For Coaches: Dear New Coach, Coach the Veteran Anyway
LETTER TO THE ATHLETE · FOR COACHES · BY COACH FRITZ
You see the rep go wrong and your mouth goes dry.
I know that feeling from the coach's side. The athlete in front of you has been training longer than you have been coaching, maybe lifts more than you, and everyone in the room knows it. So you say nothing, or you say "looking good" and move on. It's a mistake I see a lot in newer coaches, and one I had to work on myself.
This letter is for you, the newer coach with a veteran in your class. By the end you will have a four-step script, three ready-made lines for tough moments, and a three-week plan that builds trust without bluffing.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What the Veteran Is Actually Thinking
Most veterans are not testing you. Many have gone years without anyone watching a rep, because coaches tend to skip the athlete who "knows what they're doing." They would often welcome a second set of eyes. They just don't want to look needy by asking.
Silence has a cost. If you walk past the same athlete for three months, they decide you have nothing to add, or that their movement must be perfect. Neither is true.
Years of training also don't equal clean movement. They equal practiced movement. Research generally supports that repetition makes a pattern more automatic, whether it is a good pattern or a sloppy one. A slightly early hip rise in the clean, repeated for four years, becomes a very reliable early hip rise. That is not an insult. It is how practice works.
You Don't Need to Know More. You Need to See More
Your value in the room is your vantage point. The athlete under the bar can't see their own bar path or the moment their chest drops. You can. I grew up playing volleyball, and one thing that stuck with me is that the person watching from the sideline sees patterns the player in the rally never will. Nobody on that court thought the observer was better. They just had the better view.
Credibility with experienced athletes comes from three things: knowing the movement standard, describing what you actually saw, and being honest about what you don't know. "I'm not sure, let me look into it and get back to you tomorrow" earns more respect than a confident guess. Then you have to follow up the next day. That part is not optional.
The Four-Step Script
This is the structure I give newer coaches. It takes about 45 seconds per athlete and works the same on a first-week member or a ten-year veteran.
Ask first. "Mind if I give you one thing on those cleans?" Almost everyone says yes, and asking hands them some control.
Describe, don't diagnose. "On the last three reps, your hips rose before the bar left the floor." A fact is hard to argue with. "Your form is off" is easy to argue with.
Give one cue. One change, not four. "Push the floor away until the bar passes your knees." If you have three corrections, pick the one that affects the others.
Watch the next rep, then walk away. Stay for two reps. Say "that's it" or "same again," and leave. Hovering turns a cue into pressure.
Coach's cue: Say what you saw, give one cue, watch two reps, then walk away.
Three Lines for Three Tough Moments
The veteran who bristles. Try, "I'm not changing your lift, I'm just giving you a view you can't get from under the bar. Take it or leave it." Taking the pressure off often lowers the guard.
The athlete who is better than you at the movement. Say it out loud: "You're stronger at this than I am. I'm only watching your setup today." Narrowing your scope keeps you useful and honest.
The athlete who ignores your cue. Don't repeat it five times. Say, "Okay, I'll watch again next set," and do. If the problem is still there, tell them the standard and the reason, once, calmly.
If a heavy lift slows down and the position collapses (back rounding, bar swinging away, knees caving), ask the athlete to drop the load roughly 10 percent for the next set. Do that for anyone, regardless of experience. If an athlete mentions pain, don't coach through it. Suggest they see a qualified professional.
A Three-Week Plan to Earn the Room
Trust is built in small, repeated moments, not one big conversation. Here is a plan you can run alongside your normal classes.
Week 1: Pick two veterans per class. Give each one observation and one cue per session, about 60 seconds each. Write down what you said in a notebook afterward.
Week 2: Ask, then listen. Ask each of them, "What cue helps you most when it gets heavy?" Then use their words back to them. Keep three notes per class on what you saw and what you want to check next time.
Week 3: Film two sets with permission. Take two sets from one veteran and watch them together for two minutes. Point at one thing on the screen. Video makes it about the movement, not about you versus them.
If you hit three veterans a week for three weeks, that is nine real coaching moments. Most coaches I talk to find the first one is the hardest and the third is almost normal.
Where I Stand
I don't think you have to out-lift or out-experience your athletes to coach them well. Staying silent around veterans is the bigger risk, because it quietly tells them they're done improving. I would rather have a newer coach give one honest, small cue and say \"I'm still learning\" than a polished coach who never looks at the strongest person in the room.
Try this today: In your next class, choose the most experienced athlete, ask permission, and give them one observation and one cue using the four steps. Watch two reps, then walk away.
Coaching Veterans Quick Recap
Silence costs you. Skipping the veteran tells them you have nothing to add.
Experience is practice. Years of training groove good and bad habits equally.
Your edge is the view. You see what they can't from under the bar. You don't need to be better.
Use the four steps. Ask, describe, give one cue, watch two reps, then walk away.
Be honest about gaps. "Let me look into that" builds trust, as long as you follow up.
Run the three-week plan. Two veterans per class, one question each, then one short video review.
The Cue You Give Today
You will feel nervous the first time. Most coaches do, and the nerves usually fade after a few honest cues land well. Your athletes do not need a perfect coach. They need one who looks, speaks up and keeps learning.
Start small. Pick one person, give one cue, and write down what happened. Do that again next class. That is how a newer coach becomes a trusted one.
If you want a coach reviewing your video and building a plan around what they see, take a look at ATHLETESPHERE coaching.
Your turn. Which athlete in your class do you find hardest to coach, and what stops you from giving them a cue? Tell me in the comments below. I read every one, and your answers shape what I write next. If this helped, tap the heart so it reaches more athletes.
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Coach Fritz Bautista · Head Coach, ATHLETESPHERE
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) ✓ · CrossFit Programming Certificate · MBA Graduate · Digital Marketing Certified · Coaching athletes from all walks of life online
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