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Creative Ways To Train Rotational Power

 Coach: Bill Miller

Baseball, golf, tennis, track & field…the list goes on and on of sports that rely heavily rotational power. It has been well-documented how important strength is for all athletic movement. After all, Power (Force/Time) requires Force in order to be displayed. The issue for many athletes and coaches may become the application of that strength through higher speed movements, especially in the right planes of motion. Rotational power (Transverse Plane) requires kinetic energy built up from the lower body and transferred to the upper body and through the hands.

Rotational movement pattern in most athletic scenarios:

  1. Static energy built up on rear leg
  2. Kinetic energy transfers through the front leg (front side bracing mechanic)
  3. Torque is created between the rotating pelvis and torso (hip/trunk separation)
  4. Energy is dispelled through the upper body as the torso and arms continue rotation

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6 great exercises you’re probably not doing

Coach: Bill Miller

I’m a washed up meat head ex-baseball player who loves to train. As lame as this sounds, one of the few advantages is that I get to experiment with my training on a very consistent basis without fear of failure. Sometimes these exercise experiments turn out awesome. Try these if you’re looking for something new to add to your training arsenal!

 

AntiRotational Sled Shuffles/Walks

This exercise is a real ass-kicker that will definitely expose your weaknesses. If you lack core stability, hip strength, knee or shoulder stability, the sled won’t budge a whole lot. All these areas are extremely important for an athlete’s health and performance.

Tips

  • Take out all the slack in the tether before beginning the exercise. Start in a perfect position and don’t “yank” the sled.
  • Take your time. I’m often all for shuffling/lateral running with the sled as fast as possible, but this exercise is meant to be slow and controlled! Add weight if necessary to make it more difficult.
  • Keep a neutral spine. The initial response to get the sled to move is by leaning to the side with the torso. Don’t do that. Keep a perfect posture and engage the hips to allow the shuffle motion to move the sled.
  • Use it for conditioning when needed! This exercise is relatively low taxing on the spine. It’s also, as stated before, a real ass-kicker! It’s fairly simple to perform as well. For those reasons, I think it can fit into a conditioning circuit well.

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Hamstring Training

The need to train your hamstrings for both injury reduction and performance is near inarguable. They are one of the most common sites of injury in sport and typically one of the most the underdeveloped muscles. However, unlike the quads, which for the most part are monoarticulate (crossing one joint/expect the rectus femoris) the hamstrings are biarticulate (crossing two joins).

 

Because the hamstrings are biarticulate, their function is slightly different than that of their anterior counterpart, the quadriceps. In short, the hamstrings are primarily responsible for hip extension, knee flexion as well as isometric stiffness (for energy transfer). Isometric energy stiffness is obviously not a joint action, but it stems from the fact the hamstrings are not always primary movers and instead, act to transfer energy across the kinetic chain during sporting movements.

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The Passive Spring

Storing and utilizing elastic energy is not only an intrinsic neuromuscular quality, but a skill. It requires the proper tensioning and timing of strong structural and contractile properties, which in turn allows them to store and realize the kinetic forces acting upon the body during the amortization phase of the jump. In other words, proper skill and strength allows you to act more like a bouncy ball when you hit the ground and less like a sack of potatoes.

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Programming Application to Match Desired Adaptations

AUTHOR: MATT VAN DYKE 

Author’s Main Website: http://www.vandykestrength.com/

Every coach in the sports performance realm has likely heard the phrase “There are a million ways to skin a cat” in regards to implemented training. In all honesty this is not far from the truth. Depending on the athlete’s training age, almost any coach can get an athlete “strong”. It takes one with a deeper understanding of what is occurring within the athlete’s organism in order for performance to be increased to the greatest extent. The aim of this post is to force coaches to consider and implement training “concepts” or “primary goals”, rather than just a set, rep, or loading scheme.

 

As the internship coordinator, I have had the ability to ask countless applicants their processes of improving various aspects of performance through training, such as strength. Depending upon how well read the applicant may be, common answers range from set and rep schemes, weekly training set up, to even methodologies (triphasic, tier, 1×20, etc.). Based on the terminology of the question, all of these responses would be correct. As long as the loading scheme includes progressive overload and stresses the athlete being trained, any methodology has the potential to improve strength. However, when the applicant is asked to further explain their rationale behind implementing a methodology, more times than not their answers are unclear and spoken without much confidence. Please understand I am in no way knocking any applicant or intern that has gone through our application process, but this consistent finding exemplifies one of the bigger problems in our field. Too many coaches can spit out a set and rep scheme, use an intensity chart, or quote a system, while failing to understand the changes or adaptations being induced by the described training methodology. As coaches continue to develop a greater understanding of the human body, the more in-depth their training systems can become.

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Jump Height and Absolute Strength: An Indirect Relationship

 

One of the most commonly talked about topics in strength and conditioning is the role that maximal strength plays in performance and whether or not it is necessary.

Before I dive into this topic, let me get some of the confusion out of the way. Maximal strength is not only important for performance, but it is mandatory. Without some level of maximal strength, there is no way any effort of great power could ever be performed.

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How to Organize Plyometrics into Your Workout

 

AUTHOR : ALEXANDER BELL-MORATTO

 

Plyometrics are probably the most interesting part of athletes workouts. Or at least, the flashiest. It’s alluring to think that trying an advanced secret variation of an explosive jump that you saw on a youtube video of an MMA fighter (or professional dunker, or any other high level athlete) will morph you from Clark Kent into Superman.

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