I have always felt that talent selection was the key to success. Talent selection is different than Talent ID. Talent ID is the easy part. The athletic qualities are fairly straight forward to assess. It is the "other stuff" that is important. The following is from Charlie Weis, the Nortre dame coaching talking about his approach which reflects the Patriot way.The Patriots won three Supe [...]

I urge you to comment on the postings. I have received many emails with comments on the posting. It would be great to have you post rather than writing me. My goal with this blog is not just to provide information, but to stimulate discussion and thought on key issues in the field of Athletic Development. There are many issues that must be addressed. My thoughts only represent one opinion, one voi [...]

In yesterdays NY Times (Sept 22, 2005 page E10) there was an interesting article on a commercial concept termed “Body Mapping.” Facilities are licensed for $300.000 a month to use an analysis to assess static posture based on an over head squat movement. I wish it were so simple. Posture is not static so, there is fundamental flaw in the assumption that it is possible to assess muscle [...]

From: XXXXXXXXSent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 10:14 AMTo: XXXXXXXXCc: XXXXXXXXSubject: re: An opportunity to work togetherLatif,Thank you for your message.I find myself getting less and less involved with websites in oursport. While I don’t know you personally, I am not in support of sitesthat are open to any and all athletes. Coaches looking for support areone thing, but too often I read [...]

When the concept of training the energy systems was first articulated in the book “Interval Training” by Fox and Mathews circa 1974 this was major breakthrough in training. It was presented in such a manner that concepts and ideas that had been the exclusive domain of the scientist in the lab were articulated in terms and in a context that coaches and practitioners could apply. Unfortu [...]

Jeremy Wariner: Atypical AmericanI love track. I'm passionate about it. There's nothing I'd rather do than coach track and field. Watching elite level track and field doesn't rank far behind. So why I've wondered, am I and others like me so rare in this country the very same country with the most dominant track and field team in the world? While there are certainly a multitude of explanations [...]

It is a given that we need to develop the aerobic component. The fundamental dichotomy is how to develop the aerobic power necessary to recover from the short intense bursts of activity that occur in a game without compromising the explosive power necessary for optimal performance during the bursts. It is during the bursts that actual game performance is measured and decided. To do this necessitat [...]

A key concept to understand in regard to core function is the “Serape Effect.” This concept was articulated by Logan and McKinney in their book “Kinesiology” over fifty years ago. The serape is a Mexican garment that is draped loosely over the shoulders and is crossed in front of the body. The concept serves to reinforce the concept of the muscles of the core as a connector [...]

The ground is where we live, work and play. It is always there, like gravity, so a goal of training is to learn to use it to our best advantage. The role of the ground in movement is something martial arts practitioners have understood for thousands of years. A Tai Chi instructor summed it up best:Rooted in the feetPowered by the coreReflected by the armsManifested in the handsMovement begins at t [...]

Training to your strengths is certainly not a new idea but in many ways it runs contrary to the way most coaches think. There is something about coaches and coaching that lead us to do the opposite, train the weaknesses. It is so typical to hear a coach talk about what if. What if so and so had a better kick, was stronger or could just handle running heats? I propose that before you focus on what [...]