These athletes are using BFS to succeed in the fastest sport on two feet
wo years ago Duey Weimer took over the girls lacrosse program at Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School in central New York. This area of the country is considered a hotbed of lacrosse, and unfortunately the school’s first season three years ago ended with zero wins. But with a positive attitude and sound conditioning program, head coach Weimer is confident his Red Devils will soon be hot stuff. “The team’s progress isn’t necessarily shown in their record. Last year’s Taverage point differential was seven points; this year the team won three games and the differential was just two points,” says Weimer.
“Our players are competing against teams with years of experience versus months of experience for us; however, our girls’ athleticism continues to improve along with stick skills!” What made a big difference was BFS. “We began using BFS last year, and fully integrated the Beat the Computer program this year,” says Weimer. “Our players have totally bought in; they work hard and intensely in the weightroom, strive for as many personal victories as possible, and desire to improve during the off-season.” Weimer’s success comes from coaching girls sports as closely as possible to the way he coaches boys sports.
“Physically there is little difference in the way you train boys and girls, although with girls you worry about their ACLs so you need to do a few JULY/AUGUST 2012 special things in the weightroom to prevent this type of injury. I’ve found that the girls are just as receptive as the boys to the high-energy coaching approach I used when I coached football.” VVS has two main weightrooms, and although it often works out that the boys and girls train in separate rooms or at separate times, Weimer says they all do the same lifts and follow the principles of the Six Absolutes.
Weimer says that the system works smoothly and that the girls don’t have a misconception that lifting weights will make them bulky. Weimer says he explained to the girls the myths of weight training, “and they found that although they were training like the boys, they were getting different results in terms of physical development.”
Taking the Field If there is a single word to describe what Coach Weimer feels about lacrosse, it’s “energetic.” “They say lacrosse is the fastest game on two feet, and you really don’t realize that until you play it. It’s an up-tempo game, extremely similar to basketball, soccer and field hockey, and it can get very physical – so you need strength, speed and endurance. I’ve found it to be one of the most enjoyable and mentally challenging sports to coach because there is a plethora of new and innovative schemes and strategies involved, compared to sports such as football and basketball with their long documented histories, so it’s difficult for other teams to scout you.
And you come up with new ideas every day.” Weimer believes that one of the problems that many coaches make is believing that lacrosse is primarily an aerobic sport. “There is an aerobic component, so we work that into our daily drills and individual work, but The Red Devils compete in central New York, a hotbed of lacrosse. even with that it’s more of an interval type of workout.” With that exception, Weimer follows all aspects of the BFS program, and he guides the athletes in the weightroom with the Beat the Computer program. One special aspect of Weimer’s program is what he calls “victories for motivation.”
From everything to being the first one out on the practice field to adding another rep to max weight in the bench press, Weimer and his coaching staff acknowledge every aspect of success. “Even with our stretching program if we see an athlete doing a specific exercise exceptionally well, we yell out to them a victory – last season our girls earned about 9,400 victories as a team.” Weimer learned about the BFS program from his college roommate and says, “He told me how he did it in high school and saw good results. So I looked into it, read the book, and one day decided to drive to Fitchburg, Massachusetts, and take a BFS certification.”
One thing the seminar reinforced to Coach Weimer was the idea that all teams have exceptional athletes who essentially cancel each other out, so one of the best ways to achieve success in team sports is to work on developing the average athletes. “When I took over this program, we had a lot of average athletes, but they are not average anymore – all our players can hold their ground in a defensive stance and keep up with the speed of the game. We’re a young program, and our opponents are recognizing our potential already – we owe a lot of that success to the BFS program!”
Coach Weimer follows all aspects of the BFS program, and encourages his athletes to set personal records every workout.
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From BFS Magazine — July/August 2012. Part of the BFS Magazine Archive (1980–2014).
