SURGE Strength allows Dryland Coaches the ability to Become SSDC. And your next opportunity is just a few weeks away! Open Enrollment to Become SSDC is quickly approach.
OPEN ENROLLMENT TO BECOME SSDC WILL BEGIN MONDAY, MAY 1ST AND CONTINUE THROUGH THURSDAY, MAY 4TH.
Be sure to Join the Waitlist to Become SSDC so you won’t miss out. As more swim coaches and dryland trainers are becoming SSDC, the team at SURGE Strength is seeing an interesting trend in WHO is becoming certified. What we’re seeing is that people come from ALL levels of educational background.
Physical Therapist or an Athletic Trainer in their past careers are Becoming SURGE Strength Dryland Certified (SSDC).
Coaches who have a degree in Exercise Science are Becoming SSDC.
And we have coaches whose only formal knowledge of dryland is the work that they did as a swimmer themselves that are Becoming SSDC.
Regardless of educational level, the goal of taking the certification is the same: to gain swim-specific knowledge in order to catapult their athletes to higher levels of the sport. As a swim or dryland coach, you have a unique and challenging job. Biomechanics classify swimming as an overhead sport, but it’s still very different than most other physical activity. It’s one of the few sports conducted in the water. Furthermore, swimming is a non-contact sport. Yet, it still has one of the highest rates of injury.
Becoming SURGE Strength Dryland Certified Gives Swimming Specific Info that is Tough to Find
In order to coach swimming or dryland well, a coach must know the science behind the sport of swimming. More importantly, they need to know how to work with swimmers. Whether you have been a swimmer most of your life or have never personally been involved in this unique sport, an exercise science degree is not going to perfectly translate to the swimming world. Yes, your college degree is essential for acquiring fundamental knowledge about the body, muscles and systems. However, most college programs do not offer practical, tangible advice when it comes to specifically working with swimmers. In addition, credentials such as the NASM Personal training certification, or even the NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) don’t specifically address swimming.
As exercise science professionals who have worked with swimmers for decades, we see the gap of information between exercise science principles and dryland application. Therefore, we created the SURGE Strength Dryland Certification course. Due to the nature of this course, it is arguably even more valuable to health and fitness professionals than to a novice coach. The principles inside of this course reinforce what you learned in school and apply them directly to your job as a dryland coach. Therefore, coaches who already have a background in exercise science can use the tools inside the SURGE Strength Dryland Certification Curriculum to their advantage. Below, we break down our favorite aspects of a coach becoming SSDC and explain the top 3 benefits from this outstanding continuing education course.
1) Dryland Coaches are Becoming SSDC to Learn Swim-Specific Application of Movement
Even after 4 years of learning about movement, you still won’t have learned which exercises are best for swimmers specifically. While it’s true that there are no one-size-fits-all exercises for swimmers, we help you develop a coach’s eye for swimming. Likewise, we unpack which types of movement benefit swimmers the most and why. Additionally, we explain how to relate the exercises back to your athletes in a way a swimmer understands. As a coach, you get to decide which individual exercises are best for your team. However, we give you a variety of options for each dryland principle within the sport of swimming. Listen below to hear athletic trainer, Josh Gregory, explain what he loves about the swim-specific approach of SSDC.
2) Dryland Coaches are Becoming SSDC to Learn More Coaching Strategies
Most classes and certifications are great for providing science-based exercise programming. However, many of these certifications leave out the coaching piece. You can have an excellent dryland program on paper, but it only works if it’s coached well. Becoming SSDC provides you with coaching strategies that you can immediately apply to the weight room or pool deck. Tune in below to hear Chris, founder of SURGE Strength, talk about swimmer archetypes and how to coach to each swimmer’s personality:
3) Dryland Coaches are Becoming SSDC to Learn How to Scale Dryland Season, Weekly, & Daily Plans
Most exercise science graduates understand the importance of a periodized plan, but in order to see long term benefit from an exercise program, each day must have small goals that add up to big results. This means that the dryland sessions at the beginning of the season look different than the sessions towards the end of the season. Furthermore, workouts are not randomly thrown together.
Once you decide which exercises you want to put into your plan, you need to organize them. Becoming SSDC educates coaches on when and how to conduct dryland around swim practice and around the swim season. This way, you get a better picture of how a swim season should flow together as a whole. Oftentimes, personal trainers, strength coaches, and athletic trainers are specifically left with little to no context around the swimmers’ training. This course gives dryland coaches better context and direction for their dryland plan. Lastly, it helps them understand where the swim coach is coming from if they are less familiar with the swim coaching perspective. When a coach becomes SSDC, you’ll learn how to mesh the swim training plan with the dryland training plan in order to maximize recovery in your athletes.
- One of the weekly plan examples for a collegiate dryland program in the SURGE Strength Dryland Certification Curriculum
You Should Consider Becoming SSDC Too!
As dryland coaches and exercise science professionals today, we understand what it is to start building this crucial knowledge base from zero. We understand the time and energy that goes into applying evidence-based information into a practical exercise program, and we can see both ends of the pendulum. There are dryland coaches out there who are only incorporating isolated shoulder pre-hab into their program with no functional athletic movement. On the other extreme, there are some coaches conducting cardio-based bootcamp during dryland. We are here to cut through the noise and bring dryland coaches an approach that works across the spectrum. We give you tools, plans, and movement principals with your swimmers in mind.
LEARN ABOUT BECOMING SSDC
MORE RESOURCES FROM SURGE STRENGTH:
ENROLL IN A DRYLAND 101 COURSE FOR FREE
GET STARTED WITH A DRYLAND PROGRAM
The goal of SURGE Strength is simple:
BUILD BETTER ATHLETES
GENERATE FASTER SWIMMERS
Courtesy of SwimSwam’s exclusive dryland training partner, SURGE Strength.
SURGE Strength is swim-specific, strength training by Chris Ritter. SURGE Strength builds better athletes and faster swimmers through Dryland Programs, Courses and Certification.