Christian Woodford - Woodford SSC
- Thread starter mfcrox
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Haven't actually dealt with him, but from seeing some stuff he has posted on his page and various forums in the past as well as knowing people who know him he seems like a pretty good S + C coach.
pretty sure we're FB buddies of some description but i have about 4 million pt buddies i don't actually know...seems decent enough from what I've seen, doesn't put out a hell of a lot of content to get a huge feel for
To be honest all he does is talk about 'how much of a great coach' he is. Found him really aggressive and on himself. I did an intern program and it was crap at the end he told us all it would be the best career decision if we learned under his methods but had to work for him for free for like 6 months. Writes a lot of crap on FB but has got hardly any athletes. Also his gym is not good but he calls it world class. Would not recommend.
- Thread starter
- #5
Fair enough. I was a fan of what he was doing for the industry by making university qualified exercise scientists a known commodity and the like; however, I got really turned off when he started pumping the whole I'm 'trying to make a change in the industry', then launched the website to do 'this great change' under his own name.
"Let's make a change to the industry... visit www.christianwoodford.com". Umm, yeah sure. It just seems very 'me, me, me' to be honest. Not as industry focused as he is preaching to be.
Agreed. Unfortunate that so many of us (and I've spoken to 30 guys that I did the internship with) feel like it was a massive joke. Christian literally spends most sessions talking up how he is the leader of strength and conditioning in Australia and that his WSSC methods are the best in the world. Talks only about how he started his business and then wants everyone to work for free for him. A mate of mine did a different internship with another performance company and said it was amazing got to use the same facility as Melbourne Storm. Got a paid job at the end. Coaches there are really experienced and work with heaps of athletes. Wish I had known about it before contacting Woodford.
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- #8
Doesn't surprise me mate... never met him, but he does look to have a touch of the FIGJAMs about him in his Facebook videos
carlton1995
Draftee
- Oct 10, 2015
- 9
- 2
- AFL Club
- Carlton
jarredp is spot on. Christian is extremely self-absorbed and has this belief that because he owns a performance centre, his opinion will always be right (which he has publicly stated on his FB page). I will admit, he certainly has a good knowledge base in S&C. However, if you look at some of his recent posts he makes the stupid claim that cardio will lead to fat gain. When people responded disagreeing with him, he then responded in a very aggressive manner. He believes he's an expert in every aspect of Sport Science and shows no respect to others. I also know someone who did an Internship there... they left after 4 weeks because they could not stand him. If anyone is considering doing an internship at Woodford, do yourself a favour and find somewhere else.
Carlton1995 I have been contacted by heaps of students who did his internship and have all had the same negative experience - equivalent or worse than my own. I have now been in contact with dozens of ex-athletes and interns who all say the same thing.
Christian is an arrogant, agreasive tool who thinks he the 'authority' on S&C in Australia. He isn't. He spent a few months overseas in the college sector on an internship ( not unlike hundreds of other Aussie S&C coaches) and returned thinking he was the king. He isn't. Quite literally he only knows how to train one way- which is why I think he is so negative about styles of training he doesn't understand and/or can't get results in. When I questioned him during the internship, he was agreasive rather than offering any real answers. His ' facility' is a shed/warehouse, it is not a performance facility. Basically the feeling I got first hand from him is that he is completely self obsessed ( pretty obvious considering he named his shed after himself before developing any credible reputation), arrogant and doesn't have the wealth of knowledge he claims to have as he can't discuss things reasonably. Also and this was a big deal to me when doing the program. He doesn't have many athletes. He claims to but from what I saw they didn't really stick around. The 'pro's' he claims to train during the pre-season are also not actually trained by him at all. There are some AFL athletes using his gym but they are still doing their own Clubs programs. I feel his 'marketing' in this area is dishonest. There is so much more I could tell those in this thread and I hope more people read this to avoid being put through the same terrible experience.
Christian is an arrogant, agreasive tool who thinks he the 'authority' on S&C in Australia. He isn't. He spent a few months overseas in the college sector on an internship ( not unlike hundreds of other Aussie S&C coaches) and returned thinking he was the king. He isn't. Quite literally he only knows how to train one way- which is why I think he is so negative about styles of training he doesn't understand and/or can't get results in. When I questioned him during the internship, he was agreasive rather than offering any real answers. His ' facility' is a shed/warehouse, it is not a performance facility. Basically the feeling I got first hand from him is that he is completely self obsessed ( pretty obvious considering he named his shed after himself before developing any credible reputation), arrogant and doesn't have the wealth of knowledge he claims to have as he can't discuss things reasonably. Also and this was a big deal to me when doing the program. He doesn't have many athletes. He claims to but from what I saw they didn't really stick around. The 'pro's' he claims to train during the pre-season are also not actually trained by him at all. There are some AFL athletes using his gym but they are still doing their own Clubs programs. I feel his 'marketing' in this area is dishonest. There is so much more I could tell those in this thread and I hope more people read this to avoid being put through the same terrible experience.
carlton1995
Draftee
- Oct 10, 2015
- 9
- 2
- AFL Club
- Carlton
Spot on mate.
- Thread starter
- #12
I'm glad I'm not the only one who has this impression. When I started this thread, I was quite impartial to be honest, but as time has gone on things changed.
I've worked as a PT for 10yrs, and sports S&C the last 3-4yrs... so I found him a breath of fresh air initially and agreed with a lot (but not all) of his principles; however, it soon all became about 'CW, CW, CW'.
I lost all respect when he started his 'nation-wide change in the S&C field' and suddenly it was splashed with his own name. I agree with principle of trying to build and establish sports science in Australia, but not when it is based on the name of one bloke.
Sure, by all means start an S&C revolution... however, the field is so much bigger than you mate.
I've worked as a PT for 10yrs, and sports S&C the last 3-4yrs... so I found him a breath of fresh air initially and agreed with a lot (but not all) of his principles; however, it soon all became about 'CW, CW, CW'.
I lost all respect when he started his 'nation-wide change in the S&C field' and suddenly it was splashed with his own name. I agree with principle of trying to build and establish sports science in Australia, but not when it is based on the name of one bloke.
Sure, by all means start an S&C revolution... however, the field is so much bigger than you mate.
