Choosing a strength and conditioning coach for yourself or for your athlete can be a daunting task. How do you know who will help them improve and excel and who will just keep them the same or worse yet, get them hurt. As a parent I understand that we want the best for our kids, it's just that sometimes we don't have a way of judging what's best. The first place to start is by selecting someone who is an actual strength and conditioning coach. Just sending your athlete to a personal trainer will not get them the results that their hard work deserves. I mean you wouldn't take your Ford to a Chevy dealer to get fixed would you, then why give your athlete to someone who is not qualified to handle them. Next, realize that your athlete working hard is not an indication of a good program or strength coach. You could literally hire a bum who is begging for change and offer him a steak dinner if he makes your athlete run till he pukes and I bet he'll get the job done. Does this mean this bum is a great strength coach or that he has a great program, of coarse not. A good strength coach realizes that recovery and periodization are part of an athlete making continual, year-round gains. So don't judge a strength coach on if they are making your kids work hard, judge them on the results at the end of the program. Lastly, ask the strength coach when they train themselves. I would never have my athletes do something that I had not done myself, yet these "personal trainers" who don't ever lift a weight are telling an athlete how to squat. I'm not saying that the strength coach has to be a world class athlete but if they don't practice what they preach then how good of examples are they for your athlete.
So to sum up: 1. Hire an actual strength coach, not just a personal trainer 2. Killing athletes every workout isn't a good indicator of a good strength coach, results are. 3. Never hire a trainer or strength coach that doesn't train hard themselves
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