Why We Don't Employ Designated "Program Designers"

I've been asked a number of times recently why we don't have employees whose role is exclusively to design programming for our athletes. The assumption is that we would increase operational efficiencies by doing so, and also free up our coaches to do what they do best - coach. I don't disagree with this mentality, but I also don't think it is an optimal approach for our business at Cressey Sports Performance.

The systems we employ need less and less tinkering over time as our business matures. When it comes to delivering individualized training materials to our athletes, we realize that at this point in time it is not necessarily the machine that is in need of servicing, but instead the experience. Part of the experience of training at CSP is knowing that there is a coach on the training floor who not only knows how to instruct the material that has been designed for you, but also knows exactly why each exercise was integrated into your programming. 

There is a certain level of nuance that can only be appreciated by a coach who is in the room for a movement screening or postural analysis. Additionally, an off-the-training-floor programming specialist can't possibly have the instinct to integrate a necessary exercise modification because they aren't "in the trenches" observing the unexpected challenge that a high school athlete had while executing his front squat or reverse lunge during his last month of training.

The volume of variables to consider when delivering truly individualized programming in a performance training setting exceeds the capabilities of someone who sits in an office in front of exercise templates cranking out generic material. Much like radiologists have been known to read X-rays more accurately when they have seen the patient's photo, coaches prepare the best programming scenarios for their athletes when they have stood alongside them in the gym observing how they handle the material and cues that have been thrown their way in the past. 

I am at peace with foregoing a little bit of supposed operational efficiency if it increases the likelihood that our athletes are being put in the best position possible to succeed. For now, my team will continue on with their multi-tasking.