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One of the most common inquiries I get is which tests I utilize to identify athletes who may excel in the jumps in track and field (long, triple, high). While I do not lose sleep over many things, one thing that does worry me is not placing athletes in the area where they can be the most successful—or placing them in that area too late. Some of my biggest frustrations as a coach have involved asking an athlete to try out a particular event as a senior and watching them absolutely tear it up.

One thing that worries me is not placing athletes in the area where they can be the most successful—or placing them in that area too late, says @HFJumps. Share on X

As much as I try to think “glass half full” and be glad that we were finally able to place the athlete correctly, I also cannot get away from kicking myself for failing to recognize the placement earlier in their career. In a program that generally begins with more than 100 athletes (this past season, we had 140), this can be a huge challenge—especially when 80% of those athletes view themselves as sprinters. Before going into the tests, I think it is imperative to mention a few thoughts that can help you ensure the right athletes make their way to your jump squad:

• Even though I do my best to see everything, I cannot. The process of athlete placement is the combined effort of the entire staff. I would even go beyond that and say it can extend outside the staff. Physical education teachers and coaches of other sports can be a great asset in communicating about potential athletes and encouraging them to give track and field a shot.
• Watch the warm-up! The tests I will discuss give objective measurements to help drive decision-making. Watching the warm-up is a way to add a subjective evaluation to the evaluation equation. Furthermore, it can serve as a safety net because an athlete may be absent for one or more days during the early-season testing.
• Create an appealing environment for new athletes. Returning members of the jump squad will be your best recruiters. If you make practice enjoyable and they perform well over a season, your returners will deliver the ideal message to newcomers. Typically, the only “recruiting” line I may use is, “Anyone can be a sprinter, but true athletes are found in the jumps.” This, of course, also applies to the hurdles and the other field events, but I have to be a champion for the group I lead!

The following six tests are ones we administer over the first two weeks of our 19-week high school season. I have them listed in order of significance (largest to smallest), although the order is certainly debatable.

1. 10-Meter Fly

All of the jumps in track and field occur at a speed that is below an athlete’s maximum velocity. This is due to the coordination required to execute specific movements prior to the jump and takeoff from a specific target. If an athlete has a faster maximum speed, they will have a faster submaximum speed. Every elite jump coach I have spoken with agrees that take-off speed is the most critical factor in performance potential (yes, even in regard to the high jump).

At the high school level, I advise a 20- to 30-meter sprint into the fly zone. While I allow flexibility during training, I think it is essential to be rigid with the run-in distance during testing. Not only does this allow for legitimate comparison among the current athletes, but it also allows for year-to-year comparison.

Every elite jump coach I have spoken with agrees that take-off speed is the most critical factor in performance potential (yes, even in regard to the high jump), says @HFJumps. Share on X

There has been debate in the past regarding the 10-meter fly versus the 30-meter fly—I think both are great. Since the focus of this is testing early in the season, I find the 10-meter fly to be most appropriate for the majority of our athletes.

2. Bilateral 6-Bound for Distance from a Bilateral Start

I believe we perform this test a little differently than others do. The athlete starts behind a line with both feet together. They jump and land on either their right or left foot, then alternate contacts until the seventh contact hits the ground. This guarantees three true bounds on each leg.

I prefer this test over the standing triple jump since I have found it easier to teach because it is all unilateral after the initial jump. We perform this test on turf in trainers, and I have found that when athletes are tested with a bilateral landing in these conditions, it gets unsafe really quick—which is why we switched to a unilateral landing. Note: We do not tell them to “stick” the landing on the last contact. The last contact simply hits, and they roll through. This method has also enhanced safety.

This test could certainly be done on a runway with a sandpit and a legit jump landing, but most of the athletes we are testing do not have any experience. So, again, this has been a simpler method for us.

When administering this test with large groups, I advise having two lines on each side of the tape measure. One athlete goes, I verbally yell out the mark, and then the athlete in the other line goes. I always put a cone down for the top mark to give the athletes something to go after. To potentially drive even more intent, you can have a cone for the top mark for each year in school. Always find ways to enhance intent!

3. Backboard Test

This test is somewhat less objective than the others. It simply asks the athlete to take an approach, jump, and touch as high on a backboard as possible. I like this test because it shows whether an athlete can use horizontal velocity to get vertical. It certainly correlates the most with potential in the high jump, but the athleticism of being able to do it bodes well for the coordination requirements in any of the jumps.

We do not get exact numbers for how high the athlete gets off the ground, which makes it more subjective: you can use a simple numeric rating from 1–5. If you want to add more intent, use post-it notes and have the athletes stick them on the backboard. If you have multiple hoops, you can break the athletes up by class or, even better, by height. Enhancing intent for the win!

I like the backboard test because it shows whether an athlete can use horizontal velocity to get vertical, says @HFJumps. Share on X

If an athlete performs this test and jumps off two legs, make a note of the performance, and then ask them to repeat it by jumping off one leg. In my experience, the athlete who jumps off two legs tends to be more “muscular” versus “elastic” in regard to movement strategy. This is, of course, up for grabs if the athlete jumps really well off one or two feet.

You can certainly use this test as a stand-alone to identify jump talent, but I find it to be most valuable when used in comparison with others to find diamonds in the rough (more on that later).

4. 20- to 30-Meter Acceleration

Most of the time, the 10-meter fly will give me the information needed to target an athlete based on their running ability. However, there are times when an athlete has a poor fly time in comparison to their acceleration time. Someone who accelerates well—but does not have top speed that correlates—could still jump well, especially if the top speed issue is resolved.

Remember, all the jumps occur at a percentage below maximum velocity. If an athlete who accelerates well but has poor top-end speed can jump at a higher percentage of their maximum velocity, there is a chance they could find more success than an athlete with a higher maximum velocity. Usually, the factor most involved in this occurrence is coordination.

Coaches can run regressions using acceleration and fly times to help see if an athlete meets this criterion or simply look at where the athlete ranks on the team in each category. If the athlete ranks 25th on the team in the 10-meter fly, I may be inclined not to pursue that athlete; but if they also rank eighth in a 20-meter acceleration, my decision could change.

5. Scandinavian Rebound Jump Test

I have written about the SRJT before (here and here). It is definitely my favorite test to measure RSI if you have the technology to measure flight time or jump height and ground contact time. The test identifies athletes who can sync their upper and lower bodies well and, more importantly, identifies athletes who can “bounce”—the ability to produce high outputs in minimal ground contact time.

6. Countermovement Jump

As a stand-alone, I think the CMJ is a subpar indicator of potential success in the jumps. I have had 7-meter long jumpers and 15-meter triple jumpers whose CMJs were between 24 and 27 inches on a Just Jump mat. However, that does not mean the test is worthless. What I find more common is that an athlete may have a good CMJ but struggle jumping off one leg. This mostly tends to be a general lack of exposure.

This past season, we had an athlete who was in the middle of the pack in all tests besides the CMJ, where he was in our top five. He had an interest in jumping, but if he did not, I would have targeted him anyway because of his CMJ performance. As the season went on, he became more and more comfortable jumping off one leg. I think he will have the ability to jump 1.90 meters or better in the high jump this year. If we did not test the CMJ, and he did not have an interest, I may have missed him!

Note: When I train private clients, I like to test a squat jump and CMJ without arms, which can assist in determining if an athlete is more muscle- or tendon-driven. This helps identify athlete strengths and weaknesses, and each can be emphasized at certain times throughout the macrocycle.

Sifting Through the Data

During the first two weeks of our season, I analyze the data collected during a session. Because we do not do all the tests on a single day, it becomes an ongoing process of adding and subtracting the athletes I intend to target. Since we have been completing the same tests from year to year, we have created a set of norms for each test (besides the backboard test) for all athletes and by year in school. While there are testing protocols that have norms provided and are excellent for reference, I think it is extremely important to use your own data, as it is the best representation of what you are dealing with from year to year!

As we continue to perform more tests and I continue to sift through the spreadsheets, certain athletes begin to stick out. This is where I start to lobby our staff to have all the elite athletes jump! That being said, the most time-consuming part is looking for the athletes who do not stick out but may fit the part (such as the high jumper mentioned earlier).

While some testing protocols are excellent for reference, I think it is extremely important to use your own data, as it is the best representation of what you are dealing with from year to year. Share on X

Another key point to consider beyond the data is body type and physiological age. A 6’4” athlete may test poorly, but it could be because he grew 8 inches in six months. Getting him involved in the jumps may pay big dividends once he learns how to coordinate the new length.

If I have to approach an athlete about trying out the jumps, I usually say, “All of the metrics we have collected lead me to believe you can find success in the jumps. What do you think about giving it a try?” Most of the time, they are interested. However, last year I had an athlete tell me, “I completely disagree, so no chance.” The funny part is that by the end of the season, he was talking to me about wanting to be a jumper next season.

I’m not sure of the reason for his change of heart, but I’d like to believe it is because of the culture our jump squad has built over the years, of which a key component is working with a staff with a unified vision. Again, the goal is to place everyone properly, which is best done via a team effort!

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

Softball athletes spend time year-round practicing skill development in hitting, pitching, throwing, and fielding. Few work on strength and speed, and even fewer address the need to prepare for playing in high heat and humidity. Most outdoor athletes, specifically softball players, face the prospect of playing ball in extreme heat at some point in their seasons—the ability to play 3–4 games in 90+ degree weather with matching percentages of humidity is a skill in itself.

Many athletes underestimate the stress on the body that heat can add and, as a result, suffer from heat-related illnesses or deal with symptoms related to it. Heat stroke is now the leading cause of death in sports.¹ Evidence suggests the prevalence of exertional heat stroke among high school athletes is largely due to young athletes not acclimatizing or physically adjusting to the heat, and the heat policies available to prevent this are not always enforced.²

As coaches, we can do our part to help athletes better manage the heat, and we can do this in several ways.

Many athletes underestimate the stress on the body that heat can add and, as a result, suffer from heat-related illnesses or deal with symptoms related to it. We can help them better manage the heat. Share on X

On the strength and conditioning side, especially regarding movement, we spend most of our time trying to help the kids we work with become more efficient. Efficiency equals more strength and endurance for longer periods, less chance of fatigue and injury, and, as a result, increased performance. Part of this efficiency in movement carries over into managing stress—and playing in the heat becomes a game of balancing the stress on the body. If we add a huge stress like heat to the body, we must make sure the body isn’t already overloaded due to other stressors.

Efficiency of Movement

The first thing we address is patterning in quality, fluid, and effective movement in the weight room (see “3 Mistakes Softball Players Make in the Weight Room” for details on this subject). For me, this starts with developing core endurance—the body stays in good alignment and is most efficient when the core is stable and strong. We mix up training the core in different ways throughout a workout to address this need.

Start with Core Endurance

When the body is fresh and strong, we train the core at the beginning of a workout with explosive exercises like:

• Rotational kettlebell swings.
• Med ball slams.
• Med ball throws.
• Banded Pallof marching.
• Plyos and jumps.

We keep reps short with the intent to work fast and violently, under control.

The next time we work core is in the middle of the strength session as a superset to heavier lifts. These movements are sandwiched between variations of squats, bench, and cleans and are most often ISO holds with focused breathing through the nose. Four options we use are:

1. Low-sit plank holds (on elbows and knees).

Video 1. “Ribs stacked over hips” and other cues to execute the low sit plank hold.

2. Deadbug variations with offset weight.

Video 2. Key to the deadbug, not letting the athlete’s back rise up off the ground.

3. Med ball or plate squat distractions (partner game).

4. Slow crawling.

If we add a huge stress like heat to the body, we must make sure the body isn’t already overloaded due to other stressors, says @shestrength. Share on X

Then, we end the week with core work at the end of the workout in the form of a long, slow EMOM (every minute on the minute). We include cardio-like movements in the workout as well.

For example, for 10 minutes, every minute on the minute, the athletes complete:

• Five calories on the Air Assault bike.
• Four dumbbell bear rows/arm.

Cardiovascular Endurance

After we’ve addressed core endurance, we next focus on cardio endurance in terms of the cardiovascular system. We focus on training different systems: anaerobic, aerobic, and phosphagen.

I like using games with my softball players to address these areas of training. Again, we do these at the beginning, middle, and end of the workout to challenge the body’s ability to handle stress. Some of our favorites are:

1. Playing Chase or Capture the Flag

Each athlete places a hand towel in the back of their shorts. The athletes are given a designated space and time frame to collect the most towels. We do this individually or as teams, using different color towels for each team.

2. Med Ball Tag

For this game, each athlete is given a med ball, all different sizes and weights. The athletes are given a designated area to stay within. They can vary, but we usually make rules such as the ball can only be held in one hand while the athlete moves and maneuvers themselves within the designated area. The goal is to try and knock other people’s med balls out of their hands. If the athlete’s ball gets knocked out of their hand, they must walk to the outside of the designated space of play and complete 5–10 reps of a specific exercise before re-entering. We vary using push-ups, squats, lunges, jump squats, and sit-ups within the 5- to 8-rep range.

The other rule is that no balls can be lying on the ground throughout the whole game. This quickens the pace of the push-ups and squats or other designated exercise. If a ball is left on the ground, everyone stops and does an exercise.

3. Shoe Drop Game

Video 3. Acceleration and deceleration game based on reacting to visual and auditory cues.

4. COD Bat Game or Stick Game

Video 4. For this game, everyone stands in a circle. Each participant holds their bat at arm’s length in front of their body with the wide end of the bat on the ground and the knob just under their hand. The athletes should stand close, about 1–2 feet apart.

One person not inside the circle is designated as the “caller.” The caller yells out “right” or “left,” and the entire circle should move in the direction called, leaving the bat but moving their hand to the top of the bat next to them with the goal of trying to keep the bats all standing. If the bat a girl is reaching for hits the ground before she reaches it, she is out. The circle stays the same distance apart but has fewer people, making the game more challenging. Or, if the caller wants to add speed to the game, she can cue everyone to take a step back each round, making the bats harder to reach.

Breathing and Mindset

We also spend a lot of time talking about breathing and its important role in quickly reducing the heart rate. We start our workouts with patterning in diaphragmatic breathing through various positions and holds. My favorites are alligator breaths, bird dog positions, and assisted squat holds.

Video 5. Breathing tips for athletes during a squat lift.

I remind my athletes to return their breathing to nose breathing as soon as possible after a cardiovascular effort. Nasal breathing performs the same amount of work with less energy expended. In addition, mouth breathing increases dehydration and, as a result, the chances of heat exhaustion.³ So, the less time we spend mouth-breathing, the better.

I remind my athletes to return their breathing to nose breathing as soon as possible after a cardiovascular effort. Nasal breathing performs the same amount of work with less energy expended. Share on X

We work on this concept by wrapping our fingers around our mid-section to turn intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) breathing back on and lower the heart rate by squatting down or bending over and resting our hands on our knees. We practice these concepts between sets and reps in the weight room or on the field to help build habits that show up in the game.

We also focus on relaxation techniques through end-of-practice activities, such as meditation and visualization. We have the girls line up against the fence or the wall with their legs elevated, one hand on the chest and one on the belly. We tell them to focus on only raising the belly hand to breathe as they work through the body little by little, visualizing the tension and stress melting out of their body and into the floor.

Take Care Off the Field

At the end of the day, though, the biggest pieces for a softball player to manage the stress of high heat in a tournament are what they do off the field:

• Getting enough sleep.
• Drinking enough water.
• Reducing the volume of practice and games leading up to a tournament.
• Eating enough QUALITY calories—not running off energy drinks and Sour Heads.
• Keeping body weight and body fat in normal ranges.
• Reducing sugar and processed food intake.
• Managing emotional stress and trauma with help.

Playing in the heat is a game of checks and balances. If you are going to add a HIGH stressor, like extreme heat and humidity, to the body for long periods, an athlete needs to have removed or diminished another stressor so the body can handle it all.

At the end of the day, the biggest pieces for a softball player to manage the stress of high heat in a tournament are what they do off the field, says @shestrength. Share on X

This is where smart training comes into play in the weight room, in practice, and at home. Much like training for the sport, training for playing in the heat is just as important—but often goes neglected.

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

References

1. Casa DJ, DeMartini JK, Bergeron MF, et al. “National Athletic Trainers’ Association Position Statement: Exertional Heat Illnesses.” Journal of Athletic Training. 2015;50(9):986–1000. doi: https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-50.9.07

2. Adams WM, Hosokawa Y, Casa DJ, et al. “Roundtable on Preseason Heat Safety in Secondary School Athletics: Heat Acclimatization.” Journal of Athletic Training. 2021;56(4):352–361. https://doi.org/10.4085/1062-6050-596-20

3. Lacomb, COP. “Oral vs. Nasal Breathing during Submaximal Aerobic Exercise.” UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. (2015).

For many coaches, the summer is the only time of the year they get to catch their breath and enjoy some extra family time for a change. For me, however, it is the complete opposite—I am the director of performance at a private sports training facility in Wichita Falls, Texas. Throughout the year, we will normally carry 125-150 athletes at any given time, but in the summer that number jumps to 250-300. Between our college athletes coming home for the summer, school kids having more free time to train, and football and volleyball getting ready to compete, we are overwhelmed.

I love the challenge that this time of the year provides, and I try to thrive and not just survive the whirlwind. Because of this, I’m always looking to learn more about how to create better athletes and run a better business. With this being the seventh summer for my business, I wanted to step back, breathe, and reflect on seven lessons from summer 2022 that I will build on moving forward.

1. Less Is More

Confucius has been quoted as saying “A healthy man wants a thousand things, but a sick man only wants one,” while in the book of Matthew it is written that “No man can serve two masters.” And in 1768, Christoph Martin said “Too much light often blinds gentlemen of this sort. They cannot see the forest for the trees.”

Long before the invention of the barbell, wise individuals were trying to teach us the rule of intentional focus. And yet still so many of us convince ourselves of the lie that quantity beats quality. I have seen extremely talented athletes get backtracked by overzealous coaches. Pharmacology uses the term effective dose, which is the deliberate amount of something needed to induce a biological response. In strength and conditioning, this is the amount of training needed to create adaptation. It is a deliberate amount of intentional work that yields the best improvements.

Long before the invention of the barbell, wise individuals were trying to teach us the rule of intentional focus, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

Over the course of the summer, our best results came from the guys who were NOT doing 50 forty-yard sprints (yes, a real thing here in Texas) or those who were not subject to five sets of eight every single week. And when you take a step back to see the whole picture, it makes sense. If you adapt to what you do and you run dozens of slow-fatigued-halfhearted sprints, you develop slow-fatigued-halfhearted athletes. Although I am ALWAYS tempted to do more, I am reassured at the end of the training cycle that less is more. The effective dose always wins.

2. Recognizing Why My College Athletes Come Back Worse Each Semester

Every December and May, I get a flood of really talented and hard-working college athletes coming back to my facility. Unfortunately, the majority of these studs are returning slower, weaker, more fragile, and less explosive than when they left. Why is that? It couldn’t be that they were not working hard or that they lacked the resources to train.

After many conversations and training sessions, I came across three common causes:

• For starters, at the end of a tough season, some of these athletes were WORN OUT. Between hard game play and brutal “conditioning” workouts provided by a sports coach, their bodies just need a break.
• Secondly, a myth that many aspiring coaches (aka me 10 years ago) believe is that if someone is a D1 coach, they must be top-of-the-line talent. Unfortunately, just like when I was a 20-something running workouts, you don’t always get the cream of the crop in college. Sometimes it’s a GA, first time assistant, or a coach cutting his or her teeth on a new group of athletes.
• Finally, some coaches are stuck in a system that the school developed years (even decades) ago that hasn’t evolved with the times—even though they have the latest Tendo units and squat racks available. I’ve sent female athletes to D1 schools that refuse to do free weight training or plyometrics because it “is bad for their hips and knees.”

Because of these stumbling blocks, I approach work with this level of athlete differently. We talk about how the season went, and then pick key areas that they believe will improve their quality of play and longevity (big emphasis on the latter). Knowing that I have 8-10 weeks to undo 6 months of backtracking means that we have a long road ahead of us—and that’s okay. The only rule is that we get better where it matters and create a long-term plan for when they return.

The only rule is that we get better where it matters and create a long-term plan for when the athletes return from school, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

3. How to Spot “Tourists” and Create “Locals”

All of the local “sporty” families know who we are, and we typically have waitlists to enroll in certain programs. Each summer, we also pick up dozens of new tourists that we try and turn into locals. Likewise, we run into dozens of tourists that are only here for the t-shirt and Instagram post. They think that by buying in, they are bought in. Just to give an example, we have a minimum unenrollment date to cancel your participation in our program for that month—like with your phone bill, tanning membership, or even Netflix account.

At the end of every busy season, a parent will storm our front desk and inform us that little Tommy is now doing private basketball and baseball lessons and is on a select football team and will be traveling three times a week and can no longer attend his workouts—and they want a refund. These people never accept the first “No” as an answer, and will yell at our staff members as if they called back the game winning touchdown on a bad holding call. We don’t like these kinds of tourists at out facility, but we have to go through a sea of them to find our possible locals: the families that actually buy in.

Years ago, I decided to create enrollment rules that benefit our coaches and staff members more by creating better clients. If people don’t want to follow these rules, they are clients worth firing. Although it hurts the bottom dollar at times, it makes our program stand out that much more. Every summer, I find new groups of locals to develop and enjoy and a new group of tourists to say sayonara to.

Years ago, I decided to create enrollment rules that benefit our coaches and staff members more by creating better clients, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

4. Bilateral & Unilateral Strength Training Are Actually Best Friends

It wasn’t that long ago that many coaches on Twitter were making bilateral and unilateral lifts face off in the metaphorical octagon. If you followed the discourse, it was like an ugly breakup between some of the best and brightest coaches. I’ve already written about these differences before, but my stance has been strengthened by what I witnessed this summer.

Our program put equal value, intensity, and volume on both unilateral and bilateral strength training. To be honest, we have always trended towards bilateral strength; however, it was made evident to me that I could move the performance needle more by intentionally adding more unilateral strength. After finding a way to complement our training and schedule, I was able to get kids to hit long awaited PRs in the weight room and on the track. Needless to say, I won’t be going back.

It was made evident to me that I could move the performance needle more by intentionally adding more unilateral strength to my bilateral strength, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

5. The Best Conditioning Comes from Playing Games

I had a sports coach approach me with a very basic question when it came to his team’s fitness. He bragged about how much they conditioned throughout the year, but he followed it with a very contrasting, “But it takes us weeks to get back into game shape.” An obvious answer to me, but one he had never thought about, was that “You’re not training them to be in game shape, you’re training them to pass your fitness tests.”

He nodded, I nodded, and then he asked, “Then what gets kids in shape to play a game?”

My answer? “Play more games.”

Now, you obviously can’t get away with just playing games, but you can incorporate more game-like drills into your schedule. Something that we have begun pushing is warm-up games and finisher games. For example, we will dedicate the very first 5 minutes of a workout to some kind of silly game where the objective is to force kids to move more without over-taxing their system. Dodgeball is a great example of working up a sweat without really having to move maximally.

At the end of that training session, we will spend 10 to 15 minutes playing a more intense and dynamic game. Something like ultimate frisbee, freeze tag, or even pick-up basketball will work multiple energy systems and “trick” the kids into getting some game-like conditioning in. What I learned from this dual game play system is that kids look forward to the mental warm-up of the first game, but also to getting one final chance at a WIN. Not only were we checking the physical box, we were checking the mental.]

Not only were we checking the physical box, we were checking the mental, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

6. Go Fast to Get Fast

If there is one thing I wish I could share with sports coaches, it is that speed breeds speed. Too often I will get a kid at the end of track season who, to his knowledge, is the fastest he has ever been—until we put the lasers to him. In many instances his 10- and 40-split times are way down from last time. Why? Around here, track season is more about who can survive the beating than who is the fastest.

I’m not anti-track, but I am anti “if he survives, he survives” workouts. Granted, if you want to be the best 400-meter dash runner, I applaud you; but if you want to be one of the fastest guys on the football or baseball field, your training needs to support those goals. One of the things we did this summer was break out the timing systems more and have more competitive running drills. By showing the kids their speed times, we encouraged more high-speed outputs. By racing in a way that rewarded winning—but also adjusted for those who needed more realistic competitions—we were able to get better reps from each kid. The result was dozens of lifetime 10- and 40-yard dash PRs from kids aged 12 to 22.

By showing the kids their speed times, we encouraged more high-speed outputs, says @endunamoo_sc. Share on X

7. Building Habits Is Better than Creating Goals

I have always been a huge advocate of setting goals and building mental resilience. Each time we test our athletes, we spend time setting new goals. This year we shifted the focus from the goal to the habits that support that goal.

In the book Atomic Habits, James Clear says, “You do not rise to the level of your goals, you fall to the level of your systems.” We use several of his strategies on our goal cards to build intrinsic motivation and consistency. Each card starts with our members identifying who they are as an athlete. Then we establish good habits we want to amplify, and bad habits we want to reduce for the upcoming month. Finally, each athlete picks two tested areas that they want to improve. These cards are successful when it is placed where they see it daily. As James and other professionals have said, “Your habits shape your identity, and your identity shapes your habits.”

Looking Ahead

In ancient Israeli cultures, the number 7 represented completeness. We have seven days in a week. The oceans were once described as the seven seas. Everyone knows about the seven deadly sins. But, as I look at this list, I know that it is not complete.

By 2023, I will have seven more nuggets of wisdom that influence the way I coach, run a business, and try and impact those around me. As we tumble into the fall season and my sport coach peers get back to the grind, I finally get to enjoy the spoils of what we spent the entire summer building. And like all good things, it’s only a matter of time before hundreds more athletes come knocking on my door and I get another crack at sharpening my skills. When it comes to getting better, Roy T. Bennet said it best: “Let the improvement of yourself keep you so busy that you have no time to criticize others.”

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

Is the bench press functional? I’m sure most of you have pondered this question, and for good reason. On one side of the argument, we have the “You don’t ever lie down and push a barbell in (enter sport here)” camp, who tag-team with the group that believes your shoulders will explode upon becoming muscle-bound from the mere thought of bench pressing. They often validate their argument with prescriptions of yoga, BOSU ball drills, or anything resembling a postoperative exercise seen in rehabilitation clinics. Believe it or not, I’ve actually heard this misguided advice over the years in the swim and baseball worlds, where these old wives’ tales seem to have staying power.

On the other side, we have the “Ride or Die” powerlifting types who place the bench press on the “be-all and end-all” altar, appeasing the 1RM gods. As fervent as the arguments from both camps are, the value of the bench press (like many other exercises) lies somewhere in the middle, buttressed by context and application.

A Question of Transfer

For those who validate their exercise pool via transference (or the perception of), it is easy to conclude that the only sport where the skill of the bench press completely transfers is powerlifting. Does this mean a lesser (or different) degree of transfer diminishes the use of the exercise?

Of course not.

The bench press and versions of it have been a part of strength and power development for athletes for going on several decades. Dr. Anatoliy Bondarchuk, for example, found a solid transfer with bench pressing up to 180 kilograms for discus throwers and shot putters. For them, the pattern of the bench press provided general strength improvement in the propulsive muscles of the triceps and shoulder girdle. The surplus from this level of strength led to bigger throws.¹ While 396 pounds (180 kg) may seem an excessive—or downright impossible—level for most to attain, contextually, for discus and shot, the weight of the implement and momentum requirement for big throws would call for larger forces to be created via a maximal strength surplus.

Using this line of thought, we can apply the context to throwers of a different ilk. In a study on handball players,² we can find that the bench press exercise provided an indicator of throwing velocities. Using a radar gun, ball-throwing velocity was evaluated with a standard three-step running throw. “Ball-throwing velocity was related to the absolute load lifted during the 1-RMBP (r = .637, P = .014), peak power using 36 kg (r = .586, P = .028) and 46 kg (r = .582, P = .029), and peak bar velocity using 26 kg (r = .563, P = .036) and 36 kg (r = .625, P = .017).”²

Essentially, the handball players who threw the fastest could not only produce higher forces but produce them in a shorter window of time. Given the lighter weight of the handball (15–16 ounces) versus the discus and shot (4.4 pounds and 16 pounds, respectively), the requirements to throw this lighter implement for higher speeds indicate less reliance on maximal strength but heighten the need to exhibit that strength in an accelerative and explosive manner. Similarly, the technique in the handball throw eerily resembles that of a quarterback, baseball pitcher, or water polo player, as well as the relative weight of those respective implements. In examining the study, we can draw inferences on how power and higher speed bench pressing techniques can develop throwing speed in the aforementioned team sport athletes.

On the intangible side, coaches who work with developmental athletes will struggle to prevent their trainees from bench pressing—especially pubescent males highly influenced by Instagrammers and TikTokers who celebrate international bench press day every Monday with entertaining (albeit performative) feats of stupidity. As coaches, if we take the bench press off the table, we risk our young ones pressing on their own, leaving them to their own devices and demises and losing any “buy-in” for our entire program.

Speaking from experience, I can say this argument is not worth the consequence.

Practically speaking, we can embrace this situation by implementing a proper progression to take advantage of their enthusiasm and adaptability. With developmental athletes, general strength is the low-hanging, fruit-bearing benefit of improved coordination, increased power, and psychological palatability. In the wise words of the legendary Joe Kenn, “Confidence transfers.”

A Question of Safety: The Hardware

For the general public and those with a physical therapy bias, the bench press is an easy culprit to demonize. If you were to survey any gym bro, veteran powerlifter, or ex-athlete who pressed heavy at some point in time, I’m sure you’d find complaints of pain, injury, and dysfunction later in life. In this instance, the author certainly is not exempt; but again, context is king. For those who push the envelope in any discipline, there are no free lunches. For the developmental athlete or strength enthusiast, we can put bench pressing in its place as a general or general-specific exercise that is used to drive athletic qualities.

For the general public and those with a physical therapy bias, the bench press is an easy culprit to demonize. Share on X

In 1987, Jobe and colleagues³ identified two groups of muscles involved in pitching, labeled Group I muscle:

• Supraspinatus
• Infraspinatus
• Teres minor
• Deltoid
• Trapezius
• Biceps brachii

These were found to have greater activity during the early and late stages of the throw, with less activity during propulsion. The muscles served primarily to position the shoulder and elbow for the delivery of the pitch—what we now define as stability to load and decelerate the throw. The Group II muscles (pectoralis major, serratus anterior, subscapularis, and latissimus dorsi) had stronger activity during the propulsive phase of the pitch, accelerating the arm and baseball forward in space.³

From basic anatomy and kinesiology, we can conclude that the Group II muscles determined in the study are also trained as prime movers in the bench press exercise. This gives us a bit of validation on the transfer argument, and I would contend on the safety argument as well. Going back to the necessities of subsets of strength—would it not be prudent to expose the muscles used in throwing to varying levels of force in a controlled manner in the weight room? The obvious answer would be yes, as these exposures give us a general foundation of strength and coordination. As more advanced training is called for throughout an athlete’s time, more specific subsets of forces—namely through power—can also be trained with the bench press.

In a real-world example, the crew at Driveline Baseball uses the bench press as a diagnostic tool and regularly includes a variation in the development of their pitchers, stating:

“The prime movers in a bench press are the pectoralis major, pectoralis minor, and anterior deltoid, whereas the triceps and serratus anterior work to stabilize the movement. The antagonist muscles are the latissimus dorsi, posterior deltoids, and biceps. The rhomboids help keep the scapula retracted during the movement. From an injury-prevention standpoint, because the muscles used in the bench press help accelerate the shoulder, stabilize the scapula, and aid in upward rotation, it’s important to see if those muscles can apply force quickly since the throwing delivery is a very fast movement.”⁴

You may ask why not look at a push-up, and I would agree, especially from a general perspective, but the open chain environment of the bench press may allow you to see some coordinative leaks from head to toe, as in a throw. Despite what most people may think, the lower body is involved in a stable bench press. Contrary to what you hear in some weight rooms, the dancing feet won’t help you cheat—this can give some weight to the coordination enhancement argument.

Despite what most people may think, the lower body is involved in a stable bench press. This can give some weight to the coordination enhancement argument. Share on X

Brain Games: The Software

On the topic of software, there is also the other side of the coin in terms of “safety.” Readers of this forum may be familiar with the concepts of Dan Fichter in how training affects the brain (reflexively) and vice versa. In the weight room, Fichter seeks to train “involuntary” (reflexive) movement, which the PMRF governs.

A quick word on the PMRF.

“The ponto medullary reticular formation (PMRF) is the powerhouse of your posture, the center for postural control. The PMRF inhibits flexion of the Posture System to efficiently resist gravity. Patients who present with dysfunctional output of their PMRF have flexor dominant posture, a common postural presentation of forward head posture, anterior rolling of the shoulders, chest flexion, and hyperkyphosis.

The PMRF is in the brainstem among the pons and medulla. It is the home of 8 cranial nerves that perform vital functions and contribute to proper posture. The reticulospinal tract descends from the PMRF to the spine to inhibit flexor tone.”⁵

In Fichter’s view, manipulating how the sensory input enters via the PMRF is critical in affecting range of motion, stabilization, and pain control. He feels classic programs only train 10% of what actually occurs in the body, whereas 90% of movement is governed by these brain-deep reflexes, going on to explain a cost to classic bilateral movements as they “temporarily paralyze the brain” and dampen reflexive outputs.⁶ As far as inputs impacting reflexes are concerned, he certainly has a point in regard to training chaotic team sports such as the one he also coaches (football): In this case, the general qualities developed will influence the software of the system (reflexes, brain) along with the hardware (muscle mass, tissue strength, etc.).

Being a practical coach, Fichter also doesn’t fight the “don’t let them bench press” debate. Instead, he manipulates the input to the PMRF by using asymmetrical postures while performing the exercise. For him, simply manipulating the grip with one hand in supination and the other in pronation will stimulate the paraspinal. Of note, Fichter also trains opposite movements together in a push versus pull fashion—think a triceps extension on one side with elbow flexion on the other or a row with a press. This may prove to be a bit impractical with bench pressing directly but is worth sparking thought with other exercises.

7 Ways We Spice Up Our Bench

Here are methods we use at P.I.T., which I’ll categorize here as either “hardware” or “software” driven.

Hardware Methods

1. Manual Eccentric Overload: This is simple and a great way to incorporate teamwork into a group session. Have the spotter push down hard as the athlete lowers the bar to the chest, obviously resisting. The spotter will immediately release the pressure about 2 inches from the chest, unleashing a neurological PAP effect that will send light bars through the roof. The premise here is a manual weight releaser that is more stable and doesn’t cost a dime.

Video 1. Coaches can use this to train eccentric overload and explosive concentrics in the same set.

2. Manual Oscillatory Isometrics: The same setup as above, except the lifter holds a position off the chest ranging from 2–4 inches. The spotter will apply “pulses” of force over a specified period (5–30 seconds, depending on what you want to train) before releasing.

Video 2. The lifter can explode up with a rep, or it can be racked if a longer duration is applied.

3. Timed Max Effort: The timed max effort is more of a training modality than a tactic and can be used as a quantifiable way to develop power endurance. I know I read about this in an article, and I cannot seem to find it online, but I must give credit where it’s due to Elitefts and Louie Simmons.

The application is quite simple: Pick a weight and move it as fast as you can for a specific rep range while a coach or a more experienced training partner times the set with a stopwatch. A good rule of thumb is one rep per second or under for the initial set; if this is accomplished, add 5 pounds to the next set but give an extra second to complete it. Do not add weight if the athlete cannot complete the set within the specified time.

I usually have them perform three sets per session, but you can go up to five if you like. I’ve applied this quite successfully with male swimmers timing 10-rep sets and beginning the cycle with about 40% of their body weight. Many progressed to near body weight for 10 reps in 10 seconds. For swimmers, output over time was something they could understand and therefore compete on without trashing them.

Software Methods

4a. Offset Load: This is simple—overload one side of the bar by 10–20 pounds.

Video 3. Bench press with offset loading.

Start with symmetrical hand spacing. For a challenge later, you can use one of the following grip configurations.

4b. Mixed Grip: Again, simple. One hand is pronated, the other supinated, symmetrically spaced.

Video 4. Start by symmetrically loading the bar but feel free to offset the load or hand spacing for a deeper challenge.

4c. Offset Grip: Put one hand closer to the middle of the bar and one hand wider. 

Video 5. Begin with a pronated grip, but you can use the two configurations above in conjunction with it.

If this is your first exposure to these concepts, and you are as much of a purist as I am, then you are probably asking yourself the same thing I did: “How the hell do I program this?” My solution is to do them in warm-up sets. Practically speaking, if the brain stimulation capabilities of these simple tweaks are true, then why not use them when we are trying to prime the body for performance? If you have three warm-up sets, you have three places to start with the above methods. 

Practically speaking, if the brain stimulation capabilities of these simple bench press tweaks are true, then why not use them in warm-ups when we are trying to prime the body for performance? Share on X

5. Chaotic Loading: If you don’t have the tools (earthquake bar) mentioned in the references above, you can use a stronger PVC pipe cut to a 7-foot length to match barbell dimensions with the suspended load of kettlebells or plates. Bungee cords may also work if you don’t have bands. Use this for lighter sets for athletes with a decent grasp of technique and a decent strength level (BW for 10 reps) before employing.

6. Isometric+: A play on the badger protocol here.⁷ Hold the bottom of the bench press position about 2 inches off the chest for a specified time, touch, and then perform reps. As alluded to above, I have found the combination of extended holds followed by reps to be a superior method for learning technique.

Video 6. In this case, we hold for 10 seconds and follow with a minimum of eight reps and as high as 20. Just keep in mind that the higher the reps, the fewer sets they will need.  

7. Two-Minute Drill: Hold the bottom and top for 10 seconds and do it for two minutes straight. This is an advanced method, but I like to use it for:

1. A challenge.
2. Intermediate trainees who need to learn to kick their technique up a notch.

I prefer using a chaotic setup via the earthquake bar and suspended plates here.

Video 7. The task is simple: hold the bottom for 10 seconds, then quickly press to the top and hold for another 10 seconds. Alternate this sequence for six total reps. At 20 seconds per rep, that equals two minutes.

Training Both the Hardware and Software

Work capacity, tissue strength (tolerance), skill, and resilience are the orders of the day, to some degree. If coaches can train many of these qualities at once, we will certainly try. This chaotic loading style can offer coaches a unique tool to replicate the demands of most team sports and allow for heightened stress on the stabilizers and proprioceptors for a pre/re-habilitative context.⁸ Studies cited and examined by Dr. Mann revealed several aspects of stable versus (various conditions of) unstable loading.

Although EMG measurements of the prime movers were not significantly different between both regimens, the EMG activity for the stabilizer muscles was far greater in the unstable condition (Lawrence, 2018, p. 1351). In another study (Ostrowski, 2017, p. 1349) that used untrained or recreationally trained individuals, there was no difference between the prime movers for the conditions. Mann explained, “this indicates that you can get the same prime mover activity with much lower loads in the unstable regime, indicating the same muscular stimulus without as much joint strain. This is crucial for the older or restricted lifter whose previous injuries and restrictions preclude them from training heavy any longer. For the younger lifter, this may allow them a prophylaxis to injurious situations from long term heavy lifting.”⁸

Although these muscles can be trained with other regimes, most notably high-impact plyometrics, trainees can enjoy a decrease in overall training stress by incorporating the unstable regimen that spares the CNS fatigue and joint damage from higher stress means. This would inherently save the heightened arousal for when it’s needed—the contest!

It is hard to argue with Mann’s contention that the stabilizer muscles are important in decelerating, stopping, and reaccelerating the body, external load, or limb in the arena of competition for athletes. Witness any contact sport, and you see this in live action.

These EMG revelations should also appease the “injury prevention” crowd, as these typically neglected stabilizers can now be trained during a lift typically scoffed at by this same camp. Most notably, the middle trapezius and bicep brachii activity was significantly different in unstable conditions. The increase in EMG activity of these muscles shows how they are important stabilizers for the shoulder, specifically in regard to protecting against SLAP tears.

Anatomically speaking, the long head of the biceps crosses the shoulder and the scapulothoracic joints, inserting where the slap tear occurs (the supraglenoid tubercle). Given that the stable bench press typically “pins down” the mid traps and dampens the biceps activity, the use of unstable loads can “wake up” these dormant muscles and improve the resiliency of our hardware.

Given that the stable bench press typically ‘pins down’ the mid traps and dampens the biceps activity, the use of unstable loads can ‘wake up’ these dormant muscles and improve their resiliency. Share on X

Couple this with a decreased demand in necessary load, “…the condition with the highest bar path variability required 67% of the bench press 1RM to maintain the same EMG prime mover and stabilizer activity” creates a resiliency stew so the body can more completely heal and recover between training bouts.⁸

I contend that the unstable loads develop a larger bandwidth of motor learning. We have all read or heard about variation improving learning, and in the Lawrence study, the barbell path was tracked under four different conditions. “…in the stable load, there was very little variation in the bar path (starting, touching, or ending position for the bench press). In the earthquake bar and thick bands, there was a significant alteration in the bar path between repetitions in terms of touch point, yet the pressing was fairly straight on each repetition. In the earthquake bar with plates with thinner bands, the bar path starts off smooth and starts to have some greater displacement from the path with each subsequent repetition. In the earthquake bar plus thin bands and kettlebells… no two repetitions went in the same path; the path chart resembles chicken scratch. There was a marked instability in this condition. In the study the numerical expression for the congruence of the repetitions shows not just the anterior posterior and superior inferior (bar movement toward the face and hips as well as vertical difference), but a medial lateral movement as well (from side to side). The fourth conditioning showed more than five times the variability in the repetitions as the stable load.”⁸

Given the above regarding the medial and lateral movement of the bench press during unstable loading conditions, I would contend heightened brain activity, a la the reflexive actions of the paraspinals as suggested by Fichter, exists as well. The “chaos” created by the unstable loading creates a repeated instantaneous panic response that forces the postural reflexive muscles to fire. Combine this with offset grip, mixed grip, or “quick style” reps (as seen in Fichter’s programs), and you have even more variations that are joint-friendly, brain-friendly, and highly challenging.

Mel Siff, the co-author of Supertraining, coined a term for this style of chaotic loading—“imperfection training”—as a counter to most common approaches to “injury prevention.” To paraphrase Siff⁹: The current emphasis on preventing injury is the avoidance of the demonized exercise as well as seemingly excessive amounts of volume and intensity. This approach is limited because it neglects to develop the ability to cope with suboptimal training and competitive situations. (P.S. This is why I think most scientific studies on training are flawed—the environments are too sterile.)

Sports that include many open skills and multiple qualities (that of a chaotic nature) must have a training component where athletes learn to cope with the unexpected. Share on X

Sports that include many open skills and multiple qualities (that of a chaotic nature) must have a training component where athletes learn to cope with the unexpected. In combat sports, motor racing, or any sport with an extreme risk to bodily health, athletes must develop the ability to deal with these potentially dire consequences. The ability to anticipate the threatening situation, rapidly react to the unexpected, and know what action to take to avoid injury should be adopted as a standard extensively in the repertoire of all athletic development. The idea or occurrence of truly perfect movement or “balanced” training loads is rare. Having the ability to manage and utilize “agile” training modes may be a subconscious but logical approach in this endeavor.⁹

As any coach in the weight room knows, our dual aim is to prepare our athletes for the demands of practice and play while Doing No Harm. We achieve this by coaching technique, managing volume, and developing a wide bandwidth of movement capabilities. Some coaches may write these off as the snake oil of the functional trainer types, but I’ll later explain and demonstrate how to implement these concepts without sacrificing the meat and potatoes of strength and power that you are trying to build.

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

References

1. Miller D., “Benchmark Lifts to Throw 50 Feet (High School Shot Put),” Throws University, 12/14/20.

2. Marques MC, van den Tillaar R, Vescovi J, and Gonzalez-Badillo J.J. “Relationship Between Throwing Velocity, Muscle Power, and Bar Velocity During Bench Press in Elite Handball Players.” International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance. 2008;2(4):414–422.

3. Gowan ID, Jobe FW, Tibone JE, Perry J, and Moynes DR. “A comparative electromyographic analysis of the shoulder during pitching. Professional versus amateur pitchers.” American Journal of Sports Medicine. 1987;15(6):586–590.

4. Rogers K., “Bench Press: A Deep Dive with Programming Considerations,” drivelinebaseball.com, 11/15/18. https://www.drivelinebaseball.com/2018/11/bench-press-deep-dive-programming-considerations/

5.Burns K. “Neurology of the Posture System.” American Posture Institute. 1/21/17. https://freetraining.americanpostureinstitute.com/neurology-of-the-posture-system-2/

6. Brain Games: Fichter Webinar. Upper Body Training for Athlete Development

7. Jovanovic M., “The Badger Protocol: Grease the Groove with IsoSandwich,” Complementarytraining.net, 7/13/21. https://complementarytraining.net/the-badger-protocol-grease-the-groove-with-isosandwich/

8. Mann B., “Unstable Load Training for the Bench Press,” Elite FTS, 3/7/20. https://www.elitefts.com/education/unstable-load-training-for-the-bench-press/

9. Verkoshansky YV and Siff MC. Supertraining. 5th edition, 2000.

Performance testing is commonplace in most strength and conditioning programs. By implementing the correct tests, you can get a snapshot of an athlete’s strengths and weaknesses while also quickly comparing that athlete to their peers. Nearly every physical quality can be tested, with options available for any budget. Among the cheapest, low-tech assessments are jump tests—specifically, horizontal-based variations like the broad jump. These are excellent assessments of lower body power, and athletes also love seeing how far they can jump compared to their peers.

For an S&C coach, the attractiveness of these tests is that all you need to do is lay down a tape measure, give some simple instructions, and start collecting data. Coaches now have a metric (jump distance in either feet or meters) to rank athletes…but is this the best use of this assessment?

A common trend in performance testing is to calculate an athlete’s “relative” strength or power. This is because athletes of different body sizes—despite being similar in other respects, such as gender, age, or absolute scores—may have wildly different relative scores. Moreover, having a superior strength- or power-to-weight ratio is more advantageous for an athlete than simply having higher absolute scores, especially in sports where weight categories are used (e.g., wrestling). This is why coaches care more about squatting 2x bodyweight than x amount of weight, as it is a more useful way of seeing how strong an athlete really is.

While many strength and power metrics are viewed under this lens, it is apparent that traditional jump testing has not been given this level of consideration.

Why Traditional Jump Testing Doesn’t Tell the Whole Story

There is a glaring weakness to using an athlete’s jump distance at face value. Take, for example, the hypothetical data set below.

Based on this limited information, if I asked you to determine which athlete is more powerful, or at the very least who is the better jumper, most coaches would automatically assume Athlete A. It makes sense, as the first athlete jumped nearly half a foot further. It is common for jump scores to be used this way (including vertical jumps) in practice; athletes who get a higher absolute score are slated as the better jumpers and more powerful athletes.

But how would this assumption change if we added a little more context?

As we can see, by simply taking the athlete’s height into consideration, we can see a different story emerge. We can now see Athlete B slightly edges out Athlete A when looking at the jump-to-height ratio. This is because we can now assess the athlete’s relative jumping ability, not just their absolute jumping ability. By using a jump-to-height ratio, coaches can compare athletes of different ages, heights, genders, and playing levels without having to buy any high-tech or expensive equipment. Just stick a tape measure on the wall and take the athlete’s standing height.

By using a jump-to-height ratio, coaches can compare athletes of different ages, heights, genders, and playing levels without having to buy any high-tech or expensive equipment, says @CoachGies. Share on X

I know what you’re thinking: “But coach, this is just a theoretical example. Surely this doesn’t mean much with real athletes!” Au contraire.

To provide some real-life context with elite-level athletes, I pulled the broad jump data from the 2022 NFL Combine for the Wide Receivers group (Table 3). When I applied the jump-to-height ratio and then ranked athletes on both their broad jump and ratio scores, something interesting started to emerge. Some athletes who were in the top third of broad jump scores suddenly dropped down the ranks, and athletes with some of the worst scores moved up. For example:

• Athlete 3 was 12th in the broad jump when looking at raw scores but is third overall when looking at his jump-to-height ratio.
• Athlete 11 was 28th in the broad (out of 33) but then jumped up to 11th with jump-to-height ratio.
• Athlete 26 dropped all the way down from 12th overall to 26th.

It also highlights just how freaky Athlete 1 is in terms of broad jump performance. This athlete was the shortest overall but had the second farthest broad jump corresponding to the top jump-to-height ratio. He is jumping 2x his standing height! The jump-to-height ratio helps put into perspective just how exceptional this athlete really is in terms of horizontal power production compared to other athletes.

I also looked at the correlation between broad jump distance, jump-to-height ratio, and the 40-yard times for the same group. When looking at broad jump distance and 40-yard times, there was a low to moderate negative correlation (r= -0.41). Meaning, as broad jump distances increased, 40 times decreased. But when looking at jump-to-height ratio, there was an even stronger negative correlation of r= – 0.51. Granted, it’s not a super strong correlation, and I am no statistician, but it does appear that the jump-to-height ratio is a little more informative than broad jump distance on its own—at the very least, it is something to consider when evaluating jump performance.

It does appear that the jump-to-height ratio is a little more informative than broad jump distance on its own… It’s something to consider when evaluating jump performance, says @CoachGies. Share on X

By adding this one quick change, coaches can level up their performance assessments.

Introducing the Jump-to-Height Ratio

Hopefully, it is apparent that simply using raw jump data is an incomplete method for comparing athletes. Typical standing broad jump normative data only gives us a grading system based on raw values.

For example, consider data looking at normative reference values for the broad jump in adolescents (Table 4). This large data set gives us a good idea of what different-aged athletes can perform for this test; however, as height is not considered, we are in the dark on whether the athletes in the higher percentiles are there because they are more powerful or simply because they are taller than their peers.

All things being equal, taller athletes should be able to jump farther than shorter athletes. This is for a few reasons:

• Taller athletes have longer limbs (i.e., longer levers), which increases the biomechanical advantage and torque produced around the joints, which can increase the amount of force produced during jumps.
• Taller athletes have longer legs, meaning they can reach further forward before landing.
• Some taller athletes may have more muscle mass and, thus, more force potential.

However, there are some disadvantages, like taller athletes being heavier, which could negatively affect their jump performance. The point is that simply looking at jump distance doesn’t provide enough nuance to make informed decisions on how good of a jumper an athlete is. Utilizing the jump-to-height ratio would clear up this confusion and provide more information when ranking athlete abilities.

Simply looking at jump distance doesn’t provide enough nuance to make informed decisions on how good of a jumper an athlete is. Utilizing the jump-to-height ratio would clear up this confusion. Share on X

While absolute data can prove useful, it is difficult to use this data in isolation when assessing athletes who may have a foot of difference in standing height, which is common for those who coach 12- to 18-year-old athletes. The simple answer is that you can’t, but with a few quick changes, you can start applying the data in a useful context.

We use the jump-to-height ratio with three different styles of jump:

1. The standing broad jump.
2. The single leg hop and stick.
3. The lateral bound.

For the first two, you will need the athlete’s standing height, but for the lateral bound, you will need the athlete’s standing split.

Protocols:

Standing Height: Ensure you measure the athlete with their shoes off, from the base of the foot to the top of the head.

Standing Split (Lateral Bound Only): Have the athlete stand with their feet as far apart as possible and measure from the inside edge of one foot to the inside edge of the other foot. Some key points in standardizing the standing split:

1. Hands must be on hips.
2. Torso must be completely vertical.
3. Feet must remain flat.
4. Knees must remain straight.
5. Toes must be pointing forward.

Video 1. Standing Broad Jump: Have the athlete stand behind a marked line and jump as far forward as possible. Measure the back of the athlete’s heel. If the athlete falls or steps back, the rep does not count; if the athlete falls or steps forward, measure where their heel initially touched the ground.

Video 2. Single Leg Hop and Stick: Have the athlete stand behind a marked line on one foot and jump as far forward as possible, landing on the same foot. Measure the back of the athlete’s heel. The athlete must stick the landing. If the athlete bobs around to regain balance or steps down with the other foot, do not count the rep. Make sure to repeat with both sides.

Video 3. Lateral Bound: Have the athlete stand behind a marked line with the inside edge of their foot against the line and jump as far sideways as possible, landing on the opposite foot. Measure the inside edge of the foot. The athlete must stick the landing. If the athlete bobs around to regain balance or steps down with the other foot, do not count the rep. Make sure to repeat with both sides.

Have them attempt each jump 2–3 times to find the athlete’s best score. You can now divide the jump distance by either the athlete’s standing height or standing split.

Applying the Jump-to-Height Ratio

Now that you have your athletes’ jump-to-height ratios, you can start applying that data to begin understanding your athletes’ jump abilities on a deeper level. You can rank groups of athletes (age groups, sports teams, positions, etc.)

The jump-to-height ratio gives coaches a clearer picture of which athletes are better jumpers without getting distracted by the shiny object of an athlete jumping the farthest overall. Share on X

Rehabilitation Uses

Jump-to-height ratio can be an impactful metric when considering lower body rehabilitation exit criteria and return to play. An interesting study from Ohji et al. (2021), which looked at single leg hop distances normalized to height and return to sport status post ACL reconstruction, found that a distance <70% of standing height on the operated leg was negatively associated with return to sport status. The authors concluded that improving single leg hop score to >70% of height may be important in supporting return to sport post-ACL surgery.

This shows the potential of jump-to-height ratios in providing clear exit criteria and training goals for athletes recovering from injury and potentially identifying risk factors for future injury. It should be mentioned that this is an understudied area, so you should take caution in over-interpreting this data. However, having historical jump-to-height ratios for athletes can be helpful if they suffer a lower body injury, as you then have clear benchmarks to work toward during the rehab process to ensure a safe return to sport.

Performance Uses

Though this is not a commonly used metric—meaning there is little in the way of normative data—we have started building out scoring standards that we hope will be improved as more coaches adopt the jump-to-height ratio. The beauty is that the more data you collect with your athletes, the more accurately you can produce scoring standards that apply to your specific situations (age groups, sports, genders, playing levels, positions, etc.). It can then help inform training interventions based on the ratios that best fit those athletes.

Closing Thoughts

S&C coaches have used relative metrics to gain deep insights into an athlete’s athletic potential; however, horizontal-based jumps have not been given this same level of consideration. By utilizing a simple jump-to-height ratio, coaches can quickly and accurately compare jump data between athletes of different heights, sports, or stages of rehab. Rather than relying solely on the total distance jumped, I encourage you to dig a little deeper to get the most out of your testing data.

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

References

1. Saint-Maurice PF, Laurson KR, Kaj M, and Csányi T. “Establishing normative reference values for standing broad jump among Hungarian youth.” Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport. 2015;86(sup1):S37–S44.

2. Ohji S, Aizawa J, Hirohata K, et al. “Single-leg hop distance normalized to body height is associated with the return to sports after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.” The Journal of Experimental Orthopaedics. 2021;8(1):26.

3. NFL Combine Data accessed: https://www.draftcountdown.com/combine/2022-nfl-combine-results/

Medicine balls provide a unique opportunity, enabling athletes to accelerate until the very finish of the movement—something traditional resistance training cannot achieve. Whether for increasing outputs in rotational, linear, or lateral movements, most of us throw medicine balls with our athletes to become more explosive, leading to higher movement velocities. Yet I often see implementations of this training method without the detailed look it deserves.

Okay, give me 3×10 rotational throws is a common prescription found all the way up to the highest realms of athletic training. But what kind of rotational throw is the coach referring to? Do they always have just this one specific throw in mind that they always use? When the athlete seems to be getting stronger, do they then just give them a heavier med ball to throw? I don’t know—but I do know that we are still far away in most sports in terms of the best use of this amazing training tool.

Med ball throws can be used as a bridge between the weight room and our sport-specific work, enabling us to work the ability to transfer momentum through kinetic chains in three dimensions. Share on X

In my experience, medicine ball throws can be used as a bridge between the weight room and our sport-specific work, enabling us to work the ability to transfer momentum through kinetic chains in three dimensions. I have often asked myself if there are any untouched areas in terms of progressing medicine ball throws and their intensities, apart from only increasing the weight. Doing only this might lead to submaximal results (adaptations to stimulate neural drive and motor unit recruitment), as movement velocities are slowed down, as well as increase injury risks in susceptible tissues (think of rotator cuff tendons and the like) and possibly interfere with optimal sequencing and movement rhythm.

Unsurprisingly, the ultimate goal of this article is to lay out a straightforward way to progress the intensity of throwing a medicine ball by using what I call “momentum-based intensity techniques” (MBITs) to achieve higher athletic abilities for those we train.

Momentum and Impact

Momentum and impact are two of the most important terms in sport science, stemming from Newton’s Second Law (specifically the Impulse-Momentum Theorem), which basically states that:

The change in momentum of an object equals the impulse applied to it

.

Momentum is the product of an object’s mass and velocity, whereas impulse is the product of the net force acting on an object and its duration. This means that if we want to throw a medicine ball faster, we need a larger impulse acting on it. This can be achieved either by:

1. Increasing the duration that we act on the ball (see graph below: red impulse)
2. Increasing the net force (while keeping the duration the same: grey impulse).

The first is possible when using a larger range of motion, the second by being able to produce a higher force faster (rate of force development and maximal strength). Although theoretically correct, the assumptions made must be taken with a grain of salt in terms of the reality of what we see happening.

In reality, if an athlete increases mean force, the duration of their actions on the ball will be shorter, as acceleration is faster. Thus, the duration will only be the same when the mean force increases if the ROM of the movement is increased in the same fashion. Nevertheless, I think the graph and described theory help us understand the fundamental relation.

But this is only one part of the story. Why? Because in sports, we commonly need to act upon an object—whether it is our body or an implement—that is moving in a countermovement action.

Think of a player who needs to make a complete 180-degree change of direction. Their net impulse needs to be comparatively larger than the one when they start from a standstill, as they need to overcome the momentum their body has built up before executing the COD task. The same must be said about throwing a medicine ball, with or without performing a countermovement, which is used to stretch the tissues that are asked to produce and transmit the necessary impulse on the implement and initiate the concentric part of the movement at a much higher ground-reaction force.

Momentum doesn’t just go ‘anywhere,’ but in a specific direction—and via our impulse, we want to redirect it to achieve the goal of our movement task. Share on X

We must remember that momentum is a vector quantity, where mass is a scalar and velocity is a vector. This basically means it is a quantity that has a direction and magnitude. Therefore, we should always remember that momentum does not just go “anywhere,” but in a specific direction—and via our impulse, we want to redirect it to achieve the goal of our movement task.

To successfully turn their momentum around, the athlete must have sufficient technical and physiological qualities. If the “negative” momentum surpasses the athlete’s ability to redirect it—perhaps because the weight of the ball is too high in symbioses with the produced acceleration via the countermovement—then the ball’s exit velocity will drop. This is despite the coach initially thinking that by implementing a countermovement, the exit velocity should be higher due to the build-up of elastic energy in connective (endomysium, perimysium, and epimysium, as well as tendons and ligaments) and muscular tissues (titin) in addition to the stretch reflexes. If our only strategy to counter such a situation would be to lower the weight of the ball, we might lose out on what we are trying to achieve: building athletes capable of dealing with increasing amounts of momentum as they develop athletic abilities.

Stemming from the argument above, the foremost question should be: how can we logically increase momentum—of the whole body and the ball—by using variations of a specific throw? Based on this question, I propose a progression regarding training for output that not only addresses increasing the weight of the ball but also the fact that a better skilled and developed player can perform tasks that are more challenging in terms of the height of momentum they face.

MBITs: Techniques to Increase Intensity by Using Momentum

There are many ways to ask more from the athlete than simply increasing the weight of a medicine ball. I would even argue that increasing medicine ball weight as the only means to increase intensity is not optimal when the goal is to increase movement velocity via neural and structural adaptations—particularly since the weight of the implement an athlete deals with in sports like tennis and javelin remain the same, while advanced players (in comparison to those of lower levels) increase their exit velocities by efficiently transferring built-up, whole-body momentum into their implements.

Increasing medicine ball weight as the ONLY means to increase intensity is not optimal when the goal is to increase movement velocity via neural and structural adaptations. Share on X

This also holds for athletes in sports not dealing with implements but just their bodies. Elite athletes have unique abilities in terms of using their momentum to create acceleration and output by near-perfect segmentation and sequencing of their body parts. Imagine a highly capable soccer player using two to three steps to accelerate their whole body, effectively blocking forward momentum via their plant leg to kick the ball with a very high velocity. To do this, they must learn how to manage momentum optimally.

Video 1. A progression of rotational throws from a stationary, concentric-only throw to a “shock” and run-up variations.

Based on this reasoning, a much better way to increase intensity when training for movement velocity is to use methods to build momentum the athlete will need to deal with, as this will differentiate the great from not-so-great athletes: the ability to produce and deal with large momentums via impulse generation. Think of an athlete running to a COD task being able to create a higher impulse than their opponent, leading them to be faster out of that turn. Or a javelin thrower being able to use a faster run-up, which has been shown to be one of the most important KPIs for throwing distance.

To exemplify my method of increasing intensity, the graph below shows the MBITs that I use to increase rotational movement velocities. They can be used in nearly every throw variation, such as overhead and scoop throws, as well as chest pass tosses.

The easiest throw is concentric-only—the athlete does not need to deal with any negative momentum; they only need to produce an impulse on the implement. This throw is great for beginners, as they can work on the basics of technical aspects such as hip-shoulder segmentation and the sequencing of body parts. I believe hip-shoulder separation, in particular, is something many of us try to work on intensively with most of our athletes if they play a rotational or overhead sport. The fewer components novice athletes have to deal with, the more they can concentrate on specific elements of the technique they want to work on. This is not to say that learning a movement as a whole is not useful, but depending on the context, breaking down complex movements into different parts can be of great help.

A first progression to increase momentum from the concentric-only throw would be letting the athlete use a countermovement. A countermovement while standing can be further differentiated if the athlete is allowed to move from the ground up while using their feet or if they are instructed to keep their feet relatively stable. This removes the possibility of producing more significant momentum by engaging larger ranges of motion around the ankle, knee, and hip joint via rotation of the tibia and the femur.

Adding in a pre-step is the next logical progression when using a rotational throw. The athlete can effectively load their back leg, using it to produce a much higher momentum of the whole body, which needs to be blocked by the front leg and efficiently transferred up the kinetic chain to the ball.

In this progression, what Verkoshansky termed the “Shock Method” will lead us to another increase in intensity if the athlete moves with the highest possible intent (a prerequisite of the whole progression). Reversing the momentum of a ball that is thrown to them can—depending on how fast the ball is passed—immensely intensify the negative momentum the athlete needs to redirect. The “shock” in this method comes as the body collides with an external object, leading to a sharp increase in muscle tension—which can increase impulse generation (if the momentum is not too high for the athlete to handle). You can combine this MBIT with a number of the other MBITs, such as the countermovement, a pre-step, or even a run-up.

What you must keep in mind when combining MBITs, though, is the technical level the athlete displays: the more “noise” due to variables affecting the athlete (running up, catching the ball, etc.), the less likely they will produce the highest possible outputs if their technique is not advanced enough. (This is somewhat comparable to strength outputs on unstable surfaces in traditional resistance training exercises like squats and deadlifts.)

The last step (at least relative to this example) is using a run-up into a rotational throw. This increases the momentum of the whole body a great deal. Think of a pre-step that increases the velocity of the entire body to around 3 m/s and a run-up leading to twice the velocity. This would mean a difference in whole-body momentum of 240 kg x m/s when the athlete weighs approximately 80 kilos. The athlete would need a good blocking action of their front leg, bracing it hard to conserve the momentum and allowing it to travel through the kinetic chain, finally reaching the implement. If the blocking leg cannot stay stiff upon contact, the momentum will partly vanish, and exit velocity will drop.

Building on this, the run-up leads to an even stronger collision that the athlete needs to go through, and it requires producing a large impulse on the block leg to stay stiff, while also having great movement skills and technique. Without the latter, forces arising from the collision vanish and cannot be used to increase the exit velocity of the target movement. As mentioned earlier, momentum is a vector quantity—thus, the management of masses and their direction need to be fine-tuned. An effective block is great, but if the athlete cannot funnel masses into the desired direction, forces dissipate, leading to suboptimal exit velocities.

We must be very aware of the kinds of momentum our athletes have to deal with. Share on X

We must be very aware of the kinds of momentum our athletes have to deal with. Some sports (and movements within sports) don’t require a countermovement, such as starting from blocks in sprinting. In these cases, it could be better to use a different progression model than the one proposed due to higher similarity with the target movement, muscle actions, and timing. Thus, a progression model should always be specific to the sport, the movement, and the individual athlete.

Specificity of Throwing Variation and Intensity Techniques

The chosen throwing variation should reflect the needs of an athlete or group of athletes. However, not only do the throwing variations (e.g., rotational, scoop, overhead, chest pass, etc.) need to be selected but also the MBIT the coach implements.

Think of the difference between building up the momentum of the whole body, which is possibly already heading in the right direction, and reversing a negative momentum built up by the ball via a countermovement or having to catch the ball. While the need to brace your front leg might be specific to some sporting movements, such as a tennis forehand into which the athlete can accelerate, other movements fit better with using the shock method to increase the intensity. As I work with tennis players, this could be the moment a tennis player is on the run and merely able to reach the ball, hitting it while in the air. In this instance, they need to keep their hip stable, serving as a post (I often coin it “anchor”) for the upper body to rotate around.

Thus, the coach should be familiar with what the athlete needs to work on and how to achieve that in training while not using progressions that are too “heavy to handle” in terms of momentum.

When Is the Athlete Ready for a More Intensive Progression?

A coach has multiple options to use to establish how good an athlete is in dealing with momentum. Data should be your friend here—if you have an effective sensor (e.g., the Output or, depending on the throw, the Vmaxpro), you can measure exit velocity and acceleration of your throw (Output) or movement velocity (Vmaxpro). Another option would be to use a radar gun or measure the distance the athlete can throw in each variant. (Bear in mind that measuring distance is quirkier as more variables than just exit velocity, such as release angle, determine the outcome in the case.)

I use the Vmaxpro to determine movement velocities while performing medicine ball throws, even though it is not originally intended for such use. Share on X

I use the Vmaxpro to determine movement velocities while performing medicine ball throws, even though it is not originally intended for such use. Simply attach the sensor to the wrist of the athlete and look for an exercise similar to that of the throwing variation you use.

For example, I have measured vertical unilateral scoop tosses by setting the exercise in the App to “Curl Scott.” This worked well for me and gave me interesting insights. Moving from a concentric-only to a countermovement and, finally, to a shock version of the throw, the sensor showed that the shock-version led to around 20% higher eccentric peak and average velocities compared to the countermovement throw. This is a strong increase in what an athlete’s kinetic chain on the back of their body—most importantly, the hamstrings—must deal with in terms of momentum and being able to redirect it efficiently.

Video 2. Scoop throws.

Let an athlete run through a progression and see when they begin failing to use the momentum they build up or that the ball has. Let’s say you use the cheapest way of measuring—throwing distance—and your goal is to increase output via neural adaptations in their backhand motion since they are a tennis player, and you want to add velocity to their stroke. You let them throw through the following progression, and these are the results:

The results would indicate they can deal with a pre-step, but they are not able to convert the momentum built up by running into the throw. The problem might be technical or physiological, which is up to the coach to determine via their coach’s eye and other data, such as raw strength levels and RFD measurements. Carl Valle has written about that in several articles on medicine ball training for SimpliFaster: Output is one thing, but how it was produced is another.

The decision on how to help the athlete able to bear a run-up is, again, up to the coach. Perhaps they might use a pre-step as a more volume-intensive approach, while slowly building in run-ups to prepare the athlete to deal with higher-momentum intensities. Whatever the approach, constantly measuring output via distance or movement velocities holds the athlete accountable, shows progress, and ensures they use the right way of implementation.

Constantly measuring output via distance or movement velocities holds the athlete accountable, shows progress, and ensures they use the right way of implementation. Share on X

MBITs are basically comparable to the premises of Verkoshansky’s research on how to choose the right box height for drop jumps, the falling height of weights (in a machine that was built for an exercise like an MB chest pass), and an over-challenging situation when momentum becomes too high to handle for the athlete, leading to sub-maximal outputs. While slight “over-challenges” might be needed in terms of stimulating adaptations, constantly hammering an athlete with over-challenging situations might deteriorate performance while at the same time risking injury.

As with every other training modality, as trainers, we walk the fine line between enhancing performance and negatively affecting our athletes in the near term and long run. In simple language: It wouldn’t be wise to only program supramaximal-eccentric heavy back squats with an athlete struggling to even perform a technically sound bodyweight squat.

Building Your Own Progression Using MBITs

As humans, we can’t escape what Newton described in his laws, but we can help our athletes by enabling them to overcome, redirect, and manipulate the momentum they face in their sports and daily lives. This is where MBITs in medicine ball training can serve a great purpose as the base of sound progression models to enhance adaptations made from this amazing training tool.

By using momentum as a starting point for building your own model when chasing higher athletic ability, you can effectively intensify specific throwing variants without resorting to only using heavier balls. If this article contributes to helping you build better athletes, I will be more than happy.

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 the saying goes, the only constant is change itself. Change merely for the sake of change is foolish; innovation as the result of new information and acquired experience, on the other hand, is the foundation of progress in any field. This requires both curiosity and humility. Having a genuinely inquisitive mind and a steadfast desire to get it right—as opposed to being right—have largely served me well.

Looking back and reflecting, I now find brutish and downright cringeworthy much of what I valued when I first began my coaching journey. The process is always incomplete, and God willing, I will be saying this same exact thing 15 years from now in reference to current training practices. Throughout this entire process, efficiency has been the one steady, driving influence. Getting more from less has led me to omit more than add: distilling training down to what is necessary and nothing more has led to broad shifts in my views on the fundamentals of athleticism and how they specifically relate to soccer.

Distilling training down to what is necessary and nothing more has led to broad shifts in my views on the fundamentals of athleticism and how they specifically relate to soccer, says @houndsspeed. Share on X

Quite simply, soccer players must play soccer to get better at playing soccer. Consequently, this has forced me to adopt a supplemental approach to performance work in developing attributes that soccer players would otherwise not acquire through play alone to ensure athletic balance and, ultimately, long-term sustainability. This requires constantly confronting ability as opposed to inability and progressing or regressing accordingly.

As a result, I am constantly reminding myself that my athletes’ immediate needs care not about my predetermined plans for them. For instance, well-planned speed work after an impromptu technical training session earlier in the day often means quickly pivoting to a less-stressful alternative, such as power or strength. Higher performance then comes as the natural by-product of aggressively pursuing health. As a result, these are how my thoughts on speed, power, and strength have evolved over time, with changes in my beliefs specifically on agility and conditioning likely warranting an entire article of their own.

Speed

Soccer is primarily an acceleration-based sport—only very infrequently do soccer athletes have the opportunity to truly demonstrate top-end speed within the natural confines of a game or training. In my coaching infancy, I leaned heavily on nothing but acceleration development as a result: starts from different angles, resisted accelerations with mixed loads, and med balls were my favorite tools.

This was effective…but only to a point.

Athletes would quickly improve and just as quickly stagnate. Over time, building a more holistic approach to speed by including traditional maximum velocity work with timed flys, wickets, and floating sprints has contributed to more consistent, continued speed development. In fact, despite being counterintuitive, more maximum velocity and less acceleration has shown to be most effective at improving speed with the soccer athletes I have worked with.

I believe this is in large part due to an athlete’s need for a constant, subtle variance to sustain improvement regardless of desired adaptation. Soccer athletes accelerate frequently in training and in games, and staying true to the narrative of supplemental skill development, max velocity work provides the necessary outlet to liberate growth, as it is similar enough but not completely congruent.

Top-end speed teaches soccer players how to sustain momentum and rhythm. Doing so necessitates a more efficient acceleration to achieve max velocity. Also, it is important to note that what initially allowed me to stumble upon this revelation was, in fact, the pursuit of greater health. Attempting to push back at clichéd Nordics for injury prevention, I began doing fly-in wickets with an emphasis on coordination under velocity from about 30 to 60 yards to inoculate hamstrings under more realistic conditions. Without fail, after two- to three-week mesocycles of top-end speed emphasis, acceleration times would improve. As it stands, for every acceleration-based session, I also do 2–3 max velocity sessions for the soccer athletes I train.

Power

As it relates to rate of force development, my initial training inclinations mirrored that of a traditional strength and conditioning template designed for a skill-position football athlete. To be clear, this was wildly successful at developing performance for soccer athletes both youth and pro alike, because it filled a glaring strength and power hole that existed in the athletic repertoire of most soccer players.

For individuals who were inherently agile and fit because of the specific demands of the game, integrating basic progressive overload with a barbell via back squats, front squats, deadlifts, and cleans went a very long way. Analogous to speed, however, this was only effective to a point. Time and experience then gradually led me to question the overly vertical nature of those previously mentioned movements, as well as the singular response nature of well-known power tests such as the vertical jump.

I began to value efforts that demonstrated an athlete’s ability to sustain HORIZONTAL movement as a better barometer of relevant athleticism for soccer, says @houndsspeed. Share on X

Soccer is primarily horizontal—and certainly more continuous than football—so I began to value efforts that demonstrated an athlete’s ability to sustain horizontal movement, such as consecutive broad jumps, alternating bounds, and even the flying sprints as a better barometer of the relevant athleticism for soccer. Currently, to better develop horizontal displacement, I gravitate to sleds, hills, bleachers, and plyos for distance more than their “up and down” power cousins.

Strength

Perhaps my biggest philosophical change has come regarding my view on strength as it relates to soccer. As stated above in reference to power, my initial training templates looked very similar to something that would be effective for a skill-position football athlete, which in turn meant a disproportionate amount of absolute strength development. Again, at first great, but lacking the nuance necessary for better sustainability in soccer. In the beginning, there were two important distinctions between soccer and football that I failed to account for:

1. First and foremost, soccer is continuous, and football is start-stop. This creates the biggest difference between soccer and football: soccer is a contact sport, and football is a collision sport. In fact, this puts football in a league of its own, even when compared with other very physical sports such as rugby and hockey.

The continuous, flowing nature of soccer mitigates forces upon impact with other players. The start-stop nature of football lends itself to far more violent collisions. Quite simply, the actual mass of a football player is more valuable than that of a soccer player. If velocity is then considered, we arrive at momentum—which is defined as mass multiplied by velocity (p=mv). Momentum matters in all sports because it takes into account both size and speed, but in my estimation, it is more important for a football athlete because of the direct role added mass plays in allowing an athlete to both deliver and handle violent collisions more effectively.

2. The second fairly obvious distinction I failed to factor in was the innate fitness differences directly reflected in the total duration of play and the distances traveled, and as a result, the slightly muted intensities for a field player in soccer when contrasted with a football player. Field players in soccer play a continuous 90 minutes that requires both offensive and defensive responsibilities.

I recognize that in youth football many players do play offense, defense, and special teams, but for the most part, as a football athlete rises in competition level, they likely specialize in either offense or defense. Added mass to a soccer athlete can become a burden throughout the entirety of a game, so the trick is building a bigger engine without changing the mass of the chassis for a soccer athlete.

Over time, the natural correction of the two initial oversights regarding the mass of an athlete and the intensity-duration relationship of the two games has led me to greatly value relative strength much more so than absolute strength. Relative strength demonstrates how effectively an athlete can move their own body weight, favoring the velocity part of the momentum equation with an intrinsic fitness quality as well. Specifically, I have yet to encounter an athlete who has improved their relative strength metrics and simultaneously got less fit. Yes, the concession is absolute top-end power, and that is quite all right.

Efficiency is everything to me, so developing multiple attributes with limited exercises is optimal, says @houndsspeed. Share on X

I prefer soccer players to be a “jack of all trades” as opposed to a “master of one” when considering all athletic qualities. For a track and field analogy, I liken the more diverse athletic attributes needed for soccer athletes to the skill sets necessary for heptathletes and decathletes. Building absolute strength will always be necessary, but the frequency of top-end strength sessions and the intensities within those sessions are now much lower than when I first began. I now build more around calisthenics exercises such as chin-ups, pistols, and dips, while squatting and deadlifting slightly less has ironed out the subtle differences necessary to better meet the mass-energy needs. To this point, it is very important to note that calisthenics should not be so quickly dismissed as a subordinate option to weighted resistance, as they successfully marry relative strength with both core stability and flexibility.

As stated earlier, efficiency is everything to me, so developing multiple attributes with limited exercises is optimal. For instance, as proficiency grows beyond a standard of 10 pistol squats, 10 chin-ups (full hang), and 20 strict push-ups (full lockout), advancing into concepts such as L-sits, muscle ups, planches, front levers, handstands, and dragon flags, etc. is necessary to push intensity as opposed to volume. Completely analogous to the Olympic lifts, there is still great value in even regressed variations and derivatives of these movements, and it truly is relative to the ability and willingness of the individual athlete to expand their skill set. This does not mean I am suggesting soccer players become gymnasts, but rather that there are ways to achieve more desirable, nuanced strength beyond that of a barbell and dumbbell.

Reflection and Revision

Performance training for soccer athletes is truly a unique puzzle. The diverse athletic skill set combined with a demanding intensity-duration relationship means there is much to be prepared for. I have been actively trying to refine this process for the past decade and a half, so hopefully this has provided insight into what I currently find most effective and, more importantly, how it came to be.

Years of daily reflection, on both objective data and subjective markers, have driven constant, subtle corrections that over time have led to larger philosophical changes.  The trick is remaining patient and resisting the urge to do too much too fast.

Years of daily reflection, on both objective data and subjective markers, have driven constant, subtle corrections that over time have led to larger philosophical changes, says @houndsspeed. Share on X

The origins, albeit suboptimal, may be good starting points in themselves for those looking to begin, as I would be foolish to dismiss what has brought me to this point. I do vehemently implore you that, when dealing with your athletes—particularly the youngest—you aggressively pursue health first by supplementing what they are lacking. In doing so, performance will organically follow.

Lead photo by Justin Berl/Icon Sportswire.

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

Even a cursory understanding of good breath mechanics can help focus the mind, coordinate the body, and reduce pain. Due to the nature of the adaptations that come with exposure to sport environments—combined with early specialization and a general lack of cultural free movement play—movement intelligence and freedom get limited in general, and breath mechanics does not escape this fate. Dysfunctional breath mechanics accompany, contribute to, or outright cause problems such as aerobic inefficiency; back, neck, and shoulder pain; negative autonomic and behavioral feedback loops; and more. Conversely, skilled breathing can be a Swiss Army knife for performance, resulting in coordinated movement, pain management, and enhanced focus.

Skilled breathing can be a Swiss Army knife for performance, resulting in coordinated movement, pain management, and enhanced focus. Share on X

While I enjoy seeing more and more coaches and athletes taking an interest in the benefits of breathing techniques, many are doing so without understanding the basic skills involved. Breath mechanics are the actual muscular skill of breathing techniques themselves, but you don’t have to learn to levitate like Himalayan yogis to get it right. Simple constraints and cueing will achieve an effective enough outcome for most performance environments. However, there is a deep, deep well of opportunity for those who would send the bucket all the way to the bottom.

There are two issues I’ve seen with the instruction of breath mechanics in performance environments:

1. Too much jargon. Coaches and athletes have enough skills to learn and tools to integrate into their respective disciplines without adding another seemingly complicated endeavor to the list. Confusing and hypertechnical jargon provokes an adverse reaction in coaches and athletes alike.
2. It can be tough to learn and integrate. The proprioceptive component of skilled breathing is subtle, and the way it’s often taught is too slow and myopic for use in environments that move fast. Performers need tools and heuristics that allow for rapid feel and focus and deliver a palpable difference in performance outcomes when executed.

My goal for this article is to give both coaches and athletes simple cues and tactics to quickly integrate skilled breathing into their total arsenal, so they can avoid problems down the road and be more efficient and effective in their pursuit of high-performance longevity.

Ideal Breath Mechanics

Before we address ideal mechanics, it’s not as if your athletes don’t breathe a certain way that they’ll drop dead on the field in a heap of failure. Not at all. That said, mechanics do matter.

The reason for any mechanical movement standard is to optimize innate anatomical leverages to achieve a movement outcome more efficiently and effectively. As an easy example, we can all run hard and long to some degree, but that’s not the same as spending time with a good track coach to optimize our running mechanics. You can, of course, go out and pound the pavement for hundreds of thousands of reps with no problem until the wheels come off, but why not use those reps as constructively as possible?

Failing to address breath mechanics at all leaves free money on the table. Share on X

Failing to address breath mechanics at all leaves free money on the table. As we start to explore the place of proper breath mechanics, especially in the context of sport, let’s establish a clear framework that includes the presence of an ideal as well as reasonable expectations in regard to achieving our outcomes. Ideal breath mechanics use primary breathing muscles to do most of the work because they have much better leverage to move the rib cage. It’s not bad to use accessory muscles per se, but it is bad to use mostly accessory breathing muscles—especially if it becomes a habit that carries outside of acute stress.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

For our purposes, ideal breath mechanics will represent those expressed without additional structural stress outside of posture in gravity and without added metabolic or psychological stress—all of which have an immediate and measurable effect on breathing.

When we breathe, the diaphragm and external intercostals ideally do the lion’s share of the work during inhalation, expanding the size of the rib cage so the lungs can inflate. The circumferential attachment of the diaphragm expands the lower rib cage, while the intercostals open the space between individual ribs. For this reason, these muscle groups are called the primary breathing muscles. Next time you chow down on some succulent barbecued ribs, know that you’re eating cow intercostals—that’s some top-of-the-food-chain shizzle right there.

When these primary breathing muscles work in concert, we more effectively control airflow into and out of the body, stabilizing trunk pressure and mitigating fatigue of the breathing muscles themselves. If not, respiratory metaboreflex can shunt blood from the extremities to the trunk as the diaphragm fatigues. The ancient Greek name for the nerve that innervates the diaphragm is the phrenic (nerve), which means “mind.” The ability to use the diaphragm, especially under stress, will help divert athletes from a cycle of over-arousal to a state of relaxed focus. Just a coincidence, I’m sure. While the breath wave, as I’ve described above, is not always available, as much of your ideal breath mechanics as possible should be preserved across training and sports environments.

Training the primary breathing muscles purposefully will reduce the stress load on more sensitive tissues in the spine through pressure regulation (an easy example is the Valsalva maneuver, often used when lifting heavy) and by decreasing the workload on accessory breathing muscles. Some postural orientations negatively affect breathing efficiency. For example, anterior pelvic tilt can create rib flare, limiting diaphragm excursion and rib mobility. Conversely, a stiff and kyphotic thoracic spine shuts down posterior and lateral rib motion, which is especially important for athletic pursuits when the abdominals are hard at work stabilizing the trunk.

Focusing on the ideal infrasternal angle, hypertonic scalenes, and apical breathing is great stuff, but it should not be your first concern in the training hall or on the field. Genetics, movement history (including injuries), and sports environment all play a part in how all movement compensations form; breath mechanics are no different. For coaches, in particular, it’s generally a better use of time to move athletes toward the ideal as simply as possible and outsource specific roadblocks to specialized professionals.

So what are we supposed to do, give up sports unless we can play with a perfectly aligned pelvic floor and ideal breath mechanics? Of course not. Mitigate what you can and understand the limitations of your athletes’ innate structures and the environment they’re playing in. If they play in pads like in hockey or football, these can affect access to the ideal.

There are clearly opportunities in both training and competition where using good breath mechanics can reset the mind and body in a way few other tools can. Share on X

While it’s not in the scope of this article to get deep into the weeds on the numerous compensations and dysfunctions that can occur with breathing mechanics, it does help to have some context around them. Life and sport do not exist in a bubble, and so ideal breath mechanics rarely, if ever, occur—unless your athlete is seated or lying down. There are, however, clearly opportunities in both training and competition where using good breath mechanics can reset the mind and body in a way few other tools can.

Get Them Moving

Get the ribs to move. All cues, techniques, tools, and interventions should focus on getting athletes to feel and move their rib cages better. It can be damn hard to feel and train breath mechanics because so little sensory information comes from there. Why? Because the stuff down there is mainly meant to work on autopilot (the autonomic nervous system). So when athletes have trouble training their diaphragm, it does not automatically indicate dysfunction in the truest sense of the word.

Our lungs are inside the rib cage. Let me say that again—our lungs are inside our rib cage. The obvious has to be said because breathing interventions are so often taught without reference to, well, the ribs. Focusing on moving the rib cage as a functional system provides a more accessible image and allows for a broader application later in sports-specific contexts, which means athletes can use it under stress. That is not unimportant!

Rather than getting all mixed up in correcting all breathing problems, first, just feel and move the stuff when and how we want to. Let’s start with some simple cues and tools that can help increase the feel for the athlete.

1. Fill the bucket. The cue “fill the bucket” is just a cue. It is not a detailed description of ventilation kinematics. Just get your athlete thinking and moving in the right direction, and as my good friend Coach Danny Yeager says, “start the conversation.”

When you fill a bucket with water, it goes from the bottom to the top and out to the sides evenly and equally. Imagine your torso is a big five-gallon bucket from Lowe’s or Home Depot. As you inhale, fill the bucket from bottom to top and out to the side. As you exhale, slowly pour the water back out of the bucket. Don’t expect to go full zen monk on your first try. It’s a skill.

Keep it simple and practice. As you and your athletes get it, apply it in various situations to enhance mental clarity and grab hold of the autonomic nervous system. Also, pay attention to where and when you/they cannot be filled. This can give you insight into other movement problems (especially scapula mechanics).

2. Feel/move the ribs. If you can’t feel it, you can’t change it. Having athletes simply place their hands on their rib cage can help compensate for the lack of sensory input in the area by using the nerve-rich tissues in the hands. This gives an external feedback mechanism to bounce the signal through and creates an immediate “feel” for what’s moving. Good times to introduce this are during warm-up, during cooldown, and between training evolutions.

The strap of a heart rate monitor is another great way for athletes to cue into their breathing. Simply cue them to “fill the strap with air” or combine it with “fill the bucket” from above. By getting these breathing tissues to act in better symphony, stress is distributed through the torso more evenly and with reduced energy consumption.

3. Keep your mouth shut whenever possible. Controlled nasal breathing provides 5x the airflow resistance of mouth breathing and so requires the diaphragm to work more effectively, especially when combined with slight closure of the glottis. I’ve found success with using a simple three-count inhale and three-count exhale through the nose during low-intensity warm-up drills. Athletes tend to get warmer faster (because of the increased CO2), and their breathing muscles get some work done too. Using this technique during work especially can go a long way to enhance focus, improve conditioning, and build solid breath mechanics.

For more information on this topic, check out the article I wrote for SimpliFaster, “Nasal Breathing for Athletes.”

Other Common Cues

You may have noticed that I have not mentioned “belly breathing” during this article. That’s because you don’t breathe with your belly—your lungs are inside your rib cage. In truth, it’s an “anti-cue”: it moves you away from the unwanted behavior of overusing accessory breathing muscles.

The belly moving is an artifact of increased diaphragm activity at rest and with a reduced load on the muscles of the trunk. As such, it’s often not universally applicable for athletes, especially under the stress of load, training, or competition. In my experience, getting athletes to think about moving their ribs reduces confusion between how they breathe when things are controlled in the training room and when things get real on the field.

Getting athletes to think about moving their ribs reduces confusion between how they breathe when things are controlled in the training room and when things get real on the field. Share on X

Another cue that recently got some attention is placing the hands on the knees for improved ventilation during recovery in athletic events. A study found that this bane of coaching existence actually increased breathing tidal volume because of the involvement of the pec major in particular. I don’t see any issue with athletes using what is essentially a natural position in which we mitigate the effects of fatigue. However, I would not and do not teach it.

For one, I work with lots of folks in the tactical arena, and the habit of putting your hands on your knees when you’re tired is a no-no. Second, if improved breathing efficiency is a goal, how many situations does this position apply to? What other benefit comes from its use? What state of mind does it put the player in, and what does this posture communicate to the opposition?

K.I.S.S.

There are so many interesting and creative ways to learn and optimize breath mechanics. It’s a deep rabbit hole full of nuance that can be incredibly rewarding both on and off the field. The nuance, though, should be primarily reserved for organic discovery by the athletes themselves.

The above suggestions are designed to get athletes to engage with the process simply and effectively, not turn them into free divers or have them float away on a lotus blossom. The goal should be to introduce this powerful practice into the toolkit in a way that is easy to implement and creates a discernible effect on performance. Make it easy, get them to feel something, and get more advanced when the questions come.

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References

Kolar P, Sulc J, Kyncl M, et al. “Postural Function of the Diaphragm In Persons With Chronic Low Back Pain.” Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy. 2012;42(4):352–362.

Kipp S, Leahy MG, Hanna JA, and Sheel AW. “Partitioning the Work of Breathing During Running and Cycling Using Optoelectronic Plethysmography.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 2021;130(5):1460–1469.

Herrero JL, Khuvis S, Yeagle E, Cerf M, and Mehta AD. “Breathing above the brain stem: volitional control and attentional modulation in humans.” Journal of Neurophysiology. 2018;119(1):145–159.

Welch JF, Archiza B, Guenette JA, West CR, and Sheel AW. “Effect of Diaphragm Fatigue on Exercise Tolerance in Healthy Men and Women.” Journal of Applied Physiology. 2018;125(6).

Michaelson JV, Brilla LR, Suprak DN, McLaughlin WL, and Dahlquist DT. “Effects of Two Different Recovery Postures During High-Intensity Interval Training.” Translational Journal of the ACSM. 2019;4(4):23–27.

Mahler DA, Shuhart CR, Brew E, and Stukel TA. “Ventilatory Responses and Entrainment of Breathing During Rowing.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 1991;23(2):186–192.