Blog
Five Buccaneers, One Off-Season: How A Grand Haven Group Chose to Get Better
Steele Wharton-Bickley, KV Korenstra, Tanner Wolff, Easton Hintz, and Grayam Beyer didn’t have to train at PowerStrength.
This isn’t a team-mandated session — it’s five Grand Haven football players who chose a program with a track record of taking athletes to the next level, and put in the work all off-season to prove it.
Here’s what that off-season has looked like.
THE START
For each of these five, the decision to walk through the door started the same way: someone they trusted told them it was worth it.
Steele was the first of this group to get started.
“I was actually deciding if I should go to another training place or PowerStrength,” he said. “I talked to a trainer at our school, and he’s like, ‘go to PowerStrength.'”
From there, Steele started bringing more of his Grand Haven teammates in with him.
“So many Grand Haven kids have been going here now, which is really cool,” he said. “It builds our program.”
KV followed close behind, starting before his junior season. His transformation was previously featured in Game-Changing Off-Season — read how his early work at PowerStrength set the foundation for the growth he’s continued to build
For Grayam, the timing was different — he came to PowerStrength while recovering from a broken leg.
“I was trying to dunk, and I came down and snapped it in half during practice,” he said.
What followed was a full return to form, and then some.
Eventually, Easton joined his buddies at PowerStrength too.
“I had multiple of my teammates — Steele, KV — they both came up to me and said, ‘you need to come here, it’s game-changing,'” Easton said.
THE WORK
Every athlete who talked about training elsewhere said the same thing: PowerStrength is a different level of intensity.
Tanner thought he already had it figured out.
“I thought I trained hard by myself. I think I decently do,” he said. “But it was totally different. Coming here, you can’t lay off — you’ve got to grind.”
Easton noticed it right away.
“We work hard at our own high school lifts, but it’s just a different level here,” he said.
KV has watched the training evolve as he’s built experience in the program.
“Last year was kind of like a precursor — getting us used to the program,” he said. “Now it’s full go. We’re going to get you as big as possible, as fast as possible, along with explosiveness and all that fun stuff.”
THE TRANSFORMATION
The results show up across the board — in speed, strength, and size.
Grayam’s numbers tell the story of his comeback. His 40-yard dash went from a 4.9 to a 4.6 in a single year. His vertical jumped from 24 inches to 32. He’s added 25 pounds of lean muscle, working off an eating plan from his PowerStrength coaches.
“It’s helped me gain a lot of weight, even during basketball season last year — which doesn’t happen a whole lot,” he said.
Steele has seen the same kind of jump. His bench press went from 225 pounds in December to 290. His squat climbed from 385 to 475.
“Everything’s just been going up ever since,” he said.
Easton’s gains came just as fast, even in a short window.
“My bench started to get a little stronger. My vert went up an inch. My broad jump went up a couple inches, and I shaved time off my ten-second sprint,” he said — all inside his first month.
THE PROOF ON THE FIELD
For these five, strength in the weight room has translated directly to performance in pads.
“I feel way more explosive,” Grayam said, reflecting on how the work has shown up this summer.
Tanner has felt the same jump in his game.
“I feel a lot more explosive sprinting, cutting, broad jumps, vertical jumps,” he said. “I feel like I’m finishing a lot quicker than I did before. I’m always in the top few.”
For Easton, the change has been just as much about confidence as it has been about numbers.
“You don’t have to think, ‘if I take a hit, this is going to happen,’ because you know you’ve been working hard enough to be fine,” he said.
WHAT MAKES POWERSTRENGTH DIFFERENT
Ask any of these guys what sets this program apart, and the answer keeps coming back to the same thing: the coaching is personal.
“The coaches are great people — they work with you on everything,” Grayam said. “They personalize it to you, your sport, your abilities.”
KV has felt that individual attention built over time.
“With the trainers personally knowing us and personally knowing our strengths, it’s like they’re training more intensely, focusing on things we need specifically,” he said.
Steele put it simply: “It’s a great environment. It’s a family. The coaches really care.”
TEAM CHEMISTRY
With five — and counting — Grand Haven Varsity football athletes training together, the benefit goes beyond any one individual’s numbers.
“Everything’s a competition for our athletes, and it builds trust,” KV said. “If I can trust them to work hard next to me here, I can trust them to work hard next to me on the field.”
Steele has watched that chemistry show up directly in games.
“You can see it on the field — the chemistry is just better through PowerStrength,” he said. “We work all better as a team.”
Easton agreed the group dynamic pushes everyone further.
“Seeing those people you know really well, seeing them really work hard — it pushes you to work hard as well,” he said.
ADVICE TO THE NEXT ATHLETE
Each of the five had a version of the same message for the next Grand Haven athlete considering PowerStrength: just show up.
“I tell him to just do it,” Tanner said, remembering his own hesitation before his first session. “I thought I was going to be good on my own — and then I started coming here, and I was like, I like this way more.”
“I always tell them to come,” Easton said, “because it’s such a good atmosphere. It’s really accepting, and no one’s going to judge you if you’re a new lifter.”
Asked to sum up what PowerStrength has meant to them, each athlete answered in his own words.
“PowerStrength is a family. It’s a great place to be,” Grayam said.
“I feel like it’s essential,” Tanner said. “Without it, I wouldn’t have been going nearly as hard, or getting as much better as I could have this summer.”
“PowerStrength is the community,” Easton said. “A bunch of people that are here to work hard, work hard together.”
And Steele, the one who started it all for this group: “PowerStrength is a place where you can go train your face off. And basically a family — where you can trust them and rely on them.”
WANT TO SEE BIG RESULTS?
3rd–12th grade athletes of all sports and ability levels can sign up at PowerStrength at any time throughout the year while spots remain. Choose the PowerStrength location most convenient for you — Alpine, Kentwood, Jenison, Plainfield, Holland, or Byron Center. Visit powerstrengthpro.com/athlete/contact/ to learn more or click below to schedule your assessment and get started.