You have an athlete that repeatedly falls out of control with her body every time she does a shuffle change of direction or a shuttle run change of direction. As she plants her outside foot to change the direction, her shoulders rotate toward the plant leg, and she shifts her upper body in that direction […]
What Would You Do? Read More »
Isn’t it funny how we typically look at the feet, legs, and hips when we talk about speed and ignore the upper body, arms, and especially the head and eyes? I’m not going to talk about the upper body (arms, thorax, core…); however, I will dive into the influence of the head and eyes. When
Head and Eyes For Speed Read More »
I can’t tell you how much I love watching old clips of the great lateral movers in sports- Barry Sanders, Roger Federer, Steffi Graff, Mia Hamm… Of course, I love watching today’s younger athletes, as well! The ability to create space for themselves or get to the ball quickly with one or two quick lateral
Coaching Lateral Speed Read More »
Sprinting and Muhammad Ali Have One Thing In Common… Have you ever had the chance to stand next to a great sprinter and watch him or her strike the ground? It is quite remarkable. The grace at which they do it, and the power that comes from it is what makes them great sprinters. While
Sprinting and Muhammad Ali Read More »
I often see coaches having their athletes perform “Quickness” drills for way too long. And, they wonder why their athletes don’t “develop explosive laser-like speed.” Simple drills, such as line drills, dot drills, ladder drills, box drills, etc., are excellent ways to train the neuromuscular system to adapt to faster speeds. The proprioceptive system learns
How to Decide the Length of a Drill Read More »
Thoughts on Program Design Here are my thoughts on program design. Please understand these thoughts are not standards, but simply additional concepts that can make your programming more thoughtful. Remember, training is not just a science; it is an art. Program design may be the single most important area when it comes to training athletes.
A Different Look at Programming Read More »
How often do we see athletes performing running arm drills in positions inconsistent with arm action during acceleration or max velocity? Actually, quite a bit. The problem is, we have been taught wrong from the get-go. How many times have you heard “arms should always be at 90 degrees”? I am here to tell you
Know your “stuff” before you preach it and teach it! I just watched a performance coach, on video, teach three different areas of deceleration. I can honestly say, he went zero for three. The bottom line is you have to understand laws of movement and stop trying to change human movement to look pretty in
Understand the Laws of Movement Read More »
This is a topic that has been hot for years… Why should kids play at the park, or with friends, in an unorganized play structure versus having all their sports and activities organized by a coach? Have you ever watched a 30 for 30 on ESPN or a documentary about star athletes? Without fail, it
Organized Versus Unorganized Play Read More »
I thought it would be fun to do a little challenge for the blog. Rather than writing on a topic, I want to ask you a question and get your thoughts. We often talk about being “functional” with our athletes to proprioceptively receive significant input into their bodies for better movement. We also know the
Challenging Yourself to Be a Better Coach Read More »
