Recently, the local franchise of Velocity Sports failed. Closed their doors and left clients cold. Yesterday, I read in our local paper that a well-known and respected Monmouth County trainer closed his training center and went to work for a gym. This gym says it's a "performance center, but admits it can't stay open without member dues from their "McFitness" side. Shouldn't performance centers focus on, well, performance?
In both cases, "the economy" took the blame. I've always believed that if you help people succeed and make progress, you will always outlast economic downturns.
There are 3 simple reasons why gym-McFitness-healthclubs-performancecenters-sportsfitnesscenters fail.
1. They focus on "training." I know a strength coach locally who is essentially a power lifting coach who applies that style to "solve" every performance problem in every sport.
Need more speed? Bigger squats and bench presses!
Need better direction changes? Bigger squats and bench presses!
Need more velocity on your shots, your pitches or your swing? Bigger squats and bench presses!
Do you see the problem here? The guy's a solid powerlifting coach, with trophies to prove it. Big deal! To the man whose only tool is a hammer, everything looks like a nail!
It's simple...don't "train"...teach, teach, teach!!
What does that? Simple: start younger, introduce critically important movement concepts and techniques and continue to reinforce them as the children get older.
Chain facilities and "strength coaches" take kids as young as 10 or 12 and have them working in "gym science" workouts, focusing on sets, reps and how much weight they move! These kids are working in maximal lift and absolute strength programs! My goodness!! Are they TRYING to get these kids hurt early?
This is not only a recipe for failure, it's the perfect road to sports burnout and repetitve injury patterns! Teach and reinforce movement, THEN you can "load" those well-performed movements later!
2. There's no "play" in their "training programs!" - Kids want to play! That's why they love sports, remember??
Organized sports have replaced the "free play" most of us enjoyed as kids. My colleague, Brian Grasso, CEO of the Int'l Youth Conditioning Assoc., said about play recently:
"I used to free play everyday of my life. Ride my bike to the park...Play baseball... Climb trees... Jump rope...Race my friends.
This was a normal 'day-in-the-life' for folks my age and older when we were kids.
And the effects were perfect.
Everything I just mentioned amounts to multi-lateral development.
Another way of saying that is amassing physical intelligence...
It's through this kind of free play experience that kids develop quality coordination, mobility & systemic strength.
But you know what, Phil, kids don't free play anymore.
They don't enjoy good quality PE classes anymore either.
And because of that, obesity is skyrocketing and injury rates in youth sports are going through the roof.
Without the intervention of high quality long-term development systems, where exactly are kids today going to receive the type of physical stimulus they need?"
You know what? I couldn't say it better myself! If you've ever watched an All-Star Sports Academy "training session," you've seen kids playing. You've seen athletes playing.
You've also seen them working their tails off and improving multi-directional movement patterns, multi-planar speed, power, agility, balance, coordination, endurance and strength. Real, whole body, sports strength!
That's because we remember that play is the reason their here! They want to play better! They want to play longer and healthier! Which brings me to reason #3 for the failure of "sports fitness" chains and trainers...
3. No return on parental investment! - Parents will do without a lot of things in order to give their kids the things they (parents) perceive to be important.
Some youth fitness professionals recognize this and respect it. All-Star Sports Academy is in that category.
Others see it as leverage to separate the parents from their money, using the kids as the lever. I know it sounds harsh, but that's the way I see it.
The failing sports fitness trainers wave their "success stories" around as if to say "if your kid doesn't train here, they'll never succeed like this or they'll wind up hurt...blahblahblah!"
Do you know what our "secret" is? We celebrate...and suffer with our athletes! When athletes and kids that we work with do well, we celebrate it with them! When things don't go so well, we let them know we feel it, too, and we try to help in any way we can.
They know we care, and they know we work for them. So do the parents we work with.
We recognize that many sports training centers either see themselves as a "luxury" and price their programs that way, then act as if their services are indispensable! They are completely clueless as to the economic challenges facing families, even when the economy is in excellent health!
We just won't do that! First, we want to bring our experience, programs and knowledge to as many kids as we can. To do that, Mom & Dad have to be able to fit it in the budget!
Second, we're just not that arrogant. We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror each day!
Parents, athletes and coaches are the reasons we exist! Without them, and without the support, feedback and ideas they provide us, we couldn't learn, grow and continue to provide the kind of high-quality, high return youth and sports fitness and skills training programs we provide!
The now-closed "sports fitness centers?" Well, after a conversation with the (soon to be former) owner of the chain franchise, and my experience in talking with other "strength coaches" and trainers...Let's just say that some who should "get it"...really don't!
Of course, now...some never will, some will go to work for others who don't get it and others...well maybe they'll pay attention to the things and people who really matter now...
Would you like a great youth fitness or sports fitness experience for you kids?
Give us a call at 732-597-3725 and find out what we have to offer. Or visit us on the web at:http://www.allstarsportsacademynj.com/ - the site's not quite done yet, but you'll still find some good stuff there!
2 comments:
Just for your information, Velocity did not leave its' clients "cold." While it was sudden, they did try to do it with class, monetarily speaking. And they did care about the kids, although the difference we do see is your staff attending the school events that they help train
Thank you for the great compliment. We enjoy attending those events, and helping out whenever we can.
I meant no disrespect to Velocity. I happen to have met their founder, Loren Seagrave, who is nothing short of brilliant.
My point was simply that their closing is sudden, and interrupts their clients' programs.
Continuity is key to success for athletes (and anyone, really.)
Thanks for your comments, and feel free to keep them coming!
PS...feel free to contact us for a complimentary trial for your young athlete (or yourself, if appropriate!)
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