The analogy of the mast of a ship being the spine is very popular but has a few problems. First, the support wires are not guy wires ( some PT from Toronto supposedly referred to them as guide wires for some reason) they are strays and shrouds. Ship building requires a lot of engineering and spouting off lame rehashing of Paul Chek is outdated at best. Paul has helped the industry back in the 90s [...]

I am using the word Trunk more and more as I find the use of the word core over used and biased towards abdominal muscles. Many of the experts are focusing on anti-rotation and that is far from effective than focusing on quality gyroscopic action of the core. A great observation from Steve (hurdlesfirst.com) is the fact the lead arm in hurdling is always moving because it's always working. The co [...]

The cut step is the last stride before the hurdle and the great hurdlers purposely alter the length and stride time in order to set up optimal take off. This is very difficult to teach as the step is so fast it can't be drilled effectively without proper coaching. I am not saying I am the expert on the cut step but many hurdlers need to set up their take off point optimally or they will find them [...]

Make sure you tailor your workout to suit your intentions. Yes pun intended. You can manipulate the following:Rest periods :30-45 seconds.Surfaces- Grass (various lengths), track surfaces, and even soft gymnastics flooring.Exercises: None between (passive rest) to a core exercise, to a lower body motions Integrate a drill - such as speed skips or other locomotive actionFootwear- various shoes and [...]

Great interview on the strengthcoachpodcast site. Not perfect but he understands stiffness but didn't go over learning to relax and rapidly exchange the contractile dynamics. Stu McGill is an excellent resource but he made statements I disagreed with.Dr. Stuart McGill Professor of Spine Biomechanics at the University of Waterloo, author of Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabil [...]

SLD are perhaps the most overrated exercises that continue to annoy me as kinetics and kinematics are clear. Enough with the thoracolumbar fascia rehashing as that system is mainly structural. My first experience with the exercise was in the early 90s watching glide style shot athletes use it for their balance work. SLD is not a strength exercise as single leg contact decreases the balance point [...]

Why is it that each generation of young coaches has to go in search of the Holy Grail, that place or person who has the answer? Over the past several months I have run into too many coaches starting out in the field or early in their career who are seeking the answer. The problem as I see it they do not yet know what questions to ask. They have not made enough mistakes yet to sharpen their skills. [...]

A friend just sent me this funny but thought-provoking ad featuring fellow-Tiger Glenn Dorsey. It's nice because it kinda speaks to the all-show and no-go mentality that many people take when they approach "core" training. The funny things is, many of the people disillusioned by the lure of a 6 pack probably won't even get that the joke is really on them. [...]

Innovation is probably one of the most overused words in our language today. Innovation is closely linked with change, as it should be. What I notice is that people and organizations seem to be willing to talk about innovation and change, but when it comes to decision making time it is back to the same old way of doing things. I think what people do not realize is that to stay the same requires ch [...]

Last night I read an article that will appear in the New York Times Sunday Magazine on Sunday May 11 called “The Uneven Playing Field” by Michael Sokolove. It is an excerpt from a book called “Warrior Girls: Protecting Our Daughters Against The Injury Epidemic in Women’s Sports.” When I read the article last night I was taken aback. My first reaction was shock, then [...]