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Track and field, the greatest sport in the world, is brutal, unforgiving, and fair. A race’s victory goes to the person who deserves it the most. For most meets, we don’t use stopwatches and subjective judgment; rather, we use highly sophisticated timing equipment with multiple perspectives and angles at the finish line. The multiple cameras go to a computer that captures the “photo finish” by measuring the “torso” of the athlete. To quote the commentators at the recent World Championships in Hungary, “You must know how to lean at the finish.”

Consider, for a moment, the razor-thin margins that decide the outcome of a race—mere inches, tenths, hundredths, or even thousandths of a second. Each season, there will inevitably be races where the line between securing a championship, triumphing in a dual meet, or breaking a world record hinges on an athlete’s finesse in that critical lean at the finish line.

There will inevitably be races where the line between securing a championship, triumphing in a dual meet, or breaking a WR hinges on an athlete’s finesse in that critical lean at the finish line. Share on X

As a high school track and field coach, I have weathered the emotional rollercoaster of races, oscillating between sheer elation and profound disappointment in the results. It’s a journey that spans four years of relentless training, encompassing 10 months of each year, all to culminate in a decisive lean!

When I was a high school athlete, many of the timers were either coaches or moms equipped with stopwatches. My coach used to emphasize that “leaning forward a bit early and adding a slight grunt could shave off a couple of tenths.” Coaching guru Kebba Tolbert, coach at Harvard, shared a photo of himself during his high school days, showcasing a Michael Jackson “Smooth Criminal”-inspired lean at the finish line of his race.

Throughout my career, I’ve witnessed every imaginable variation of the “lean.” From the Windmill, Chest Out, and Arm/Shoulder Push to the Forward Head Dip, Dive, and a myriad of others—I’ve seen them all. Surprisingly, each of these finishing techniques can be effective at some level. The Dive will get you on the local news. However, it’s a delicate art, and a common problem for most high school athletes is either leaning prematurely or far too late in their races. Regardless, at any track meet, you will hear the same thing yelled at the end of a close race, “LEAN!”

This article is not intended to persuade you that one type of finish is superior to another. Rather, its purpose is to demonstrate that the finish lean is not only important but also frequently overlooked in training. I firmly reject the notion that athletes will instinctively know what to do. I’ve observed numerous professional runners falter or lose precisely because they lacked the essential “skill” of finishing well.

I firmly reject the notion that athletes will instinctively know how to do the finish lean, says @CoachJTAyers. Share on X

Recently, one of the fastest humans alive told me:

“(How to finish) is something most coaches at this level believe you should have already learned from your first coach. But most first coaches don’t teach that. And your high school coach will probably think the same thing. And the cycle continues until they realize no one has taught you how to lean.”

As a high school coach in California, the stakes are undeniably high. Winning a race or securing a placement can be the key to victory in a dual meet or an opportunity to advance to the next round of post-season or clinch a championship title. Having your athlete out-lean an opponent for a second-place finish, especially in dual meets where points are scored in a 5-3-1 fashion, changes the entire meet. Going 1-2 not only secures valuable points but also grants your team an impressive 8-1 advantage.

In the NCAA, championships are often decided by competitors who secure a place finish by the narrowest of margins. These points carry immense significance, highlighting the critical importance of each place and the ultimate finish of a race.

On the global stage of events like the World Championships, Olympics, or prestigious Diamond League races, the stakes are not only about glory but also about substantial financial rewards. Consider the scenario of traveling all the way from Jamaica to Budapest, enduring an 11-hour-and-10-minute flight, only to miss out on a medal by a mere one-thousandth of a second. This unfortunate fate happened to Oblique Seville in the 100m event during the recent World Championships. The difference between victory and a fourth-place finish in such elite competitions can translate to a staggering $16,000 in prize money—a fortune lost by the slimmest of margins, sheer thousandths of a second.

Image 5. Screenshot from results posted on the World Athletics website.

Individual Event Prize Money

• Gold: US $70,000
• Silver: US $35,000
• Bronze: US $22,000
• Fourth place: US $16,000
• Fifth place: US $11,000
• Sixth place: US $7,000
• Seventh place: US $6,000
• Eighth place: US $5,000

Race Examples with a Lean

Countless examples abound at every track meet worldwide, a tradition that has continued since the inception of this sport. While I could highlight numerous instances, even from my team this past season, I’ve instead selected a few notable examples with links to excellent breakdowns of the events.

Allyson Felix vs. Jeneba Tarmoh

During the 2008 100m Time Trials for the 100m dash, Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix unofficially finished in third and fourth place. The top three athletes were set to qualify for the Olympics. However, following a timer-issued protest, it was determined that both athletes had recorded an identical time of 11.068 seconds, resulting in a dead heat or tie.

USATF had no established policy to address this situation. Ultimately, it was decided that a runoff would occur after the 200m races later that week. Jeneba chose to withdraw from the runoff, allowing Allyson to secure her spot at the Olympics. She went on to earn three gold medals in that Olympic Games (in the 200m, 4x100m, and 4x400m events) and place fifth overall in the 100.

Nick Symmonds vs. Khadevis Robinson

One of America’s all-time greats in the 800m, Nick Symmonds, was out-leaned in the 2008 U.S. Indoor Championships Men’s 800m by Khadevis Robinson. Nick would go on to say, “A lean can be the difference between winning and losing.”

What Do the Coaches and Athletes Say?

Coaching at the high school level, I avidly follow the NCAA and professional competitions and even host a popular podcast. Throughout my journey, I’ve had the privilege and honor of interviewing some of our sport’s most brilliant minds and accomplished athletes. Naturally, I posed a question to them: Do you intentionally practice for the finish? Is the art of leaning at the finish line a part of your training regimen? Their answers surprised me.

I made a commitment to maintain their anonymity, but to bolster credibility, I provided some accolades to accompany their responses (with permission granted for the use of each quote).

High School Hall of Fame Coach (California)

“I do teach the finish. Cues are lean, dip, windmill. I’m not a big fan of the both arms back, chest out technique. Lots of falls with that. Windmilling the arms is important, as it counters the forward rotation. So it’s torso that counts at the line, and that could mean chest, shoulder, or beer belly.”

High School Coach, Multiple Times Coach of the Year (California)

“The funny thing is I do not, and even more funny, I have no reason why I have not. Even better than that, all my kids lean well anyway.”

High School National Coach of the Year and California Coach of the Year

“I teach leaning through the line. Most athletes tend to slow down and pull their chest back from the line. I have found that the best kids on your team need and deserve the time to be taught this part of a race.”

Four-Time Orange County Coach of the Year

“Yes, we teach to run through the finish and will end a practice by walking and visualizing the end of a close race. Not to panic and where on the track to lean.”

D1 College Coach in California

“I do not teach to lean through the line at practice. My fear is that by doing this in practice, an injury will occur.”

Arizona Area Collegiate Assistant Coach of the Year

“Yes, I teach how to finish the race with a good lean.”

400m Hurdler World Medalist

“Yes, we always worked on it around the week of conference or a big meet, but that was about it.”

One of the Fastest Men to Ever Live

“I don’t practice that. It’s just not at the top of the list to practice. However, my mom taught me when I was young.”

One of America’s Best 100m Sprinters

“No, sir. Normally, nobody is next to me, so I just practice running through the line.”

Multiple Gold Medalist Sprinter and Women’s Relay Record-Holder

“Yes, I do practice leaning at the line in some practices. Depends on the coach. I have had some that focused on it, and some did not.”

One of America’s Best 200m Runners Ever

“Not really. That’s more of an instinctual thing. The only times I’ve done it is when someone is on my tail.”

NCAA Coach of the Year and Sprint Guru

“We don’t practice that. Folks get distracted trying to lean instead of just sprinting well… and most leans I see at meets are done very poorly—people just dip their heads early.”

One of the Greatest 400m Hurdlers Ever

“No.”

CEO of One of the Best Private Sprinting Coaching Groups in the Country

“We don’t practice leaning more than we just practice ‘running through’ and looking in the distance.”

The conclusion is quite evident: there exists no consensus regarding training for this particular aspect of the race. What’s more, the controversy surrounding it surprised me. In fact, one coach even shared that their head coach outright rejected and prohibited any form of lean-focused training during their sessions.

The conclusion is quite evident: there exists no consensus regarding training for the lean at the finish line. What’s more, the controversy surrounding it surprised me, says @CoachJTAyers. Share on X

What Does the Timer Measure?

So, I then talked to the timers and got their perspective. They are the ones, after all, who are clicking the button to issue the mark.

Chris Drescher of Finished Results Timing, Brian Sparacino, and Wilson Morales. Wilson is one of only two NACAC-certified finish photo judges in America and is often tasked to oversee finish photos for accuracy at World Athletics events.

“Where do we place the line scan on the body? The simplest way to explain this is to imagine a Ken doll or Barbie doll. Take off the head, arms, and legs; the remaining torso is all that matters.  A mistake that I’ll see most often is using the shoulder as the first part to cross. Technically, it’s the clavicle, not the shoulder. So, if an athlete uses the swim and smile technique to try and gain an advantage, the timer should put the line at the clavicle, which is essentially the mid-point at the shoulder.”

The NFHS book states:

“The endpoint of the torso is the outer end/articulation of the collarbone (clavicle). Normally, this is approximately at the border of the middle and outer third of the distance between the neck and the peak of the shoulder. Although the pelvic area is anatomically part of the torso, for consistency in photo finish judging, it is more practical to define the lower end of the torso as the horizontal cross section of the body through the hip line (an arbitrary line encircling the fullest part of the hips, between abdomen and crotch).”

“The most important thing at the end is that these systems and the operators bring equality and fairness to every race. This means no matter which heats you run in any race, your time has the same standards, something that manual timing does not offer, where officials activate time for each individual based on their visual appreciation of the gunfire and stop the time by a visual appreciation of the torso at the finish line. With fully automatic timing (FAT), no human intervention is between time activation (other than the starting gun for the race, but a transducer detects the signal and activates the time) and the operator that captures and evaluates the image.”

What Is Fully Automatic Timing (FAT) for Sports?

Fully automatic timing (FAT) is a popular type of sports timing that captures digital race results that are accurate to at least 1/100th of a second  (0.01) but preferably 1/1,000th of a second (0.001). Fully automatic timing systems require a start signal, running time, and capture device to be digitally synchronized to ensure accuracy. True FAT also requires the timing device to be activated automatically by a start signal rather than manually (e.g., as with a stopwatch). The finish time must also be captured electronically to remove any human error or delay.

Training for the Finish

My team prioritizes training for the finish line. However, I have reservations about having my athletes perform reps and practice leaning at the conclusion of training sessions—my preference has been for them to run through the line. Yet, here’s an alternative approach: why not conclude a practice session by having athletes line up about 10 meters from the finish line? In their respective lanes, they can walk (or even jog) to the finish line alongside 5–6 other athletes. This exercise not only helps them familiarize themselves with the movement and timing of the lean but, more importantly, allows them to visualize winning a close race at the line. This has proven very helpful to my athletes over the years.

Engaging in a simple routine of walking, jogging, visualizing, and giving oneself the cue to lean at the finish costs nothing, says @CoachJTAyers. Share on X

It is evident that many NCAA and professional athletes do not incorporate this crucial element into their training. However, I have been told that Bobby Kersee and Curtis Taylor of Oregon do incorporate the finish in practices. Engaging in a simple routine of walking, jogging, visualizing, and giving oneself the cue to lean at the finish costs nothing. It serves as a preventive measure against leaning too early and equips athletes with a plan for when it truly matters. And it will matter!

It is also clear that high school coaches are responsible for imparting the art of the finish. If athletes don’t grasp the significance of the finish with their torso, they may struggle to grasp it at higher levels of competition.

Lead Photo by Stanley Hu/Icon Sportswire.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

My career as a high school strength and conditioning coach has spanned nearly 30 years. Over that time, my methods, beliefs, and even things I hold as core aspects of my programming have evolved and continue to do so. Coach Mike Boyle once said, “We all think we are doing things the best way possible, or we wouldn’t be doing them. The key is to keep questioning those to make sure.”

Over the last few years, two of the most influential coaches for me have been Cal Dietz and Tony Villani. Cal’s role in my evolution as a coach has been a long, slow, consistent trickle: I watch or listen to his videos and presentations or read articles he has written and often see better ways of doing things. My relationship with Tony, however, has been more of a series of watershed moments that began with attending a clinic at Strong Rock Christian School in Georgia four or five years ago.

While Tony is probably best known for his XPE NFL Combine Prep success with partner Matt Gates and then, more recently, for his SHREDmill, what I saw that day was a thought process and method to teach our athletes ways to gain separation and use optimal change of direction techniques. Within a few minutes, I knew the way I would teach movement was going to change forever. While Villani’s Game Speed Curriculum was my initial “whoa” moment, the use of the SHREDmill to develop our athlete’s ability to maximize force in the process of acceleration is the latest.

The SHREDmill helps maximize an athlete’s potential for peak acceleration and top-end speed without the need for space to sprint, says @MarkHoover71. Share on X

The SHREDmill is a self-powered speed training system that Tony first invented and used in 2011. It helps maximize an athlete’s potential for peak acceleration and top-end speed without the need for space to sprint. The SHREDmill has revolutionized how our athletes train and more than proven its value in the time we have implemented it. In this article, I will discuss our progression to Cal’s Performance Pattern Cycling Method along with the SHREDmill (and a few other pieces of technology) and how it became a powerful solution to our space and time limitations.

Finding a Solution in the Performance Pattern Cycling Method

My inspiration for this article was the overwhelming number of questions I have been getting recently about how we use the SHREDmill in a team and classroom setting. One limitation of technology in high school strength and conditioning is the ratio of student-athletes to workstations. While some schools have access to two or more SHREDmills, most facilities have just one.

This is the case at Metrolina Christian Academy (MCA) as well. While a small school (400 students), we run as many as 40–50 athletes at once through a session (a max of 45 minutes of training time). I bring up Cal and Tony in this context because a combination of protocols I have learned from both has become a standard best practice in our programming at MCA.

In addition to our limit of just a single SHREDmill, we only have five power racks. This fact was the original inspiration for our move away from a more traditional use of Coach Joe Kenn’s “Tier System” as the base structure for our sessions. At times, I found it challenging to plan for groups as large as ours, given our space and equipment limitations. The solution I turned to was one of the tweaks inspired by Cal Dietz—his Performance Pattern Cycling Method was just what the doctor ordered.

The basic explanation that Cal gives on his blog for PPCM is “cycling through different exercises in a specific order to optimize performance results…and avoid negative patterns or dysfunction in subsequent exercises” (which is outlined in detail here). Essentially, this means taking a cycle of movements or exercises and putting them in a sequence that allows coaches to build on and potentially improve the performance in later movements in the cycle. The most common example I’ve heard Cal discuss is to pair a bilateral squat movement with a cross crawl or march. This will return the athlete to the optimal unloaded linear movement pattern (optimal sprint/walking gait) that the loaded bilateral movement can negatively affect.

While you may or may not prescribe to the idea that the bilateral squat causes the gait pattern to change (not this article’s emphasis, but another worthwhile rabbit hole topic to seek out from Cal, I assure you), I have seen it to be true, as Cal suggested. I use this as just one example of many I have learned in my ongoing deep dive into Cal Dietz and his methods.

How does this help us with our limitations? We can now set up many more stations for our weight room training session. Instead of having a group of 6–8 athletes working in five racks, we can have smaller groups rotating through a wide range of movements relative to the goal for the day. We have the ability to expose our athletes to a wide range of stimuli in an order that builds on each task to hopefully multiply the results efficiently.

Cal Dietz’s Performance Pattern Cycling Method has proven to be very “tier system” adjacent and easy for our athletes and coaches to understand, says @MarkHoover71. Share on X

This method has proven to be very “tier system” adjacent and easy for our athletes and coaches to understand. It has also proved to be a driver of intent and an educational tool, as our athletes have learned that every task we assign holds great importance for the end results. The driver of that piece was the use of technology to test WHILE we train.

I’m often asked how we get our athletes to buy into things like RPR or some of the neuro-driven movements we employ. It’s as simple as providing live and instant feedback using technology. PPCM has allowed our program to run smoothly despite our space limitations. It has also allowed us to optimize strengths, such as access to a wealth of technology and the ability to provide live feedback to our athletes. One note is we do not do exactly what Cal Dietz prescribes—we have developed our own plan based on our needs, equipment, time and space limits, etc., while trying to stay as close to the core of the PPCM as possible.

We use these cycles each of the three days we train in our weight room. For the purposes of this article, I will focus on our heavy lower body day. Here is an example of a common session: this will be after a short five-minute warm-up period utilizing RPR, spring ankle, and isometric split squats (for example):

Four Dozen Kids, One SHREDmill

We generally have about 45 minutes, maximum, to get this session in. Ideally, you would like to have the space and equipment to start each athlete at a safety bar split squat and progress from there. When we have a smaller group training, we do this. When we have a group over 20, we assign each group to a movement as their starting point. As they finish, they move to the next movement in the exact order. This is one of the issues we had to work through.

The athletes naturally wanted to race through and skip something or go back to it. We really had to reinforce the thought process of “If you are done before the group in front of you, rest!” Our goal is normally five sets of our strength lifts. You will see above that we have fewer sets prescribed for some. This is really a result of trial and error. After almost a year, we have narrowed down a method that works for OUR situation. We know we will almost always be able to finish that circuit in our prescribed time when we use this.

We quickly did away with the clock. We found that once the athletes understood the process, we could let them drive the circuit, and we could coach, says @MarkHoover71. Share on X

At first, we tried to use a strict timer for each. This may not sit well with some of my more organization-driven colleagues, but we quickly did away with the clock. We found that once the athletes understood the process, we could let them drive the circuit, and we could coach. Our athletes handle the iPads and understand the process to work as a team to change names and use all of our technology and the SHREDmill.

The SHREDmill is especially easy to use. Our athletes sometimes use a personal three-number code that keeps track of their metrics in the cloud (if it’s an assessment), and other times use free run mode (no code, just set the time and go). We have found that once the athlete memorizes their three-digit code, there is no time lost compared to a free run. Every 5–10 athletes (on average), the belt may slide one way or the other (based on how the athlete pushes). It is a quick and easy process to reset it with your foot and be on the run. We have taught our athletes how to easily adjust the belt as needed by using their foot to push the corner into alignment. Beyond that, there is little to no setup between reps.

This allows me and our coaches to have little involvement in that aspect, freeing us to be present and coach. The intent that the competitive atmosphere of live feedback builds has been incredible and yielded results that I never imagined we could see. One immediate example comes from our 5 into 10 fly data. Before SHREDmill and the full-fledged PPCM, we considered a 1.28-second time good for males and a sub-1.25 excellent. Those numbers are now common for all but very large or very young athletes. It now takes a 1.21 or below to break our leaderboard, and we have had an athlete hit 1.13 and 1.14 (he also ran a 6.29 sixty at a national baseball event).

The intent that the competitive atmosphere of live feedback builds has been incredible and yielded results that I never imagined we could see, says @MarkHoover71. Share on X

The reason I point that out is not to compare our program to anyone else’s. When I took the position at MCA and did an across-the-board evaluation of athlete needs, the top need was to improve early acceleration and decrease the time needed to reach a high percentage of max velocity. We developed our program this year to make this a priority. Tony’s influence in this area not only provided us with the ability to see great improvements in horizontal force production, which transferred to improved early acceleration, but it also led to incredible improvements in max velocity miles per hour—this despite the minimal use of any max-velocity mechanics drills in our field and court sport preparation. Instead, I compare it to where we started and hopefully help others in a similar situation to also see improved results.

If you don’t have the technology available, it’s very simple to replicate with less or none. We test our vertical jump (a different day) on a Skyhook Jump mat. A jump mat can be used and produce similar results from an intent and feedback perspective. If you don’t have VBT? You can do timed sets, as I wrote about in this article.

My final takeaway for you is to say that the targeted use of PPCM is just my solution. Your solution may or may not be the same. My advice is to read, study, and grow. The knowledge you acquire will be in your back pocket and allow you to take inventory of what you’ve learned and quickly apply those solutions. PPCM and the SHREDmill are powerful tools in my inventory. However, with or without access to technology, your growth mindset can offer a solution that can help you make the best out of any situation, regardless of constraints and limitations.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

As performance coaches, if athletes come to us looking to get faster on the field, we typically assume they want to improve their speed moving forward and their ability to move side to side. But what if the limiting factor to improving their speed in a game isn’t their ability to sprint forward or transition laterally? What if their limitations are displayed in the ability to retreat—or, in other words, their ability to transition and move backward?

Before going into more specifics on retreating speed, I first want to define “game speed” and the difference between linear and game speed. Game speed is the ability to either create or take away space on the field. Typically, offensive players look to create space from defensive players, while defensive players aim to take away space from offensive players.

Creating or taking away space effectively requires an athlete to transition fluidly and explosively through all movement patterns and directions. While we cannot undervalue how important maximizing an athlete’s top-end speed is, it does not guarantee an athlete will be effective when it comes to game speed.

Why Is Retreating Speed So Important?

Now that we have a basic understanding of linear speed versus game speed, we can take a deeper look into a specific area of improving game speed—the ability to retreat explosively.

Let’s use the example of an NFL cornerback and wide receiver. The job of the cornerback is to not let the wide receiver catch the ball. To do this, they must minimize the space between themselves and the receiver. Receivers are some of the fastest athletes on the field. If the receiver is accelerating downfield, cutting in their route, slamming on the brakes, and reaccelerating, the cornerback needs to be able to explosively transition at all angles backward.

In this matchup between Stefon Diggs and Marshon Lattimore, at the 1:24 mark, you can see a great example of a hip turn to transition just about directly backward by Marshon Lattimore. If you look closely when watching sports, you’ll see these types of movements happen all the time. Of course, this seems obvious, and we know this is a key contributor to high levels of performance—but I don’t see enough sports performance coaches actually teaching these skills.

The majority of speed training I see is linear speed (which is an absolute must) and some random cone drills. The problem with most change of direction drills is they do not have any context behind them. Improving game speed is a skill, and understanding how athletes need to move in order to be effective allows you to break down movement to its simplest progression and then layer in more difficulty by manipulating speed, angles, and movement patterns to create elite movers.

In terms of developing retreating speed, the foundational movement is known as a hip turn. A hip turn occurs when an athlete needs to transition backward. The hips will pivot to the side the athlete intends to move. As the hips pivot, one foot strikes the ground. As the foot explosively strikes the ground, the hips reposition to move in the exact angle and direction the athlete intends to move.

The most common mistake I see coaches make when training athletes with a retreating speed drill is having the athletes flip their hips to the side and hit the ground with both feet at the same time. Share on X

The most common mistake I see coaches make when training athletes with this type of drill is having the athlete flip their hips to the side and hit the ground with both feet at the same time. When you strike the ground with both feet at the same time, you are no longer in a position to accelerate well. When striking with one foot and repositioning the hips, the lead leg is given the freedom to retract and strike the ground at a better angle for acceleration. If both feet hit the ground simultaneously, this cannot happen.

Video 1. For a hip turn to be effective, a single foot needs to strike the ground aggressively as the hips reposition. 

For a hip turn to be effective, the athlete’s initial foot strike has to be in front of their body. Some might consider this a false step and not an efficient method of movement. However, the athlete needs to strike the foot away from them to create a shin angle for better horizontal projection. This leads to better acceleration, no matter what direction they intend to move. Not only does the foot strike need to be in front of the body, but it also needs to be aggressive.

Progressing Retreating Drills

There are a few different strategies to use when progressing hip turn drills. First, I want to ensure athletes have the ability to retreat at any angle or direction behind them. Performing a hip turn and going into a sprint at a 45-degree angle behind you is easier than doing a complete 180-degree turn and going into a sprint. The more they work toward transitioning straight back, the more difficult it will be to reposition their hips, move in a straight path behind them, and not round their turn.

Begin with stationary drills and work toward being effective when moving at all angles backward. They can perform a hip turn into a sprint or even a shuffle. I encourage you to train different patterns—progress toward opening up directly behind them while maintaining a straight path. Rounding their turn can cause them to lose an angle on an opposing player. This can cost them a step or two, which can be the difference between making and not making the play.

Video 2. A cone stack drill with a cone directly behind them is a good drill to encourage your athletes to take a direct path behind them. 

As your athletes work toward mastering a 180-degree hip turn, you can begin to layer in drills by adding movement prior to a single hip turn. The intensity and difficulty of any change of direction are increased when you add more speed before a change of direction. Therefore, start with a single shuffle or a single lateral run step prior to performing a hip turn.

Since each of these movements can be performed over a relatively short distance, the intensity of the drill does not increase too much. Be sure to still encourage your athletes to move fast regardless of the distance of the drill. Performing the drill at half speed is not the same as performing it at full speed. Mastering the skill of speed drills means being able to perform them well at full speed.

Video 3. Adding a shuffle or lateral run step before a hip turn is a good progression for developing explosiveness and coordination for retreating speed. 

You can increase the difficulty of the drill by adding more speed prior to the hip turn as well as adding in more changes of direction. You can also begin to pair hip turns with other movement patterns. Consider the drill’s intensity to ensure you get a high number of quality reps.

For the most part, keep the drill between two and four seconds. Keeping the drill this short will allow your athletes to perform a higher number of quality reps. This gives them more exposure and a better opportunity to learn the skill of the movement. Performing drills that last 10 seconds or more—especially done at maximum speed—will limit the number of reps the athlete can perform without getting tired to the point the speed session becomes a conditioning workout.

Video 4. This is an effective drill to work on creating good angles and accelerating out of a hip turn when opening up to the left and the right. 

Continue increasing the drill’s difficulty by adding new layers of coordination and tougher movement problems. I particularly like using drills that require the athlete to perform multiple hip turns almost in succession. An example of this is video 5 below, where a hip turn is performed at the cone and then another almost immediately.

I particularly like using drills that require the athlete to perform multiple hip turns almost in succession. This ability allows athletes to keep the opposing player directly in front of them. Share on X

These are effective for helping defensive players recover and keep an angle. One-on-one matchups are a game of cat and mouse—defenders do not want to get spun around. The ability to perform hip turns in succession allows athletes to keep the opposing player directly in front of them.

Video 5. Manipulate speed and angles to increase the difficulty of performing an effective hip turn. 

Applying Multidirectional Plyometrics to Improve Retreating Power

Along with improving the actual skill of linking movement patterns for better retreating speed, we want to continue to improve power within these patterns. This can be done by performing multidirectional plyometrics with a focus on retreating. Similar to speed training, the majority of plyometric drills you see performed are straight up and down, traveling forward, or moving side to side.

When considering the movement of a basketball player, they play defense just about half of the time. Here, you’ll see Kobe Bryant playing lockdown defense by executing effective hip turns at the :17 and :19 marks of the video. Developing this type of mastery of movement is critical, so why don’t we put a much bigger emphasis on developing retreating power?

Earlier in this article, I reviewed the importance of a hip turn and how that is initiated with a single punch into the ground. Creating more power within this movement can greatly contribute to closing speed, particularly over short distances. When considering how to include retreating plyometrics in your program, you should progress toward developing unilateral retreating power. This can be done with a focus on minimizing time on the ground, maximizing distance, or a combination of these two key points of emphasis. The sets and reps will be the same as what you would program for your athletes with other plyometric drills.

Video 6. Retreating unilateral power development is a key point of emphasis for my athletes.

Where Does This Fit Into Your Speed Training?

When programming speed, I take a different approach than the majority of programs I’ve seen. I have made speed the primary focus of my program, and I train a particular aspect of speed five days per week with my athletes. Two of those days focus on linear speed in the form of acceleration or max speed drills. The other three days are dedicated to improving the skill of game speed and linking movement patterns. On these days, there can be some overlap when performing attacking, lateral, or retreating drills.

Get creative and think of game scenarios in which athletes need to rapidly change their direction of movement. Manipulate the volume of drills as you see fit for your athletes and time your athletes regularly to ensure their speed continues to improve over the course of your program.

Get creative and think of game scenarios in which athletes need to rapidly change their direction of movement. Time them regularly to ensure their speed continues to improve. Share on X

The drills do not need to look perfect every rep—as a matter of fact, they should not. If an athlete can perform a drill perfectly every time, they own that skill, so find a way to increase the difficulty of the drill by changing the speeds, angles, or movement patterns. Also, take note of the differences when linking movement patterns toward the left and the right, as I have seen a good bit of asymmetry (this is most likely due to an athlete playing primarily on one side of the field). Continue to build on your athlete’s strengths while working to eliminate any movement deficiencies that can expose them on the field.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

In the 1968 Olympics, US weightlifter Tommy Suggs noticed that Russian coaches had a unique way of greeting athletes from other countries. They would shake with one hand and then reach around with the other to feel the thickness of their lower back muscles. Such was the importance these coaches placed on developing this muscle group.

In review, the erector spinae consist of three muscles that run vertically along both sides of the spine: iliocostalis, longissimus, and spinalis. Their functions include extension, flexion, and rotation of the torso. These muscles are also involved in spinal stability. As seen in the lead photo of the US Olympian Derrick Crass (photo by Bruce Klemens), fully developed erector spinae muscles resemble a pair of thick cables.

Strength coach Charles R. Poliquin believed that strong erector spinae muscles created an “irradiation effect,” such that if you strengthen these muscles, your strength in other lifts will improve. For example, Poliquin said performing barbell back extensions could enable you to lift more in the military press and the biceps curl. Spine biomechanics professor Dr. Stuart McGill agrees.

“Stiffening the core allows the hip and shoulder musculature to move the distal limbs without an energy leak as the spine bends,” says McGill. “A core that arrests spine movement transfers the power generated at the hips to use in Olympic lifts, military presses, and the like.” McGill adds that he has worked with elite weightlifters and world record holders in powerlifting, and the common factor among them was a “strong, stiffening core.”

Before getting into the pros and cons of various lower back exercises, let’s look at two sports that have taken a particular interest in developing the erector spinae muscles: powerlifting and weightlifting.

Getting “Back” into Powerlifting

In the early days of powerlifting, minimal “supportive gear” was allowed. Today, numerous powerlifting federations permit the use of gear such as squat suits that may add hundreds of pounds to a lifter’s performance. Whereas 700-pound bench presses and 900-pound squats are rare in one federation, 1000+ results in these lifts are commonplace in others. Beyond gear, there was the issue of technique.

Some powerlifters would squat with an upright style and a relatively narrow foot stance a half-century ago, a style that could be considered “quad-dominant.” However, allowing athletes to squat higher and wear special squat suits that support the spine has resulted in the popularity of a lift that resembles an ultrawide stance good morning. This style could be considered “hip-dominant.”

Allowing athletes to squat higher and wear special squat suits that support the spine has resulted in the popularity of a lift that resembles an ultrawide stance good morning. Share on X

I discussed this new squatting technique with the late Carl Miller, a former coaching coordinator for USA Weightlifting who did extensive academic work in anatomy. Miller offered the theory that powerlifters figured that the knees would wear out before the hips, so they developed a squatting technique that would place more emphasis on the hips than the knees. He presents an interesting argument because there has been a significant increase in hip replacement surgeries among the general population in recent years. In other words, because knee replacement surgeries have become so effective, the hip is the next area to break down.

This technique may be better for boosting the numbers in powerlifting competitions, but this muscular imbalance may be a red flag for athletes in other sports. Just ask strength coach and posturologist Paul Gagné.

Putting more emphasis on the hips than the knees may be better for boosting the numbers in powerlifting competitions, but this muscular imbalance may be a red flag for athletes in other sports. Share on X

Gagné recently consulted with an NFL team that focused on partial squatting movements. He noticed that many of these athletes “were built like horses,” with considerable muscle mass around the hips and upper thighs and minimal development of the muscles around the knee. He believes such unbalanced development increases the risk of knee injuries.

As for how modern powerlifters should train, no discussion about powerlifting would be complete without a mention of Louie Simmons, one of the most influential coaches in powerlifting.

Although the squat and deadlift work the erector spinae muscles, Simmons believed that powerlifters should perform additional work for the lower back. One of his key predictor lifts was the standing good morning. Among Simmons’ influences was Bruce Randall, a strongman who bulked up to 401 pounds and could perform a good morning with 685 pounds. From there, Randall dropped nearly half his bodyweight to become Mr. Universe in 1959.

The Russian weightlifters in the 60s and 70s also performed good mornings for strength with a barbell on the shoulders. Leonid Taranenko is a former absolute world record holder in the clean and jerk with a best of 586 pounds in 1988, a record that stood for 33 years. In an interview with weightlifting sports scientist Bud Charniga, Taranenko said he would perform the exercise because he believed it was important to have a strong back in weightlifting. With the good morning, athletes lean forward, allowing their hips to shoot back to maintain their balance. Taranenko said he would straighten up when he felt pressure on the balls of his feet.

Many commercial gyms offer seated back extension machines that replicate the movement of a seated good morning. I believe the seated variations should probably be avoided by those with a history of lower back issues.

Seated good morning variations should probably be avoided by those with a history of lower back issues. Share on X

I say this because research conducted by Alf Nachemson of Sweden in 1975 showed that leaning forward about 15 degrees from a seated position can nearly double the compressive forces on the L2-3 vertebrae. In fact, about 30 years ago, a friend of mine with a history of lower back pain told me he decided to try such a machine. After performing just one set, he immediately had to be taken to the emergency room for severe muscle spasms that prevented him from walking.

As the powerlifting community focused on using the lower back muscles more in squatting, the weightlifting community was developing methods to use the lower back less, making additional work unnecessary.

A Tale of Two Pulling Techniques

In the 60s, Russia was the dominant force in weightlifting. Their coaches promoted a lifting style that extended the shoulders well in front of the bar when it passed the knees.

In the 60s, Russia was the dominant force in weightlifting. Their coaches promoted a lifting style that extended the shoulders well in front of the bar when it passed the knees. Share on X

The Russian technique places a high level of stress on the spine for a prolonged period. Focusing on this technique resulted in these athletes developing tremendous erector spinae muscles, and they often included special exercises to strengthen the lower back.

In 1984, unnaturally high testosterone levels among athletes resulted in a doping ban for this hormone. Doping control affected lifters using the Russian pulling style because they could not recover adequately from the stress this technique placed on the lower back, at least not with the total volume of their training that they were accustomed to (for more on the triple extension technique, see my article).

In the early 80s, the Chinese took a particular interest in weightlifting, especially in the women’s division. They “changed the game” by looking for ways to modify pulling techniques to minimize the stress on the lower back for women. The style was more upright, with the shoulders staying on top of the bar during the pull throughout the lift.

Chinese weightlifters 'changed the game' by looking for ways to modify pulling techniques to minimize the stress on the lower back for women. Share on X

The Chinese pull has a distinct advantage over triple extension because it uses the powerful Achilles tendon to assist the quads in producing power. Thus, their lifters raised their heels before full knee extension. They also avoid moving the shoulders in front of the knees at any point of the lift. As such, additional lower back exercises were unnecessary, and lifters could perform a higher volume of the classical lifts (e.g., snatch or clean and jerk). And because females tend to have relatively more strength in their legs than their lower backs (compared to men), this style proved superior.

As a result of this pulling technique, the Chinese women have been the dominant force in the Olympic and World Championships. In recent years, Chinese men have become an international powerhouse in the lighter bodyweight classes but struggle to find talent in the heavier classes. That said, if the Chinese enter a lifter in an international competition, odds are they will medal. Often, one or more of them will break a world record.

Modern technology allows coaches to analyze a weightlifter’s technique more precisely. Video 1 shows my former weightlifter, Christian Rivera. The first image was taken when we started working together and shows that he was pulling the bar straight up rather than towards his center of mass. The next clip shows a corrective exercise for this issue, followed by a lift with a more optimal bar path and a heavy lift in competition. At a bodyweight of 143 pounds, Christian broke the New England clean and jerk record with a lift of 288 pounds. 

Video 1. Using bar path software to help coaches correct an athlete’s lifting technique. (Final video clip by LiftingLife.com.)

Today, perhaps due to a lack of education and gyms being overwhelmed with athletes, many strength coaches only have their athletes perform Olympic lifts from the mid-thigh (hang) or blocks—the so-called “weightlifting derivatives.” These variations minimize the stress on the lower back from pulling off the floor. It also means the lower back muscles received little stimulation.

Today, perhaps due to a lack of education and gyms being overwhelmed with athletes, many strength coaches only have their athletes perform Olympic lifts from the mid-thigh (hang) or blocks. Share on X

Besides these partial movements, many popular strength and conditioning programs focus on Bulgarian split squats, high hex bar deadlifts, and leg presses that do little to develop the lower back muscles. Athletes who focus on these lifts could benefit from additional exercises for the erector spinae This begs the question: “Which ones are the best?”

There are two major types of lower back exercises: those producing maximal resistance in the internal range (back extensions) and those producing maximal tension in the external range (reverse hypers and good mornings). Let’s start with back extensions.

Rediscovering Back Extensions

Back extensions strengthen the erector spinae muscles in the internal (shortened) range and strongly affect the gluteal muscles.

First, consider that back extensions can be used as a dynamic warm-up for the posterior chain muscles (hamstrings, glutes, lower back) at the beginning of a workout. In the 70s, I would train alongside Ken Clark at the Sports Palace Gym. Clark was an Olympian who clean and jerked 470 pounds in the 220-pound bodyweight class, a lift that I believe has yet to be matched. He would warm up with a few bodyweight back extensions before lifting.

By changing the angle of the bench (horizontal to incline), you can affect different portions of the strength curve, so variation ensures complete development of the muscles. Resistance can be increased by holding a weight plate across your chest and on your shoulders or a barbell across your shoulders, but having a barbell is more comfortable and you can pack on the plates.

Coach Poliquin liked performing back extensions on a 45-degree incline bench, holding the barbell at arm’s length (arms perpendicular to the floor) with a wide grip to increase the range of motion. From a muscle recruitment standpoint, Gagné says incline back extensions recruit more of the muscles below the L3 vertebrae, and conventional back extensions recruit more of the muscles above L3.

Incline back extensions recruit more of the muscles below the L3 vertebrae, and conventional back extensions recruit more of the muscles above L3. Share on X

The Reverse Hyper Advantage

Reverse hypers strengthen the erector spinae muscles in the external (lengthened) range and strongly affect the gluteal muscles. Poliquin told me he saw gymnastic coaching books from east Germany and Hungary showing this exercise performed with resistance over a pommel horse. Resistance was provided by a kettlebell or a medicine ball. I’ve also seen a physical training book by Thomas DeLorme and Arthur Watkins, published in 1951, showing the exercise performed with iron boots. The 1985 German physiotherapy book Training Therapy: Prophylaxis and Rehabilitation, by Rolf Gustavsen and Renate Streeck, shows the performance of this exercise using cables for resistance.

Another interesting variation was performed by American weightlifter Roger Quinn. Chronic knees prevented Quinn from squatting heavily frequently. As such, he would focus on the Olympic lifts and then substitute a combination of other exercises for squats. One of these was a reverse hyper variation using manual resistance.

Quinn describes this exercise in an article published in the March 1974 issue of the International Olympic Lifter. He would lie face down over a gymnastic pommel horse and, while keeping his legs straight, Quinn would have one training partner apply manual resistance to his legs while another stabilized his upper body. “These reverse hyperextensions…seem to work the buttock muscles in the same fashion that the two-hand curl works the biceps,” said Quinn. “I feel that this exercise comes close to really isolating the buttocks while simultaneously employing the spinal erector muscles of the lower back.”

As for the first working prototypes of a reverse hyper machine, powerlifting guru Louie Simmons received the first patent on a device in 1993. Simmons also suffered a back injury and sought to rehab it by developing a reverse hyperextension machine. Resistance was applied by a strap that wrapped around the ankle; the strap was attached to a lever arm with a pivot point under the bench. This design enabled the legs to be pulled in line with and even under the hips, increasing the exercise’s range of motion and thus providing traction on the erector spinae.

According to Gagné, reverse hypers are among the best exercises for the erector spinae—particularly for those athletes with postural problems—as they work these muscles in the external (lengthened) range. “About 90 percent of the professional hockey players I coach have an excessive anterior tilt of the pelvis and chronic tightness in the lower back. They must focus on working the lower back with a neutral spine and only in the external range.”

Reverse hypers are among the best exercises for the erector spinae—particularly for those athletes with postural problems—as they work these muscles in the external (lengthened) range. Share on X

Gagné also says the biggest and most common mistake when performing reverse hypers is lifting the legs horizontally (on the units with a platform parallel to the floor). Raising the feet to parallel or even higher, as many powerlifters recommend, will place adverse stress on the L3 to L5 vertebrae by causing the spine to hyperextend.”

Regarding kettlebell swings, which are external-range exercises, you must be careful to maintain a neutral spine when performing them. Often, the momentum these weights develop can encourage back rounding and take the tissues through a range of motion that may be too extreme. Also, don’t rely on a picture book to learn these exercises—seek the help of a qualified instructor.

As for reps and sets, because the erector spinae are primarily slow-twitch muscle fibers, coach Poliquin says you should perform phases of high-rep and low-rep protocols. The low reps will help with performance in heavy compound exercises such as squats, and the higher reps are essential to help prevent and rehabilitate lower back issues caused by poor muscular endurance.

The Issue is the Tissue!

Besides being used as a strength training exercise for the lower back, the Russians used several variations of good mornings and back extensions with light weights as a prophylactic/therapeutic exercise. Consider these as dynamic stretches.

Think about it: how many basic weight training exercises are performed with a “tight back,” such as a squat, deadlift, or power clean? Performing an exercise with a rounded back with a light weight (usually the empty bar) will help ease the tension developed during these exercises.

Performing an exercise with a rounded back with a light weight (usually the empty bar) will help ease the tension developed during these exercises. Share on X

In 1974, weightlifting legend Tommy Kono wrote an article for Strength and Health magazine where he said that hard weightlifting training can cause the lumbar muscles to become overworked, such that they become stiff and “cannot relax or tighten completely.” He added, “Your back can become ‘stiff as a board’ with the lumbar muscles hard to the touch (‘all knotted up’), or the muscles so fatigued that it is like a spring that has been overstretched. In either case, you have lost the explosive contractile quality of the muscles in the lower back.”

The late Dr. Mel Siff told me this idea was often used in figure skating. After arching their lower back in a Biellmann spin (where the skater pulls the heel of their boot behind their head into a split), in practice, skaters would be instructed to touch their toes to prevent their back from cramping.

In 1986, weightlifting sports scientist Bud Charniga wrote an article about a rounded-back good morning holding a barbell. Using an empty bar, the athlete would bend forward and try to touch their head to their knees (shifting their hips back to maintain balance). Performing this exercise with just an empty barbell is extremely difficult.

As a compromise, I would often have my sprinters at Brown University perform it by holding a light weight plate (usually 10 pounds for females and 25 pounds for males) behind their shoulders, going down as far as comfortable. I would have them perform the exercise standing, with the rear foot elevated in a split, and seated. These were performed with light weights and only as a dynamic stretch. However, those with disc issues could aggravate their condition with these movements.

An alternative to these types of dynamic stretches is longitudinal osteoarticular decoaptation stretching, which is translated from the French acronym ELDOA. ELDOA is a form of fascia stretching developed by Dr. Guy Voyer that decompresses the entire spine and helps normalize the alignment of the vertebrae.

ELDOA is a form of fascia stretching developed by Dr. Guy Voyer that decompresses the entire spine and helps normalize the alignment of the vertebrae. Share on X

Through extensive research involving sophisticated diagnostic equipment, Voyer demonstrated that ELDOA can increase the space between each vertebral column segmentally; but rather than just muscles, ELDOA stretches the fascia.

Fascia is the tissue that connects and shapes every muscle, organ, blood vessel, and nerve. Of particular importance to athletes is that fascia envelopes and intertwines with the fibers of muscles and, therefore, plays a vital role in determining the range of motion of each joint. In effect, if the fascia is abnormal or injured, an athlete will never achieve optimal levels of flexibility, strength, and power, no matter how much static, PNF, or dynamic stretching they perform.

ELDOA is remarkably effective in treating herniated disks and back pain caused by many other conditions. As a bonus, one effect of myofascial stretching and ELDOA is an increased ability to recover from exercise. This effect enables athletes to increase the intensity and length of their conditioning programs and sports training sessions. Video 2 shows a tennis player who was coached by Gagné performing an ELDOA stretch for the lower back.

Video 2: A tennis player performing an ELDOA stretch that decompresses the vertebrae. (Video by Paul Gagné.)

Finally, the current thinking in back pain rehabilitation appears to be that muscular endurance may be more important than absolute strength. For more on this subject, I highly recommend Dr. Stuart McGill’s extensively researched but highly readable textbook, Low Back Disorders, 3rd Edition.

I realize I’ve thrown a lot of controversial ideas at you, but what worked a half-century ago in strength coaching may not be what’s best for athletes today. It’s been said that “the Devil is in the details,” so stay on top of your game and take a closer look at lower back training.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Reed, D. Personal Communication about Tommy Suggs. 1976.

Poliquin, C. The Poliquin Principles, 3rd Edition. Poliquin Performance Center 2, LLC. 2016; p. 142.

McGill, S. Personal Communication. August 27, 2023.

Miller, C. Personal Communication. 2005.

Roach, R. “The Amazing Transformation of Bruce Randall.” Iron Game History. 2008;10(3) (Reprinted from Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors; House Publishing, 2008).

Charniga, A., Jr. “An Interview with Leonid Taranenko.” Sportivny Press. September 23, 1989.

Nachemson, A. “Disc Pressure Measurements.” Rheumatology Rehabilitation. 1975;14(3):129-43.

Charniga, A., Jr. “Can There Be Such a Thing as an Asian Pull?” European Weightlifting Federation Scientific Magazine. 2016;2(4):24-32.

Charniga, A., Jr., “The Ankle and the Asian Pull.” European Weightlifting Federation Scientific Magazine. No 12: January-April 2017.

DeLorme, T., and Watkins, A. Progressive Resistance Exercise. Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc. 1951.

Gustavsen, R., and Streeck, R. Training Therapy: Prophylaxis and Rehabilitation. Thieme Medical Publishers. 1985.

Quinn, R. “My Special Leg Routine.” International Olympic Lifter. 1974;1(3).

Kono, T. “The Loosening Deadlift.” Strength and Health. 1974.

Charniga, A., Jr. “Variations and Rational Use of the Good Morning Exercise.” NSCA Journal. 1986;8(1):74-77.

Goss, K. “New Directions in Sports Training and Rehabilitation.” Bigger Faster Stronger. Jan-Feb 2007.

McGill, S. Low Back Disorders: Evidence-Based Prevention and Rehabilitation, 3rd Edition. Human Kinetics. May 8, 2015.

Until this point, GPS has mostly been used by large institutions or organizations with huge checkbooks to assist athletic training and sports medical staff in keeping their athletes in peak physical condition—and, most importantly, as healthy and injury-free as possible. A colleague who was on my staff while I was the Director of Football Performance at Ohio State University is now working for another Power 5 football program, and his sole role is to run, collect, manage, and report the GPS data to the assistant AD for football sports performance and the athletic training staffs.

GPS is no longer available to just the Alabamas and Ohio States; it’s become affordable for the individual end user, says @coachelichter. Share on X

We spoke recently, and he stated that in 2017, before they started tracking player intensity load with GPS, there were a total of 52 soft tissue/hamstring-related injuries in the program. That may seem like a high number of injuries, but this number includes any tightness as well as grade one, two, and three strains. Total training and competition time lost because of those injuries was approximately 789 days. In 2021, that number was reduced to 34, with days lost totaling approximately 309.

GPS player tracking provides important and very useful data that allows coaches to make better decisions in real time, as well as anticipate and alter activity in the coming days or weeks due to the clear and accurate picture that this technology provides. But let’s not stop there—let’s look beyond the obvious and dive deeper into using this technology with not just collegiate and professional athletes but with a much broader population as well. GPS is no longer available to just the Alabamas and Ohio States; it’s become affordable for the individual end user. The technology can be used in youth sports as well, where proper long-term athletic development is needed, and good training decisions lead to much better outcomes with less time missed due to injury or less-than-ideal training protocols.

My world is movement and speed training. Most of the athletes who come through our doors want to move with greater efficiency, improve their mobility and speed, and stay injury-free. We use GPS quite often, but not in the ways outlined above. The three main ways we use GPS in the private sector are:

1. Track & field race modeling and monitoring.
2. Change of direction (COD) performance.
3. Gamify training – competitive, intentional training outputs.

Utilizing GPS for Race Modeling

Let’s define race modeling and talk about why coaches use it to help athletes achieve peak performances.

If athletes could just run all out in every race, there would be no need for a strategy or plan, says @coachelichter. Share on X

In the world of track and field, there is a multitude of events and sprint distances. Not all athletes are built or trained to be able to compete or succeed at all those events. Shorter races (60m, 100m) have different energy demands and training requirements than longer races (200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, etc.). If athletes could just run all out in every race, there would be no need for a strategy or plan. For example, in the 400-meter sprint, athletes cannot sprint all out for the entire 400 meters without “hitting the wall” and experiencing rapid deceleration from crossing the anaerobic threshold.

Race modeling is building a strategy or plan to run your best race.

Let’s look at one of my favorite races, the 200m. Most 200m runners are taught and trained to break the race down into three parts: an aggressive acceleration for the first 40–50 meters followed by a maintenance of high speed for the next 50–60 meters while navigating the curve with control and posture. Some refer to this as floating, and the goal is to be able to run close to 95% of your maximum velocity while still maintaining some reserve for another push upward after the float.

Following this float, 200-meter runners will make one more push/drive toward the highest speed they can attain with what they have left. They take advantage of the curve to straightaway and hold on to as much maximum speed as possible throughout that last 80 meters of the straightaway to the finish. Learning to run races efficiently doesn’t happen overnight. It takes repetition, getting a feel for running each part of the race, and then putting it all together in its entirety.

What if we could quantify this process rather than just feel it? Yes, we can train each portion of the race with a stopwatch, but that doesn’t always tell the entire story. With GPS, we can do this (and are doing this) in that exact manner. Below, you can see data from a GPS device worn by one of our sprinters during a 200-meter race.

We were able to capture speed and distance data, which is shown in the tables below in one-second segments. Additionally, we can look at this data on a graph that plots speed and time.

You can see the aggressive acceleration over the first 35 meters in the illustration in Figure 1 above, marked with the first red arrow. You’ll notice the distance out from the start of the race, where the athlete reached his peak speed of 24 mph. That athlete then slightly decelerated over the next 40 meters, depicted by the second red arrow. He had a slight reacceleration bump at the 7–9-second mark (77–81 meters, approximately) of the race, shown by the curve upward at the start of the third red arrow, which then slightly curves downward, illustrating the athlete’s deceleration over the remaining 110 meters of the race.

As a coach, I can compare this actual performance to the ideal performance in this manner:

First phase analysis based on Figure 1   

• Actual performance—Reached peak speed at 35 meters. 

• Ideal performance—Reach peak speed at around 50 meters.

Second phase analysis based on Figure 2

• Actual performance—Lost approximately 1.65 mph over the speed maintenance zone. Zone covered was 39 meters.

• Ideal performance—Lose 1 mph, at the most, over speed maintenance zone. Zone covered would be 42–45 meters.

Third phase analysis based on Figure 3

• Actual performance—Reached second peak speed at 9-second mark (approximately 80 meters) and lost approximately 3.8 mph over remaining 110 meters.

• Ideal performance—Reach second peak at 11-second mark (approximately 110-meter mark) and lose 1.0 mph, at most, over remaining 90 meters.

To summarize, based on the actual performance, we know there is a need to increase drive phase patience and distance, work on speed maintenance training, and certainly improve speed endurance for better performance in this race.

Using GPS to Assess COD Performance

Acceleration, deceleration, re-acceleration, body control, and stopping ability are the name of the game when it comes to field sports. We call this change of direction (COD) performance; most refer to it as agility.

Let’s define COD performance in no uncertain terms: it is how quickly you can accelerate, decelerate, re-accelerate, stop, and change direction on the athletic field (and not necessarily in that order). It’s any combination of those skills.

This is likely the biggest athletic factor that determines success over your competition in most field sports. Acceleration refers to speed and how quickly it can increase over a given time frame or distance. The same can be said for deceleration and how quickly speed can decrease over a given time frame or distance. What I’m referring to with change of direction performance is the ability to maintain body control, foot placement, and movement efficiency while combining all the components of COD.

Change of direction performance is the ability to maintain body control, foot placement, and movement efficiency while combining all the components of COD, says @coachelichter. Share on X

One of the COD performance sessions that we run athletes through while measuring, tracking, and comparing their performances over time is what we call “the vector cut tree.” This is comprised of either a one-cut or two-cut change of direction. For example, one of the vector cuts is a 10-yard linear starting sprint with a 45-degree cut for 5–10 yards after the prescribed cut around the 10-yard mark. Another example is the same 10-yard starting sprint with a 90-degree cut to the right or left and carrying that cut for 5–10 yards following the prescribed cut.

With GPS, we can measure distance, acceleration, speed, and other metrics during this entire movement. In this particular example, we are looking for the highest speed attained over the first 10 yards, the least amount of speed loss during the cut or change in direction of movement, the highest amount of speed regained or achieved in the 5–10 yards of the new linear path of movement following the cut, and a smooth curve or trend line that isn’t scattered about (showing choppy movement or loss of smoothness in the movement).

Let’s look at two athletes performing the linear to 90 cuts in the same session.

Athlete #1: Analysis based on Figures 4 and 5

1. Covered 15 yards in 4.5 seconds.
2. Peaked at 12.39 mph at the 6.1-yard mark.
3. Had a choppy, inefficient deceleration, evidenced by the scattered dots that form a rough curve.
4. Lost approximately 10.89 mph during the 90-degree cut.
5. Reached a peak speed of 7.83 mph in the second direction of motion following the 90-degree cut.

Athlete #2: Analysis based on Figures 6 and 7

1. Covered 15 yards in 3.6 seconds.
2. Peaked at 12.37 mph at the 6.0-yard mark.
3. Had a smooth deceleration evidenced by the smooth curve.
4. Lost approximately 2.97 mph during the 90-degree cut.
5. Reached a peak speed of 10.83 mph in the second direction of motion following the 90-degree cut.

In summary, Athlete #2 had a much better performance in that movement pattern. He completed the entire required distance in less time. While both athletes reached the same speed on the first line of movement around the same distance out from the start, Athlete #2 was able to change his direction of movement sharply with much less speed lost. Then he accelerated again in the new direction and reached a higher speed at the conclusion of the movement.

Gamify Training with GPS!

Speed coaches know if you time a sprint or movement, the athlete will run as fast as they can. Training and moving with intent are extremely important for improving the quality of training sessions, repetitions, and drills.

I remember a day when my coaches and I were looking over fly sprint times and wondering why our athletes weren’t performing as well as we were expecting them to at a particular practice. We had deloaded their training for a week or two leading up to this session and were giving them maximum rest between sprints. This made us believe we would see lots of new personal bests for this benchmark sprint on this day.

Most of the athletes were just stale, running the fly 20-meter sprints against timing gates. The speaker that we play music on was dead too (no charge), and even though we were timing their runs, they just didn’t have the juice. I told my coaching staff to set up a second and third lane with timing gates, organize the sprinters in groups of three by comparable speed, and race them.

Sometimes, timing them isn’t enough to create the intentional efforts needed, so by adding a competitive race to the equation—mixed in with a few friendly wagers on each race—we got the results we were looking for over the next two sprints. PBs started popping off like crazy! Times, on average, improved by .15–.2 seconds, in some cases.

Sometimes, timing athletes isn’t enough to create the intentional efforts needed, but adding a competitive race gave us the results we were looking for, says @coachelichter. Share on X

This was an example of what we call gamifying a session or drill. Build a score or win/loss around an exercise, and you will get the very best outputs from the ultra-competitive athletes you coach. You tap into their innate desire to compete, perform better than an opponent or teammate, and ultimately WIN! Just win, baby is the motto!

With GPS, you can gamify almost any movement, drill, or sprint. Figure 8 shows the peak velocity of the sprint with an on-screen alert set to show when each athlete being monitored hits 90% of their max output speed. You can see that all the boxes are colored red, which is the alert that was set. If the athlete did not hit 90% of their peak speed, the box would remain the default color.

This is particularly useful for us when administering true speed sessions where we want to see an athlete hit 95% or greater of their maximum speed output on each sprint rep. If they are not hitting that high a threshold, we would likely make an adjustment in the session—such as allowing for more recovery time, for example. If we see speed dropping below 90%, the session will be ended—and these alerts help us monitor that performance metric in real time with GPS.

A Precision Tool

The more precise we can be—making sure we keep the main thing the main thing and without over-analyzing the data—the more impact our programs and coaching will have. If you are a private sector coach and looking for better ways to quantify training to help your athletes lock in and crush performance and move with better precision, speed, and power, then take a serious look at adding this GPS technology into your program.

If you have questions or want to discuss, further feel free to contact me through email at [email protected].

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

When thinking about sports-related injuries, many of us would first envision the violent contact injuries we see in American football. We’d think about the brutality and consequences of head injuries or the inevitable non-contact injuries we witness on Saturdays and Sundays while huddled around the TV screen.

Basketball has not conventionally been perceived as a high-risk sport or one that comes with significant injury risk considerations. Although basketball injuries are typically more discrete, we should not overlook the rigorous demands of basketball, as these athletes experience tremendous physical stressors in their own regard. In this article, I’ll cover the primary injuries for basketball athletes and discuss how we can take a preventative approach to mitigating their onset.

Basketball Injuries by the Numbers

Injury trendlines across all major sports have risen over the last decade, at least at the professional levels, and basketball is no exception. With the influence of early specialization, AAU leagues, and expanded practice and training demands, basketball athletes can become uniquely prone to injuries driven by accumulative repetitive stress. The compounding stress of a persistent high volume of court time can predispose athletes to chronic ailments such as tendonitis, muscle strains, and ligament strains.¹

Additionally, taking into consideration the idiosyncrasies of basketball athletes—abnormal physical frame, high on-court volume model, and lack of variation in training—basketball can become a battle of attrition more than anything else. This may especially be the case at the professional level, which has a grueling 82-game regular season along with a demanding travel schedule.

As evidenced by the chart shown above,² injuries in the NBA have been persistent, if not rising slightly, over the last five years. Also outlined above, NBA injuries are predominantly tendinous/ligamentous (soft tissue) injuries, followed by muscular injuries such as strains and microtears. While it was not explicitly stated whether these injuries were chronic- or acute-based, it is fair to speculate that given the constructs of the sport, basketball players are probably more susceptible to chronic injury types such as tendonitis, fasciitis, and compressive fractures.

There is also a clear priority for injuries based on location, and likely to nobody’s surprise, that priority is from the knee down. According to data provided by Torres-Ronda,³ the most commonly injured site is the ankle (20%), followed by knee injuries (14%), and then foot injuries (12%). Collectively, injuries from the knee down account for nearly 50% of all injuries experienced by NBA players. Although hip (groin) and lower back injuries are somewhat common in basketball, the ankle, knee, and feet represent the triad of basketball injuries.

Preventative Strategies for Hoopers

As shown through the work of Torres-Ronda³ and others, the primary consideration with preventative strategies for basketball players is managing the work-rest ratios—specifically, the rate of change in physical demands. It has been well established that substantial changes in playing or practice time, along with rapid fluctuations in player demands, have shown to be the strongest factor in injury occurrence. Despite this being largely out of the control of the strength coach, it should be monitored closely. And although beyond the focus of this article, there are also the extraneous factors of sleep quality/quantity, nutrition, hydration profiles, and psychoemotional stressors that need to be accounted for when discussing injuries.

But from a mechanical perspective, several strategies can be applied to mitigate the onset of injuries. The predominant focal point for strength coaches, physical therapists, and athletic trainers working with basketball players is emphasizing qualities from the knee down. Additionally, analyzing the individual proportionalities of strength and mobility rather than the empirical, isolated outputs is another essential component for basketball players. While these athletes aren’t typically required to exert maximal force, there are a lot of nuances to how strength is expressed in basketball. This speaks to why we should look for more of an integrative rather than an overloaded foundation for programming.

Analyzing the individual proportionalities of strength and mobility rather than the empirical, isolated outputs is another essential component for injury prevention in basketball players. Share on X

1. Improve Foot and Lower Leg Strength

Considering the significant rates of lower extremity injuries, indirect applications simply do not suffice to meet the demands of these athletes. Deliberate work targeting the feet, ankles, and knees should be a foundational component of any basketball program. A simplified approach for strengthening the feet, ankles, and lower legs can be executed from four primary pillars:

1. Strengthening intrinsic foot muscles.
2. Developing foot compliance.
3. Improving proprioceptive acuity.
4. Improving the force coupling of the ankle joint (Windlass mechanism).

Improving strength and function in the feet and lower legs is relatively simple, requires no additional time or resources, and represents what I believe to be the lowest-hanging fruit available for most athletes. The added bonus to this is that by improving foot strength, sensorimotor acuity, and force coupling of the ankle, we also directly provide a better foundation for knee health. Given the knee joint’s simplistic nature and limited degrees of freedom, only so many things can be done directly to improve knee health. As such, improving the foundation for the knees (foot and ankle function) provides a better opportunity to preserve stress experienced at the knees.

Video 1. Foot Compliance for Knee Health

The bulk of my foot and ankle work falls at the top and bottom of programming—in other words, prioritizing feet and ankles during the warm-up/movement prep periods and finding ways to integrate these concepts into the accessory blocks. The simplest adjustment coaches can make is having athletes perform a portion of their training out of their shoes, which, again, for me, tends to fall in the movement prep and accessory periods. Having athletes perform a variety of isolated drills barefoot—such as a spring ankle series and rudimentary plyos—is a simple adjustment that provides a high return on investment.

Most of my foot and ankle work falls at the top & bottom of programming—prioritizing feet & ankles during the warm-up/movement prep periods & integrating these concepts into the accessory blocks. Share on X

Additionally, having athletes remove their shoes for standard accessory movements like single-leg RDLs, step-ups, and lunge patterns can provide great opportunities to get some barefoot work in. Beyond that, a lot of the mundane restorative work for feet and ankles can be prescribed as “homework” for the athletes so that it doesn’t take away from limited training time.

Video 2. Spring Ankle Series

Considering the amount of time basketball players spend with their heels off the ground, the demand for force coupling at the ankle joint is very high for these athletes. Improvement of force coupling at the ankle is rooted in the ability to create mechanical tensioning through the medial plantar arch, along with the ability to pressurize across multiple points of the forefoot (compliance). This is another thing that can be accomplished in training by slightly modifying how movements are performed. A primary application I use for developing the Windlass mechanism is a floating heel technique, where we have the athlete perform conventional movements like a front foot elevated split squat with only their forefoot on the box.

2. Close the Gap on Contractile vs. Connective Tissues

The majority of basketball injuries are classified as connective tissue injuries, which should prompt coaches to consider how their training parameters influence different tissue types in the body. Force profiling provides a convenient and objective way to discern significant differences between muscular capacity and soft tissue resiliency. This can be observed in a number of ways, for instance, with force plate analysis, which is becoming more widely accessible and practiced. Simple diagnostics to determine muscular versus connective tissue contributions and capacities include having athletes perform a multitude of jump types, such as static versus countermovement jumps, and analyzing traits like time on the ground versus flight time.

We can best decide between emphasizing contractile and connective tissue in training by analyzing the parameters in which exercises are prescribed and performed. For instance, where myotendinous adaptations occur at higher intensities (>80%) with a longer time under tension, myofascial adaptations are more aligned to submaximal intensities (60%–80%) and performed with higher velocity. We can also consider the type of load utilized or applied, as this can be a significant factor in determining which tissue type is being prioritized.

Most basketball injuries are classified as connective tissue injuries, which should prompt coaches to consider how their training parameters influence different tissue types in the body. Share on X

In addition to the intensity ranges, static load is preferable for emphasizing muscular and myotendinous developments. In contrast, isokinetic options like cable, Keiser, or band loading are generally ideal for emphasizing connective and myofascial tissues.

There are a few important distinctions to this part of the conversation, and the first is that these tissues are inextricable, and purely isolating a single tissue type is an impossible feat. Nevertheless, we can be selective to tissue type and preferential with adaptations when training parameters are applied in a specific way.

The second consideration is that one is not inherently superior to the other. The priority should be on the proportions between contractile and connective tissue and then considered based on the athlete’s morphology and play style.

If you have an athlete who is more muscularly driven, the solution in training isn’t to focus purely on developing the connective tissue but rather to seek better compatibility between the tissue types and work to close any substantial margins of deficit. Despite this being anecdotal, I feel strongly that a significant difference between contractile and connective tissue presents a major culprit for injury potential. The mistake several coaches have made is committing themselves to the blind pursuit of maximizing force while neglecting how that force expression is being elucidated.

3. Emphasize Integration, Not Overload

The primary factor in the occurrence of soft tissue injuries is tissues being loaded faster than they’re able to respond or in a vector (applying torque) they cannot tolerate. What’s important to recognize, though, is that injuries do not occur because of the failure of one specific tissue but rather are a consequence of supporting systems failing the tissue. Nothing about our anatomy functions independently; it is always a tandem of systems, tissues, fluids, and signals that occur in a dynamical, complex harmony. As this relates to training, having a detailed and precise strategy for emphasizing the relationships of these systems is critical.

What’s important to recognize is that injuries don’t occur because of the failure of one specific tissue, but rather are a consequence of supporting systems failing the tissue, says @danny_ruderock. Share on X

Emphasizing integration rather than pure overload is a training principle that I have almost inherently become ascribed to, especially in the case of injury. Utilizing an integrative approach does not mean that we become averse to high force loading; it does imply, however, that overload is a byproduct rather than a training priority. Additionally, I put an emphasis on utilizing movements that demand kinetic integration or sequencing. The time and place for pure isolated exercises is slim, and, for my sake, they’re not performed often. My focus is more aligned with how the athlete connects or performs movement and then looking to challenge these movements through a variety of progressions or “layers.”

A priority for integrative training is to emphasize the mechanical relationships of movement. For the sake of foot, ankle, and knee health, there are several marquee relationships we can look to.

The first is the relationship, or interface, with the ground upon contact. Where the center of pressure is across the foot in relation to the direction of movement is a critical factor in the way the body will experience force. In addition to the position of the foot, the amplitude, rate, and direction of force are all also determining factors. From there, the ability of the foot to load eccentrically (splay) and the relationship between the base of support and center of mass will strongly influence the firing sequence of the associating muscle groups.

When athletes cannot create adequate force coupling around the ankle, knee, and hip joints, the joints become vulnerable to experiencing undue stress. There is also a significant influence from the presence of rotation: for instance, whether the foot is more supinated/inverted or pronated/everted. This changes the kinematic relationships of the lower leg muscles, which will then likely influence the bigger muscle groups of the thigh.

Similarly, the position and angulation of the trunk during dynamic actions will have a strong influence on the firing sequence of the leg muscles. This relates back to the relationship between the center of mass (COM) and base of support (BOS), where the greater the distance between the two, the greater the amount of torque experienced at the associated joints, namely the knee joint. For instance, when excessive degrees of ipsilateral trunk flexion are present during a single-leg landing, ACL injury risk increases due to the consequential dynamic valgus torque placed on the knee.

Key Takeaways

Basketball players have unique frames; beyond the overall height of these athletes, the limb length ratios are generally more of a factor in training than for athletes of other sports. In conjunction with the high-volume on-court time, this extreme length can make training challenging for these athletes and likely plays a significant role in injury manifestation.

Considering the high rate of lower-extremity injuries, prioritizing the feet and lower legs should be a staple of training basketball athletes, says @danny_ruderock. Share on X

Although injuries are never entirely preventable, some strategies and modifications can provide a lot of value for preserving the health of basketball players. Considering the high rate of lower-extremity injuries, prioritizing the feet and lower legs should be a staple of training basketball athletes. Additionally, with the elevated possibility of connective tissue injuries, training adjustments should be made to account for the disparities between contractile tissue capacity and connective tissue resiliency.

By utilizing an integrative approach that is individualized to the athletes, we provide the athletes with a better opportunity to stay healthy and durable for the long term without compromising their performance in the short term.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

1. Korkmaz MF, Cetin A, and Bozduman O. (2020). “Anthropometric evaluation of ratio between extremity length and body length in basketball player adolescents.” Pedagogy of Physical Culture and Sport. 2020;24(3):125–128.

2. Escamilla V, “Epidemiology and injury trends in the NBA,” Thermohuman.com, 2/22/22.

3. Torres-Ronda L, Gámez I, Robertson S, and Fernández J. “Epidemiology and injury trends in the National Basketball Association: Pre- and per-COVID (2017-2021).” PLoS ONE. 2022;17(2): e0263354.

Even though the skill of sprinting is one of the most common skills performed by athletes in competition, the lack of knowledge on how to coach it is pervasive. While many books have been written on the biomechanical mechanisms in play during sprinting and others containing drills that coaches can apply to increase speed in athletes, few take the approach Bill Parisi pursues in The Anatomy of Speed.

Parisi includes only what is necessary from an anatomical and biological perspective and combines it with 30 years of practical speed training experience to break down the barriers of entry for speed coaches desiring to learn the nuances of developing speed in their athletes. Considering this level of experience, along with excerpts from leading researchers in the field of kinesiology and sports science, The Anatomy of Speed should be a prerequisite read for any coach who wants to learn how to develop athletes with game-breaking speed.

Overview

With “anatomy” in the title, the reader might expect a dry, textbook-like reading experience. Parisi, however, is able to convey the fundamentals of anatomy and physiology as they pertain to sprinting in an engaging manner that is accessible to the average reader. While Chapter 2 focuses exclusively on the anatomical qualities needed for sprinting, the rest of the book is highly informative on the process of speed development without getting too far into the weeds of biology.

Moving on from Chapter 2 (titled “Systems of Speed”), Parisi then takes the reader through 10 chapters of practical and evidence-based strategies that can be implemented immediately into any speed development program. He takes a linear approach by starting these next 10 chapters with one on the pre-warm-up and injury prevention strategies in a sprinting training session. These topics are fitting to start with, as they should be some of the first steps taken when creating and implementing a speed development program.

If they follow ‘The Anatomy of Speed’ chapter by chapter, a new coach will have a successful speed training protocol at their fingertips, says @DillonMartinez. Share on X

While Parisi goes about informing the reader on the characteristics of the pre-warm-up and its importance in injury prevention, he also models how much value we should place on the topic by its location in the book. He continues this linear approach throughout, deliberately giving the reader a training template to follow and a progression on how to teach the skill of sprinting. If followed chapter by chapter, a new coach will have a successful training protocol at their fingertips.

The Anatomy of Speed aims to peel back the layers of speed development for athletes by looking at speed in three easy-to-comprehend parts:

• How speed is generated.
• How speed is exhibited.
• How a coach can better develop speed.

Each chapter is comprised of a few pages explaining that chapter topic’s importance as it pertains to speed development in both a scientific and anecdotal way. Then, the author includes practical application ideas for the covered topic, with pictures and diagrams of how to teach those ideas to an athlete during a speed session, before moving on to the next chapter. This approach to writing about the topic makes reading entertaining and meaningful, as the reader gleans research-backed methodologies to speed development, personal stories, ideas from a coach with over 30 years of experience, and visual lessons on applying the content in an authentic setting.

Applications and Ideas for Coaches

Speed is the tide that raises all ships. Many of the goals that a strength or sport coach has for their team surrounding performance can be obtained through the specific goal of making their athletes faster. When the athletes under your charge get faster, they also exhibit an increase in strength, explosion, coordination, agility, and change of direction ability.

There is no other singular metric that, by improving it, can also make a difference in most all other tangible, measurable performance indicators. You can improve cardiovascular endurance through speed training, whereas this is not the same in the inverse. Speed gains are not seen when training specifically for increases in endurance—so those gassers you ran after practice do nothing to make your athletes faster and will only marginally increase endurance. Your athletes will wonder how screaming “fourth quarter” while running at submaximal speeds will make them better athletes.

Instead, using the ideas laid out by Parisi, a coach can create and implement a speed improvement plan that will benefit all athletes in all aspects of their athletic ability. The key will be to convince your athletes that speed is indeed a skill that can be taught and increased. The adage “you can’t teach speed” has been disproved repeatedly by the literature, as well as through my own anecdotal speed coaching experience. Once the athletes choose to believe that they can get faster, it is on the coach to provide the training protocols needed to capitalize on that buy-in.

The adage ‘you can’t teach speed’ has been disproved repeatedly by the literature, as well as through my own anecdotal speed coaching experience, says @DillonMartinez. Share on X

The Anatomy of Speed goes beyond just giving the drills to do; it also includes the “why” behind those drills from an easy-to-understand physiology perspective so that a coach can then create and implement drills with confidence in their effect.

Lastly, a point not made in the book—but one that goes a long way to increase athlete buy-in—is to time everything done in a speed session. Timing and recording all speed reps shows athletes their improvement over time, increases effort in a training session (as they are always trying to decrease their times), and also adds a much-needed element of fun to the training process. You can do this with a stopwatch, but using an electronic timing system such as Freelap or Dashr will prove to be more accurate and efficient for you as the coach, especially when working with large groups of athletes at one time.

Personal Thoughts

Sprinting is a specialized skill that gets viewed as a fundamental skill. This means that when we are taught how to run, many teachers believe that we now also know how to sprint. This is not the case.

As a pre-service physical education teacher educator at Winona State University and a speed coach, I see firsthand the discrepancies between what we teach in the PE curriculum and what we expect our students to be able to do as athletes later in their developmental progression. PE teachers are taught how to teach running using the following critical elements: make sure the arms and legs move in opposition, ensure there is a flight phase between ground contact times, toes pointed forward, and the foot lands heel to toe. But when we look at sprinting as a specialized skill, we see that these are not the critical elements of sprinting.

A methodical approach to teaching and training athletes on the skill of sprinting should be a fundamental ability of all coaches. The Anatomy of Speed does an incredible job of laying the foundation needed to do just that.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Parisi, Bill. (2022). The Anatomy of Speed. Human Kinetics, Champaign, IL. $39.95 ISBN: 975-1-14925-9899-2

Unlike many field and court sports, football, out of season, traditionally has less skill development—especially in the area of small-sided games (SSGs) and agility training methods. This lack of specificity leads to increased injury rates, specifically in training camp, which is the onset of high exposures to those missing training elements in the off-season.

To prevent this, small-sided games should be implemented in the lead-up to the competitive season. This ensures the first time there are bodies flying and ensuing chaos isn’t in the players’ first team practice but in the off-season in a controlled environment. In this segment of my series of SSG articles, I introduce the reason for creating specific mailboxes based on positions, reinforced by GPS data that aims at attacking the training void between general training and specific training as it pertains to American football.

The use of small-sided games ensures the first time there are bodies flying and ensuing chaos isn’t in the player’s first team practice but in the off-season in a controlled environment, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Agility and small-sided games are two important components of sports training. Agility refers to the ability to change direction quickly and efficiently in response to the environment, while small-sided games are modified versions of traditional sports that involve fewer players and smaller playing areas. Incorporating both training concepts into an off-season program will decrease the shock that comes with the chaos of play and lessen the chance of injury. In the previous article, I discussed the elements of play and factors that go along with increasing training specificity as the competitive season approaches.

How many of these elements to incorporate—and how frequently—will be based on GPS data that allows us to create SSG templates that fit position mailboxes so that sessions can flow and be efficient while preparing the players for the specific demands of their position. While we must incorporate the general training elements of agility—deceleration, acceleration, top speed, change of direction, and reaction time—to ensure increases in game play occur, understanding through the data which element needs more time will be a priority, as we don’t want to reach a point of diminishing returns within that positional mailbox.

Corners don’t need three exposures to collision prep in a session, just as linemen don’t need 120+ yards of max speed distances. I have made the mistake of prescribing elements of training to populations that rarely encounter those elements in the game, which took away from some of the main training themes necessary for increased performance for that athlete at their position. GPS allows the prescription to be precise and takes the guesswork out of the application of SSGs.

Creating the Playing Field Based on GPS Values

In the world of strength and conditioning, the word “conditioning” seems to be associated with the ideology of long, boring, tedious, and plain running sessions. When defined, “conditioning” means “to train or accustom someone or something to a certain state.” So, conditioning can be any type of training and is not confined to just running extensive tempos.

Throughout the evolution of the profession, conditioning became more synonymous with the cardiovascular adaptations of long-distance running and less synonymous with the physiological adaptations associated with exposure to the session’s mechanical stresses. Extensive and intensive tempos serve a purpose in times of general training but do not alone build the specific qualities to be prepared for in the chaotic and mechanically taxing demands of play.

Repeat sprint ability sessions are also valuable but, yet again, miss the agility and specificity of play. To go from such broad and general training to claiming players are “in shape” and “gameplay ready” is irresponsible. Small-sided games can move strength and conditioning coaches from very boring and general training sessions to enjoyable and specific sessions that actually prepare the players for game play. The metaphor “you have to walk before you run” holds true as we, as coaches, don’t want to go from these extremely rigid and structured running workouts to literally an entire unpredictable environment that involves car crashes on every play like football provides.

What is the purpose of conditioning? Conditioning is meant to prepare the athlete for the physiological and mechanical demands of their sport. Coaches check the box on the physiological side more times than not but miss epically on the mechanical side.

GPS allows for more precise prescription of training elements and takes the guesswork out of the application of SSGs, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Tissue stress capacity is real, and the preseason epidemic of soft tissue injuries should drive home this point. Traditional models of conditioning lack the specificity and requirements SSGs provide to help zoom in on the mechanical and psychological factors of the game. Small-sided games are defined as a reduction in players or field size from regular game play, which American football uses in practice with inside run, 7-on-7, and even tackling drills. The use of SSG does not have to end once the season is over. In the off-season, it is critical to continue the skill development that results from exposure to SSG.

Using reduced field space in evasion/tracking drills allows players to focus on their position and gets them valuable reps in a scenario that occurs frequently in game play while increasing robustness to the mechanical stress associated with the cost of movement. In this article, we will piece together the why behind the design and volumes associated with off-season small-sided games. We will then look at the how when we explore the progressions of drills that climb the continuum from general to specific.

Big Rocks

Before going to the microscopic levels of stress that GPS shows, every coach should start with the needs analysis for football’s basic game characteristics when constructing the specificity of SSG in the off-season. Understand that practice duration and game duration are critical pieces of information that play an essential role in overall workload distribution.

After how long the game or practice is, the type of playing style is the next pertinent piece of information that must be discussed and understood. A hurry-up offense and a huddled offense are polar opposites from the standpoint of energy demands. This search for why by your coaching staff on principles of play will increase organizational communication and buy-in because, as the strength and conditioning coach, you’re trying to give the sport coach exactly what they want by optimizing your training to enhance their style of play.

Understanding the average time between plays can help piece together the physiological demands of play for your team. Knowing the average play count in a game and plays per series will help identify what level of reps are appropriate for off-season conditioning and practices.

You Wouldn’t Drive a Car Without a Dashboard

Technological advancements within the sports world have dramatically increased the precise explanation of game play and what players experience during every play and game. GPS is now to athletes what a dashboard is to a car. You wouldn’t go on a road trip without knowing your car’s oil level or how much gas is in the tank. The same goes for football players.

How do coaches plan practices without knowing how much volume players accumulate through total yardage, high-speed yardage, and acceleration load? The first time we used GPS at a practice, it was shocking to see how far we were off on the lower estimation of total yardage compared to what was really going on, and it was reflected in our planning in the off-season. Flat out, we underestimated and saw a huge workload spike going from the off-season to the in-season, which is not ideal.

Through data from GPS and research papers, any coach can now baseline practice averages for several metrics. There is no excuse for not knowing what is truly going on in the game at any given moment.

The GPS doesn’t only give the coach a detailed explanation of playing stress; for us, the data has really distinguished the different demands between positions. Understanding that football is a game of many games and positions with drastically different demands helps strength coaches create accurate conditioning sessions with merit and purpose behind their execution.

The GPS doesn’t only give the coach a detailed explanation of playing stress; for us, the data has really distinguished the different demands between positions, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Zebras

When I speak about training and planning for football, I love to utilize the zebra metaphor. When a person looks at a pack of zebras, there are very noticeable similarities between them:

• They have black and white stripes.
• They look similar to a horse or donkey.
• They run with very similar gait patterns.

When you observe this pack of zebras more closely, however, many individual differences stand out, such as:

• Different stripe patterns.
• Different sizes.
• Different running patterns.

Like the zebras, football looks very similar from a distance in terms of running, collisions, and formations, but when observed through GPS, the game is very individualized to each unique position. When building out SSGs for the off-season, it’s extremely important to mailbox players into specific workload categories that will be comparable to the unique demands exhibited by their position.

As much as I would like to individualize every player’s conditioning plan, that is extremely impractical from a resource standpoint. Mailboxing positions by body type, movement signatures, and load enables the strength and conditioning coach to customize enough of the session to where there are noticeable differences in the session position-to-position. Without this data, it is very easy to make mistakes with intensities, modalities, and volumes when prescribing conditioning. There is no need for a 300-pound lineman to run over 3,500 yards in a conditioning session when the max amount they run in an average practice will be 2,800–3,200 yards. Giving the athlete what they need based on data and not just feel will provide you with a sniper’s view instead of a shotgun approach.

Four Subgroups

Based on similarities in game demands and anthropometric averages, we have created four subgroups that determine drill selection, distances, and overall total load when constructing our SSGs in the off-season. This mailboxing process allows us to check a lot of boxes from a mechanical and physiological standpoint while maintaining a competitive atmosphere, as the players in these subgroups tend to interact on the field frequently. Coaches utilizing these subgroups can control and customize each drill to fit the positions’ needs.

The four subgroups are:

1. Tanks/Bigs: Interior Defensive Line/Offensive Line
2. Pickup Trucks/Big Mids: Tight Ends/Outside Linebackers/Defensive Ends
3. Hellcats/Speed Mids: Running Backs/Boundary Safety/Quarterback/Inside Backer
4. Motor Bikes/Skill: Defensive Backs/Wide Receivers

Tanks: Interior Defensive Line and Offensive Line

In any given game or practice, the big guys up front go through 40–60 car crashes. We label them “tanks” because of the similarities in their need to handle body damage, their maneuverability, and the power of their offensive strike. It is in these big guys’ job description to “kidnap” people, meaning they have to take another player and move them against their will.

These big boys play in a 5-yard box and rarely go over 3,500 total yards in a game or practice. Their total yardage will be around the 13,000-yard mark for an average game week. The position does require extreme quickness, strength, and agility because of the lack of space and inability to fix a mistake due to the minimal time and limited space.

These tanks have extremely high acceleration loads because of the rapid decels and changes of direction that occur on each play. Their acceleration loads rival skill players due to the movements’ frequency, not necessarily their intensity. Wide receivers stop at -7 m/s but only do it 13–20 times in a practice, while these tanks will stop at -3 m/s but do it 100 times in a practice.

The top speed of these tanks in game play is around 13–16 mph. They rarely accumulate high-speed yardage over 16 mph, so their main stressors come from short quick accels, decels, and collisions. Their average peak acceleration is around 4 m/s, and average peak deceleration is around -5 m/s.

Pickup Trucks: Defensive Ends, Tight Ends, and Outside Linebackers

This group commonly gets the wrong prescription of conditioning volume, both below average and above average. Because of their versatility, these “pickups” cover a large amount of ground in games and practices, which is reflected in total yardage and high-speed yardage. They fit the pickup analogy well, as they have to travel great distances but also have to be tough enough to handle the violent nature of game play in the trenches.

On average, this group covers between 5,000 and 7,000 total yards in a practice and game. This stems from running routes, pursuit, and special teams. They play in a 20-yard box. Their total yardage in a week reaches over 28,000 yards.

Even though there is a high running volume, pickups also experience roughly two-thirds of the total collisions of the tanks. They also get high-speed running between 50 and 80 yards per practice/game. Acceleration loads are usually higher than the team average due to the impacts and high movement volume. Peak speeds sit around the 19 mph range, with peak accelerations around 5 m/s. They sit in that 11–16 mph zone for the majority of game play. Deceleration loads are less than that of tanks but more intense, with peak decels coming in at -6 m/s.

Hellcats: Inside Backers, Running Backs, Down Safety, QB

This group of players fits the hellcat analogy because they must be extremely agile and fast. They play in a 20-yard box dominated by short, violent accels, decels, and changes of direction. They experience one-third of the collisions that the tanks get, so training to have body armor is still necessary, but much of their gameplay stress comes from the mechanical stress associated with agility.

On average, this group covers between 5,000 and 7,000 total yards in a practice and game. This stems from running routes, running plays, pursuit, and special teams, which are similar to the pickup trucks. Their total yardage in a week reaches over 28,000 yards. Hellcats’ acceleration loads sit in the middle of the pack in terms of total volume. Peak speeds sit around the 19 mph range but creep up into the 20 mph at times, with peak accelerations around 6 m/s. They sit within that 13–18 mph zone for the majority of game play. Deceleration loads are less than that of tanks but more intense, with peak decels coming in at -6.5 m/s.

Motor Bikes: Wide Receivers and Defensive Backs

These players have to be the fastest and most agile things on the field. They play in open space a majority of the time and experience the highest intensities of deceleration and acceleration. We have recorded peak decels at over -7.5 m/s and accelerations at 6 m/s. Their movement stress is the highest, their total movement volume is also the highest, and their collision volume is the lowest by a lot.

Our WR, on average, covers over 7,000 yards a game, with their acceleration loads topping the charts well above all other position groups. Game play is from 15–19 mph. Peak speeds exceed 21 mph. This group has to be able to tolerate high weekly running loads that reach well beyond 32,000 yards.

Drilling Down

The purpose of this article was to give the specifics of why I program and progress the drills I will outline in the next article. GPS has illuminated the fact that football is a game of many games. Even though game play falls under the same sport, the stress isn’t even close when looking at mechanical outputs. Having the data supports the mailbox approach outlined above to provide the players with what they need to be ready for actual game play.

GPS has illuminated the fact that football is a game of many games. Even though game play falls under the same sport, the stress isn’t even close when looking at mechanical outputs, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

This supports the application of SSGs over general and traditional conditioning methods closer to the competitive season. The next article will be the how, outlining how to model and progress from general to specific based on the GPS data provided here.

Lead Photo by Jason Mowry/Icon Sportswire.

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