[quote]Jumanji wrote:
Brad~
Glad you came over to drop some knowledge…and this is one fan of inno-sport. I appreciate the dpeth of your site, and the knowledge shared in your articles.[/quote]
Thanks, bud; it’s always nice to know that our hard work is appreciated. It really excites me to read some of your posts!
In regards to Adam, I must first admit that I don’t lurk on his performance, every play in every game, as some people do. I won’t argue that raw athleticism is important; however, I will often see athletes with less athleticism out play better athletes just because they understand the game. This is true in amateur athletics as well as the pros. For instance, what separates a minor league pitcher from a major league pitcher isn’t velocity on his fastball or bite on his curveball…it’s knowing what to throw in which situations and executing (i.e. ball placement). The same can be said about a defensive back; take a guy and teach him the game and he will be in the right situations at the right times. Give him the athleticism to back this up and you have a beast on your hands…much like a guy who throws 95 and lives on the black!
I am in full agreement with you here; no stone must be left unturned. As performance coaches, we can’t get obsessed with developing one motor attribute–whether it be a derivative of speed or strength–we must focus on the entire gambit of goods. Releasing the parking brake by developing an athletes natural reflexes to function in your favor is a good place to start in terms of athleticism…studying the game like you would a history book is another good starting point, mentally speaking.
Let me extend your argument, if I may. You can have an athletic freak on your hands and he can do okay or great depending on how well he is coached/taught, and there is always a bit of luck (the World Series triple play at the turn of the 20th century comes to mind). But like I said, you raise your odds by covering the full spectrum of development. This is why a well coached/taught student of the game (athlete) may do very well given the right circumstances–Steve Young ring a bell?
In other words, you can have a DB who is fast as lightning but not know a lick about offensive strategy so he ends up looking like a chicken with his head cut off come game day…meanwhile, you can have a guy who knows everything about the game and anticipate the play perfectly but simply not have the ability to get into position on time (he’s the guy who is always ‘on the ball’ JUST after the whistle). Ultimately, we need athletic students of the game that know how to make a play and have the tools to get the job done. This is where I see the clear cut difference between “strength” and/or “speed” specialists and “performance” specialists.
But if you are going to pick one (as recruiters often do), your best bet is to raise your athleticism. Starting about 10 years ago, MLB scouts told me quite candidly that they would draft athletes with the hopes that they could turn them into players (this obviously goes on in other sports, as well). But brush that knowledge aside, the take home message is to become a well rounded athlete! Don’t just try to become an athletic freak and certainly don’t just “practice” by analyzing film all day long. In order to succeed at the highest levels you need to have great physical AND mental development.
As for Adam’s obvious deficiencies; I wouldn’t say he is the only DB in history to have poor ball judgement and rock-hard hands. Everytime a DB drops a ball you’ll always hear the color man say ‘and that’s why he’s on defense.’ I certainly don’t suggest taking what the announcers say as gospel, but this is one case in which I think their argument may hold some water. Further, I don’t contend that he should just accept these deficiencies. Just like a bodybuilder may need to bring up his chest to balance out his “performance” (physique), Adam would obviously be well served if he worked on developing these motor skills to polish off his performance (or at least round off the edges). We have presented a number of possibilities for him to work with in these regards on the site so far, and will continue to do so.
Again, I see the need for coaches to devote themselves to the total development of the athlete in question. Imagine hiring a sprint coach who doesn’t know the first thing about sprint mechanics. Now, how come we have ‘strength coaches’ with the inability to hone an athletes total development (i.e. sport mechanics)? I don’t have enough fingers, toes, or even hairs on my head to count how many strength coaches I’ve talked to who are satisfied with just getting a guy stronger…even if these efforts detract from the athlete’s playing mechanics (i.e. baseball swing). No stone should be left unturned, in my humble opinion, when designing an athletes training program. We need to objectively evaluate what our athletes need and structure their routines respectively–not to mention have the ability to carry out this game plan effectively (technical and functional knowledge, strategically planned).
You have already gained my sincere respect as a coach because you obviously understand that performance coaching/training isn’t restricted to just drilling technique just like it’s not just about building tremendous “testing indicator” performance (i.e. 40, VJ, bench press). In fact, I think it’s safe to say that this is what separates you from the majority of performance coaches out there. There’s a lot of guys who can get a guy bigger, faster, stronger, etc…there’s a lot of “technical specialists” out there…but very few, it seems, are able to complete the performance process by welding raw athleticism with polished sport skill. For example, I recently took on a baseball player. One of the first things he told me was that his ex-coach added 15 mph to his bat speed. That’s great, but the guy’s swing was terrrible! The story gets more interesting when you learn that his ex-coach didn’t even own a device that measures bat speed–he was literally eye-balling the kids improvement! But, still, even if the bat speed gains were legit the athlete’s technique was so bad that he was only prepared to excel in a company softball league. It’s like a guy who can squat like a power lifter or C&J like an O’lifter but he can’t play his sport for beans–this is, sadly, more prevelant than most of us would like to admit.
I always loved it when the track guys would come out for football. Even though I played QB in HS (LB in Europe, oddly enough), I always loved to hit. They’d come galloping in with their upright “speed” stance and it was like setting a beachball on a tee! They’d get their forearms bruised purple after the first day so they’d throw on arm guards, as if that was the cure the problem (they’d be just as well playing without shoulder pads and a helmut since they neglected to use them). I snapped a guy’s femur one day, but even though this may seem like a great story to brag about it was one of the worst experiences of my life. Note to track studs wanting to play on the grid iron, learn how to run like a football player before you end up in the hospital.
Nevertheless, I see the future of sports training taking a turn in the near future. We already have sport coaches adopting the responsibilities of performance coaches (my client list is evident of this) and I don’t see this trend slowing down in the future. So in order for performance coaches (i.e. strength coaches) to avoid getting snubbed out of a job down the line I think it would be wise for them to learn how to extend their services either in the physio-therapy environment or the sport/practice environment. Coaches in track and field, baseball, basketball, gymnastic, etc, are getting closer and closer to accepting the full responsibility of technical and functional development training…so eventually the strength coach will find himself battling over fewer and fewer jobs until he becomes obselete. So if you don’t want to get the axe as a ‘middle man’ then I encourage all of the strength coaches and aspiring strength coaches reading this to pick up another trade. Learn everything you can about a sport or get in therapy school–whatever interests you. There’s a lot of directions to take…I’ve only listed a couple. The more tools in your shed the better–Be warned!
Peace,
Brad