need help

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Originally posted by: kr7263
One boy is a junior starting FS this past year. He has been in the wt room working very hard since the begining, he is a good kid and does everything I ask, except he will not bench. His bench is very low (decent squat, good dead) He follows the program but is embarassed about his bench.
Next kid - lineman - 6'4 230, works with one of the stronger groups, however, his squat technique is horrible and his hip/ham/quad ratio is poor. He cannot/will not parallel. (If they don't get to parallel I make a big deal about it and they have to drop 50lbs and start over again) Ive worked with him everyday, he does weighted glute/ham - hip flex exercises etc. any ideas or opinions would be welcomed thanks

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Coach, not to sound rude, but it sounds like your FS simply needs to man up.

As for the Lineman, working on the box will be the best thing for him if he has back rounding issues. Start with a higher than parallel box and slowly (over the course of weeks or even months) lower the box height as he learns to squat with good form. Eventually, he will be able to squat parallel with solid technique. Also, I assume you are already training the torso and working on flexibility...both of these will be big in getting your players to squat right. If the core is not strong, they will never be able to squat like you want them to. Same with tight hip flexors or hamstrings. Train the core and stretch both dynamically (pre training) and statically (post training). The bungees and beepers are good tools to have, but they won't HELP your kid get any lower if he is having technique issues...he may get parallel and the hit the bungee or beeper, but if he looks like crap doing it, it will do no good whatsoever. However, I do agree that they are nice to have if you have the money.

Also, not to sound rude here either, but we never have an issue of a kid telling us what he will or won't do in the weightroom (or anywhere for that matter). I certainly hope this is not the case in your weightroom. It's one thing to not be able to do something (we have a few of these kids and work with them patiently), but it's a completely different situation to have a kid who WON'T do something. Just my way, but I would never accept a player telling me "no" and if he did, he would be out the door. If I am misunderstanding your situation and this is not the case, then please allow me to apologize in advance.

On a side note, Box squats are not just used for going parallel, either...they are a great posterior chain strengthener and do wonders for starting strength. The coach that mentioned a "rest" at the bottom of a box squat...I wouldn't really call that a rest, the slight pause serves a very important purpose...that purpose being to overcome inertia by way of an explosive ascent. Very similar to coming out of a stance.

Just our way.