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United States Girevoy Sport Federation -> Articles -> Training -> Finding a Coach For Girevoy Sport (Competitive Kettlebell Sport)
Finding a Coach For Girevoy Sport (Competitive Kettlebell Sport)Posted on 06.01.2010 : Authored by Dmitri Sataev
Here is my definition of the right coach: The right coach must have experience in the sport of GS and not just have an understanding of kettlebell fitness training. The sport of GS and kettlebell fitness are two very different activities. Your coach should be an example to you as an athlete. They should be someone that is very hard to beat in the sport of GS (at least in the beginning), they don't have to be the most talented lifter or natural GS athlete or an even world champion, but they should be someone that has worked very hard to get to the top of the sport. A good coach has to be able to teach as well as relate to the athlete. They should be able to relate to the novice athlete, with all of the questions and concerns involving proper technique to the sport. They should also be able to relate to older athletes who are dealing with not only age issues, but also fear of injury. The person you choose as coach, should be able to relate to all of their students, talented or not, and remember how hard it was for them to start in the sport of GS. A good coach will be able to capitalize on the strengths of every athlete they train in order to get those athletes to the top. Let me give you an example of how I found my coach. Since I speak Russian, I called to the international GS Federation and ask them first."Who was good at teaching and still very competitive?" Of course I didn't get a simple answer. "We have many great coaches." And they were right, they do have many great coaches, but everyone has a tendency to recommend their friends or colleagues and sometimes those people end up not being the best coaches. Somehow I got the name of Panteley Filikidi. Panteley had left Russia and moved to Greece, So being an immigrant myself, I felt that I could relate to him already and decided to contact him. It took a while to get him on the phone, but after talking for a few minutes with him and asking a few basic lifting related questions. I knew that he was the right guy for me. He knew about Olympic weightlifting and power lifting (I come from a power lifting background) and he knew how to deal with those lifters. I also liked very much that he was still very strong and still competed in GS (I couldn't even come close to his numbers in GS back then) and arm wrestling, as well as Olympic weightlifting. He didn't take any excuses, or other BS. He was very direct with his questions also, I like that. He had many students who did and still do very well in the sport of GS. And to top it off...he has well over 30 years of training experience in GS alone!!! Needless to say, this sounded like my kind of coach. The only problem was he lives in Greece, I live in the states. Where there's a will there's a way. If you really want to train with a particular coach, whether they live in your state or even your country doesn't really matter. Between the Internet and phone calls, you can establish a relationship with a coach of your choosing. (This is how I have coached my own personal students from around the world for the last several years.) I am in constant contact with my coach in Greece. Sometimes it's a phone call once a week. Sometimes it's a phone call every day for several weeks. Using the technique I just described. I have seen my personal numbers in GS increase dramatically. With the advent of the internet, an athlete could be in one country, shoot a video of the lifting technique they are using, and send it to a coach in another country, for review. The modern athlete has very little excuses not to succeed if they choose to dedicate themselves to the sport of GS. Where to train Finding a location to train is different for everyone. In my case I am in a slightly different position than most GS athletes. Since I run a professional GS training facility in San Diego, California (The Russian Kettlebell academy), I have access to every possible weight that is available to an athlete. While this makes consistent training easier, I do have other distractions to deal with being a business owner. The best possible location for an up-and-coming GS athlete training would be a location that has access to the needed equipment. I refer, of course, to at least three different weights of Giri (kettlebells). Those weights being 16KG, 24KG, and of course 32KG. While this is a great start, additional equipment should be readily available to the athlete. You need much more than just proper weight kettlebells. Access to barbells as well as a squat rack would be ideal. This equipment access would be enough t o train professionally for GS. Related Topics :: Training Dmitri Sataev, is the founder and President of USGSF.com and has 30+ years (15 years in Russia and over 15 years in the US) of experience as a trainer and coach. Dmitri Sataev is currently ranked as MSIL (Master of Sport International Level) - Division 44-49yrs, 24kg in girevoy sport also known as GS. He trains members of law enforcement,public safety as well as elite members of military special forces in the fitness use of Russian kettlebells
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