My Thoughts on Reddit Weightlifting

My Thoughts on Reddit Weightlifting

Last night, Coach Crystal McCullough posted something about Reddit and going down a Reddit rabbit hole, so of course this morning I had to go down the same hole. At first I found myself getting mad, and then I used logic for once. The weightlifting section on reddit has chosen a side. They’ve bashed me so badly that it makes it near impossible to say anything good, as that would be admitting they were wrong. I get that. Most media places are like that.

I mean, look at Fox being 100% Pro-Trump, or CNN being 100% against Trump. You never hear either side changing their stance. They simply omit the things that don’t support their case, and they pounce on the stories that support their case. I’m not even mad at them anymore. It’s their thing, and it’s their way of feeling relevant in a sport that otherwise would leave them without a voice.

I know what I’ve accomplished, and so do my readers and the people who follow our team. Hunter wasn’t on anyone’s radar a year ago, and now she just competed at the World Championships. The year before, we did the same thing with Jordan Cantrell. He went from not being on anyone’s radar to dominating the 85 and now 89kg class. I picked up Meredith Alwine 12-weeks ago, and her PRs were 99kg in the Snatch, 125kg in the Clean & Jerk, and her best Total was 221kg. Now 12-weeks later, she has Snatched 101kg, Clean & Jerked 133kg, and Totaled 233kg (at the World Championships), so I’d say that’s a pretty good improvement.

You can’t even say that Meredith was ready for those numbers before she came to me. When she first visited our gym (after she had long separated from her old coach FYI), she couldn’t Clean & Jerk 125kg. She was struggling. I’m guessing because she was trying to do things on her own and simply needed some guidance. Regardless, that’s where she was.

My Youth Athletes have continued to get better meet after meet. Now Ryan Grimsland is the number one ranked youth weightlifter in the country, and Morgan became a Youth Pan Am Gold Medalist at 14-years-old this year. My other youth are some of the most promising athletes in the country. Next year, we should hopefully have 4-6 Seniors, 4 Juniors, 4 Youth, and at least 1-2 University Athletes on Team USA. These are just facts, so I’d say our team is doing ok at least.

The only thing that upsets me is the poaching thing. You should probably survey the coaches that had athletes at the World Championships. There was a lot of poaching going on, which is totally against USAW’s Code of Ethics. However it wasn’t me. I didn’t try to recruit any of the athletes, not one, nor have I ever. Nathan came to me after being solo for over a year. He’s the one that people think I poached from his original coach, Boris. The truth is that I met Nathan at a Junior Nationals where he was attempting to coach himself. Dylan Cooper, my athlete at the time, asked me if I would step in and help. Of course I agreed, and the rest is history.

Guys these are the facts that I want all of you to know. Did Nathan have a rough competition at Worlds? Absolutely! He has a shoulder that is really giving him a hard time in the Snatch and Jerk. Should he be at 165/205 by now? Once again, absolutely! I’ll take full credit on this one. Coaches have to take credit for the good and the bad. We are in the process of handling his shoulder, and thank God for USAW because they are assisting in the process. This is going to be a challenge, as we are right in the thick of battling for the Olympics.

Reddit Weightlifting isn’t all that bad really. They serve a purpose. To me they serve a direct purpose in my growth as a coach. Humility will always be a trait that I need work on. I get that, so I thank Reddit for serving that purpose. They’ll never admit our wins, and they’ll be there 100% of the time to shed light on my shortcomings as a coach. Every coach needs a Reddit Weightlifting to keep him or her humble and focused on the things that need work.

I wrote something a couple of weeks ago about responding to negativity, and I stand by what I wrote. As a coach, if you are doing this for your own popularity, then you are in the wrong industry. There are a lot of A-Type personalities in the coaching industry that want all the attention. Look I want my work as a coach to be respected by my peers. That’s human, and that’s ok. However, I already have that. The coaches that I respect already respect my work, and they know that I don’t poach their athletes. Coaches like Kevin Simons, Spencer Arnold, Dave Spitz, Ray Jones, Sean Waxman, Kevin Doherty, Danny Camargo, and CJ Martin respect my work, and I respect their work. They know that I would never try to recruit one of their athletes. FYI all of us know the coaches that were recruiting (there was two of them) during the World Championships.

However, beyond wanting the respect of our peers, we are in a service-oriented business. If your priorities as a coach aren’t focused on your athletes, then you are destined to fail. If your athletes are getting better yearly, then you need to change something to help them improve. Notice, I said ‘yearly’ and not meet to meet especially at the International level. A Total PR isn’t necessarily the goal of each meet. Mattie Rogers just earned a Bronze Medal in the Clean & Jerk and placed 5^th overall at the World Championships. She didn’t set any personal records because that wasn’t the goal.

My focus is on my athletes not on Reddit’s opinion about me. I have goals for 2019 for each of my athletes like:

·      Hunter- consistency and improved mindset

·      Nathan- fix his shoulder

·      Morgan- improve his Snatch technique and get stronger overhead

·      Jordan- dial in his nutrition and continue his improvement now that he is feeling 100%

·      Hannah- leg strength and improved timing

This is a short list, but you get the point. Reddit helps me with my number one priority, and that’s keeping my focus on God. When I was younger, opinions online really mattered to me. My mood fluctuated with what people were saying online. Did I get upset when I read some of the comments on Reddit? Year for about 30 seconds I was a little upset, and then I laughed. My mission is to help my athletes, teach my readers, and glorify God. That’s it really. Nowhere in my mission statement do I mention trying to impress a bunch of boys in their parents’ basement being keyboard warriors for Reddit while sitting around in their two day old tighty whities.

Really I have to thank Reddit for keeping me humble and reminding me of my mission. Let this be a lesson to all of you young coaches out there. If you start producing, people are probably going to talk especially when you write blogs like this and talk about ‘tighty whities’. The key to joy in one’s life as a coach is maintaining a focus on what’s important. If you do that, it’s easy to laugh about the Reddit boys.

So here’s to a good laugh and a focused 2019 to come!

P.S. 

December 15th we are hosting a 'Snatch and Pull Clinic' at the Mash Compound! Come hang out with us and learn how to make Reddit hate you.

To Regsiter:      ==>  Dec. 15th Snatch and Pull Clinic