Highlight Registered Strength Coach Recipient
Nathan Shaw, ATC, CSCS, RSCC
Arizona Diamondbacks MLB
The NSCA Registry of Strength and Conditioning Coaches encourages high standards of professional practice and responsibility. The NSCA will maintain a registry of individuals who have demonstrated they are experienced coaches who practically apply foundational knowledge to assess, motivate, educate, and train athletes for the primary goal of improving sport performance. They conduct sport-specific testing sessions, design and implement safe and effective strength training and conditioning programs, provide guidance (or advice) for athlete nutrition, injury prevention or reconditioning. Recognizing that their area of expertise is separate and distinct from the medical, dietetic, athletic training, and sport coaching fields, Registered Strength and Conditioning Coaches (RSCC, RSCC*D, or RSCC*E) consult with and refer athletes to these professionals when appropriate.
Each Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach receives a certificate to acknowledge RSCC, RSCC,*D or RSCC,*E status.
Benefits of the program include:
- As a Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach you will be able to promote yourself to potential future employers as RSCC.
- You will also be recognized by the NSCA and receive a certificate to acknowledge your achievement.
To see if you qualify for Registered Strength and Conditioning Coach status go to http://www.nsca-lift.org/education/nscaregcoach.shtml. If you qualify we highly encourage you to complete the application process. If you don’t yet qualify we encourage you to take the necessary steps so that you can apply in the future.
Diamondbacks Program Foundations
Our Program is based on a few overlapping fundamental principles; Posture, Core Function, Recovery, Ideal Firing Patterns, and Adaptability. We strive as a group to provide the highest level of service to our athletes. Our goal is to work with hand in hand with the other members of our Sports Medicine Team (Doctors, Athletic Trainers, Massage Therapists, and Special Consultants) to roll out a strengthening program that keeps our players sharp and healthy. The direction of each player’s program is dictated by both objective and subjective information gathered by the entire Sports Medicine Team. Proper breathing patterns, appropriate alignments, angles, and lengths must all be ingredients in the program for our athletes to have every advantage possible to compete at their highest level. The game of baseball is very challenging not just on the field, but off the field as well. Travel, Nutrition, Sleep Patterns, Dehydration and recovery top the list of challenges that we, as a program have to be able to adapt to.
Unique Aspects of Program:
Our commitment to teamwork and communication is something that we are very proud of. We have a very diverse group of Strength Coaches, and Athletic Trainers. Each of us have many skills, but also have specialties. Many of our Strength Coaches have additional Certifications that allow for soft tissue manipulation in addition to typical strength coach duties. This versatility is the cornerstone for our ability to design programs specific to the athlete. Our intra-department communication is the trait that enables us to actually deliver a superior product to our athletes. Although our staff is very adept at handling injuries quickly, they have a tremendous appetite to decrease our return to play times, as well as reduce the incidence of preventable injuries through appropriate strengthening programs.
Advice to Young Coaches
Knowledge is power. Learn as much as you can. Try to develop personally as well. Communication is just as important as knowing what not to do. The key to my development was losing my ego. When I graduated I thought I knew it all. I was lucky enough to be able to interact with a few very patient mentors who helped me figure out that I didn’t know everything, in fact that I was quite green. I am still trying to hone my communication skills. As I have evolved philosophically it has become very apparent that communication is my most important tool. You can have read every book ever written, but the information is no good if you can’t get anyone to follow you or your programs?
Facility Description
We have two facilities that we work out of. Our Spring Training Facility is Second to none. It is the crown jewel of all Spring Training Facilities. It is a true Goliath. We share a complex with the Colorado Rockies and when we were building no detail was left to pass. Our side of the complex has two weight rooms directly adjacent to the training rooms. The major League side is just under 3500 sqft, with a 1500 sqft cardio mezzanine. The Minor League facility is on one level, but it is almost 5000sq ft. We do the majority of our yearly training at that facility. In Season I work primarily out of Chase Field in Phoenix. It is roughly 3000 sq ft. Our equipment is relatively consistent from the top of the organization to the bottom using mostly Samson, Iron Grip, Life Fitness and Woodway.
Why RSCC
Baseball is growing and gaining credibility in the strength and conditioning world. I see this distinction as an opportunity to move our profession forward. Relatively speaking there are not many people who truly work full time in professional baseball. This distinction helps to quantify and assign a value to the years and decades that my colleagues and I have invested in this experience. It is important to value the experience of Pro baseball. My baseball experiences have helped define who I am.