30 Jul Jett Jackson Part 1: Identifying the Potential
Article Rundown
- Jett showed exceptional natural strength and powerlifting potential at only 17 years old.
- His biggest weakness was a lack of core stability, proper bracing, and technical consistency.
- Brian rebuilt his squat, bench press, and deadlift around Jett’s individual structure.
- The priority was building a durable foundation before allowing his strength to progress too quickly.
Identifying the Potential
Last August, I received a message from a father named Jason Jackson about his 17-year-old son, Jett. Like many fathers, Jason believed his son had serious athletic potential. I have heard that story plenty of times over the years. Someone reaches out and tells me their son is the next big thing, and sometimes the reality does not match the description. However, you cannot become so jaded that you dismiss every young athlete before seeing them for yourself. In Jett’s case, his father was right.
The Initial Assessment
Before I give anyone a definitive opinion, I need to assess them myself. I do not simply take someone’s word for how strong, talented, or athletic they are. Jett came to PowerRackStrength HQ for a four-hour assessment. He had experience with Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and football, but his training lacked a clear direction. He had received some coaching, but it was not specific enough to his structure, abilities, or long-term goals.
The assessment started with the eye test. How does the athlete carry himself? How is he built? How does he move? What does his posture look like? Immediately, I noticed that Jett had the joint structure and muscular build of someone who was well suited for powerlifting. He had thick ankles, knees, hips, shoulders, and a strong neck. At only 17 years old, he already possessed many physical characteristics that cannot be coached.
When I asked what he truly wanted, we eventually narrowed it down. He wanted to become as strong as possible, compete in powerlifting, and podium or win at the state level before graduating high school. That gave us direction.
Gifted, but Missing the Foundation
Jett was neurologically and physically gifted. He was explosive, strong, and naturally powerful. The problem was that he had almost no ability to stabilize or properly stiffen his core. During the assessment, he could barely hold a side plank without shaking. Like many lifters who come through my gym, he had never been taught how to train his core correctly or create the stiffness necessary to transfer power through the body.
His squat videos showed his knees collapsing and his torso buckling under heavy weight. His bench press had gone backward after he overtrained it and destroyed his confidence. His deadlift setup lacked any type of wedge, tension, or intention. He was simply reaching down and picking the bar up. He was strong enough to overcome poor technique, but that approach was not going to work forever.
Rebuilding the Squat
We began by identifying the squat stance that best matched his structure. We brought his stance in slightly and kept him in weightlifting shoes because he was naturally built to use a rebound, power-dip style of squat. Before putting a barbell on his back, we started with the goblet squat.
I taught him how to lock his lats down, pull his rib cage into position, stiffen his core, open his knees, and create full-body tension. Once he could demonstrate those positions with the goblet squat, we moved to the barbell. We also addressed some thoracic and shoulder mobility limitations so he could properly position himself under the bar.
The goal was to make his squat look like a standing leg press. He could remain relatively upright, open his knees, sit into the movement, and then drive aggressively out of the hole without losing his upper-body position.
Restoring His Bench Press Confidence
The bench press was the lift that had affected Jett the most mentally. At one point, he had benched around 320 pounds, but the lift was rapidly declining. He had trained it too frequently and too aggressively, which left him physically fatigued and mentally defeated. He needed a complete reset.
We established a repeatable setup by placing his eyes directly under the bar, setting his feet, wedging his upper back into the bench, stiffening the core, and using the lats to bend the bar. Once he had a setup he could reproduce every time, his confidence began to return. Confidence is not built through motivational speeches. It is built by giving the athlete a system they can execute successfully over and over again.
Finding the Right Deadlift
We approached the deadlift by first assessing his movement with a dowel and an unloaded bar. Based on his structure, arm length, hip configuration, and quad size, it became clear that sumo was not going to be his best option. Conventional deadlifting suited him much better.
From there, I began teaching him the lifter’s wedge. Previously, Jett would simply drop down, grab the bar, and pull. There was no tension, no connection to the bar, and no understanding of how to place himself into the correct starting position. The strength was already there. We just needed to teach him how to use it.
Potential Must Be Earned
At the end of the assessment, I gave Jason and Jett my honest opinion. Jett was an outlier. He had exceptional potential, but that potential also came with risk. If we allowed him to chase strength too quickly without developing his core, tendons, ligaments, bones, technique, and overall foundation, he could become stronger than his body was prepared to handle.
The goal was not to see how quickly we could load the bar. The goal was to build a foundation that would allow him to continue progressing for years. I gave Jett his initial plan, but I was not going to invest more effort than he was willing to invest himself. I needed to see whether he would listen, follow the program, and apply the changes we had discussed. He did exactly that.
In part two, I will break down the offseason work, the programming changes, and the small technical adjustments that helped Jett make significant progress heading into his competitive season.
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