The rehabilitation process is a very complex, multidimensional endeavor. It is extremely hard to determined when an athlete is truly ready to return to perform at their highest level. Despite the fact that psychologically they may be more than ready to return, their body may not permit it, or visa versa. There is no “best answer” to this problem. It is much more of a sliding scale (kind of and maybe) than it is binary (ready or not).

One aspect of return to play that is often overlooked in the sports performance world is the standardization of measurement. For example, strength coaches may use a series of physical performance tests to determine an athlete’s physical profile, while on the other hand an athletic trainer or a physical therapist may use a separate set of metrics. Now, this isn’t to say one metric is superior to the other, it is simply to point out that lack of standardization can make comparing before and after profiles quite difficult.

To solve this problem, open communication is the quickest answer. How many physical therapists (PTs) and athletic training (ATs) know an athlete’s max squat, 40 yard dash time, single leg vertical jump or yo-yo score prior to the injury? My guess not many… If the performance coach, who is responsible for the development of well, performance puts value into these metrics as an indicator success, then it might be wise for the athletic trainers and physical therapist to value these metrics as well. Now, the same can be said for the strength coach as well. If the ATs and PTs value certain metrics, maybe the performance coach should understand the significance of these metrics. We can sit here and debate all day as to which metrics we should value over others, however at the end of the day, it comes down to utility. Are these metrics easy to obtain and do we have the equipment for it? If so, how easy is it to use this equipment and how applicable is it in our given setting?

Continue reading “The Power Of Jump Metrics”

Attached in the link below is the G-Flight user manual for the beta versions. The final will be similar, but wireless

 

G-Flight User Manual (beta)

G-Flight

(Find It Here http://www.exsurgo.us/gshop/)

The G-Flight is a portable, affordable, accurate jump height measuring device. It can measure jump height (time in air), ground contact time (GCT), and reactive strength index (RSI).

 

 

Continue reading “G-Flight”

Warm Up

5 minutes of active mobility (Your choice)

Target Areas

• Ankles
• Hips
• Spinal Articulations
• Single and Double Leg

5 minutes of dynamic prep

• Walking lunge and twist
• Low level 2 foot hops
• Lateral lunge and step
• Low level skips
• Straight leg skips
• 3 40 yard build ups 60,70, and 85%

Plyo Prep

• 3 in place max vertical jumps (repeated jumps) x 2 (40 second rest between)
• 3 horizontal broad jumps (repeated jumps) x 2 (40 seconds)
  • ALL MOVEMENTS SHOULD BE LES THAN 5 TOTAL SECONDS

Continue reading “Training Day 1 (Explosive Strength)”

Author: Alexander Bell-Moratto 

Volleyball Key Performance Indicators:

Amalgamated from 27 Studies and Over 800 Players.

Continue reading “Volleyball Key Performance Indicators”

Coaches are always looking for ways to improve their training programs. Whether it is new equipment or better practices, if you are not an early adapter you might be leaving some performance gains on the table. However, what if there was a way to increase the effectiveness of your program without having to change a single aspect of it?  You don’t need any new periodization scheme and you don’t need any new special exercise. You can simply make your program more effective by providing athletes with both verbal and visual feedback. What do I mean?

Verbal can come from the coach while visual can be done with a velocity measuring device/jump mat/anything that gives a quantitative value. There have been studies looking at the effects of long-term (6 weeks) and immediate feedback (verbal and visual) on performance.In all three studies, feedback was shown to be an effective way to increase the training effect (1,2,3).

Continue reading “Use Feedback To Increase Gains”

Getting stronger in the weight room does not mean you are getting better on the field. However, it can increase your potential for on field success. If lifting weights made you better at a sport (aside from weightlifting) every strength coach would be a professional athlete. But, as we all sadly know, this isn’t the case.

Example:

Say we had two athletes, A and B. Both athletes are basketball players. Lets say athlete A only trained in the weight room and athlete B only trained by practicing basketball. Who do you think would be a better basketball player? Athlete B, without a doubt.

Why Weight Train?

If weight training doesn’t make you better at your sport, then why do it? Weight training is designed to increase your potential (physiologically), not your performance. This means if used properly, strength training can aid your sports training.

In all honesty, the two (sport training and weight room) should not be differentiated. The two should be used in conjunction with on another. However, if you had to only pick one, you should probably pick sports training.

Increasing Potential

The idea of “increasing potential” is predicated on systemic changes in the body (tissue, muscular, neural, bone etc…). For example, from a reductionist point of view, sport is comprised of synchronized muscular contractions to produce an outcome. Theoretically, if we can increase these most basic qualities that make up a sport, we can improve the sport as a whole. This answer to this question is yes and no. Yes, there is little doubt that we can improve the potential of the athlete. No, there is not a guarantee that improving the individual parts of the movement will increase the system as a whole.

The easiest way to think of this is in terms of cars. The car is representation of the physical potential. A Ferrari has the potential to go faster than a Prius. However, the driver (skill) is what uses the car. It doesn’t matter how fast a Ferrari can go, if the driver doesn’t know how to drive the car, the Prius will win every time

Conclusion

As coaches we need to understand what our role is. Getting too caught up in one aspect can hinder the athlete’s development. We need to not only build the potential of the athlete, but help the athlete learn how to use their potential. Training needs to be a complex approach designed around making the athlete better as a whole.

 

Image links

1. https://www.elitefts.com/education/motivation/creating-a-winning-environment-in-your-weight-room/
2. https://www.reference.com/sports-active-lifestyle/length-width-basketball-court-d6390deb90fb3c23
3. https://unizik.edu.ng/nauweb/images/Human-Physiology1432650590physiology.jpg

 

Technique is of obvious importance. There is no reason to dive into the big picture of why technique is important and how it can influence the safety of your athletes. However, some of the more minuet differences in technique can play a much larger role than what people may think. It is possible, that such subtle differences can actually hinder the desired stimulus of the exercise.

Continue reading “Technique and The Stimulus”

Author: Dr. Zak Gabor 

Introduction

We will see over the next few weeks, that by following the joint by joint approach, there are ways that we can absolutely improve out joint health and orthopedic longevity, via intelligent considerations. Let’s get started.

Ankle Joint

This week we focused on the implications of ankle joint mobility/great toe mobility, as well as the implications of stability through the joints down stream. Let’s get a little more nerdy and understand further some of the anatomy as a foundation.

Continue reading “Kinetic Hygiene: Ankle/Foot Summary”