"WVU"

Alex and I had a great time in West Virginia attending the strength and conditioning clinic. It was also my son's first experience on a college campus, which made the trip even more enjoyable. We made it to Morgantown after a heroing trip through a snow hurricane in the mountains leading into Morgantown. Alex kept us focused on the the drive through the mountains by playing DJ in the truck, Lil' Wayne was the artist of choice. I love Lil'Wayne yea...Boeeee.. Once we made it to Morgantown, we drove through campus trying to get our bearings and find the field house where the clinic was to be held. The campus is beautifully laid out, with everything within walking distance from the dorms and student residences. The field house is located next to the football stadium, with an amazing indoor football field and a weight room that looks onto Mountaineer Stadium. What an awesome atmosphere for a young athlete to train and be apart of.

After finding the field house, we went to the basketball coliseum. Alex loves basketball and hopes to play college basketball some day. He and I were very impressed with the arena and the positive college atmosphere that is created by such an incredible facility. We both took pictures in the snow with the statue of Jerry West in front of the main entrance.

After leaving the coliseum, we found a great restaurant/bar that split the difference between the coliseum and the football stadium called the "Boston Beanery". The food and atmosphere were exceptional. If you were wondering, we both had the seafood bisque and a sandwich. It had been a long day up until this point, with the drive from Northern Virginia and the tour of the campus. We headed to the hotel and turned in for the night with great anticipation of the next day's strength clinic.

Mike Joseph and the strength staff put together a very organized and information-soaked clinic. Mike laid out the WVU strength and conditioning philosophy and their year-round program. Mike's program philosophy is based on strong communication with everyone involved in the training process. Communication is essential when teaching and emphasizing technique, work intensity, school pride, competition, mental toughness, and accountability. Mike does a great job of making communication a priority.

The strength program is filled with platform-based movements; Squat, clean, snatch, jerk, bench, and every variation of these movements imaginable are used to create WVU's championship program. You will never see any athlete standing idle during the strength and conditioning program. The emphasis is placed on tempo and work volume for each training session. They are not concerned with developing a world class snatch or squat, but more importantly developing productive football players. The greatest performance asset that we can develop in a player is the ability to recover in between intense bouts of work. Recovery time can only be enhanced by emphasizing tempo, coupled with a significant work volume. WVU does an excellent job of accomplishing this goal.

Mike gives his athletes daily feedback on their program performance. Three name placards are made for each player. Gold - Outstanding performance; Blue -Nothing more, nothing less then what is asked; Brown - Average... The color alone makes this placard self explanatory: poor performance and unacceptable. Every training session is evaluated by Mike and his staff and the appropriate colored placard is assigned to each player. The placards are displayed for all to see. I love this idea! Talk about developing great work habits. Let's face it, some athletes have no idea what it takes to work hard on a consistent basis. A simple idea like this helps to generate and build team pride, consistency, intensity, mental toughness, and most importantly, an accountability to the coaching staff, the system, and their teammates. No one wants to be the weak link!

Alex and I left Morgantown with a good understanding of WVU's strength and conditioning program. I highly recommend attending this clinic. Alex is already looking forward to attending next year.