20/20 Coaching Vision: Improving Athlete Fitness by Seeing Better

Have you ever watched athletes move and said to yourself, “Yep, those push jerks and pull-ups are happening” while not really seeing any movement faults because so much is going on? As coaches, it’s pretty easy for us to be looking for every possible flaw, and as a result, to miss out on most of what can be changed to improve our athletes’ performance. But there are specific ways to train your coach’s eye and improve your ability to see correct and incorrect movement. Leveraging multiple methods for identifying proper movement mechanics and faults can help us develop coaching virtuosity and ultimately do what we set out to do: help our athletes move better and increase their fitness.

Mills (left) with a seminar participant

CrossFit courses like the Level 1, Level 2, and Spot the Flaw teach several fundamental approaches to spotting both good movement mechanics and movement faults. These fundamentals (below) show us that “seeing” is an important step along the path to improving movement, and it starts with knowing what to look for and where and when to look:

• Use the following sequence to improve movement:
  • Watch — ID Fault — Cue — Check — Acknowledge — Repeat
  • Note the three points in bold relate to seeing.
• Know and use the primary points of performance from your Level 1 Training Guide as a checklist.
• Know sound versus unsound movement mechanics (i.e., know the associated faults for each movement).
• Move around your athlete to see multiple angles.
• Apply micro and macro views.
  • Watch one person at a time for dynamic movements (micro view).
  • Scan a group for static positions (macro view).
• See how your athletes are moving during instruction (warm-ups) and workouts (intensity).

These concepts are the bedrock of how we see movement in CrossFit, and deploying them in our gym environments across a host of athletes and movements can boost us to 20/20 vision. Here are a few additional methods we can use to develop ourselves into masters at seeing movement mechanics.

Leverage Your Teaching: Teach a Point, See a Point.  

As we instruct CrossFit classes, we can use progressions and layer in points of performance as we teach. An effective way to see movement mechanics (good and bad) is to teach one point of performance, then go see and correct only that point as your athletes perform a movement. This seems fundamental, but it can get lost when we’re rushed or focused on teaching the next point.

For example, when you’re coaching athletes to drive the knees out in line with the feet during the squat, watch the knees throughout the rep. Let your athletes know by telling them, “I’m watching your knees as you go down and come back up!” This keeps you focused, allows you to identify that particular fault, and connects your athletes to what you’re looking at.

Prioritize Seeing Dynamic Parts of Movements 

Many new coaches, and even experienced trainers, focus on low-hanging fruit when watching movement, waiting for big movement faults to jump out at them. What results most often is that they see start and finish position faults, also known as “static faults,” since the athlete holds those positions for a moment. These static faults are more obvious and sometimes secondary to making the overall movement better.

To see beyond the low-hanging fruit, prioritize seeing dynamic parts of movements, which are most often the drivers of power in movement. You might remember from your Level 1 seminar that the increased production of power gives us more intensity and better results — i.e., fitness! If you set out to see dynamic faults, not only can you support your athletes’ safety in the complex mechanics of movements; there also can be greater improvement to the athlete’s fitness!

So, on the next set of snatches you’re watching, train your eye on one dynamic point of performance at a time:

1. The athlete’s hip extension (making sure they are standing all the way up)
2. The timing of their second pull (hips are moving before arms)
3. Full extension of hips and knees occurring before the ankle in triple extension
4. The bar traveling close to the frontal plane

Then watch the PRs fly when you correct those important and powerful movement patterns.

Follow the Sequence of Movement

To successfully prioritize seeing dynamic elements in movement, consider using the sequence of the movement to organize where you are focusing. This could mean watching some movements from the bottom up, feet to hands. In a push press, for example:

1. Watch the heels in the dip to make sure they’re staying on the floor.
2. Then watch the knees to see that they’re tracking forward in line with the feet.
3. Next, watch the hip to see that it’s flexed and traveling down.
4. Then watch the torso to make sure it’s upright.
5. Then focus on the timing of the movement to be sure hip extension is happening before the press.
6. Finally, watch the bar path to make sure it’s straight. 

Note that this seeing pattern requires you to hang out for a number of reps, and when things are going well, you have an opportunity to applaud your athlete for staying in their heels or keeping their torso upright. Such positive reinforcement lets them know what you were looking at and opens the door for you to watch and correct the next rep.

Remember the Eccentric

Many errors in weightlifting and gymnastics movements occur when we are cycling repetitions in workouts or adding intensity (going faster, heavier, unbroken, etc.). This is when eccentric movement, which often gets neglected in teaching, comes into play.

It’s one thing for athletes to master a single push jerk, muscle-up, or handstand push-up, but how athletes lower the bar, descend from the rings, or roll into successive repetitions can maximize their performance over time.

We teach safe, proper, and efficient mechanics on the eccentric parts of movements, and we should also look for points of performance and faults there. To practice this skill, teach the descent of a toes-to-bar so the athlete is pulling their feet straight down and pushing their chest through. Or teach an athlete how to bring the bar back to the floor when snatching, making sure they are re-establishing the hook grip, keeping their arms straight before moving the hips back, etc. Then, follow the “teach a point, see a point” method while your athletes warm up. Call out reps of the eccentric part of the movement so your athletes can think about each point and you can get plenty of time to see their movement. Practice cycled reps before the workout begins.

Create an Environment for Seeing

Many of us take time to plan our teaching approach, our class timeline, and the pre- and post-workout elements. We sometimes have less of a plan for how we will look at the results of our teaching methods.

How many times do you find yourself stuck at the front of your class or working with one or two newer athletes while missing the movements of your seasoned athletes when they are in the heat of a workout? Or maybe you notice athletes who always set up in the back of the room to avoid your critical eye?

Include in your plan how you’ll navigate around your class to get eyes on everyone, even your best athletes. Your plan may include setting up the class and then turning everyone around to face another direction. It may include having a second coach on hand and running a zone defense. Or it may include a strategy for which points of performance you will prioritize seeing for the whole class.

Practice

These seeing methods only develop our coaching eye if we regularly practice them. Write out your “teach a point, see a point” plan in your lesson plan. Know the order in which you’ll tackle each point and where you’ll look for each. Choose the key dynamic points of performance to assess in each movement during the workout. Know the sequence of movement you’ll follow that day to see more elements across your class. Remember to teach and plan to see the eccentric parts of movements. And build your class plan with an eye to seeing and executing all of this.

Get Objective Feedback

Ask other trainers in your gym to watch you coach and give you specific objective feedback related to the things you’re working on. Often, this involves watching what you actually end up correcting. Are corrections happening in the dynamic parts of the movements? If so, perhaps you’re effectively prioritizing where you’re looking and what you’re seeing. How about the eccentric parts of the movement? Do you move around the class to see more? What is the pattern? If not, perhaps you’re stuck in one area of the class and need to refine your plan to see the rest of the class.

Remember that ultimately the real measure of our ability to see movement faults is whether we get our athletes to move better. If you can see it, you can  work to fix it!

Related Content

• CrossFit Level 1 Training Guide
  
• Seeing Sound Movement Mechanics with E.C. Synkowski
  
• Qualities of an Effective Trainer: Seeing and Correcting
  
• Next-Level Coaching: Fix Movement Faster
  
• CrossFit Level 2 Certificate Course 
  

About the Author

Sarah Mills has been coaching professional, elite, and everyday athletes in various sports for two decades and has trained CrossFit athletes in the Washington, D.C., area for more than 12 years. She’s a head coach at CrossFit Reston and a Flowmaster for the CrossFit Seminar Staff, leading CrossFit Level 1 and Level 2 Certificate Courses. Sarah has judged the CrossFit Games for more than a decade (so she’s seen a lot of movement) and is founder and nutrition coach at SoMoved Nutrition.