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 »
In typical programming, we want to start using light weights or bodyweight as the maximal intensity. This makes sense in certain aspects of training, especially for strength training. We can gain great performance in lateral speed development by loading early and reducing load later in the training phase. When placing a band around an athlete
Load Early to Maximize Lateral Speed Read More »
How to Determine If Your Drills Pass the Litmus Test I attended the regional track and field championship for girls in Indiana last year. One of my favorite things to do is watch the athletes warm up and prepare for their event, especially the sprinters, hurdlers, and jumpers. By watching, I can tell a lot
Does Your Drill Past the Test? Read More »
What do I mean by “play in the tunnel” when moving laterally? This is my cue to remind athletes of the height I want them to move in laterally. When working with athletes on lateral shuffle technique the focus is to have them always stay low and push away- not to rise up and down.
Playing in the Tunnel Read More »
I AM… I am known as a Naturalist Speed Coach. I take what the body shows me, tighten it up where needed and let it go. I then make corrections as the athletes show me they need it. This brings up a point…. My Teaching Style… My teaching style of many skills as an encouraging
Lateral Shuffle Drills The exercises below are great for building lateral shuffle motor programming. 1. Resisted Step Outs- Band on lower leg (leg furthest from attachment) – aggressively step out with just the furthest leg. This trains the inside leg to create positive push off angles and how to use the hips to create lateral
Segmental Training for the Lateral Shuffle Read More »
Do You Want Success Or To Have It Your Way? Oftentimes, coaches get caught up in having everything done their way. They have no flexibility or willingness to allow their athletes to do things differently. This can become an issue on a team, especially when the athlete is correct. Let’s take a minute and examine
Coaching Skills – Execution and Success Read More »
Here is an example of how to segment and progress an acceleration program. Acceleration Program Outline The chart below outlines the different linear acceleration phases and gives some examples of exercises in that phase. As you can see, I always start by teaching and developing the pattern. Next, I increase force production of that pattern
Linear Acceleration Progression Read More »
