Advanced Performance Training

When it comes to training athletes so many things have to be taken into consideration. Basic training techniques that have been used over the years have gone by the wayside as times have changed. 

 Players and teams are so much more advanced than before that we as coaches and performance experts have to take a look into techniques that will give our athletes an edge and advantage over the competition at every level as well as what I feel is most important and that’s reduce the likelihood of developing a history of injuries. 

Athletes now are training much more than before but are they training harder or smarter? 

On a basic level we pool athletes from high numbers at the grade school level to smaller number at the high school level then down lower to the college level and club level. 

How do we get a good athlete from point A to point E then giving them every opportunity to succeed without either burning them out or them getting hurt.

 First as always assess the athlete’s functional movements and capacity to move for the given sport that athlete participates in or is showing promise in. 

 Design a well laid out plan to address the needs of biomechanically breaking down the imbalances and rebuilding the movement patterns with balance and joint stability, strength, and core stabilization. 

 Add in muscular endurance and flexibility and we can begin the process.  

 Now once these areas are addressed we can take this a step further and as advanced professionals we can take a long hard look at the sport they are participating in and study the movements that allow the athletes to succeed.

HOW IS THIS DONE?

My approach to this starts with an initial discussion with the parents and or coaches about the sport and commitment level at which the athlete is at.  

 Then we discuss the position in the sport the athlete currently plays as that determines specific movements patterns for that individual.  At this point we do a complete health history and go over all the factors before we do any type of exercise or evaluation procedures. 

 This gives me a baseline and idea on what the health and fitness level of the athlete is as well as I then am determining things such as posture without the athlete knowing by using nonverbal communication skills to determine this.  Once completed the fun part begins.

Having my wife a part of the business allows me to utilize her talents as a professional photographer as I have set my assessment to each athlete and each sport special to this. My wife’s separate business is in the same building called Kellwood Studio Photography.  

 What we do is take the athlete and the parent into the workout room and put them through a battery of skills and movements designed for the sport they participate in and photograph them from different angles and from different levels.

Then we upload the photos onto a large TV in the studio and begin to analyze the strong points of the athlete and address the weak points of them.  Instant feedback is so important to athletes as they want to know everything about what’s going on.

Now this gives us an opportunity to look at a detailed view and begin to make corrections on the form and movements of the athlete and have them and the parent see first hand what we see.  Then after all this the design of the specific program for that athlete is put together.

This way in my professional opinion I can address the problem areas of each athlete specific for him or her and only them solely based on what they do for their sport.

Each and every athlete has basic needs but each also has needs that have to be taken care of now so injuries do not pop up later or that the performance of that athlete is far superior quicker without having to train harder.

No two athletes workout program should ever be the same unless they have the same needs, and only an assessment can determine that that is detailed and well thought out.  Is really neat to see the progress over time as the athlete takes the photo disc home and I require them to view it from time to time to check the progress.

 This also gives me an opportunity to see if there are problem areas that if I can not address and I will refer them out to qualified people in the industry for such things as podiatric evaluations, (Advanced Foot and Ankle) properly fitted running shoes, (Dick Pond) chiropractic care, (Optimum Health).  In addition to this if I need advanced video work done to view in game movements I rely on Weidscreen Productions for this work. I have a great referral network at hand so I will always count on those people to handle issues that arise.

All these kids are putting so many hours into sports these days, why not work specifically towards a goal of training smarter not harder and without risking the potential for injury and having the athlete burnout too soon.