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As coaches, we’re constantly searching for ways to help our athletes get the absolute most out of their time in the gym. One of the most effective ways we can do this is by implementing a readiness testing protocol into our programs—this helps us manage athlete load and stress and individualize programming and autoregulation methods. It can also play a role in limiting risk factors related to overuse injuries in athletes.

Sounds like such a no-brainer, right? And with the tools and resources we have access to today, this is easier than it’s ever been.

Or…is it?

Sure, the amount of technology we have to test and monitor outputs is at an all-time high, but with that also comes the much harder part of the equation—managing that data. After all, data alone is just a bunch of numbers with no context. It’s worthless without the time or knowledge to actually manage and analyze it.

The amount of technology we have to test and monitor outputs is at an all-time high, but with that also comes the much harder part of the equation—managing that data, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

We’ve seen a massive emphasis on the data management side of the sports performance industry. Most professional and high-level collegiate sports teams now have sports scientists on staff who are solely responsible for interpreting athlete data and communicating findings to the athletes and staff. It is no longer enough to simply collect data or track progress; you have to know what it means, why, and what to do next.

That alone can be a full-time job on top of all the other hats performance coaches wear. I fell victim to this issue early in my career—I tried to test and track everything. I tested and tracked so much that I couldn’t even analyze what I was collecting. Trying to influence athletes to get wearables for the RHR and HRV, trying to get athletes to fill out daily questionnaires with clarity and honesty, trying to use VBT data to create my own RPE scale that would determine the athlete’s workload, trying to combine all of the above and more in the name of athlete management…you name it, I probably tried it for at least three months. The result was a lot of wasted time, a lot of wasted money, and potentially leaving results on the table due to majoring in the minors.

I had to turn to the old adage—addition by subtraction—and throw out things that weren’t delivering a substantial bang for my buck in terms of return(s) on investment: time, money, or attention.

One assessment I kept and continue to find value in is measuring athlete readiness via jump testing. No, it’s not perfect. It has pros and cons, but it delivers high-quality info for coaches. Even at first, it was a daunting task that almost didn’t make the cut because I made it way harder and more complex than it needed to be. I also made a huge mistake in how I conducted my readiness testing. In this article, I want to share some best practices for readiness jump testing and hopefully give you takeaways to utilize in your own environment.

One assessment I kept and continue to find value in is measuring athlete readiness via jump testing. It has pros and cons, but it delivers high-quality info for coaches, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

What Is Readiness Jump Testing?

If you’re not familiar with the concept of readiness testing, it’s not as fancy as it may sound. And it’s certainly not proprietary to the performance field: readiness testing is simply a way to measure and monitor how prepared an athlete is to perform the given tasks at hand. In most cases, that would be a workout, a practice, or a game.

Coaches can use a test or series of testing protocols to develop readiness standards for their athletes and then compare the results of each session to the baseline to determine how “ready” that athlete is for that day’s tasks. They can then alter the plans appropriately if the situation warrants it.

Aside from jump testing—the actual topic of this article—a few other methods that I won’t go too deeply into include:

• Wearable tech: Oura Ring, Whoop Band, FitBit, Apple Watch, HRV products, etc.
• Questionnaires: How did you sleep? How is your mood? What have you eaten today?
• Other training data: VBT data, force plate data, RPE post-session, etc.

All these are great options, but jump testing delivers the best results with a reasonable investment of time and money combined with higher compliance from the athletes and coaches involved. These tests provide valuable data on an athlete’s neuromuscular system, power output, and reactive capabilities.

All jumps and jump testing I talk about throughout this article will refer to jumps on a jump mat. I use the SkyHook Jump Mat. Other popular options include the Plyomat, the Just Jump mat, the Swift EZ Jump, and the Jawku Vertical Jump Tester. These tests can also be performed on force plates or with a Vertec system.

Types of Jump Testing

Keep in mind that I am trying to simplify jump testing and get it down to the most necessary components possible. There are dozens of jump-testing options out there—especially when it comes to force plate data—and some rabbit holes we can dive down (for better or for worse). This article will not cover an exhaustive list—I’ll be detailing my three most used, most repeatable, and most valid ways to test on jump mats.

1. Countermovement Jump (CMJ)

The CMJ—aka a regular ol’ vertical jump test—has been one of the most utilized and reliable testing methods for not only measuring athlete readiness but also force and power outputs. It’s time-sensitive, affordable, repeatable, and, most of all, objective.

Video 1. Countermovement jump using the Skyhook contact mat: “Step on the mat, jump as high as you possibly can, and land safely on the mat.”

The higher the vertical, the more we can assume about that athlete’s power production potential. Additionally, the more we can assume about some of their other athletic qualities, such as relative strength and sprint speed.

On our CMJ tests (and all jump tests), we let athletes use their own unique jump technique with little to no cueing. We correct potentially dangerous movements, which are rare, but other than that, I want to see the athlete use their own strategy to produce the jump. Our training programs can address all of the other factors not relevant to measuring the athlete’s readiness on that given day.

We correct potentially dangerous movements, which are rare, but other than that, I want to see the athlete use their own strategy to produce the jump, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

As it pertains to the readiness of an athlete and their CMJ performance, we use a “stoplight” system to help autoregulate that athlete’s program if needed.

• Green means go, proceed as normal, maybe even push it.
• Yellow means proceed with caution or slow down to reassess the situation.
• Red means stop and reassess the situation, possibly changing some programming.

We also use the athlete’s baseline testing with statistical values such as standard deviation and coefficient of variation to help get that daily testing number down to the true performance change. This helps influence conversations and programming decisions based on how much that performance has dropped compared to their baseline. I’ll cover that process and scale in-depth later in the article.

2. RSI Pogo Jump

Another jump test I absolutely love for training and readiness purposes is the RSI pogo jump test. I use a 4/2 method; others use a 10/5 method. Tomayto, Tomahto.

The reactive strength index, or RSI, measures an athlete’s ability to utilize the stretch-shortening cycle efficiently. This not only represents an athlete’s elasticity and reactive ability, but it can indicate neuromuscular efficiency as well. RSI can also help drive programming decisions in terms of which end of the force-velocity curve an athlete needs to tailor their training toward.

Video 2. RSI Pogo Jump: The measurement itself, although it’s kind of unclear what unit of measurement RSI actually is, is calculated by dividing jump air time (or jump height) by ground contact time.

You can get to a really good RSI score by having a lot of air time with minimal ground contact time—producing large amounts of force in a very small amount of time. You can alter your score, whether positive or negative, with a change in either one of those components.

The 4/2 method, which is built into the SkyHook Jump Mat that I use, is performed by hopping onto the mat and then completing four pogo jumps in a row before landing safely on the mat. Each jump has its own recorded air time and ground contact time. The software will take the best two of those four jumps to produce the athlete’s RSI score. The PlyoMat also provides this exact method. A slightly different version is featured on the Just Jump mat, where the athlete jumps four times, and it takes the average across those four jumps to produce the RSI score.

The 10/5 jump is a similar concept that I used in the past before switching from IMUs to jump mats. This test is a series of 10 pogo jumps, with the RSI calculated from the last five of those 10 jumps.

In my opinion, all of these test options can be useful. As a coach, you know your setting and athletes best, so ultimately, it’s up to you to choose the best method for your environment. What device you use could also play a role in which methods you choose. I chose to go with what is built into my device to help me save time and guarantee consistent testing protocols.

3. Drop Jump Test

This is also a measurement of RSI, but in a less repetitive method in terms of the athletic outputs. Rather than multiple jumps, the drop jump involves stepping off a box or platform (onto a jump mat) and immediately performing an explosive jump upon landing.

Similar to the 4/2 RSI test, this drop jump test emphasizes an athlete’s ability to rapidly switch from eccentric to concentric, making it a great training tool that also serves as a test: both “tests” are also common plyos that most athletes do some variation of in training.

Video 3. In testing, it’s crucial to ensure that the box or platform athletes drop from is always the same height. In training, we’ll progress the height of drops, but in testing, we don’t want to tarnish our test validity by jumping from various heights and comparing apples to oranges.

Making a Test Part of Your Routine

Again, these are not the only tests available for readiness testing, but they are the ones I have the most confidence in—they are easy to coach and execute, athletes enjoy them, and they can all be performed on a jump mat.

My test of choice is the RSI 4/2. We do it daily. I would suggest choosing one test and making that the test. Sure, you could test all three because they technically showcase three different force production strategies, but then you would be right back at square one: data overload. Simplifying things is the name of the game here. So, choose one, roll with it, and master it.

I would suggest choosing one test and making that THE test. Simplifying things is the name of the game here. So choose one, roll with it, and master it, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

We have our testing baked into the warm-up. All of our warm-ups feature breath work, mobility work, some dynamic stretching, and rudimentary plyometric drills before each athlete breaks off into some personalized “daily vitamins” in their warm-up.

The final piece of our warm-up always includes some sort of nervous system excitement in the form of a jump or throw; then, we follow that up with our testing for the day. It doubles as a readiness test but also another explosive drill for the athlete to prepare them for whatever may be next in their session for the day (i.e., sprints, lifting, skill work).

The method allows us to test the athletes when they’re feeling as ready as possible for that given day, and it also builds some routine into the process to help the athlete feel comfortable with the tests.

Readiness Jump Testing Protocol

Ok, I’ve rambled long enough about the prerequisites—now it’s time for the main course. (But then I may go back to rambling for a bit, so please stick around.)

This will be the most important section of this article because it corrects the mistake I made during the first five years of readiness jump testing in my own program. It wasn’t until I read “Establishing the Reliability & Meaningful Change of the Drop-Jump Reactive-Strength Index” (Beattie & Flanagan) that I realized I was making a huge mistake in my readiness tracking.

The mistake was that I was not accounting for the completely normal fluctuation in results that may occur, not only between trials but also within the same day, due to various factors. And what Beattie & Flanagan proved in their research is that we must take those fluctuations into consideration during baseline testing to build in a “zone” or “range” of what’s normal since normal is a moving target.

Not including this method can create a phenomenon of crying wolf—not by the athlete, but by the coach. Failing to account for the variance of what is normal can create a false-negative, leading to the coach overcorrecting, overanalyzing, and making far too many unnecessary changes to the athletes’ programs when they likely could have let them train as normal and keep those valuable reps.

You know the phrase, a strength coach’s first job is to do no harm, right? Well, do no harm was starting to feel like do no work. My readiness testing was starting to feel like I was in search of reasons to autoregulate the programs and “keep them fresh,” but really, I was just taking away good opportunities to impose some stress on a fully ready and able young athlete.

When I reflect on that brief time in my career, I loved the results the athletes got, but I also wonder: “Could we have gone harder?” “Could I have pushed them a little more?” “How much better would those athletes be if I did?”

The reality is that since jump mats give us fractional results, this concept posed a legitimate issue for me because the jump results are not on the inch or the half inch; they are presented in tenths of inches. This makes it very common to have three very similar-looking jumps that are not the exact same result. For example, it’s not uncommon for a trial of three vertical jumps to look like this:

• Attempt 1: 29.73
• Attempt 2: 30.12
• Attempt 3: 28.83

I have never seen an athlete perform three identical jumps on any jump mat system. I have never even seen two of the three jumps be identical. By not accounting for this, I was making my testing inaccurate and inconsistent—thus, rendering it invalid.

What Beattie & Flanagan discovered was that to establish a readiness test’s reliability, we need to get statistical techniques involved to determine the true change in performance. That’s where the mathematical terms you haven’t heard since high school come into play: standard deviation (SD) and coefficient of variation (CV). And for a guy that lived by the “C’s get degrees” slogan throughout college, this absolutely blew my mind.

What the heck do those two terms even mean, though?

• A standard deviation is a measure of how dispersed the data is in relation to the mean. A low standard deviation means data is clustered around the mean, and a high standard deviation indicates data is more spread out.
• The coefficient of variation is the ratio of the standard deviation to the mean. The higher the coefficient of variation, the greater the level of dispersion around the mean. It is generally expressed as a percentage.

So, the kicker is that to find the CV, we must first find the SD because the equation is:

100 x (standard deviation/mean) = coefficient of variance (CV)

This is so crucial because if we use jump testing to determine an athlete’s readiness, we need to account for the subtle differences between even their healthiest, best, and most “ready” jumps.

If we use jump testing to determine an athlete’s readiness, we need to account for the subtle differences between even their healthiest, best, and most ‘ready’ jumps, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

If we go back to the example jumps I used above—29.73, 30.12, and 28.83—that’s a mean of 29.56, an SD of 0.54, and a CV of 1.83. That CV of 1.83 represents that any change in performance less than 1.83% is entirely normal for that athlete.

This data is powerful because it allows you to truly track meaningful change in performance and alter your programs, or not, based on that.

My general rule used to be that if an athlete’s readiness test drops by more than 10%, then we go on an autoregulation program to alter volume and intensity for the day. Not accounting for the CV, I probably stripped athletes of perfectly fine opportunities to train the program as initially planned.

Keeping the same hypothetical athlete numbers used above, let’s say they jump a 26.5 on their readiness test. That’s more than 10% off their baseline mean (10.35%). But the true change in performance is only 8.52% because we know that they could have a 1.83% variance on their testing on any given day. The math there is the 10.35 deviation from the mean, minus the built-in CV of 1.83, to equal 8.52. So, instead of cutting them off from training that day, they’re green as long as no other red flags are apparent.

With the power of friends who actually paid attention in math class, Google Sheets, and YouTube, I created a template here that coaches can use to do all of the math shown above in less than three seconds. With that template, you can duplicate the sheets for each of your athletes and quickly input their daily readiness test results.

The sheet will show the true change in performance based on their baseline testing data and give you a red, yellow, or green cell to indicate how a coach should move forward with that athlete in the program.

I currently have it set up to stay green—meaning no intervention is needed—when the true change in performance is 0%–9.99%. It will display a yellow—meaning potential intervention is needed—when the true change in performance is between 10% and 14.99%. And finally, it will display red—meaning intervention is needed—when the true change in performance is a 15% drop-off or greater.

Readiness Testing Best Practices and Benefits

By now, I hope you’re all-in and excited about the concept of readiness jump testing, but if you need to be persuaded a little bit more, below is a quick overview of just a few of the many benefits that readiness testing can bring to your programming.

First, readiness jump testing enables coaches to establish an athlete’s baseline performance level—this is crucial for the daily readiness piece, but it also sets a baseline for performance metrics. By assessing the athlete’s jump height, power, and RSI, you can gain insights into their current physical capabilities and monitor those daily for readiness and long term for program results. This information serves as a foundation for setting realistic goals and designing personalized training programs tailored to the individual athlete’s needs.

Coaches can also gain valuable insights into an athlete’s specific strengths and weaknesses. Athletes with a high vertical and low RSI may be effective at using sheer force to produce athletic outputs and could benefit from gaining elasticity through training. Athletes who are very fast but have a low vertical jump may lack general force production qualities and could benefit from exposure to that in training. Testing vertical or RSI daily for readiness could double as extra reps at whatever end of the force-velocity curve an athlete may need.

Another key benefit is the ability to see real-time training progression and results without having to have a classic “testing day.” Regularly implementing readiness jump testing throughout an athlete’s training program allows coaches to monitor the progress that they’ve made day-to-day or week-to-week and share that feedback with the athletes. We can see small weekly increases in vertical jump or RSI simply by having that as a part of the athlete’s program. By comparing data from previous assessments, you can track improvements in power output, explosiveness, and reactive strength. This information allows for targeted adjustments to training protocols, ensuring continuous progression and preventing performance plateaus.

Another key benefit is the ability to see real-time training progression and results without having to have a classic ‘testing day,’ says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

Last but not least, the main reason we would want to utilize this testing method is to ultimately improve an athlete’s performance. The test is designed to measure readiness to train, meaning we want to make sure that our athletes constantly get the optimal doses of training volume and recovery methods to support that. After all, we want them to train. We don’t want to search for reasons for them not to train but rather, program work that allows them to get results, feel good while doing so, and transfer those results to their sport.

It’s a major benefit to be able to show an athlete all of the things above and do so in as little as five minutes a day. The return is well worth the investment of both time and financial resources.

All of this is great in theory, but implementation is the name of the game. Here are some best practices that have helped me make readiness jump testing a valuable asset to our program over the years.

1. 1. Establish a clear objective for your system. What do you want to get out of the testing process? Define the purpose and objectives of daily readiness jump testing and how this will (or won’t) positively impact your program. What tests do you want to perform, and why? What devices and tools will you use? How will you store, track, and manage the results? This is different for every coach, but starting with a clear why is always a great move. If you ever get off-track or don’t like the way the testing process is going, you can turn back to that and see if you’re still in alignment with the reason you started in the first place.

 

1. 1. Standardize the testing and tracking procedures. This includes consistent warm-up routines, testing equipment, measurement techniques, data management, and instructions for athletes. This also includes retesting and re-establishing the baselines for each athlete. As athletes improve, there will come a time when they need to set a “new normal” to account for those gains. Standardization ensures reliability and minimizes variability in the testing process. All that being said, we work with humans in a gym and not robots in a lab. Don’t beat yourself up if you run into minor imperfections. It’s a marathon. Just try to keep it apples to apples as much as you can.

 

1. 1. Seek athlete feedback. It’s often said that athletes don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Ensure that athletes understand the purpose and benefits of readiness jump testing and that it is a function of maintaining their well-being. Educate them on how the testing results will be used to optimize their training and performance. Encourage athletes to actively engage in the process by providing feedback and sharing their observations regarding their readiness and recovery. Make it as interactive as possible. Monitor their compliance and address any barriers or challenges they may encounter.

 

1. 1. Remember that testing is just a tool. We can use these testing methods to make informed decisions regarding training adjustments, recovery strategies, or individualized interventions. But don’t become so over-reliant on the tests that you forget the human element of coaching. Consider contextual factors. Integrate the testing results with other assessment tools and subjective feedback from athletes to form a more comprehensive picture of readiness. Use this as a tool, but know that you, the coach, make the final decision.

 

1. Have a plan. Build out your system of what actually happens based on an athlete’s readiness testing results. I have a stoplight system of red, yellow, and green (as discussed above). If green is the program as written, yellow and red would slightly modify exercise selection, volume, and intensity. Having a set plan in place will make life easy and keep the flow of the sessions really smooth. Coaching can be hectic and stressful, but when a system is set up, and a plan is in place, it truly helps us make practical decisions on the fly because the hard work was done upfront.

Since jump mats are becoming more and more accessible, affordable, and popular in all settings of sports performance, I truly believe that readiness testing is a great way to get a return on your investment for the equipment.

The daily jumps are ingrained in the culture of our gym. It’s not even written or posted anywhere on an athlete’s program, but they know it will happen every day, and they embrace it as a challenge—not only against their training partners but against themselves from their last session.

There is no perfect system, and jump testing doesn’t give us all the answers, but it checks many boxes and delivers immense value, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

I love to hear things like “Remind me what I got last time” or “What’s my all-time best? I’m about to beat it” before a rep of daily testing. It shows me the athlete truly cares, and not only about their results. They believe in the process it takes to get there, with daily jump testing being an ingredient in their recipe.

There is no perfect system, and jump testing doesn’t give us all the answers, but it checks many boxes and delivers immense value. By implementing some of these methods, coaches can gather important athlete data to help make better decisions, deliver better training programs, and ultimately help athletes maximize their athletic potential through more intelligent training.

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Too often, I find myself watching cringe-worthy jumping at high school track meets. I see talented athletes not coming close to what they are capable of in the jump events due to dangerous or incorrect techniques and jump strategies.

Behind every poorly taught jumper is a track coach who has not studied the discipline or even done the bare minimum to teach the event safely. Unfortunately, in the state where I coach, the jumps are treated as second-class events compared to the sprints and distance events; this is further underscored when big competitions are held at tracks with damaged runways, unlevel boards, and neglected sand pits.

I encourage all coaches to start to film the jumpers on their team performing and later review the film with the athletes—I guarantee it will help you as much as it has helped with my team. Share on X

I have spent a lot of time researching and reading the writings of coaches and researchers who have put out information on the jumps, which has helped me immensely as a coach. More recently, I’ve been trying to figure out the next step in my career that would take my coaching abilities to a higher level. Reviewing films has been that next step. I encourage all coaches to start to film the jumpers on your team performing and later review the film with the athletes (or have the athletes film themselves)—I guarantee it will help you as much as it has helped with my team.

Improvements in Coaching

I do not have as good of a coaching eye as some other, more experienced coaches. I can typically focus on one, maybe two things on each jump…which leaves a lot more to be missed than to be seen. Filming practices and competition when appropriate has made me a much better coach. When you constantly watch film, you learn far more about each athlete’s strengths and weaknesses. I have also found errors in athletes’ techniques in places I would never have noticed had I not filmed and slowed the film down to watch it.

Watching jumping in slow motion or reverse opens the mind to how the athlete truly moves down the runway. I had the pleasure of coaching the long jump State Champion and New England Champion this past season. He started the season jumping 21’7” and ended up jumping 23’10¼” at the state championship, setting a state meet record. This improvement would never have happened if the athlete and I had not reviewed his film together.

Video 1. This was the first film session of our indoor season: the jump was 21’7”. A few weeks later, the athlete jumped 23’10”.

The best strategy for film review is to pick the most needed technical change that will give you the biggest return on investment. I thought the athlete above had a very solid approach run, but they over-lowered a bit on the penultimate step; however, this was not what was holding the athlete back from bigger jumps. The primary errors I identified that would give us the biggest ROI were the in-air and landing mechanics. The huge arch in the back is there to counter forward rotations (incorrectly), but it is so overdone that the athlete seems to create backward rotation. They then end up stabbing the sand with extended legs and crashing their thighs into the pit, which in my estimation, loses them at least 18 inches off their jump.

The best strategy for film review is to pick the most needed technical change that will give you the biggest return on investment, says KCPerformance_. Share on X

To improve the in-air and landing mechanics, we simply practiced jumping into the pit off of a short approach and ensuring that the head, spine, and hips were aligned in the air before landing. We also focused on cycling the arms and legs in a way that did not cause any loss of posture and set a rhythm for the athlete to prepare for the landing in time. Without fixing the posture as the athlete traveled through the air, we could not fix the landing. Most problems are caused by the part of the jump that preceded it.

We then moved on to the landing phase, timing the arm and leg action prior to landing and making sure the athlete was able to sweep his arms behind him as he extended his legs. Once the feet contacted the sand pit, the athlete was instructed to let his legs relax and bend into the landing. This allowed the athlete’s hips to pass over the feet, so there would be minimal loss of distance due to the landing. Not every jump will be perfect—sometimes old habits reemerge—but as the season progresses, these old habits should be seen less frequently and eventually totally eliminated.

Video 2. At Nike Nationals: When athletes are aware of their KPIs, sometimes you don’t even have to add notes—they already know what to look for.

Film Sessions

I always look to other track events and even team sports to see what programs and coaches are doing that make their teams successful. A recent idea I began using from American football was the idea of “film sessions,” aka breaking down game film. If you played football, at least at the high school level, this is nothing new or earth-shattering. Film sessions have always been a big part of many football programs and are usually held a day or two after a Friday night or Saturday morning game. There is usually film of the previous game, and coaches review or break down plays, formations, and the execution of game strategies.

This past season, I began filming our jumpers in practice and competition and later showing them the film of how they executed their jumps—filming the athletes jumping helped build buy-in and allowed athletes to become a part of the learning process. I discovered that if athletes can see what their jump looks like and are taught what they are doing well and what they need to improve, they understand the value of better technique.

If athletes can see what their jump looks like and are taught what they are doing well and what they need to improve, they understand the value of better technique, says KCPerformance_. Share on X

Budget-Friendly Video Editing

I specifically chose my words carefully and called the prior section “Film Sessions” rather than “Film Analysis” because I believe film analysis has more metrics and data that go along with it. I also do film analysis, but when it comes to breaking down film for my athletes, I think that adding ground contact times, flight times, and take-off angles is very heavy for practice sessions with high school athletes. The athletes I work with are very intelligent and creative; I’m sure they are very capable of learning about these metrics, but as of now, I keep an eye on these metrics and usually keep them to myself unless it is absolutely necessary to bring them to the athlete’s attention.

When I do perform film analysis (I use DartFish Express), it is very helpful for collecting certain metrics, but I feel it is limited for breaking down film and getting creative. I am not a very art-inclined person, but using video editing apps has helped unleash my creative side and also given me a great appreciation for video editing and production.

Video 3. Dartfish has very useful options, like the overlay function.

I used InShot video editor this past indoor and outdoor season and have really grown to enjoy it. You can download it from the Apple and Android app stores for free. Most people have a smartphone already, so considering the app is free, there really is no financial barrier to using this method.

My favorite uses of InShot are to slow video down, freeze frame, zoom in, and add notes directly into the video. I typically slow videos down and freeze them on certain parts of the video where important technical components exist (approach, transition phase, penultimate step, take-off step, in-air mechanics and landing). As the season progresses and technique improves, our points of emphasis shift, and we are usually more focused on certain technical aspects that may be lagging or some key performance indicators that the athlete and I have targeted for improvement.

For example, if the coach and athlete agree that a point of emphasis should be the last four steps of the approach, you can edit the video to slow it down and freeze it on that part of the jump in order to give feedback. It is one thing to tell an athlete they are doing a better jump—but actually showing improvements visually is a game-changer.

Video 4. Athletes love seeing their improvement, usually because a better technical jump is more visually appealing on video, and a personal best performance usually accompanies it.

Athlete Buy-In

Athletes really do become part of the process when you start sharing videos with them. Early in my coaching career, I struggled with getting kids to fully understand what they were supposed to do when jumping. I was never precisely on the same page with athletes until we started breaking down film together. Now, the athletes know exactly what the goal is and what they are doing to to try to execute their jumps. The kids are excited to see themselves jump, and if I don’t upload their videos within 24 hours, I usually receive texts from eager athletes asking when those will be uploaded.

If you do this right, athletes will look forward to film sessions, and those who really buy in will end up becoming students of the event. I truly see some jumpers actively trying to master their craft. Several of my veteran athletes learned so much from our film sessions that they ended up helping coach our less-experienced jumpers, which was awesome to see. Film sessions are there to support the athlete and offer positive, constructive criticism—they are not meant to nitpick and put someone on blast. At the end of the day, these events are tough to succeed in, and the athletes are giving their best effort, which is all a coach can ask for.

Film sessions are there to support the athlete and offer positive, constructive criticism—they are not meant to nitpick and put someone on blast, says KCPerformance_. Share on X

Sharing the Video Clips

The best way I’ve found to share videos with my team is by uploading the film to Google Drive. I organize films by creating folders for every meet, as well as certain practices. I share the film with each athlete and name each video so they know precisely what jump attempt from each meet the video contains. After one indoor and outdoor season, I have already built a decent database of jump videos. Watching the jumpers progress and compare their performances with the videos has been a game-changer for our program. Breaking down film has also been a great way to generate conversation about the meet in person or through text.

Film When It Makes the Most Sense

Inexperienced jumpers spend the better part of a season learning the event. I always tell my athletes not to worry about the distance they jump in practice. I work hard to create a learning environment because I want the athletes to focus on improving their technique in a way that feels natural and stress-free.

I do not immediately put a camera in the face of a newbie jumper and start showing them film of their every jump—beginners need more experience before I start breaking down film with them. For them, I greatly emphasize the fundamentals and not worrying about adding anything advanced. I believe forcing someone to watch themselves jump too early in their career can be very overwhelming.

For a new jumper, at first, I just want them to learn and have fun. Once they start developing a passion for the event, that’s when we can start breaking down film. The best way to introduce a film session with a new jumper is to let them ask you to film them and watch—if they initiate it, that means they are interested.

Video 5. This is a simple video with a lot of positive reinforcement early in the season.

Keep It Simple

I try not to overcomplicate the feedback I provide to jumpers—the best videos I create are the ones I keep simple, with minimal writing. Sometimes I struggle with giving too much feedback at certain points. It is something I am actively working on improving. I notice that the fewer words I use, the better and more understandable the feedback is.

I try not to overcomplicate the feedback I provide to jumpers—the best videos I create are the ones I keep simple, with minimal writing, says KCPerformance_. Share on X

At times, I’ve used a GoPro on a tripod stand with a remote to film—this is helpful, but I have also had a lot of success just filming on my phone. I sometimes film a jump and immediately show the athlete to give some instant feedback and let them see what happened. It’s important to know when it’s the right time to watch a film immediately with an athlete. I try my best not to be stuck behind my phone screen because I don’t like missing attempts.

Video 6. Breaking down film is helpful for even post-collegiate-level athletes.

Results to Back It Up

This past season I had five jumpers from our team qualify for the state championship in their respective jumping events. I also had three jumpers finish in the top 10 at the state championship, with one of them being the State Champion and New England Champion and state meet record-holder.

A big part of the success of our jumpers was because we broke down film, taught our jumpers to take ownership of their technique, and fostered an environment for people who wanted to master their craft. I hope this article has encouraged coaches to take the next step in their coaching journey and learn how to break down film. Use these tips to help guide you and watch your jumpers evolve!

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 strength and conditioning coaches, our job is to help create the adaptations we want in our athletes. Our choices of which exercises to use, how much volume to prescribe, and how to properly intensify training sessions all play a part in whether our athletes will achieve the desired adaption. This can be a difficult task since:

1. Many of the adaptations we train for require specific training parameters.
2. Most athletic teams have a wide variety of fitness levels and training ages.

Whether improving muscle mass, strength, power, speed, aerobic conditioning, glycolytic conditioning, or the ATP-CP system, we need to know how to do this for athletes of all skill levels.

This article lays out research, experience, and practical applications for improving hypertrophy in beginner, intermediate, and advanced athletes. With all of the qualities listed above, there needs to be a stress and a period of recovery to elicit specific adaptations. We cover how to optimally create the stress needed to accomplish the goal of muscle hypertrophy:

• What hypertrophy is.
• How hypertrophy is measured.
• How to improve hypertrophy in different levels of athletes (a beginner to building muscle, an intermediate, and an advanced athlete who already has a lot of muscle mass and just needs to find a way to add on a little more).

Mainly, in this article, we provide methods that coaches can implement with athletes at all different training ages.

What Is Hypertrophy?

Hypertrophy, as defined by Oxford, is the enlargement of tissue from the increase of the size of its cells. This is not to be confused with the ever-elusive hyperplasia, which is the enlargement of tissue from an increase in the number of cells. Muscle hyperplasia is a controversial topic in strength and conditioning (just like aerobic conditioning and back squats, for whatever reason), so we won’t touch on that topic today.

A free way to measure muscle growth is through girth/circumference measurements: wrap a tape measure around your flexed bicep, perform bicep curls for 8 weeks, remeasure & see if your arm is bigger. Share on X

The gold standard for measuring muscle hypertrophy is magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), but we are strength coaches and don’t work in a lab. Ultrasound machines have also proved to be effective, and DXA scans are excellent at measuring overall body composition changes—but, again, those need special, expensive equipment. A free way to measure muscle growth is through girth/circumference measurements: wrap a tape measure around your flexed bicep, perform bicep curls for eight weeks, remeasure, and see if your arm is bigger.

How Does Muscle Hypertrophy Occur?

There are two parts to any desired adaptation: stress and recovery. Let’s assume our athletes are recovering optimally—you know, getting adequate sleep, maintaining perfect macro and micronutrient ratios, and having lower stress levels. (We know it’s very unlikely, but let’s just assume.) So there needs to be a stressor, a signal to the system to tell the body to make the muscle bigger. The main process for this is through muscle protein synthesis, which is the body using proteins to build new muscle tissue. There seem to be three main ways to signal the body to increase muscle size:

1. Mechanical tension
2. Metabolic stress
3. Muscular damage

Muscular damage has fallen off a bit as a driver of hypertrophy. Studies out there have found that muscle damage does lead to more protein synthesis, but most of that protein synthesis is used to repair the damaged muscles, not grow bigger fibers.

So that leaves two options—mechanical tension and metabolic stress. Mechanical tension is lifting progressively heavier weights through a full range of motion. Metabolic stress is the “pump” feeling people get from lifting weights, which is the tissue being full of metabolites (lactate, hydrogen ions, etc.). Both lead to muscle protein synthesis, and both methods stress the tissue in a way that signals to the body that this muscle needs to get bigger to keep up with this type of work.

Science is still changing on muscle hypertrophy as we continue to learn what actually leads to muscle growth and what does not: “Conclusively identifying major hypertrophy stimuli and their sensors is clearly one of the big remaining questions in exercise physiology.”⁵ How do we do this with different levels of athletes?

Hypertrophy Adaptations for a Beginner Athlete

Oh, the glorious days of the newbie gains, where you can walk into your local gym, do anything, and get bigger. We worked with a 14-year-old baseball player who had put on over 10 pounds of body weight in the off-season, just focusing on the basics. We focused on proper form, being consistent as far as showing up and working out, and progressive overload.

1. Proper form. This is not new information to you coaches, but if an athlete does not lift with proper form, they won’t be an athlete very long. And, for hypertrophy purposes, they won’t be stressing the desired tissues you want to grow. We have all seen the back squat form that is growing bigger low back muscles than leg muscles. Hopefully, this is not a topic we must spend much time on.

2. Being consistent. We all know athletes do not work out one time and magically look like Ronnie Coleman. This is a long process, and studies show over and over again that a bad workout program done consistently will lead to more improvements than a perfect program that athletes do once per month. Yes, that means the workout they do in the garage with their uncle done consistently over time will be more beneficial than the workout program that you, Louie Simmons, and Charles Poliquin design for them that they do seven times over the summer. Make them enjoy the weight room and want to come in and lift. That’s a whole other article.

3. Progressive overload. This is really step one to building muscle, the story of Milo. Do an exercise for a certain number of sets and reps. The following week, do that same exercise for one more rep per set or with a little more weight. Do that for years, and you’ll have a freak on your hands.

There is no need for special rep schemes yet; we should know by now that 8–12 reps are great, but really anything done for 5–30 reps within a set should lead to the same amount of muscle growth as long as athletes push the set reasonably close to failure. The beginner does not even need to be that close to failure; leaving 3–4 reps in the tank will still lead to growth, all while being safe and doing the movement correctly.

Although your athletes need to be consistent, a newbie does not need to be in the gym every day. People progress by lifting one day per week, believe it or not. Two lifts per week is also great.

Although your athletes need to be consistent, a newbie doesn’t need to be in the gym every day. People progress by lifting one day per week, believe it or not, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

Your new lifter is like a new tube of toothpaste—you can press anywhere on the tube, and toothpaste comes out. Push on the front, back, side—you can even push away from the hole, and toothpaste will come out. It’s when you get more and more advanced athletes that you need to start pressing harder, pushing in a certain direction, or even twisting, folding, and rolling up the tube to get a smidge of toothpaste. (I stole this analogy from Keir Wenham-Flatt.)

Hypertrophy Adaptations for an Intermediate Athlete

No more three sets of 10. Your athlete has been training consistently now for a year or so and maybe has even made a comment about not getting any bigger. They no longer just look at Muscle and Fitness Magazine and instantly grow.

With intermediates, it’s still essential to lift correctly, be consistent, and progressively overload—these things will never go away. But now it’s time to add in a little bit more specific work: focusing mainly on compound movements, progressing volume, pushing each set a little closer to failure, playing around with different rep ranges and lifting tempos, and starting to add in more lifting days.

1. Compound lifts. The magic of compound lifts such as squats (front, back, goblet, safety squat bar…I’m not married to any of these; they all work), deadlifts, bench presses, pull-ups, etc. is that they stimulate the whole body. Yes, the squat will work the legs better than the bench press will, but both lifts utilize many different muscle groups and stimulate growth across the entire body. As noted earlier, mechanical tension (load) is a huge driving force of muscle growth. No exercises allow for more load across many muscle groups than compound lifts do.

2. Progressing volume. As we see in the sample workout program, volume for a newbie can be relatively low, and they will still grow muscle. As a lifter gets more experience, they will need more volume to see the same level of growth. Bodybuilders may use four, five, or even 10 sets of 10 repetitions of an exercise. For the muscle to keep adapting, the stress needs to keep progressing.

Adding weight to the bar is great; adding sets and repetitions to an exercise is also great. For the number of sets per body part per week, science points us to 10–20 sets being optimal for hypertrophy. If you start your athletes with 10 sets of chest or upper body pushes per week, this gives you room to progress up to 20 slowly.

3. Closer to failure. While beginners can leave 3–4 reps in the tank per set and still see improvements in muscle size, your intermediate athletes will need to be pushed a little harder. Their body is used to lifting, and it’s not a big stressor anymore. The closer an athlete gets to failure, the more stressful it is on the body. Now they need to start pushing closer to 1–2 reps left in reserve per set. (As always, be safe with this. This should be done with experienced lifters, and failure should be technical failure—when their form starts to break down.)

4. Rep ranges and lifting tempo. As we said earlier, any set that is within 5–30 repetitions and taken pretty close to failure has been shown to elicit the same amount of hypertrophy. With a beginner, we stayed within that 8–15 rep range, but now we can start applying new stress to the athletes. Twenty repetitions on squats or five heavy deadlifts will be a completely new stimulus to your athletes.

“The body will not grow unless it has a reason to. And the way to do this is through progressive overload and changing the stimulus.” –Charles Poliquin.

Workouts are allowed to consist of different rep ranges. Sets of five squats to start, then 10 reps of DB rows in the middle of the workout, and finish with 30 reps of push-ups, for example. Lower reps create more tension, and high rep ranges allow for more metabolic stress.

Speaking of Charles Poliquin, lifting tempos within .5–8 seconds per repetition all seem to elicit the same amount of hypertrophic signal. Poliquin wrote about 40­–70 seconds per set, which I have not found any research on, but odds are, he was right as usual. So, if you have your beginners lift like an average person, where it’s about 1 second up and 1 second down per repetition, now is your chance to play around with slower eccentrics, slower concentrics (yes, your athletes are allowed to lift slow concentrically), and even isometric holds during a lifting repetition. This is a solid way to change up the stimulus and create more metabolic stress during a workout.

Play around with slower eccentrics, slower concentrics, and even isometric holds during a lifting rep. This is a solid way to change up the stimulus and create more metabolic stress during a workout. Share on X

5. More lifting days. Research shows that lifting three days per week is more effective for muscle growth than one.⁶ Spreading out the same amount of volume over multiple days (2+) helps the athletes use heavier loads on exercises compared to doing all of the volume in one day. Increasing the number of weekly workouts to three or four days will help with this.

Hypertrophy Adaptations for an Advanced Athlete

So now you have a few athletes who are advanced; they have several years of training at a high level and just need to put on a couple more pounds this off-season. This is a common occurrence with football players preparing for the NFL Combine—Tommy Tremble comes to mind. He arrived weighing 230 pounds and weighed in at pro day at 241 pounds. Along with all the performance goals that come with NFL Combine preparation, he also needed to gain weight to show he had the size of an NFL tight end.

With advanced athletes, you need to start adding in different angles and ranges of motion, utilizing mind-muscle connection and specialization training phases, and training to failure and beyond. Share on X

To accomplish this, all of the earlier rules still apply; those do not go away. With this level of athlete, you need to start adding different ranges of motion and angles, utilizing mind-muscle connection and specialization phases of training, and training to failure and beyond.

1. Ranges of motion and angles. If you want the athlete to keep adapting, you must continue enhancing or changing the stimulus. You enhance it with load and volume and change it with new ranges of motion and angles. I know; I know—a full range of motion is the way to go for many different reasons, including hypertrophy. I’m not suggesting half-squat PRs for Instagram. Think of a standing DB bicep curl, now seated on a bench with a 45-degree incline, now chest down on a bench with a 45-degree incline. All of these are bicep curls, and as long as the elbow extends at the bottom and fully flexes at the top, it is a full range of motion.

For all three exercise variations, the humerus is in a different position relative to the body, and the athlete would be in different degrees of shoulder flexion and extension. We all know that the biceps attach to the scapula; therefore, the more the humerus is behind the torso, the more the muscle is stretched, and the more the humerus is in front of the torso, the more the muscle is shortened. By altering the position, you change how stretched the muscle is throughout the range of motion of the biceps curl. This is a common way to change up the stimulus and increase the stress of the movement on specific muscle fibers.

I do not view these as progressions, as one is not inherently harder than another. I view them instead as variations—ways to stress the muscle in a novel way. This is not just biceps curls either: think of humerus positioning with different triceps extensions or stretch on the hamstring when doing back extensions, 45-degree back extensions, and RDLs.

2. Mind-muscle connection. Those bro-science bodybuilders were right after all—it works. Science has caught up and found evidence that the mind-muscle connection is more effective for hypertrophy than not using it. Who would have guessed that when you involve the brain in being intentional with what you’re doing (feeling a muscle work), it enhances the effect? What a concept. (We will see more of this with building strength and power too.)

Science has caught up and found evidence that the mind-muscle connection is more effective for hypertrophy than not using it, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

In all seriousness, getting the athlete to feel a muscle working, getting the brain to—dare I say it—activate the muscle better, will help stimulate growth in that muscle. This mind-muscle connection is best with isolation exercises, but it can be used with compound movements as well.

3. Specialization phase. The specialization phase is something we first heard of from Dr. Mike Israetel. Let’s say your workout program has a total of 100 working sets per week (four days per week, five exercises per day, five sets of each, for this example). In the specialization phase, you will allocate more of those sets to the body part you want to grow in your athletes and take some sets away from a muscle group you are okay with maintaining.

If their bench press is strong and they have enough anterior chain upper body mass, but you have identified that they need more hamstring size, take a set or two from bench and put it toward RDLs—or even take away an upper body press from one of your workout days and allocate those five sets toward their current hamstring regimen. A muscle needs a lot less volume to maintain size compared to growing; simply maintain a muscle group that is at an optimal size and spend more time stressing a muscle group that needs more growth.

4. To failure and beyond. Yes, I heard Buzz Lightyear’s voice when I typed this. We know for muscle growth that we need to be adequately close to failure. Newbies can have 3–4 reps left, intermediates can have 1–2 reps left, and for advanced trainees, we need to push them to failure more often. (Same caveats as always: be safe, not for every exercise, not for every set of every workout, etc.) If you want your athletes to continue growing muscle, you need to continue increasing their stress. Doing the last set of hamstring curls until they can no longer complete a full rep is a new and hard stress. As a coach, you can even push them beyond their limit with high-intensity techniques (a phrase stolen from John Meadows):

• Drop sets. They do as many hamstring curls as possible at full range of motion, then drop the weight by 20% and perform more.
• Partial reps. They do as many hamstring curls as possible at full range of motion, then continue doing repetitions at half reps.
• Rest pause. They do three sets of 10 on hamstring curls. On the third set, have them do eight reps, then rest for 20 seconds. They do eight more reps, pause for 20 seconds, and then complete eight final reps. This last set consists of 24 reps at the same weight they used for 10.
• Force reps. Have them do as many hamstring curls as possible at full range of motion, then assist them through a full range of motion for five more reps, giving as little help as possible to complete each rep.
• Mechanical drop set. This one is easier to think of with a DB incline bench. Doing three sets of 10 reps, on the last set, have the athlete do eight reps. Then move the bench to flat and complete eight more reps with the same weight. Next, prop the bench up on two bumper plates so it’s at a declined angle and complete eight more reps. With each set of this drop set, you move the athlete into a more mechanically advantaged position.

These are methods we have used with athletes of all age ranges and experience levels to help them continue to grow muscle over time. Some of these methods can be used sporadically just to provide a new stressor and keep training fun for the athletes. Give them a drop set of biceps curls or hip bridges for their last workout of the week, and see how much fun they have with that.

We are aware that we work with athletes, not bodybuilders. These are tools you can use to stimulate muscle growth through the training career of your athletes, says @steve20haggerty. Share on X

We work with athletes. We are aware that the goal is not to create bodybuilders. These are tools you can use as a coach to stimulate muscle growth through the training career of your athletes.

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

Alex Roberts is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at R. Nelson Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. In this role, he’s responsible for the year-round athletic development of all student-athletes. Coach Roberts’ main responsibilities are teaching strength training classes during the school day, leading after-school training sessions, and running the summer strength and conditioning program. He holds a Master of Science in Kinesiology and is CSCS certified through the NSCA.

References

1. Krzysztofik M, Wilk M, Wojdała G, and Gołaś A. “Maximizing Muscle Hypertrophy: A Systematic Review of Advanced Resistance Training Techniques and Methods.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2019 Dec 4;16(24):4897. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16244897. PMID: 31817252; PMCID: PMC6950543.

2. Schoenfeld BJ. “The mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy and their application to resistance training.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2010 Oct;24(10):2857–2872. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181e840f3. PMID: 20847704.

3. de Freitas MC, Gerosa-Neto J, Zanchi NE, Lira FS, and Rossi FE. “Role of metabolic stress for enhancing muscle adaptations: Practical applications.” World Journal of Methodology. 2017 Jun 26;7(2):46–54. doi: 10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.46. PMID: 28706859; PMCID: PMC5489423.

4. Calatayud J, Vinstrup J, Jakobsen MD, et al. “Importance of mind-muscle connection during progressive resistance training.” European Journal of Applied Physiology. 2016 Mar;116(3):527–533. doi: 10.1007/s00421-015-3305-7. Epub 2015 Dec 23. PMID: 26700744.

5. Wackerhage H, Schoenfeld BJ, Hamilton DL, Lehti M, and Hulmi JJ. “Stimuli and sensors that initiate skeletal muscle hypertrophy following resistance exercise.” Journal of Applied Physiology (1985). 2019 Jan 1;126(1):30–43. doi: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00685.2018. Epub 2018 Oct 18. PMID: 30335577.

6. McLester JR Jr., Bishop E, and Guilliams ME. “Comparison of 1 Day and 3 Days Per Week of Equal-Volume Resistance Training in Experienced Subjects.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 2000 Aug;14(3): 273–281.

In 2001: A Space Odyssey, a film released in 1968, astronauts on a spacecraft are able to call on HAL to assist them in their mission. HAL (which stands for Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) is a sentient computer able to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out a variety of tasks. The crew considers HAL a dependable member of the crew, at least initially, as it can carry out a variety of tasks—including playing chess. Over the following years, AI was depicted in science fiction films in various ways, including R2-D2 and C-3PO in the Star Wars films, the various agents in the Matrix trilogy, and WALL-E.

While science fiction writers have long utilized intelligent nonhumans in their storytelling, it’s only in the last 50 or so years that AI has been within the grasp of use for humans in general. AI is commonly defined as machine behavior that would be considered intelligent if exhibited by humans, and it was initially developed as a series of “if, then” rules on what were, at the time, ground-breaking supercomputers.

Since then, AI has grown across a variety of subfields, moving from these simple initial rules to fields such as computer vision (where the machine can “see” and track various objects), machine learning, and deep learning. Alongside this enhanced AI and computing power, the concept of “Big Data” has developed, whereby vast amounts of data can be collected, processed, and analyzed to create information. In essence, as highlighted by a recent PwC executive report, we can view AI as technology that has the ability to learn, take in information, and respond appropriately.

These various subfields of AI usage have found utility across a wide range of industries, including medicine, technology (such as driverless cars), business, and the military. Many of us use AI multiple times a day, with virtual assistants such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa or even just predictive text on our smartphones.

Never a field to lag too far behind various innovations, sport is increasingly using AI across a wide range of areas, including elite sport, says @craig100m. Share on X

Never a field to lag too far behind various innovations, sport is increasingly using AI across a wide range of areas, including elite sport, officiating (such as the Virtual Assistant Referee in football), journalism, sports medicine, and even sports betting. AI has also been used to provide a virtual competitor, perhaps most famously in the case of IBM’s Deep Blue. This chess-playing machine famously defeated the chess grandmaster Gary Kasparov in 1997 after losing an initial match in 1996.

Current Uses for AI In Elite Sports Performance

Specifically in the field of high-performance sport, AI has been used to assist in aspects such as:

• Performance analysis.
• Injury risk assessment and management.
• Scouting.
• Training outcome prediction.
• Performance prediction.
• Decision-making.

While still relatively new to high-performance sport, over the last 20 years, AI usage has grown. A recent review, published in Frontiers in Sport and Active Living and authored by a group of researchers from Germany (led by Fabian Hammes), paints an interesting picture of how AI is used at the highest level within sport. The researchers identified 540 studies that examined the topic, with football (soccer) being the sport most likely to utilize AI. This is perhaps unsurprising. Football clubs, especially in Europe but increasingly in Asia and the Middle East, have large budgets. For example, in 2021, Manchester United’s operating budget was US $745 million—a sum significantly larger than most Olympic sports receive across a whole Olympic cycle.

Alongside soccer, other sports with the greatest AI research base are cycling, tennis, and basketball—all sports with a broad appeal at the elite and community levels, says @craig100m. Share on X

These increased budgets (as well as their reputations) give clubs the capacity to bring in experts with the knowledge and ability to develop effective AI systems and processes. As an example, Arsenal was famously able to hire a data scientist who had previously worked on developing the popular game Candy Crush. Alongside football, other sports with the greatest AI research base are cycling, tennis, and basketball—all sports with a broad appeal at both the elite and community levels.

In their study, Hammes and his colleagues identified four critical areas in which AI is currently being utilized in elite sport:

1. Machine Perception: This involves AI technologies being utilized for image recognition and computer vision purposes. These technology types have the potential to assist in understanding performance—both more rapidly and more deeply—then, in turn, quickly provide this feedback to the athlete and coach as a means of supporting performance. As an example, it is now possible to set up a static camera that views the whole of the long jump runway and use this in competition to provide key pieces of data to athlete and coach, including runway speed, takeoff angle, etc.

This then allows for almost real-time in-competition changes to be made by the athlete, hopefully improving their performance. In team sports, similar technologies are often used to track player positions and distances covered, allowing the coaching team to quantify what is happening. Finally, technologies such as Hawkeye utilize machine perception to determine whether a ball was out (in tennis) or a bowled ball in cricket would have hit the stumps.

2. 2. Machine Learning and Modeling: Recent developments in AI have also allowed for models to be developed that can utilize large amounts of data to learn patterns, an approach typically termed “deep modeling.” This approach can be used to identify aspects that perhaps don’t seem obvious at first sight and has been used to predict the outcome of competitions, identify sports injury risk, model training response, and optimize talent development.

 

2. 2. Planning and Optimization: Building on the use of machine learning models detailed above, AI technology can also assist in sports planning. This can include planning various training processes (e.g., periodization), as well as schedule optimization.

 

2. Interaction and Intervention: This aspect of AI usage in elite sport relates to technology that provides athletes with feedback as a means of improving their performance. This can be wearables (including smart clothing and smartwatches) and both virtual and augmented reality technologies—something I’ve written about before.

Overall, the results from the Hammes and colleagues’ study demonstrate an increased interest in the use of AI in elite sport—something I’m sure we can all attest to through experience. A second paper in Applied Sciences highlighted the increase in research interest in using AI in exercise training, going from two studies in 2006 to 22 studies published in 2019 alone. As such, it’s clear that the use of, and interest in, AI in elite sport is on the rise.

Future Applications for AI and Sports Performance

While the use of AI in elite sport is certainly growing, there are even greater avenues of opportunity for the future. Beyond the obvious aspects that require improvements—including increased validity, reliability, and usability, along with reductions in both costs and complexity—AI could revolutionize other aspects of elite sports performance.

One area of increased potential is that of wearable devices. Wearables such as wristwatches (for example, an Apple Watch) provide data; this data is then utilized to quantify aspects such as training load and physiological stress, providing key insights. This can be useful as an overall training monitoring tool but may be even more helpful in aspects such as sports injury rehabilitation, where overall load—or even load on a specific body area—needs to be carefully managed.

Wearables can also assist in quantifying body position, which in turn assists with things such as biomechanical analysis and the position of the athlete on the field of play, which can aid with performance analysis aspects such as quantifying tactical behavior. For wearables to become increasingly adopted in elite sport settings, they will need to be cost-effective, comfortable, easy to use, and able to collect valid and reliable data—all aspects that are currently a challenge.

Another major opportunity for the use of AI in elite sport is through its ability to make the vast swaths of data regularly collected in high-performance sport settings actually usable. Some of the data routinely collected in elite sport include wellness and well-being markers, competition performance and performance variables, various “key performance indicators”—such as physiological, biomechanical, psychological, and tactical markers of success—and other metrics, including climatic conditions.

A major opportunity for the use of AI in elite sport is through its ability to make the vast swaths of data regularly collected in high-performance sport settings actually usable, says @craig100m. Share on X

Such disparate data sources can be difficult to analyze, particularly in relation to each other, making the gathering of meaningful insights challenging. Added to this, AI technologies, such as video machine learning and pose estimation, further increase the size and type of data that can be collected; as technology in other areas develops, even further aspects could be added. For example, if genetic testing can increase its overall validity, it may become more commonplace in guiding training program design and identifying injury risk.

As a result, decision-makers in elite sport—which includes the coach—will have a plethora of data available to them.

The opportunity here is to make the collected data useful, something that can be driven by AI-supported technologies such as data mining techniques. AI-supported machine learning models can then analyze this data, allowing for more effective utilization of the data collected on a regular basis. In addition, such advanced statistical techniques will enable us to understand whether any data that is gathered is not useful, helping data collection to become more refined and targeted in the future.

This is a somewhat similar approach to that of precision medicine. Here, different data sources are analyzed to create more precise—and, in some cases, individualized—treatment regimes. For example, in 2018, a group of researchers utilized whole genome testing, along with a machine learning program, to identify individuals with an increased risk of coronary heart disease. To do this, they utilized 6.6 million data points per individual from over 120,000 participants. This is a staggeringly large amount of data, and such analysis would not have been possible without the assistance of AI. However, similar breakthroughs in elite sport should allow for a movement from the basic collection of data and information—the lower levels of the wisdom hierarchy—toward true wisdom.

Practical and Ethical Challenges for AI and Sports

There are, however, some barriers to the effective implementation of AI in elite sport. One such barrier is related to the last opportunity I mentioned: the use of data. Many of the potential AI-supported aspects that may enhance practice in elite sport either produce data that needs to be collected and/or stored or require a lot of data for analysis. This collection of multiple pieces of data can be subject to a variety of protections and ethical challenges, with many governments (state, federal, and international) developing legally binding frameworks and legislations that govern the collection, use, and storage of data.

An obvious example of this is the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation—commonly termed GDPR—which influences the data that organizations can collect, along with how they use and store it, with significant financial penalties possible in the case of a data breach. Along a similar vein, a recent report from the Australian Academy of Science highlighted that in many professional team sports, sufficient thought and appreciation are not given to the risk-reward ratio of the data collected and how this might negatively affect an athlete.

A further example of this is the collection of genetic information. On the surface, such an approach is attractive: our genes play a large role in determining who we are, so better understanding them should assist in guiding our approach to athlete development, particularly with regard to aspects such as future performance or training adaptation. However, the use of genetic testing and genetic information in elite sport is rife with ethical issues.

As an example, there is a common genetic variation in a gene that affects the development of collagen, a critical structural component of ligaments and tendons. Variation in this gene has been linked to an increased risk of injury. Is it ethical to use this information to select or deselect an athlete for a talent program? What is the burden on the organization for testing for this variant?

For instance, what further investigations are required if genetic screening uncovers a serious medical issue? Where would this data be stored, how secure is it, and who would have access? What happens if an athlete doesn’t consent to their genetic data being collected—can they actively be deselected on this basis? Can Under-18s even provide informed consent for the collection of their genetic information?

These questions all highlight some of the issues around data collection, the quality of which underpins the effectiveness of using any AI in elite sport.

The ethical and safety questions surrounding data collection, storage, and use may also impact the development of effective AI, says @craig100m. Share on X

The ethical and safety questions surrounding data collection, storage, and use may also impact the development of effective AI. To test that any data-oriented AI system is useful, it typically has to be “trained” to identify patterns on large data sets; this allows the AI (for example, a machine learning program) to determine which aspects of the data might serve as valid, reliable, and relevant predictors. To be effective, this requires large data sets; given the concerns discussed earlier, such large data sets may not be readily available. This causes a further issue; the limited number of available large-scale data sets are then used by multiple AI statistical models—which limits the “learning” capability of any given technology, along with issues around how generalizable such a model may be across domains.

A similar issue is that of “black box” algorithms (so called because the data goes in and an answer comes out, but we don’t know what happens in the middle) and the wider ethical and usability concerns of such models. Many data-oriented AI models utilize tools such as neural networks, which can be difficult to interpret and understand, especially for the typical lay sports scientists. If we’re unable to fully understand how learning models make their predictions, we can’t fully assess—at least not accurately—the outputs of such models.

The models also become highly prone to bias. This happens because data points can be labeled as predictive in such statistical models but may be non-causal in nature—the model then uses this data type to make predictions, becoming biased in the process. There are many examples of this, and interested readers should check out Cathy O’Neil’s excellent book Weapons of Math Destruction.

A real-world example of this is AI used within the justice system that uses race as a causal factor, leading the AI model to become biased against people of color. More benignly, an AI model trained to differentiate between wolves and dogs in photographs did so based on the color of the background; if the background was white (i.e., snow), the model labeled the animal a wolf. This is because most of the photographs of wolves it was trained on were taken in snowy environments; however, when the model was shown a photograph of a wolf with a non-snowy background, it labeled the wolf incorrectly as a dog. This issue can be further compounded when AI algorithms are proprietary, making a full and accurate assessment of their validity and bias challenging. These problems are not unique to elite sport and relate to the broader Explainable AI movement.

Other issues affecting the uptake of AI in elite sport include overall usability and cost. On the first issue, the key question for us to ask is, “Does AI technology actually provide useful outcomes in an efficient manner?” As an example, computer vision technology struggles if the focus of the image (e.g., a player or athlete) is obstructed in some way. This means that in busy competition situations—such as a soccer match with 22 players on the pitch—a large volume of data may become lost and unable to be analyzed. Even a relatively simple task, such as identifying the numbers on player’s kits (used for post-match analysis), could end up becoming so corrupted that it is essentially useless.

In sports where total spend is highly regulated—like in F1—the cost of AI technologies may limit their effective use, says @craig100m. Share on X

While cost is not typically an issue for elite teams in financially attractive sports (e.g., soccer, American football), it becomes an increasingly large issue for sports with smaller economies of scale (e.g., individual sports) and those from less economically developed nations. This, in turn, widens the gap between the haves and have-nots, skewing the playing field. In sports where total spend is highly regulated—like in F1—the cost of AI technologies may limit their effective use. This creates a further issue if organizations scrimp on the cost of adequate storage and security for the data they collect, creating further ethical challenges.

In their review article, Hammes and colleagues identify a further five key challenges around the use of AI in elite sport:

1. Challenges in data collection (e.g., is the data fed into the models both valid and reliable?)
2. Transferability of general AI research into the field of elite sport (e.g., how does new AI knowledge and technology become integrated into a relatively niche area?)
3. An overall discomfort with machines “making” decisions—especially important ones (e.g., how do we use the data from machine learning and other models in the correct context?)
4. Explainability of results (e.g., how do we explain the process used by the AI in coming up with the output?)
5. The robustness of predictive models (e.g., can we move away from the current ability of AI to explain what happens to actually predicting it—and what is an acceptable error rate?).

Finally, there is a well-founded and genuine concern about an over-reliance on data and technology in elite sport. These concerns are typically based on the following:

• A blanket utilization of new technology without consideration of the performance outcomes.
• An over-reliance on data at the expense of context and practitioner expertise.
• An inability to capture all relevant information harming the ability to make fully informed decisions.

Where Does This Leave Us?

It’s clear that the use of AI in elite sport has huge potential, with the technology having the ability to both increase the depth of information collected and make this information useful to assist in decision-making. However, as outlined in this article, several key hurdles—scientific, ethical, and practical—need to be overcome before AI can be fully integrated, with utility, into elite sport contexts. These include issues around reliability and validity with both hardware and software and ethical issues around data storage and the use of black-box algorithms.

AI technology has the ability to both increase the depth of information collected and make this information useful to assist in decision-making, says @craig100m. Share on X

Finally, the technology is currently quite costly (in terms of both purchase price and having staffing expertise to utilize it) and not currently able to live up to its potential (due to issues with, for example, video capture if part of the image is obscured). However, if—and likely when—these issues can be improved on, the potential use of AI in elite sport is large, as are the potential performance improvements, making it a worthwhile area for future exploration within elite sport.

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

It’s amazing to think about how far the game of basketball has come since I transitioned from a player to a coach and trainer. It’s equally as amazing to look at the growth of the strength and conditioning industry in that same timeframe. As someone who operates in that “gray area” developing athletes both in the weight room and on the court, I view basketball development through a pretty unique lens.

I’ve written previously about this gray area and received some awesome feedback from coaches out there who view training the same way and, honestly, solid feedback from coaches who completely disagreed with my stance. These conversations led me to dig even deeper into my training philosophy and develop even more clarity around how I coach, program, and see movement.

Right now, I’m really into “deconstructing” sports movements and building them back up based on the precise physical qualities we can enhance through training.

Right now, I’m really into ‘deconstructing’ sports movements and building them back up based on the precise physical qualities we can enhance through training, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

The goal is not necessarily to mimic those sports movements under load, although sometimes it may appear that way. I won’t have athletes shooting medicine balls or trying to dunk while strapped to a VertiMax.

This is more about determining what actions lead to effective basketball movements and finding ways to enhance those actions with as much bang for the buck as possible. If we need to improve our defensive slide, how can we do that besides just performing the same poor defensive slides we already have? We may look at lateral strength and power. We may need to enhance hip internal and external rotation. And then, we can plug in lifts, drills, and exercises that enable us to enhance those qualities.

Likewise, if an athlete has a flat jump shot because their release point is low, we may uncover that their release point is low due to a lack of shoulder mobility. So it’s not that their form is bad; they just cannot physically replicate consistent shot form because of their lack of shoulder flexion. If we deconstruct that, we can potentially give them more access to a range of motion, strength in that range, and shot reps in that range, which could lead to a more consistent jumper with a release point that allows them to improve their shot trajectory.

I use those overly simplified examples because they revolve around the two most important skills of the game—defense and shooting. But the examples I want to cover here are based more on attack moves and different ways to create separation from a defender.

One of the core principles of training that I think we can all agree on is moving from general to specific and finding ways to progressively overload stress for the athlete in front of you based on where they are and what their goals are.

I throw that disclaimer out there just to set the record straight that this approach is most useful for advanced or specialized basketball athletes or individuals who plan to become one very soon. I don’t think this is the best plan for a 14-year-old first-year student who is probably in dire need of general strength, speed, and skill training.

So let’s break down three of the most basic and common basketball moves, analyzing the goal of the move, how the athlete can successfully achieve that goal, and what qualities we can train to help this process.

1. Jab Steps

The jab step is one of the most basic but effective options a ball handler can use out of a triple threat position, with or without a live dribble. It has several variations and progressions, but today we’ll look at a classic hard jab step.

If you want a master class on using an effective jab, most will agree that Carmelo Anthony is the gold standard for this move. Kobe Bryant and Deron Williams were also masters of this move.

The primary goal of a jab step is to do one or more of the following:

• Disrupt the rhythm of the defender.
• Cause your defender to get off balance.
• Relocate your defender.
• Set up your own predetermined countermove.

The jab creates the illusion of a potential drive in the direction of the jab, so the defender must react to that accordingly. And as an offensive player, you can read the defender and attack based on that.

Sometimes the defender will shift back, giving you space to shoot. The defender may shift to the direction of the jab, giving you space to drive opposite. The defender may shift late, giving you space to turn the jab into a true drive in that direction. The possibilities are truly endless in this game of chess, not to mention some of the additional moves an offensive player can add with pump fakes, eye fakes, and other misdirection options.

So, what are the elements of a great jab step? The key factor is the intent behind the move. The offensive player must sell the jab; it can’t be lazy or submaximal. It is crucial to make the jab step believable, meaning it looks like the offensive player is actually going to move their body through space in some way.

What are the elements of a great jab step? The key factor is the INTENT behind the move. The offensive player must sell the jab; it can’t be lazy or submaximal, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

Another critical factor is the angle or projection of the jab step, which can vary based on the situation. The angle of the jab will determine where the defense shifts or reacts, which is critical to the next read as a ball handler. It’s important for an offensive player to understand that their jab step must make sense geographically on the court. Jabbing to where the help defense is already set up or toward a straight-line drive out of bounds isn’t going to put pressure on the defensive player. It’s usually best to use angles that invade the defender’s space or sell a drive because this will cause the defender to reposition themselves, leaving the next read up to the ball handler.

Next, balance is a critical component to a great jab—this will help avoid travel violations, sell the move, and, most importantly, get to the next movement efficiently. Jabbing forcefully into one direction without the balance or strength to decelerate that momentum will make the subsequent move slow and delayed or cause the pivot foot to be inadvertently moved. Another component of balance to consider is that if an offensive player is going to shoot out of the jab fake, they must return to a balanced position for that shot to have any chance to go in.

Intent, angles, and balance are not the only components at play but are definitely the most important from a physical preparation aspect. We can enhance these in the weight room and our on-court training with athletes.

For intent, a lot of improvement can be made as the athlete’s basketball IQ increases. Physically, we can implement rotational training that requires the athlete to improve their ability to powerfully rotate, as well as the decelerative qualities needed to put the brakes on their rotational movement.

Two general movements I’ve had significant success with include a rotational med ball throw and a half-kneeling plate or band chop.

Video 1. Medicine ball throws with a rotational component are an excellent way to help athletes improve that propulsive aspect of rotating with max intent.

Video 2. Half-kneeling chops are great for doing the exact opposite. Whether done with a plate or a band, they allow the athlete to start to use the entire core system to decelerate some of those rotations, which we know is crucial for the athlete to ultimately stay on balance within the jab.

If we inch closer to the line of specificity, we can use some drills that are a little bit closer to those sport actions we see in a jab step. One of my favorites is this “walking throw” with the Tidal Tank.

Video 3. This incorporates elements of momentum moving in similar angles to a jab step but in a much more dynamic environment. The movement forces the athlete to now link their torso up with their footstrike to propel themselves in a new direction.

To go completely specific, we can start to use weighted balls to hit the exact jab step pattern on the court or use band tension to apply overspeed or resistance to the jab movement, then contrast those reps with moves on air or within a drill.

Video 4. Like contrast training in the weight room or during speed work, we can apply the same concept to the court.

Here are some great examples of various other contrast methods. We can incorporate these loaded movements to excite the central nervous system, then contrast those reps to get the ultimate intent and precise movement we want, and help the athlete feel what they have unlocked in the process.

2. Side Steps/Step Backs

Side steps and step backs are now an essential fundamental skill for a hooper to have. At one point, they were considered advanced or “fancy,” but they are undoubtedly a part of the game now that every single player needs to have access to. Being able to shoot out of a step back or side step is just as essential now as a catch and shoot, layup, or floater.

Being able to shoot out of a step back or side step is just as essential now as a catch and shoot, layup, or floater, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

It would be hard not to crown James Harden the “King of the Step Back,” but props are also due to players like Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, and Damian Lillard. Speaking of Damian Lillard, he would probably take the cake for the best side step in the NBA in today’s game, with players like Jayson Tatum and Brad Beal as other notable masters of their craft.

If you want to watch someone with both of these moves in their bag at the most elite level, look no further than the WNBA’s Arike Ogunbowale. She is one of the best scorers on the planet in basketball, period.

The primary goal of both a step back and a side step is to do one or more of the following:

• Create separation from the defender to get a clean look at a shot.
• Force the defender to contest the shot too early or too late.
• Relocate your defender or force them off balance (or sometimes fall).
• Set up your own predetermined countermove.

These moves work so well because they are rapid changes of direction that allow the ball handler to get into their shot quickly. The threat of a drive to the basket makes the step back lethal because many defenses are predicated on keeping ball handlers out of the paint. With shutting down paint touches being a high priority for defenses, drives can be turned into step-back jumpers to give the offensive player an extremely clean look at a high-percentage shot. Similarly, the side step uses misdirection concepts and alters the defense’s rhythm and/or timing to get into the shot. Side steps are usually more subtle and cover less ground but work equally as well because of the disruption they cause to a defender’s balance and ability to anticipate movement.

Since these are technically two separate moves that I’ve grouped together for the sake of this article, we will look at what generally makes an effective step back or side step. One of the biggest factors is the athlete’s ability to change direction, which, in this case, requires multiplanar strength and power. Driving downhill and turning that into a step back requires a great deal of linear deceleration and also single-leg power to be back to reaccelerate back into the shooting position. A side step can also be added to a step back for even more separation from the defender, adding another layer of change of direction.

Believe it or not, mobility is another essential ingredient to make a good side step or step back: athletes get into some crazy positions during these moves. Coaches would look at some of these positions and call them “bad” or “dangerous,” but they are just naturally occurring postures that the game of basketball requires.

Video 5. For teaching athletes change of direction, there are a million-and-one ways to get great results. From a general strength approach, I really like the use of eccentric-focused training. I am a big fan of the Exxentric kBox because we can get the benefits of overloaded eccentric and overspeed eccentrics, both of which have a great deal of transfer to the decelerative qualities needed.

Videos 6 and 7. I also use simple basics for general changes of direction, like multidirectional jumps, speed cuts, and sprints with controlled decelerations to a lunge.

To start bridging the gap toward sport-specific skill, we can use multidirectional rhythm bounds and rapid bound backs to get into the angles we typically see in the step-back or side-step moves.

Videos 8 and 9. Lateral bound with vertical jump and ViPR rhythm bounds.

Finally, to bring it all together in the most specific application, we can add resistance, instability, or overspeed elements. I like to tow athletes forward in a linear sprint dribble and really emphasize the decel, which then turns into resistance on the reacceleration into the step back.

Another contrast concept we can use with these moves is incorporating overcoming isometric holds in specific force vectors we want to enhance. Similar to the concept mentioned in the jab step series, we can use immovable objects as our anchor point to put maximal force into the ground and then recreate those footstrikes in the move to create massive separation and effectiveness of the move. Here’s an example of what that may look like in a training setting.

3. Hesitation Moves

For the third and final common basketball move I’ll deconstruct, we will look at a hesitation move: “the hesi.” When it comes to the hesi, I think of vintage Jamal Crawford. His ability to float the ball, relax, explode, and then attack out of the hesi is pure art. The beautiful part about the hesitation move is that it can be the move, but it can also be used to set up another move or series of moves.

The beautiful part about the hesitation move is that it can be THE move, but it can also be used to set up another move or series of moves, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

The hesitation move is so important and common to basketball players that it’s honestly sometimes an unconscious movement that occurs just as a part of the athlete reading the situation or trying to gather their own rhythm.

The primary goal of a hesitation move is to do one or more of the following:

• Force the defender to relax or misstep based on your position.
• Set yourself up for a subsequent move or series of moves.
• Regain your balance or rhythm as a ball handler without retreating from the defense.
• Change your pace or level of play, or allow the play to develop around you.

The hesitation is such an easy move to master because there is truly no wrong way to do it. Everyone will put their own sauce on it and make their own unique version within the principles or goals listed above.

The number one must-have piece of the puzzle when it comes to an effective hesitation move is having a change of pace. A hesitation move is named as such because it does exactly what it sounds like. While the ball handler hesitates or delays their next movement by floating the dribble, their defender also hesitates and often has to wait until the next move to know precisely what they need to react to. That is why it is so important not just to relax but also to reaccelerate rapidly for the most drastic change of pace possible. Here’s a great example of how we try to manage and quantify change of pace.

Another complementary part of a great hesi move is to change levels. Similar to a change of pace, this throws off the defender’s timing and ability to read the next move. Just like going from slow to fast is tough to defend, going from tall to low is equally difficult. And the best part is that slow to fast and tall to low usually go hand-in-hand. Tall is relaxed is slow. Low is accelerating is fast.

The underlying attributes that can enhance both of these things are ultimately rhythm and coordination. Hard to measure but very easy to see: both rhythm and coordination are very fun to incorporate into training.

Video 10. Sprint-relax-sprint run.

From a general approach, we can teach change of pace with sprint-relax-sprint runs, in which athletes do exactly what it sounds like—sprint 10 yards, jog 10 yards, and sprint 10 yards. This helps athletes learn how to turn it on when they need to step on the gas and how to control that speed when they need to dial it back a little bit, then turn it on again.

Video 11. Kettlebell rhythm switches.

Contract-relax rhythm drills are another great general approach. I don’t even have a name for these; they just are. Drills like these help athletes find their rhythm in an environment that forces them to contract and relax rapidly over and over under load.

Some more specific ways to get better at hesitations are to add an element of reaction to the move itself. I love to drill these into training with verbal cues such as commands, colors, numbers, or other words that indicate what the athlete needs to react to. We can have the athlete pull up into a jumper by using a hesitation move, but at the last second, call out a command like “drive” to make them drive instead. Or “blue” could be drive left, and “red” could be drive right. No command could mean shoot as planned. The possibilities are endless.

Videos 12 and 13. Adding verbal commands to hesitation moves.

Deconstructing moves is not just about the move itself but also about the residual effects of the training. As mentioned, I still believe that a progression from general to specific with progressive overload in various ways is a cornerstone for any program.

Deconstructing moves isn’t just about the move itself but also about the residual effects of the training, says @JustinOchoa317. Share on X

Improving the Whole

Nothing mentioned in this article is solely effective for the move itself. We covered components of general strength, general speed, mobility, posture, awareness, rhythm, and coordination—all of which I think every athlete can surely benefit from. These all pay dividends to the moves we want to enhance but also the development of the athlete.

The specificity comes into play to add more relevant context to the training and help the athlete connect the dots between training and live play.

Many coaches opt to keep the sport and the athletic development training for that sport separate, but I think the more we can blur those lines, the more we can uncover that there are incredible opportunities to help athletes reach new levels that we never thought were possible before. All it takes is an open mind, an eye for the game, and the imagination to experiment in search of constant improvement for your craft.

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

Strength and conditioning coaches are always on a crusade for the holy grail, and like the myth, it is impossible to find. Like most innovation, it starts with a problem that needs to be considered with a different thought process to find answers. Strength and conditioning coaches seek to prepare athletes for the demands of the game so that they can be robust and resilient and perform at higher levels than before. Although this mythical program that can be deemed “the greatest” in athletic development doesn’t necessarily exist for everyone’s circumstances, S&C coaches are getting closer to solving their inherent problems with preparing athletes for the demands of the game.

Football is played five months out of the year, which leads to a huge chunk of time spent working on general abilities in the off-season. There’s a notion that strength and conditioning work removed from sports training for half the year hinders the growth of the athlete and lessens the transfer of newfound abilities into game play. You don’t win games by having the strongest team; you win games by having the most skilled team. Players will have to abandon the ladder or four-cone box drill, and the question the S&C has to ask is whether they are ready for the completely reactive environment associated with field sports.

Unlike many field and court sports, football out of season traditionally has less skill development—specifically in the area of small-sided games and agility training methods. In this series of articles, I will introduce progressions and drills that aim at attacking the training void between general training and specific training as it pertains to American football.

Agility and small-sided games are two crucial 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 accompanies the chaos of play and lessen the chance of injury.

Small-Sided Games: The Game Teaches the Game

The sport of football has been using small-sided games for years to help develop specific skills of the game, and by football, I mean soccer. Small-sided games reduce the number of players or field size from normal game play, and American football uses SSG 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 accompanies SSG exposure. Using reduced field space in evasion/tracking drills will allow players to focus on position and get them valuable reps in a scenario that occurs frequently in game play. We will go through the progression in a later article, but readers should know that it does not require a complicated process of drill progressions:

• Find a piece of the game that is common.
• Reduce the players to focus the attention of the active participants.
• Close down the field space to allow the players to work on specific skills.

By removing variables, players can really dial in on the specific techniques of the situation.

Video 1. Small-sided and reaction games in football training.

The Injury Issue

One of the greatest threats to the success of a team is injury. Injuries are an unfortunate part of the game, and there is no true way to completely prevent them outside of simply not playing. The S&C coach has to problem-solve injury trends and provide training that addresses the major issues accompanying the sport. While the term “injury prevention” is a fallacy, I truly do believe injury mitigation can be accomplished with the right training environment. Too often, we see a focus on general training leading up to the competitive season without the inclusion of full-speed, reactionary drills (SSG) and wonder why athletes get hurt in the first few practices of training camp.

Reaction and positioning go hand in hand, so to not bridge the gap between general and specific training is setting the athlete up for failure, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Reaction and positioning go hand in hand, so to not bridge the gap between general and specific training is setting the athlete up for failure. In the research paper “Noncontact Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injuries: Risk Factors and Prevention Strategies,” the authors stated “Control over the dynamic restraints, independent of the motor control level, can be considered to occur both in preparation and in response to external events. Preparatory actions occur on the identification of the beginning of an impending event or stimulus as well as its effects, whereas reactions occur in direct response to sensory detection of effects from the arrival of the event or stimuli.” This is where the importance of SSG in preparation for specific conditioning plays such a pivotal role in the mitigation of non-contact injuries.

Figure 1. A comparison of injuries in American collegiate football and club rugby. S&C coaches can get on the right path to mitigation by providing training modalities that address these problems. Data adapted from: Comparison of Injuries in American Collegiate Football and Club Rugby (sagepub.com)

Several other researchers have also spoken on this subject, pointing toward incorporating specific modalities like SSG in training. A study published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that athletes who participated in small-sided games had better sprint performance and agility than those who did not. Another study published in the Journal of Sports Sciences found that small-sided games were more effective at improving aerobic fitness than traditional training methods.

Strength and conditioning coaches are trying to find a way to develop the energy systems in a specific way to increase capacity for the demands of the sport, which would lead to fewer injuries. Less fatigue present in continuous game play will lead to less chance of injuries, and research has shown that SSG can provide that better than traditional conditioning due to the locomotion demands and rest/work ratios. Furthermore, a study published in 2014 found that small-sided games were associated with a lower risk of injury than full-sided games. When athletes train in similar environments to game play, they are prepared for the demands of the game.

Components of Agility

General skills make up the foundation of great agility alongside increased peripheral vision and faster reaction times (OODA loop). Acceleration, deceleration, COD, and max velocity are the underlying attributes that help determine success in the open environment of play. With deficiencies in any of these areas, the chances of being elite diminish. It’s the price of admission, so to speak, because if you lack the general athleticism to keep up with the more athletically endowed players, reaction times can only make up so much ground. A skill is how well someone can perform a task; in the chaotic realm of sport, the task in football comes down to two simplified themes: to create space or close space depending on whether the player is on offense or defense.

If you are an offensive player, you are trying to create space; the counterpart to that is if you are on defense, you are trying to close space. The beauty of football is that offensive players can be defensive in plays, like an offensive lineman in a pass set.

The four general skills stated above allow this to happen more rapidly. Zatsiorsky stated, “an increase in sports performance, the time of motion decreased.” This is multifactorial and should demand the attention of the strength and conditioning coach to allocate time to building the general locomotion skills necessary to move faster while concurrently exposing athletes to reactive environments in a planned and progressive manner. It’s like learning how to say the alphabet before embarking on the journey of writing an essay—you want to make sure that you can spell the words properly and write the correct letters.

In a profession that preaches “slow cooking” athletes, we are too often quick to say that in the developmental stages, we should just let the athletes figure it out in play versus giving them clues first on how to figure out the complex task of faster game play. What’s wrong with an emphasis on both?

Videos 2 and 3. Speed and agility development in training.

Deceleration

One of the main catalysts for injury is not having the coordination or capacity to stop movement. S&C coaches train and prepare athletes for the demands of the sport while improving the underlying factors affecting faster sports motion. Deceleration, in particular, is the underpinning factor in greater change of direction and max velocity speeds, which are directly responsible for creating and closing space but also prevention of non-contact injuries.

Video 4. Training deceleration on the football field.

Dr. Damian Harper defines deceleration as: “[The] ability to proficiently reduce whole-body momentum, within the constraints, and in accordance with specific objectives of the task, while attenuating and distributing the forces associated with braking.”

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Deceleration ability may be the biggest determining factor in performance when looking at general skills and their effect on sports. In the research article “Change of Direction Tasks: Does the Eccentric Muscle Contraction Really Matter?,” Helmi Chaabene stated, “From a practical observation, suggest that coaches should consider implementing eccentric strengthening, which is the main muscle contraction regime activated during deceleration, in their training program directed at promoting COD outcome.” Not training or preparing for the high-intensity deceleration events in sport can lead to compensation mechanics or severe injury.

COD and the Four Main Pillars

Change of direction and agility are not the same! You can change direction without a stimulus, whereas agility is a change of direction brought on by an environmental cue. COD is one of the biggest determining factors in faster game play—the only sport that doesn’t have COD is track. A 10.5 time in the 100m is only useful on the football field if you can navigate defenders.

Increasing acceleration and max velocity output is extremely important but is not the end of the rainbow. The gold is getting these general skills to transfer to specific skills like tracking, closing, and evading, which have more components than just running fast. Change of direction is directly affected by another general skill: deceleration. As previously stated, what’s the point in speeding something up if we cannot slow it down? A skill gets better with rehearsal, so while increasing the contributing factors to speed, COD, and deceleration, strength and conditioning coaches also need to reinforce the biomechanical positions that are associated with advantageous change of direction movements.

When you break down the tape of game play, four distinctive change of direction movements stand out:

• 180-degree cut
• 90-degree cut
• 45-degree cut
• Maneuverability

These movements show up over and over again. In many situations, they change together. When you avoid training these positions, you remove the bridge between speed and game speed. Training these components of COD is learning the alphabet. It’s the old metaphor of learning to crawl before you run.

When you avoid training change of direction positions, you remove the bridge between speed and game speed, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

Videos 5 & 6. Training angled cuts and maneuverability.

OODA Loop

Game speed and OODA loops are two concepts that are important in sports training and competition. Game speed refers to an athlete’s ability to perform at the same speed and intensity as they would in a game or competition. This involves not only physical speed but also mental quickness and decision-making ability. When I see people train in closed drills or general skills the entire off-season without the presence of open reactive environments, my mind always goes to the Mike Tyson quote, “Everyone has a plan till they get hit.” Peripheral vision and pattern recognition are two of the main drivers of fast reaction times and increased OODA loop processing.

The OODA loop is a decision-making process coined by military strategist John Boyd. It stands for:

• Observe
• Orient
• Decide
• Act

In sports, athletes must constantly cycle through this process to make quick and effective decisions on the field. They must observe the situation, orient themselves to the environment and the actions of their opponents and teammates, decide on a course of action, and then act on that decision. Increased game speed hinges upon the ability to cycle through this loop and use the appropriate strategies from a movement standpoint. We have all coached that one kid who was fast as hell in testing, but for whatever reason, the game moved too fast for him, and he played slower than his capabilities. An athlete’s inability to discern the environment from potential threats slows down the “decide” and “act” portions of the loop, leading to what a lot of coaches have termed “paralysis by analysis.”

Coaches can incorporate the OODA loop into sports training by focusing on decision-making skills and situational awareness. You can create drills and exercises that require athletes to quickly observe and react to changing situations, forcing them to cycle rapidly through the OODA loop. Game speed training can include drills and exercises that simulate game situations and force athletes to react quickly and make split-second decisions.

These critical pieces of training—game speed and the OODA loop—are important concepts in creating a transfer from general skills to specific skills. Athletes who can perform at game speed and quickly cycle through the OODA loop are more likely to be successful on the field. It’s not the fastest athlete who wins; it’s the athlete who plays the fastest. Coaches and athletes should incorporate these concepts into their training and practice routines to improve their performance and decision-making abilities.

It’s not the fastest athlete who wins; it’s the athlete who plays the fastest, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

The OODA loop can also be linked to injury rates in sports. In high-speed and high-impact sports, such as football, athletes constantly make split-second decisions that can have a significant impact on their safety. Therefore, having a well-developed OODA loop is crucial for athletes to avoid injuries.

The OODA loop helps athletes quickly observe and orient themselves to their surroundings, make informed decisions, and act on those decisions with precision and control. By cycling through the OODA loop rapidly, athletes can make split-second decisions that can help them avoid collisions, adjust their movements to avoid injury, or protect themselves. Game speed and the OODA loop can also help athletes develop their adaptability and flexibility.

The game of football is chaos, and no play is identical. Having the ability to react to an ever-changing environment will give players a competitive advantage and protect them from bad positions that could lead to the risk of injury. By incorporating these concepts into training and practice routines, athletes can develop their decision-making abilities, mental toughness, resilience, and adaptability, all of which can contribute to their success on the field.

Having the ability to react to an ever-changing environment will give players a competitive advantage and protect them from bad positions that could lead to the risk of injury, says @CoachJoeyG. Share on X

In the next three articles, I will touch upon:

1. How GPS can help create specific thresholds and guide planning for SSG and agility to match practice stressors.
2. How to progress from closed COD drills and advance them into open reactive environments.
3. How to incorporate and plan these sessions into the training week.

Every coach wants faster game speed and a decreased chance of injury, and small-sided games can deliver. SSG and agility training, when paired with general skills and capacities training, can produce a robust athlete that is able to handle any situation with accuracy and precision.

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