This is not just a pissing contest, don’t try to turn it into that.
Charlie Francis’ body of work speaks dor itself.
Staley, Charlie does give credit where credit is due. You seem to be of the opinion that nobody is really coming up with anything new in this field. That doesn’t mean you should regirgitate a man’s work and claim it as your own. Charlie goes to great lengths in Speed Trap to give credit where he learned certain ideas that he has incorporated into his system. He gained most of his knowledge first hand as an Olympic sprinter and as a coach working for next to nothing, when he could have pursuited his business career. He did this for the sake of his athletes, he cared too much. He wouldn’t forsake responsibility if they were weak and overtrained, and their performance was trashed. Pitt
I can sense that many of you like most North Americans feel that track is inferior to football. That does not matter. I don't need to defend track, it's simplicity speaks for itself. Athletics is the purest representation of speed and power. CF was brilliant at developing strength, speed, and power.
Isn’t that what a S&C coach is supposed to do? Or is he supposed to do kettebell snatches on an indo board or front squats on a swiss ball? Davies posseses the amazing ability to claim a stake in every popular training device out there now (bands, stability balls, indo boards, kettlebells, xvest,…) and still be stuck in the stone age regarding volume, work ethic, mental toughness.
An article from Louie Simmons talks about how Davies implementing his "enormous volumes" of GPP work yielded an average improvement of .25 seconds for the 40 yd dash in 8 weeks. He also believes that all athletes would benefit form high volumes of such work. Guess where this experiment was conducted, you guessed it Pitt. I know exactly how he achieved these numbers as well. Some improvement is going to occur no matter what in Spring, as most players don't do much in the Winter except lift and recover from the past season. But the main reason is the 1st test was conducted after an "enormous volume" GPP workout. The second test was conducted after a period of lowered volume an while the players were rested.
GPP work is good when used correctly, but it is by name general, as in not specific. Hey Davies, you know the best way to improve football specific conditioning. It’s called football practice! Most football players already have the base/work capacity needed to play the game optimally. The goal of a good S&C coach is to get the athletes stronger, faster, more powerful and prevent injuries, that’s it! You greatly overstate the effect your non-specific training can effect a football player’s performance. An football player doesn’t gain toughness from doing squat thrusts until they puke, they get it from playing football!
Charlie Francis is one of the great minds in speed and strengh development who is willing to share his knowledge. You try to paint him as a beligerent malcontent always accusing others of claiming credit for his work. Put yourself in his position.
John Davies on the other hand is a here today gone tomorrow guru who just follows the trends. His resume is full of questions and the only reason he is so highly regarded by many here is because he writes for this publication. That is a vicious cycle if I ever saw one!
In Truth,
Eric Larson
