college athletics. Although not directly stated, there is certainly an implied connection between the athlete getting to DI and their participation in the club teams program.

Am I to believe that these talented kids would not have gotten to their potential without these trainer$ and travel team$? Since they have only been around for 20-30 years, how did athletes get to the next level without these service$?

What strikes me almost immediately as how people are bragging about their relationship with these people on a continuing basis.  Some have their children playing two sorts at once and also going to a per$onal trainer a couple of times a week. I am awed at the belief that you can throw money at a problem and think that it will universally work to produce improvement in all athletic situations.

Training for even the top athletes is a very complicated process. They are looking to rehabilitate, and for some, to get an edge over other athletes in pursuit of a big contract.

Since only 1% of all students who go to college play at the DI level and ONLY HALF of them play for free, it is certainly confusing to me why all this time, attention, and money are being spent on this Endeavour.

I strongly suggest that instead of spending your money this way, get all the kids together on your team, go to a park or gym and have them play a pickup game NOT related to your sport. Then go home and hit the books, as there are 77 times more non-athletic college scholarships than athletic ones.

 Charles Barkley, a famous Hall of fame basketball player, went to a per$onal golf teacher to try and get better at golf. The lack of success is documented in a television show.

Now I am hearing kids as young as six months old have had per$onal trainer$. Remember, puberty changes everything.

Once again, in youth sports and in life, we seem to have status, self worth, and unreal expectations overriding common sense.