Coach Vick posted some great thoughts on resisted sprints with sleds and questioned the 10% rule. When something innovative or new comes along I am completely open but skeptical because often people believe they have stumbled on something other's didn't grasp or think of. The question is can we use acceleration protocols that are not following the guidelines of the coaches before us regarding h [...]

It's not what to coach, it's what to leave alone. Often I hear cues that are most likely descriptive factors, meaning hints to athletes of what to do when in reality they have no real ability to execute such a task. I remember when Richard Quick presented in Burlington at a local clinic before his passing someone asked a question of what drills or cues he used to fix certain movements. His respo [...]

Now that the blogs on sports performance slowed down and the hype is died off a bit, I decided to do some careful reflection on some of the work of Guy Voyer from the late 90s. What I wanted to do was see what the impact of various seminars and conferences had on me. If I wrote my workout on Friday, what would Monday's changes be after the weekend course or seminar? Would the big picture be much [...]

Evaluating career development is tricky. Did the sprinters develop good acceleration mechanics? What about speed endurance? How lean are they? How about their elastic power? How do we score all of this? How do we track progress? I like the classical methods of the US Military from WW2. Get down to the raw basics and let the specialists take care of the minor details. Sure I am seeing people talk a [...]

"If we accept the model as a realistic representation of the real system, the inevitable conclusion is that the bilateral deficit in jumping is primarily caused by the force-velocity relationship rather than by a reduction of neural drive. This conclusion is different from that drawn by Challis, but his findings were basically the same and he would have come to the same conclusion as we have, had [...]

In this series on returning injured athletes to sport readiness I want to look at 3 case scenarios. The first is a professional soccer player who is returning from a broken fibula that required the insertion of hardware to stabilize the bone. The surgery went ok but the athlete lost about 50% mobility in the ankle, especially in dorsiflexion. This prevents him from even walking without a limp. Thi [...]

The latest buzzword is corrective exercise. Is corrective exercise the latest fad like “drawing in “ was a few years ago? What exactly is corrective exercise? I think I know, but it is a misleading concept. What exactly are you correcting? It sounds to me like another reductionist approach to the human body based on pseudo scientific principles and marketing. The exercises that I see labeled a [...]

No overhead lifting. When squatting do not let the knees go past the toes. Keep spine neutral. Draw in to activate TA. And on and on and on, bla, bla bla. Don’t fall into this trap, these are all rules made to be broken. They are all based on false assumptions. They will work if you live, work and play in phone booth. As humans and athletes we do not. We live in a proprioceptively demanding grav [...]

Back and Front Squats are fine. Not everyone can squat heavy but the exercise is still royalty. Mike Young's article and countless world class athletes are not idiots, the exercise is just an option. The real issue is that the squat is common and measured. Can't squat deep? Bad Mobility. Can't squat heavy? Bad strength program. Can't squat correctly? Bad Strength Coach. Can't squat at all? Fa [...]

I was driving from Burlington Vermont to Boston last night after thanksgiving and made a split second decision. I was ready to go home after a long day and saw a small sign telling that the Robert Frost Farm was exit 4. Many times when driving long distances all over the country a small historical area is on a major interstate but requires you to take a small detour. I saw the sign and then turned [...]