bluejeff
Level 7 Valued Member
I’m not versed in either powerlifting (outside of a somewhat casual DL and squat practice) or weightlifting, but this was an interesting thread to read through.
Regarding teaching/learning and weeding out “less dedicated types:”
I spent my adolescence and early 20s doing a very traditional type of kung fu. I noticed over the years that the cocky, “tough guy” types rarely made it past the first few belts. I also spent a number of years practicing and teaching handstands/hand balance. When I taught at a calisthenics/gymnastics gym, we would somewhat regularly have new students come in who stated their goal as “muscles ups.” A lot of these students stopped showing up when they realized they had large mobility deficits and that the mobility would take a long time to develop. I was always especially impressed and motivated by the ones who came in day in day out and worked their butts off because they wanted the skills so bad.
All of these examples involve long-term, large investment endeavors. It seems to me, as a kind of weightlifting-outsider, that unless someone has a lot of “natural talent,” for simplicity’s sake, it takes a loooot of work to get decently good at it. I can see how some coaches wouldn’t want to spend all that time teaching someone only to have them quit. At the same time, coaching is a job, and if it pays it pays? I dunno. Just some rambling thoughts to add!
Regarding teaching/learning and weeding out “less dedicated types:”
I spent my adolescence and early 20s doing a very traditional type of kung fu. I noticed over the years that the cocky, “tough guy” types rarely made it past the first few belts. I also spent a number of years practicing and teaching handstands/hand balance. When I taught at a calisthenics/gymnastics gym, we would somewhat regularly have new students come in who stated their goal as “muscles ups.” A lot of these students stopped showing up when they realized they had large mobility deficits and that the mobility would take a long time to develop. I was always especially impressed and motivated by the ones who came in day in day out and worked their butts off because they wanted the skills so bad.
All of these examples involve long-term, large investment endeavors. It seems to me, as a kind of weightlifting-outsider, that unless someone has a lot of “natural talent,” for simplicity’s sake, it takes a loooot of work to get decently good at it. I can see how some coaches wouldn’t want to spend all that time teaching someone only to have them quit. At the same time, coaching is a job, and if it pays it pays? I dunno. Just some rambling thoughts to add!