Even the most disciplined fitness addict will cheat. There are just too many temptations in the world. You cannot turn around without smelling, tasting, or seeing simple sugars, saturated fats, and trans fatty acids. So the sooner you accept the fact that you’ll cheat on your diet, the less stress you’ll have. (Side note: Stress […]
Ankles and Athletes: Why so many injuries?
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
If you’re not on the court, you’re not helping your team. It’s that simple. Yao Ming, Greg Oden, Vince Carter, Grant Hill, and hundreds of others have fallen short of their true potential because of recurring injuries. That’s why NBA strength and conditioning coaches spend an inordinate amount of time, around 80%, working on injury […]
Covering More Ground in the Outfield with the Plyostep
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
The first thing a baseball coach asks when considering an athlete for outfield is “How much ground can he cover?”. It doesn’t matter if the kid has a noodle for an arm; if he can chase down a fly ball, he’ll be in the starting lineup. Even in a sport that’s relatively “slow”, speed dominates. […]
Training to Prevent ACL Injuries
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
We’ve received a few e-mails over the last week asking what we do specifically for preventing ACL injuries. Mike Boyle once said it best ,”There is no such thing as ACL prevention training. There is just smart training and dumb training.” That’s really been our philosophy too. Here are a couple of things we do […]
Are Organized Sports Hurting your Child’s Athletic Potential
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I just received an excellent e-mail from a soccer strength coach half way around the world detailing how the rest of the world creates great young athletes. Here is a great article in the New York Times about athletic development in other countries, specifically the famed soccer club Ajax. It really makes us question if […]
Should Basketball Players Bench?
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
After Kevin Durant’s poor performance on the bench press at the NBA combine in 2007, ballers across the country began to question whether the bench press was an effective training tool to improve their game. If it’s in the NBA combine, it must be. Right? Wrong. Here’s why: Poor biomechanics: Basketball players tend to have […]
Do I Need to Add Plyometrics to my Training to Jump Higher
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Without question, the most common question any strength coach gets is, “I want my son (team) to jump higher. Can you put together a plyometric program for them?”. Wrong question. The real question should be: “Are plyometrics the most effective method for improving a vertical jump in a basketball player?” Once again, we’ll take a […]
Good Training is ACL Prevention Training
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I read the following quote from strength coach and Ph.D candidate Bret Contreras yesterday. Well, most men do too, but numerous studies show that women need increased glute strength to prevent Valgus collapse. Some studies indicate a need for increased glute medius strength, some studies indicate a need for increased glute maximus activation, and some […]
The Greatest Gift We Can Give an Athlete
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It’s not Amber’s experience as a former Division I basketball. It’s not a magical drill that instantly turns a poor shooter into a great shooter. It’s not advice about proper shot technique. It’s not the hours of practice we put in each week. It’s simple. We teach our athletes that failure doesn’t define you, but […]
An Open Letter to All Parents with Little Athletes
October 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
Here’s an excerpt from a letter a little league baseball coach sent to his parents prior to the season starting: “I always said that the only team that I would coach would be a team of orphans, and now here we are. The reason for me saying this is that I have found the biggest […]
