CHARLESTON, S.C. - The College of Charleston athletic department has a commitment to all areas of development for their athletes. One of these areas is strength and conditioning.

For an inside look into what a sport performance workout is like for the men's golf team click here.

We also sat down with Steve Bamel, Director of Sport Performance, who among other teams works with the men's golf team.  Bamel has experience in high school, college, minor league baseball and worked at the Olympic Training Center.

Steve Bamel's Background

• Undergraduate degree in English and Education from the State University of New York at Albany, where he played soccer and lacrosse
• Master's degree in exercise and sport science from Florida International University
• Minor league strength coach with Minnesota Twins
• Director at the Hardball Baseball Training Academy in Miami, Fla.
• Head strength coach at Coral Shores High School in Key Largo, Fla.
• Senior strength and conditioning coach at James Madison University
• Strength and Conditioning Coordinator at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif
• Director of Sport Performance at the College of Charleston

Question: What is your favorite part about working at the College of Charleston?

Answer: "I love the college atmosphere more than anything. When I came here to visit I loved the atmosphere and vision of the administration as well as the coaches. Everyone wanted to win and win the right way, and wanted strength and conditioning to be a big part of that."

Q: What do you like about working with the golf team?

A: "With the golf team it starts at the top. Mark McEntire, the head coach is very good and easy to work with. We talk about what the guys need and where he wants them to be. Then it moves down to the players. They understand why we are doing what we are doing and how it is going to benefit them and their golf game. They come in here with great attitudes and work very hard."

Q: Talk about the training program with golf and how it benefits them?

A: "At different times of the year we focus on different things as far as training goes. It's pretty steady as far as the two weight lifting sessions a week. It's always some strength using some core exercises. We do bench press, squat, dead lift and military press.

The benefits of those exercises and increasing the strength and overall body strength are things that can really help them as golfers. We also do some anaerobic conditioning after those exercises. In the off-season on our non-lifting days we focus more on aerobic conditioning and heart rate training, getting them to be able to control their heart rate. This helps so when they are walking 18 or 36 in a tournament they can control their heart rate when it's time to set up for a shot."

Q: What is your favorite sport to participate in?

A: "Right now I train Jujutsu as many days a week as I can, so that's my main hobby as a sport. I also do weight training and conditioning. I played soccer and lacrosse in college. In my free time I try to get away from those sports and do my martial arts."

Q: How would you evaluate the program at the College of Charleston?

A: "Everything that we are doing here, from the training aspect, nutrition, restoration and recovery, integration with sport psychology, sports medicine, academics, everything that we are doing here is top notch and top of the line. No one is doing anything more for their athletes than we are doing here. We have a great staff and great people, very humble people that know that they are doing a good job, but still want to get better. What we do here is that we keep the athlete at the center of our attention. I say it all the time I'm always thinking about how I can do more for the athlete every single day.