Today with a plethora of 24-hour sport channels we have become conditioned to believe that sport performance is a series of “highlights”, spectacular plays that that determine the outcome of a game of match. Highlight plays are entertaining, but they come nowhere close to what actually happens in the game. Highlights are plays or situations that occur once a year, sometimes once a career. They are just that a highlight, a brief moment in time, often completely taken out of the context of the whole game. From an athletic development perspective why does this matter? It matters because I see this now dictating how we train. Instead of conditioning for the game, some coaches are conditioning for the highlight plays. Focus on the highlight plays does not prepare your athletes for the game. Thoroughly study and understand the demands of the sport you are preparing for. There are thousands of movements that occur that must be performed consistently to determine success. Train for those movements. Don’t get caught in this trap, condition, strengthen, develop speed for the whole game not the highlights, with good sound thorough preparation the highlights will be taken care of.
