This idea has been stirring in my mind for a while, but it finally
came into better focus the other day while watching a client do a
working set of bench press. The bar moved well, the reps looked
solid, and I didn’t cue her at all. At the end of the set she
racked the bar and said, “That wasn’t very good.” Or something
close to that.
My first reaction –
like most coaches – was to jump in with a list of all the things
she was doing right: bar path, leg drive, touch point, tightness, the
whole checklist. Instead, I paused and simply asked:
“What do you mean?”
Her answer had nothing to do with technique. A few weeks back she had
benched 90 lbs, and today her top set was 80. She’d been away for a
week, so the 80 felt heavier than she expected. Her evaluation of the
working set had almost nothing to do with what I had just seen.
And that moment made me
wonder: How often are we giving athletes feedback that isn’t
actually helpful to them? Or worse—feedback that’s about our
perception, not theirs? This is where asking
better questions becomes a powerful tool for strength coaches.
Why
Questions Matter More Than We Think
Most coaches only ask
two or three basic questions:
“How did that feel?”
“What did you think
of that set?”
There’s nothing wrong
with these, but they often don’t get the client thinking deeply
about what actually happened. And most of us, if we’re being
honest, tend to follow up their answer by telling them everything we
saw.
Strength coaching is built on direct instruction. People come to a
Starting Strength Gym to learn the lifts correctly. They want to be
taught. They want cues. They’re paying for expertise. But within
that reality, there are many moments where a well-timed question gets
the message across better than another round of technical
explanation. A question invites the client to notice something – to
become part of the coaching process instead of just
receiving it. That’s here
Discovery and Guided Questions (DGQs) come in.
What
Is a Discovery/Guided Question?
A DGQ is a purposeful,
open-ended question that directs the lifter’s attention toward
something specific without you giving the answer away. The point
isn’t to quiz them. The point isn’t to make them guess what
you’re thinking. The point is to nudge their attention toward a
detail that matters. A good DGQ helps the client:
- Recognize patterns.
- Reflect on their own
movement. - Connect feel with
mechanics. - Make corrections that
“stick.”
The question aligns
their perception with reality, keeps your feedback on target, and can
reveal things you didn’t see. Instead of you telling them, they
arrive at the insight themselves – or at least get close.
When
to Use Instruction and When to Use a DGQ
This is the dance. Direct instruction is best when:
- You’re teaching a
lift for the first time. - Safety requires an
immediate correction. - The lifter is new and
overwhelmed. - Load is high and you
need a quick fix.
DGQs are best when:
- The lifter already
understands the basics. - You’re refining
something subtle. - They’re making a
recurring mistake. - You want to build
self-awareness. - Their perception is
likely different than yours.
The magic is in
alternating between the two – coaching with the client
instead of at them.
Examples of Useful DGQs
Again, this isn’t a
giant list – just enough to illustrate the idea.
- Bench Press – “How
connected were you to the floor?” “What changed on the rep that
slowed down?” - Squat – “What did
your knees do on the way down?” “How balanced did you feel at the
bottom?” - Deadlift – “What
did you like about that pull?” “What happened with the bar on the
way up?”
These questions help
the lifter talk about what they experienced, not just what you
observed.
The
Three Types of Answers You’ll Get
After asking a DGQ, clients tend to respond in one of three ways:
- “I don’t know.”
Totally fine. This is where you reassure them: “That’s why you
pay me,” or “No worries, this is a small tweak.” Then give the
cue you were going to give anyway. - They comment on
something you didn’t see. Example: They think their hips shot up,
but they didn’t. If you didn’t see it, say so: “I didn’t
catch that, but I’ll watch for it next time.” Then address what
you noticed. If you did see it, stick with their perception. No need
to redirect them to what you originally planned. - They comment on
exactly what you hoped they’d notice. This is ideal, and now you
can reinforce, refine, or elaborate. In this scenario you’ve done
your job without giving them the answer first.
Common
Mistakes Coaches Make When Asking Questions
Even with good
intentions, coaches can easily fall into a few traps when they start
using DGQs. Here are some of the most common ones to watch for:
- Asking questions that
are really instructions. - Fishing for one
“correct” answer. - Asking questions the
lifter has no chance of answering. - Using too many
questions at once. - Asking a question
mid-set. - Treating “I don’t
know” like a wrong answer.
The goal is clarity,
not confusion.
How
This Makes Athletes Better Over Time
The long-term benefit
of DGQs isn’t about that single rep or that single set. It’s
this: clients start evaluating their own reps before you even say
anything. You’ll see it happen when they rack the bar, pause for
half a second, and then tell you exactly what happened. They start
noticing their balance, their bar path, their knees, their grip,
their position. They develop a vocabulary for their own lifting. They
become self-sufficient. They become better training partners. They
become more confident and less anxious about mistakes. And coaching
becomes more collaborative – less about “fixing” and more about
guiding.
The
Role of the Coach Changes Too
When you start asking
better questions, you learn things too:
- You discover what the
client thinks is happening. - You understand what
cues stick. - You hear how they
describe their own movement. - You get insight into
how they process difficulty, fatigue, and fear. - You become more
precise.
You talk less and listen more.
And your coaching
improves as a result.
Direct instruction has
its place. A big place. People come to a strength training gym to be
taught. But coaching is more than giving cues; it’s helping people
understand their own movement. Questions – good questions –
invite the client into the process. They make coaching a dialogue
instead of a monologue.
And they often reveal
more than another round of technical explanation could ever correct.
So next time a client finishes a set and says, “That wasn’t very
good,” pause before launching into your list of corrections. Try
this instead: “What do you mean?” You might be surprised by what
you learn.
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