Ask the Team

Thursday, September 2, 2010

“I’d love to do your job, but where do I start?”

Answered by Strength and Conditioning coach Jez Green.

It won’t surprise people to know that’s a question that I get asked a lot!

The first thing I’d say is that there’s no linear career path; It’s a lot of hard work and waiting for good things to happen. If you ask Strength and Conditioning coaches across a variety of sports I’m sure you’ll get a similar answer.

There are some tips and pointers that will help you though.

Firstly, It helps to have a background in the sport you want to specialise in. You might have played a particular sport as an amateur, and if that’s the case then choosing to focus on that sport is only going to benefit you. For one thing you’ll be more passionate about it, not to mention more knowledgeable.

In terms of your formal education, get as many qualifications as you can. If you’re a high school student with an option to specialise in sport, take it. Research what type of courses are going to help you specialise even further at college. A Sports science degree from a respected college or university is a well established route into the industry.

But If you want to work at the highest level in sport, you have to be prepared for at least two years of voluntary work. In a way it’s like an apprenticeship, you’re not going to make a lot of money and you’ll have to invest in yourself.

That could be going around the world to see the very best training bases and coaches. You might take jobs for free alongside people who are doing the job that you ultimately want to do. Unfortunately, if you want to get to the top in the industry the chances are you’ll do that at some stage.

Finally a word on tennis. Unlike other sports, Strength and Conditioning work in tennis involves a lot of time on the road. Footballers will do most of their training at their clubs, but most of the training a tennis player will do will be away from home.

So if you don’t like the idea of spending a lot of time away from friends and family, then maybe tennis isn’t the right sport for you!

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