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Running nearly full tilt over a row of 5 or 10 barriers is, without a doubt, one of the most challenging events in track and field and possibly all of athletics. It requires hours of extremely technical and specific training to address individual style and flaws. In spite of this, I believe the training for hurdles at the high school level still needs to be extremely varied, with multiple modes of training. It is also crucial to place the emphasis on creating a better athlete who develops an instinctive feel for the event in addition to their technical proficiency.

In this article, rather than rehash purely technical aspects of the hurdles, I want to highlight some training nuances and methods that can complement the skill of hurdling.

Hurdlers Are Sprinters First

Hurdlers might not always be top-rate sprinters, but they should not be a far cry from a 4x100m relay athlete either. I still see lots of hurdlers train in isolation from their open sprint teammates. This is fine with a hurdle coach on staff who weaves the two worlds together. Without a reserve of speed, a hurdler will not reach their potential.

Hurdlers might not always be top-rate sprinters, but they should not be a far cry from a 4x100m relay athlete either, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

Elites blaze down the track at speeds upward of 9 m/s! To achieve these speeds with truncated stride lengths means that these guys are pretty fast. I have seen charts (that I cannot seem to find anymore) placing 100m to 110m hurdle estimated conversions in the ballpark of:

Developing: +3.5 or greater

Advanced: (H.S.) +3.0

Elite: +2.5

For the 400-meter hurdles, Jimson Lee places the estimated conversion for a high school hurdler at about five seconds, and the personal bests of elites are even lower, in the 1.5- to 3-second range.

This means that high school state champion hurdlers are at least running in the low 11s and high 50s for the open races (and in some states, obviously much faster). Becoming faster and generally more coordinated begets improvements in the hurdles.

If the hurdler already has shown that they’re reasonably skilled, I see nothing wrong with putting the sticks aside and spending some time in the off-season/summer making speed the priority. Even in season I would suggest continuing to work acceleration and maximum velocity twice a week in conjunction with the hurdle work.

On some early season days, coaches can have hurdlers do half of the main sprint session with the sprinters, cut them early to do hurdle warm-ups/mobility, and then join them for a hurdle session. As the season wears on, you can let the hurdle work do the talking as the main course but give them a well-rounded menu of sprint work first.

Hurdle Mobility

There’s only so much hurdling a hurdler can do. Hurdle mobility, while boring and somewhat repetitive, is the base of the hurdler. If there is one thing a hurdler needs as much as speed and skill, it is durability. Most coaches have a circuit or exercises they use. You do not need a huge catalog of mobility drills, since you are trying to keep the athletes healthy and not necessarily entertained.

If you are trying to train specific ranges of motion, then athletes need to be held accountable for executing the drills correctly. I am not going to give a comprehensive list here because coaches may have their favorites.

If you are trying to train specific ranges of motion, then athletes need to be held accountable for executing the drills correctly, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

On things like basic “walkovers with hands,” the lead leg should have a cyclical recovery similar to the lead leg in actual hurdling. If an athlete swings their leg to the side, this is merely training a habit we don’t want to see. Remind them to lead with the knee “up,” which keeps them closer to a sprint motion. Oftentimes, the hurdle may just be set too high for an athlete, so they compensate by swinging outward.

On trail leg drills such as “0-1-2” or “trail leg slide,” cue the athlete to feel their trail leg behind them, which allows them to take advantage of the stretch reflex in the trail leg in the future. Look for them to move their trail leg “out, up, and through” with the toe dorsiflexed. This can help train good trail leg range of motion and high knee position coming off the hurdle. Athletes often execute these so poorly that the foot actually drops below the knee.

On drills like “can-cans,” continue with the reminders of “leading with the knee” and place an emphasis on tall posture, with a belt line that doesn’t dip due to poor pelvic positioning. This serves as a great reference point when discussing hurdle takeoff.

For a novice hurdler, mobility drills are nearly as much about learning how to move as they are about specific strength exercises. Including these on recovery or tempo days is an excellent way to introduce these drills while giving them the attention they deserve.

Perfect a Few Hurdle Drills

Drills address the skill of hurdling while discounts and spacing put it together in a race model.

I have a short list of drills that can be part of early season skill sessions or used as warm-ups on hurdle days. My purpose here isn’t to give a how-to for each drill (there are plenty of examples on the web), but to encourage coaches to understand sometimes less is more.

1. Ross drill: Jog with hands at waist; every three steps take off and let the knees slap the hands, “pop-pop.”
2. March and popover
3. Cycle ladder
4. Quickstep
5. One step

I absolutely love these five drills. The first three drills teach the basics of driving the knee up at the hurdle and keeping stable and tall pelvic positioning with the accompanying forward lean. The Ross drill, which comes from Wilbur Ross, is a non-threatening introduction to hurdling and its rhythms. This sets up an athlete to understand the takeoff and cycling action required in the popovers and cycle ladder drill. The cycle ladder drill comes from Steve McGill and has been adapted a bit differently by Hector Cotto.

The quickstep is a great drill as a warm-up for an advanced hurdler or as a main session for a novice, as it puts the premium on both high frequency and reaction. The one-step drill is a bit more advanced and something I like to reserve for hurdlers who are already skilled. Like the quickstep, it can be a decent diagnostic tool since there is minimal time to prepare for each hurdle.

In Video 1 below, the hurdler pulls to the left off the first hurdle. You can see he jabs his hand forward and it crosses his body, creating a twist. Immediately, he corrects and stops the trail arm near his hip, which allows his lead arm to stay closer to a sprint motion in front of his chin.

On all of these drills, coaches must use their eye to nail down the spacings in the suggested range that best fits each athlete.

Video 1. Hurdling drills should be active and address some component of hurdling. Coaches don’t need to throw every drill in the book at the hurdler, but they can tailor them to address an issue that keeps popping up. 

Five-Step Hurdling

I used a lot of the five-step pattern between hurdles this fall, one day per week. This is not something I would do with a developing hurdler, as I think just jamming the three-step rhythm and drilling needs to be a priority.

The athlete I worked with started with five hurdles spaced at 11 yards (33 feet). The turf was an attractive setting, since the measurements are easier, and turf reduces strain while getting lots of hurdle reps. We utilized a 10-step high knee approach at this distance.

At 33 feet, the shuffle was slow, which gave the hurdler a lot of time to use a coaching cue and prepare for takeoff. While we didn’t approach Nehemiah levels of volume, we did routinely accrue between 75 and 100 hurdles in sets of 15-20. Takeoff was set at a range of 2.1-2.2 meters, and no additional hurdle work was done on this day.

I feel like this gives reasonably skilled hurdlers a chance to overcome the fear of hitting hurdles due to fatigue and makes the hurdles feel like nothing. Indeed, the hurdler in Video 2 below had an issue with “punting” his lead leg as a result of leading with his foot over the hurdle. After hundreds of repetitions, he was able to understand what picking the knee up and driving through the hurdle felt like.

Of course, as the pre-competitive season draws near, we are merely bumping the hurdles out to 12 yards (36 feet), using an eight-step standing start, and reducing the volume to 3-4 sets of 3-5. This leaves room on a second hurdle day for some standing starts from a five- or eight-step start at jammed spacings. Standing starts are an excellent way to make sure that the athlete is tall at takeoff and all repetitions are at prescribed takeoff distance based on height.

As we move even closer to the end of February, we will bump the five-step distance out a bit more and perhaps begin to combo some five- and three-step repetitions, depending on the weather.

I know sometimes coaches pattern the five-step distance on the step distance of the three-step distance the athlete is currently working on (minus takeoff and landing). I am not worried about a high school junior matching velocities and frequencies across workouts in the off-season yet. I am leaving something on the table to progress to while he learns to do each style of workout.

The final benefit of the five-step workout is that it is a great way to continue to train outdoors in the Northeast without fear of injury. As long as the athletes are able to endure the temperatures, we will continue to work this in different ways.

Video 2. Five-step hurdling allows more time to use a coaching cue and can be done on the turf. This prevents strain and breeds confidence in the athlete. 

Decision-Making and Technique Through Gallops

Prescribed takeoff and landing distances may be exact (or at least in a range), but in the heat of a race there almost always seems to be some slight deviation, even if it is a few centimeters. While professionals have the experience to get it near perfect (although it isn’t uncommon for them to foul up as well), developing hurdlers need to feel and explore different movements to anticipate the optimal attack. Letting them learn to navigate various spacings seems like a huge benefit in the long run.

Gallops are just way too good of a multipurpose tool to not continue to adapt them, and hurdles seem to be a natural fit for this exploration, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

There are other drills like single leg A-skips and single leg prances that are effective in teaching a tight lead leg, but I am going to beat the gallop drum here. Gallops over small banana hurdles are excellent for learning to navigate different spacings with rhythm and authentically teach a cut-step, especially if the foot contact is flat and the hips are kept high. This ensures the athlete isn’t overplanting and delivering a jarring heel-first strike.

Coaches can utilize a gallop and quickstep run combination to begin having the athletes crave a high hip and knee position at touchdown that lends itself to a reacceleration of sorts toward the next set of barriers.

Gallops are just way too good of a multipurpose tool to not continue to adapt them, and hurdles seem to be a natural fit for this exploration. Use these on sprint days or as a pre-hurdle primer to bridge the gap from general to specific.

Video 3. I am not going to pretend that there are any bona fide rules here. Coaches should explore the event of hurdles and find gallop variations that seem to fit the need, whether it be posture, speed between the hurdles, or something else entirely. Athletes just have to figure out a way to make it work.

Fearless and Aggressive

The inspiration for this section comes from the hurdler who has been featured throughout this article. At the All-State meet during the last indoor season, he took a bad spill and ended up lacerating his kidney, which landed him in the hospital. I never trained him before his spill, but by his account, he wanted to get back to that “No Fear” zone.

Video 4. Whether new to the sport or recovering from a catastrophe, hurdlers need confidence and a willingness to flirt with disaster. This means steps that push the edge of their speed/frequency and a flight path that drives through the hurdles.

Sure, there are classics like Wilbur Ross’ overspeed zone drill, and the 12 hurdles spaced at 8.5 meters that can let an athlete with serious training under their belt go nuts, but it’s okay to table advanced concepts until their college years. We need to leave something loaded in the chamber for the future. In the meantime, we have worked and are working on several simpler strategies to get athletes to warrior status.

• Discounted Heights: This is an obvious one, and I don’t think any height is too low. I have gone as low as 24 inches for females and 27 inches for males. Understand that takeoff distance will change, since the center of mass is raised less.

When working with 36-inch hurdles, I put cones out at the prescribed takeoff distance for the height of the athlete as if they were 3 inches taller. So, if takeoff for a 6-foot athlete is 7’3”, I place cones at 7’1” instead. I am not sure this is entirely necessary, however. I have also only reduced the height of the first hurdle to set up the next hurdles, which remain at race height.

• Red Training Hurdles or Velcro Tops: I have used a lot of the red training hurdles with collapsible tops in the past, and indeed, the athlete’s fear of really banging a hurdle decreases. One drawback is that the clatter can sometimes still unnerve an athlete, and setting it up over and over again becomes a chore. Carl Valle has suggested using Velcro hurdle tops and encouraging athletes to hit them. Although I didn’t splurge on the rocker training hurdles that come with Velcro attachments, I did find a pack of 15 feet of 2-inch Velcro strips that can be cut and adhered to the hurdle once you pop the existing hurdle top off. Flirt with disaster and run through the darn things.

• 10-Step Start: The 10-step start creates trust for the hurdler while providing a seriously overspeed start. Utilize a standing start about 17.2 meters from the hurdle. Start with the height reduced as much as 6 inches, until the athlete trusts their step pattern. This is not for the extreme novice, as this is a precursor for doing some lightning-fast five-step reps. It could be nice to contrast a few of these reps with a few eight-step standing or block starts.
• Five-Step Start: Although I do a lot of drills and two-point accelerations with each leg, five-step starts are still relatively new to me. Due to the abbreviated run up, the drive into the hurdle must be aggressive, and touchdown must have great positioning with positive foot speed. This takes a little experimenting for the start distance, but around 29-30 feet has worked for us.

I started adding hurdles by employing my tightest jammed spacing to date with this hurdler (26 feet), which further raised the intent. Another benefit of this for this athlete is that the starting foot is switched, which at the very least, introduces the ambidexterity necessary to change from an eight-step to a seven-step start in the future. It’s good to consider an option in the long term and not just make changes on a whim.

200m Training to Support

Training like a 200m runner during the rest of the week yields good results for high hurdlers. Both are fast races, where perhaps the last 20% (two hurdles in the hurdles, 40 meters in the 200m) becomes a challenge to stay together.

Training like a 200m runner during the rest of the week yields good results for high hurdlers. Both are fast races, where perhaps the last 20% becomes a challenge to stay together. Share on X

The training needs for the 200m runner also fill in a lot of gaps for the hurdler. For instance, 200m runners may spend a lot of time doing block curve into the curve and sustaining some fly reps deep into the curve. For the hurdlers (or all sprinters), exposure to different frequencies is helpful so, as Carl Valle says, “They aren’t painted into a corner later.” The curve work allows them to break stereotype and experience a different stimulus that may introduce a slightly higher frequency on the leg on the outside of the curve. Sprinting in both directions may reduce injuries and expose both legs to something novel in the way of stride frequency.

Longer reps such as 150 meters are often a staple in 200m training and are extremely versatile. At risk of hyperbole, from intensive tempo to special endurance or even 150-meter buildups, the 150-meter rep alone might be enough to discourage pace lock. To run the 150-meter distance regardless of what part of the speed curve you are surfing, it requires relaxed beauty, arm/leg rhythm, and postural maintenance. These are all traits that need to be present in the hurdles as well.

Other training items such as “ins and outs” sprint buildups are essentially motor learning drills on steroids. The 200m race model has an element of floating the curve that I think is useful for forcing the sprinter to consider the distribution of effort and applying it to other races. I acknowledged that hurdlers are sprinters first in beginning of this piece, and the menu of training options can really make the hurdler whole.

Freedom to Choose

Hurdling is a complex event, and coaches can weave in whatever modes of training they want and feel are appropriate. There is only so much hurdling an athlete can do in a session or week. Perhaps more than in any other event, coaches really need to shift the focus to long-term development.

Speed and hurdle mobility are the foundation of the hurdler. There is an abundance of drills out there, and a coach can do whichever ones they deem necessary and appropriate. Sometimes having fewer drills allows athletes to just get better at them and coaches to use them in more purposeful ways.

Obviously, the start and discounted hurdle work will be very important when it’s time, but with the right athlete, don’t rule out five-step work.

Without a base of general drills and coordination, hurdlers can simply lack the experience and context to respond to a cue. Gallops could be one of the best options to let hurdlers begin navigating space athletically and efficiently. The sky is the limit with the amount of exploring a coach can do.

The start and discounted hurdle work will be very important when it’s time, but with the right athlete, don’t rule out five-step work, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

There are numerous ways to bolster an athlete’s confidence and aggressiveness, and these are important things to consider in the hurdling events, as playing it safe and scared never ends well. Consistently complementing hurdle-specific training with 200m training and races could create the most complete sprinter there is and provide a better finish over hurdles 8, 9, and 10 without extra hurdling.

Of course, I can’t resist the chance to end with a hurdle pun, so I will leave you with this: Hurdle training is a lot to overcome, but with some careful planning, there are some big things ahead for your athletes.

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Although many KPIs can be debated from sport to sport, serving speed is one that truly matters in the sport of volleyball—and one that we can improve as coaches. When an athlete has a faster serving speed, it is more difficult for the opponent to control their passing and run their offense, therefore putting the team with the faster serve at a significant advantage. Rather than just looking to improve top speed, we must also aim to improve the repeatability of serving at higher speeds (same concept as sprinting and speed reserve), since being the faster-serving team is of little value without the ability to repeat it consistently. In this article I am going to describe the program that I utilized to improve our volleyball players serving speed in only eight weeks of training.

It is often debated which KPIs in sports have the greatest impact on player success. In my opinion, there are two that are the most important to determine the future success of an athlete:

1. 1. Skill level/genetics

 

1. Health and injury history

That doesn’t mean there aren’t any other athletic traits that contribute, but when it comes to success in the sport itself, no one can argue that skill isn’t the most important factor. As sports performance coaches, we have control over the latter of the two biggest performance indicators as well as the task of improving those athletic qualities that will improve the physical level of the athlete. The whole point of our training program is to develop skills that we believe can elevate the level of our players.

The whole point of our training program is to develop skills that we believe can elevate the level of our players, says @bigk28. Share on X

The Results

First I would like to share with you the testing that we did in order to ensure consistent testing results. The following standards were implemented for each testing period:

1. 1. Each player performed a serve they were comfortable with and one they would use during competition (jump float, standing float, and jumping top spin).

 

1. 1. Each serve had to be in the court of play for it to count (there is little value in having the fastest serving speed that will cost you a point because it bounces off the back wall).

 

1. 1. We recorded five serves from each athlete.

 

1. 1. All recordings were taken from behind the serving player with a Pocket Radar.

 

1. A total of 10 players participated in fall training.

Here were the results pre- and post-testing. We looked at three key metrics:

1. 1. Average serving speed.

 

1. 1. Top serving speed.

 

1. Players above 40 mph.

As you can see from the table above, we had great improvements in serving speed in a very short period of time. There was an overall change in average serving speed of 4%, an increase in average top serving speed of 5.72%, and the entire team was serving at or over 40 mph post-testing, an increase from only half the team pre-testing. Our training only spanned a total of eight weeks, with the first three of those weeks being predominantly outside due to COVID training restrictions. Below, I will highlight the training we performed to elicit these improvements and the training you can implement easily with your volleyball team.

Overall Training Philosophy

We have to get away from the traditional thinking of focusing on muscular development when trying to garner specific athletic improvements. To keep it simple, our muscles are ‘dumb’; our nervous system controls everything we do. When we think about training, we must focus on nervous system demand and how we can improve its firing rate and efficiency.

We have to get away from the traditional thinking of focusing on muscular development when trying to garner specific athletic improvements, says @bigk28. Share on X

This is where my training has shifted since I got into collegiate athletics. Even when you perform an exercise that may primarily be an upper body movement, there is still demand on the entire system. Learning how to undulate throughout the week and balance high central nervous system (CNS) days with low CNS days will be critical in maximizing development of the athlete. Although many think in order to improve a quality such as serving speed that one must strictly put focus on upper body develop and put even more focus on muscular development of the deltoids, I am here to tell you that it is simply not the case. If you want your athlete to hit a harder serve, we must develop their nervous system to fire at a high rate.

The above graphic from Charlie Francis and Derek Hanson should give you a good outline on how to structure your high/low days. If you are looking for guidelines, start with this chart to structure your week—but always modify where necessary for your individual players.

Sprint Training in Volleyball

Volleyball is a really amazing sport to work with. In seven years of working with the sport, I have worked with teams that brought 100% to what we were doing and gave everything they had, both during their in-season and off-season training plans. I always knew that, in sports, we need to train speed and we need to train it year round. The residual for speed is five days with a two day window depending on the individual (three days on the short end and seven on the long end).

I always trained one day of speed with volleyball, but no timing was involved—a critical mistake I made that hindered speed development). I was lucky enough to hear Mike Boyle talk at the College Strength and Conditioning Conference Association in Missouri two years ago, where he spoke about the benefits of timing sprints on a frequent basis. Ever since then, I have been on the never-ending journey of learning how to improve speed and power. Since restrictions earlier in the year didn’t allow us in the weight room, we had a 100% speed-focused start for our eight-week plan (three weeks exactly).

Even in a sport dominated mostly by acceleration, we needed to develop an all-encompassing sprint plan that included max velocity work. I spoke in my previous article about the benefits of training max velocity as a stimulus. Max velocity training (any exercise that allows an athlete to reach their max speed) is more powerful than any other exercise that is used in the weight room and must be included on a weekly basis. These are just some of the tools I use for max velocity work:

1. 1. Fly 10s/20s/30s (varying build ups).

 

1. 1. In & outs.

 

1. Any sprint greater than 30 m.

Max velocity training is more powerful than any other exercise that is used in the weight room and must be included on a weekly basis, says @bigk28. Share on X

There is nothing fancy here; in order to increase max velocity, you must sprint fast. Athletes will vary in the rate at which they hit their top speed, so I recommend experimenting with your build up. I have found that my athletes need a 25-30 yard build up when doing flying sprints.

Sprint Program

This was the breakdown of our week in regards to our sprint work on a three-day split of Monday/Wednesday/Friday:

MONDAY (MAX VELOCITY FOCUS)

Reflexive Performance Reset (10-20s each zone) 

• Belly Breaths x10
• Zone 1
• Belly Breaths x10

Spring Ankle Drills (2×20-60s) (Cal Dietz & Chris Korfist)

• Drill #1 and #2

Ignition Series (2×10 yards each)

• A Series (March/Skip)
• Quick Gallops
• High Knees

Bounding Series (2×20 yards)

• Speed Bounds
• Bounds for height
• Straight Leg Bounds

Speed Drill

• 3x Wickets (10 with 6’ spacing)

Timed Sprint

• Fly 10s

WEDNESDAY (ACCELERATION FOCUS)

Reflexive Performance Reset (10-20s each zone)

• Belly Breaths x10
• Zone 1
• Belly Breaths x10

Spring Ankle Drills (2×20-60s)

• Drill #3 and #4

MB Throws (3×4)

• Underhand Behind Throws
• Underhand Forward Throws

High Knees Ankle/Hip Action (2×10 yards)

• Boom Switch Variation
• Ankle Jumps
• Crawl Variations

Acceleration Drills

• Hill Sprints 10x for 20 yards

Timed Accelerations 

• 3x Timed 10 yard sprints

FRIDAY (LATERAL MOVEMENT FOCUS)

Reflexive Performance Reset (10-20s each zone) 

• Belly Breaths x10
• Zone 1
• Belly Breaths x10

Spring Ankle Drills (2×20-60s) 

• Drill #5

Ignition Series (2×10 yards each)

• A Series (March/Skip)
• Quick Gallops
• High Knees

Bounding Series (2×20 yards)

• Lateral Bounds
• Diagonal Bounds

Acceleration/Deceleration Series (2×20 yards in 5 yard increments)

• Sprint
• Side Shuffle L/R
• Crossover run L/R
• Backpedal

Timed Sprint

• Fly 10s

I know what you are probably thinking: This is an article on improving serving speed, why is he talking about sprinting? Every single drill we implement and every single training day has a purpose in developing the nervous system. We are trying to improve the firing rate and synchronization of the nervous system. Have you ever seen someone who was serving a hard ball look uncoordinated and barely leave the ground? Didn’t think so. Serving speed is not just about upper body development, but rather total system development.

If you are going to be fast, explosive, powerful, strong, etc., then you must sprint and you must sprint often. We spent four weeks on this specific plan, but what I saw when we were able to transfer to the weight room was that there wasn’t much lost in the strength, power, and speed departments. With regards to sprint drills and workouts, they will also have to develop the lower body when it comes to the serving action in volleyball. How limited will an athlete be in serving if they lack the ability to transfer power from the lower to upper body?

If you are going to be fast, explosive, powerful, strong, etc., then you must sprint and you must sprint often, says @bigk28. Share on X

Remember, each day’s focus is to develop the nervous system. I like to treat two days with a max velocity emphasis because of how strong of a stimulus it is to run at full speed. When we sprint at max velocity we are also working on acceleration in order to get to top speed. I want to hammer home how important it is to sprint often and how nervous system development will get you the improvements in serving speed that we are looking for.

Sprint Program Breakdown

Every day starts with a reflexive performance reset to ensure proper nervous system firing. We all do zone 1 together, but if necessary athletes will do zone 2 drills on their own if they aren’t feeling ‘right’ for the day. Next we go into the spring ankle concepts I found through Cal Dietz and Chris Korfist. Remember what I said: Think of the body as a total system; if there is a kink in the armor, the whole system will falter. The body part that is in constant contact with the floor (and is the beginning of our armor) is our feet. We want to strengthen the foot-ankle complex to ensure the start of the system is firing properly. After that we begin our theme-based ignition series. Nothing special here but drills that teach us four main concepts:

• • Punch the ground.

 

• • Dorsiflexion of the foot.

 

• • Violent arm action.

 

• Good upright torso position.

From there we move into bounding on our max velocity days; I don’t know if there is a better drill than bounding to teach an athlete power. I know a lot of my athletes struggled with this because it requires a high amount of force to do correctly, so don’t rush this. If I notice my athletes struggling, I slow them down and we break the movement down into separate parts. This might not be exactly what we are looking for, but regressions are necessary if the drills are not being done correctly. Then, depending on the day, we continue on to theme-based sprint drills and timing to correlate with the work we are doing. These are the average speed results we saw after eight weeks of training:

• • 10 yard sprint: 1.91 —> 1.85

 

• • 20 yard sprint: 3.30 —> 3.23

 

• 10 yard fly: 1.31 —> 1.22 (15.59 —> 16.7 mph)

As you can see, we had some great results with our speed-focused work. I know our speed development played a huge role in the improvement of our serving speeds.

If I notice my athletes struggling, I slow them down and we break the movement down into separate parts, says @bigk28. Share on X

Lifting

I knew we did not have a lot of time left to spend on lifting for the semester (five weeks once we were able to lift again), so I took a slightly different approach. I kept the weight room extremely basic: matching high motor neuron recruitment exercises for the max velocity days, and lower motor recruitment (or exercises that have a higher impact on acceleration) on the acceleration days. This is how the lifting program broke down for the five-week training program:

MONDAY

TIER 1 – Olympic Lift

• Clean From The Power Position 4×4

TIER 2 – Olympic Push

• BB Push Press 4×5

If you are looking for the benefits of the Olympic lifts, Carl Valle did a great job in this article. Posterior chain development of the upper body is crucial here and will aid in improving serve speed. Overhead Olympic pushes are one of the most underrated exercises that a coach can use for power development. The progression I follow is usually BB push press to power jerk to split jerk.

There are so many benefits of the overhead Olympic lifts, including total synchronization of the entire kinetic chain from the lower body to the upper body to complete a successful lift. The triceps and deltoids are needed to push the bar overhead after power is generated from the lower body, then the upper body is forced to stabilize the load; the value is incredible. 

Overhead Olympic pushes are one of the most underrated exercises that a coach can use for power development, says @bigk28. Share on X

WEDNESDAY

TIER 1 – Squat Variation + Vertical Plyometric

• Squat 5 RM
• Paused Squat Jump (3 second pause at the bottom) 3×4
• Trap Bar Jump 3×4

TIER 2 – Horizontal Press + Horizontal Pull

• Bench 5 RM
• Pendlay Row 4×5

Here we are looking to develop absolute strength (squatting is highly correlated with initial acceleration). A set of five reps at maximum weight lets the athlete calibrate how they feel for the day. If you want to work on different qualities in the weight room, you first must develop a base of strength. Since my athletes get a lot of horizontal force development throughout the week from sprint work, I decided to add a vertical plyometric series in on Wednesday with both exercises having a strength focus (paused and weighted).

Horizontal pressing is not only necessary in regards to stabilizing the shoulder in the overhead position, but it is a multi-joint movement involving both the deltoids and the triceps to lock out the movement. Pressing is a necessity for overhead athletes—don’t let anyone tell you differently. Any horizontal row will do, as again we are working on posterior development which is crucial when looking at improving serving speed. Any horizontal variation will do here, but I like how Pendlay rows force the athlete to strictly use their back to complete the movement.

FRIDAY

TIER 1 – Olympic Lift – Snatch Variation

• Snatch From The Power Position 4×4

TIER 2 – Deadlift Variation + Horizontal Plyometric

• Trap Bar Deadlift 4×5
• Paused Broad Jump 3×4
• Resisted Banded Broad Jump 3×4

TIER 3 – Bodyweight Push + Bodyweight Pull + Rear Deltoid

• Pushups 3 x Sub-max
• Weighted TRX Row 3×8
• DB Reverse Fly 3×8

Yes, our volleyball athletes perform snatches. During my seven years of training volleyball, I have yet to have one shoulder injury. As long as you are teaching the correct technique, it is a huge tool for power development as well as for strengthening the posterior chain. Since I want to accumulate a little more volume on Fridays, we will add in a lower and upper body circuit.

Deadlift is a little less taxing on the nervous system due to the lower time under tension (TUT), and we are looking for some additional horizontal power development with our plyometric series. I think it’s important to be good at relative strength, so we include pushups every week in our programming. TRX rows and reverse flies are added in at the end of the week for some more posterior chain development.

We keep our post-workout really simple. We will finish with some thoracic mobility work and some guided breathing for five minutes to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. If you want to keep your athletes healthy, thoracic mobility work needs to be included frequently. In a normal year we would usually end workouts with a banded shoulder series including the following:

• External/Internal Rotation
• 90/90 ER/IR
• Shoulder Extension

We pick and choose what exercises to add here but these are staples for us. I believe if we were able to add this in, it would have increased the improvements on our serving speed even more.

If you want to keep your athletes healthy, thoracic mobility work needs to be included frequently, says @bigk28. Share on X

Practice Serving

The last piece of the puzzle (and the most important) is the actual practice of serving with maximal intent and effort. This involves your volleyball coach being on board with the plan of trying to increase the serving speed of the players (not sure what type of coach wouldn’t be on board with this).

You can be the fastest, strongest, most explosive athlete out there, but if you aren’t practicing your serving then you aren’t going to see the improvements you want. The same concepts that apply to improving maximal speed in sprinting also apply to improving serving speed.

An Untraditional Approach

This article was about developing the nervous system to maximize speed and power in your athlete which will help develop their maximal serving speed. What you did not see were gimmicky weighted ball exercises and “sport specific” exercises to improve serving speed. I wanted to convey the message that you do not need every exercise under the sun to improve serving speed. We had little training time and limited resources, and we still saw great results. Obviously there were things I would love to have added, but you have to be able to deal with the situation at hand and adapt if you want to be a great sports performance coach.

Don’t think about improving serving speed as a singular quality that you need to be locked in on. Aim to improve the firing rate and synchronization of the nervous system by training all aspects of speed (acceleration, max velocity, and repeated sprint ability if necessary). If you train consecutive days, think about a high/low training system model that will optimize each day you have with your athletes and avoid nervous system burnout.

Aim to improve the firing rate and synchronization of the nervous system by training all aspects of speed, says @bigk28. Share on X

Make sure the message is relayed to your athletes and coaches that, when practicing their serves, they should be doing so with maximal effort and intent if they wish to see the desired result of improving their serving speed. You should individualize the program to your specific population and athlete, but using this type of outline should give you a great idea of how you can design a program to help improve the serving speed of your athletes.

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

In 1962, the first edition of Thomas Kuhn’s seminal book, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, was published. Since its initial publication, the book has been reissued numerous times, and it is now on its fourth edition. Kuhn’s book has been highly influential for his model of how science works.

The typical model of science suggests that scientific progress occurs as development through accumulation—that is, we gain small bits of knowledge that add to our current knowledge in an incremental, step-like manner. Kuhn, however, argues against this model. He suggests that scientific progress is episodic and stage-like: We have periods of stability where there are small increases in knowledge—Kuhn terms this stage normal science—which are then interrupted by periods of rapid accumulation of knowledge, termed revolutionary science.

One of the main drivers of this revolutionary science, during which we tend to have major breakthroughs, is the discovery of anomalies—parts of the current prevailing wisdom that don’t quite make sense or were not quite matched by real-world data. These anomalies lead to major breakthroughs, which then lead us to the next stable period of normal science. Kuhn defines each stable period of knowledge as a paradigm, and the major breakthroughs lead to what he termed a paradigm shift, taking us to a new way of viewing the world with data.

Taking a step back, we essentially view the world through one mental model and explain our new, incremental findings through the lens of that mental model—making small improvements—until a paradigm shift occurs, moving us to a markedly different mental model, after which the process repeats itself.

Transformations

Paradigm shifts are uncomfortable, as they challenge our view of the world. This leads to gatekeepers: people who are motivated to preserve the status quo. When the prevailing mental model—the normal science—was that the sun orbited the Earth, Galileo was put under house arrest for suggesting that the Earth, instead, orbited the sun.

Any time a paradigm shift occurs, there are people who fight against it, and overcoming this gatekeeping is crucial for scientific progress, says @craig100m. Share on X

Galileo had sufficient new observations to challenge the current paradigm; as this new paradigm directly contradicted the Church’s interpretation of the Bible, Galileo represented a challenge and was labeled a heretic. Other books espousing the sun as the center of the solar system model were banned, as the Church attempted to maintain their current paradigm, which best fit the story they wanted to tell. Any time a paradigm shift occurs, there are people who fight against it, and overcoming this gatekeeping is crucial for scientific progress.

Kuhn’s concept of “normal science” (i.e., the status quo) and paradigm shifts also applies to sport. Perhaps the most famous example of this is the Oakland A’s Moneyball approach, popularized in the book and film of the same name. Here, the Oakland As, an MLB baseball team, found themselves consistently unable to compete effectively against teams with bigger budgets—and consistently lost their best players to these teams. Growing frustrated with his team’s underperformance, General Manager Billy Beane turned to the use of data to identify relatively undervalued players. These players were undervalued because they didn’t fit the generally accepted paradigm of what successful MLB players looked like in terms of physical appearance, playing style, injury history, or performance in some perceived-to-be-important metric or measure.

By questioning the validity of these assumptions, and better understanding which statistics were indicative of successful performance, Beane and his new “data guy,” Paul DePodesta, recruited players who fit their model. As a result, the As had a hugely successful season, finishing first in the American League West and winning 20 consecutive games—at the time, a league record.

I recently read Swing Kings: The Inside Story of Baseball’s Home Run Revolution by Jared Diamond (not that Jared Diamond), which further demonstrates the concepts of normal science, paradigm shifts, and gatekeepers in elite sport, again in baseball. Swing Kings is the story of how, in recent seasons, the records for home runs have continually been broken. The narrative portrayed in the book is interesting; Diamond writes how there is (or, at least, was) a common method of coaching the hitting swing taught at all levels of baseball, from Little League through the minor leagues to MLB.

With the development of handheld video cameras and video analysis technologies, some coaches—most frequently those not involved in the professional realm of the sport—noticed that the best hitters in baseball typically did not demonstrate the technique that they were being coached to carry out. More interestingly, they also found that when they asked the players being filmed what they were doing, what the hitters thought they were doing—what they had been taught within the existing paradigm—did not match up to what was being seen on the video.

This is the classic first driver in Kuhn’s structure of revolutions: data that challenges the current paradigm. The best batters were not doing what they were actually being coached to do and were unaware of what they were actually doing.

Having had this brought to their attention, the major league clubs completely revamped their coaching practices and all the players bought into these new methods…right? Of course not—as anyone who has been involved in sport, and many other industries, can likely attest to, there is strong resistance to change in large organizations (“this is the way things have always been done”) and among gatekeepers. People who are not incentivized to make the change want to protect the current paradigm.

As anyone who has been involved in sport, and many other industries, can likely attest to, there is strong resistance to change in large organizations, says @craig100m. Share on X

If you’re a batting coach who has spent a career coaching off one model, it is understandable, and inherently human, to not believe conflicting data and fight against what you perceive to be an incorrect change. In addition, similar to most other sports, many coaches in elite baseball are former players—the current paradigm was all they had ever known, which causes gatekeeping to the highest extent.

Some entrepreneurial individuals, who noticed that the real-world data wasn’t matching with the current paradigm, began to drive this revolution. Typically, they existed outside “the system”—they weren’t professionally employed batting coaches or former elite players—and they had to work hard to gain credibility. Initially, they acted as private hitting coaches, relying on recruiting major league players who were in a slump at the plate. After changing the player’s technique—and then their fortunes—those coaches relied on word of mouth to build their business. However, the players they worked with then had a problem when they went back to their team and used the new swing they had honed during the off-season. Since it didn’t match with the technical model (or paradigm) of the employed hitting coach, they put pressure on the player to revert back to “normal.”

This created issues for the players—they didn’t want to be seen as uncoachable at a time when their professional livelihoods were at risk. However, they knew from their off-season practice that their new technique was far superior. As a result, the revolution was slow to gain momentum. Eventually, though, more and more players—and, eventually, more and more ball clubs and managers—recognized how successful this new technique was, leading to a complete shift toward this new model and paradigm. While there are, no doubt, still some old-school coaches acting as gatekeepers, many of the newer generation of coaches have embraced these methods.

Factors That Precipitate Change

The example portrayed in Swing Kings is of a revolution driven—or at least underpinned—by changes in technology that allowed for better identification of data that didn’t fit the current theory. Outside of technological innovation, paradigm shifts can also be driven by a number of other aspects, including rule changes. In The Mixer, Michael Cox outlines how a single rule change drove technical and tactical changes in the English Premier League.

Outside of technological innovation, paradigm shifts can also be driven by a number of other aspects, including rule changes, says @craig100m. Share on X

Prior to 1992, goalkeepers in soccer were able to pick up the ball in their penalty box, regardless of how it arrived there. This meant that teams could pass the ball back to their own goalkeeper, who could then pick it up and pass it—via throw or kick—or they could hold on to it for an extended time, often for the purpose of wasting time if they were winning. Teams became very cynical:

• Defenders could pass the ball to their goalkeeper, who could stop it with his feet and stand stationary until an opposition attacker ran toward him, at which point he would pick it up.
• If he wished, he could then pass to a close-by defender, who could then pass it directly back to him, repeating the process.

In 1992, however, FIFA introduced the “back-pass rule.” Now, goalkeepers could not use their hands to pick up a deliberate pass back to them from a teammate, unless it was from a header. This rule change turned goalkeepers from a somewhat non-technically skilled position—at least in terms of skill with their feet—to essentially an additional outfield player. As goalkeepers could no longer just pick up balls played to them, they had to become adept at passing with their feet.

The rule change then revolutionized team tactics: Teams became more likely to play out from the back and keep possession, as opposed to kicking long into the opposition half and hoping for a bit of luck. Perhaps most famously, this is demonstrated by the Barcelona tiki-taka style of continuous short passes and long periods of possession, which the Spanish National team then adopted. They won the 2010 World Cup and the European Championships in 2008 and 2012. As always, there were—and still are—coaches and players who wanted to maintain the status quo and failed to sufficiently adapt, but they are becoming less common in the modern game of soccer.

Paradigm Shifts and Periodization

A more contemporary—and athletics specific—example of a sports science revolution that we might currently be living through is that of periodization theory. As a (somewhat oversimplified) summary, periodization theory covers a method of planning the training and competition process of an athlete over a given time period. Generally, these periods are split into blocks; in strength training, for example, these blocks might be hypertrophy, maximum strength, power, and a taper. Each block is then further subdivided into smaller blocks, mesocycles (often 3-4 weeks in length), and microcycles (typically one week in length).

Using this paradigm of periodization, it’s tempting to think that:

1. There is an inherent order in which things must be done.
2. There is an inherent time period over which adaptations can occur.
3. These adaptations can be somewhat predicted in advance; hence, the utility of the planning process.

Recent evidence from studies exploring concepts such as genetic variation and psychosocial stress demonstrates that the time course and order of adaptions to exercise are highly individual. As such, artificially fitting athletes into given “boxes” of training and planning changes in training far in advance are likely flawed, as identified by John Kiely in his influential articles on the topic. “Proving” that traditional models of periodization are effective is very difficult: If we were to take a randomized control trial in which one group undertook periodized training and one group didn’t, then we wouldn’t know whether the differences in adaptation or performance from the periodized group were due to periodization itself or merely variations in training stimulus—and the two aren’t the same.

The majority of studies purporting to demonstrate the effectiveness of periodization may just be demonstrating the effectiveness of a novel training stimulus, says @craig100m. Share on X

The majority of studies purporting to demonstrate the effectiveness of periodization may just be demonstrating the effectiveness of a novel training stimulus. Instead, we often see a position argued as, “Here’s loads of Russian literature [usually books, not peer-reviewed papers] demonstrating how they used periodization during a time of great success for them, therefore periodization works”…as if we can’t think of any confounding variables that may have been in play at that time.

In Swing Kings, the gatekeepers were batting coaches employed by professional teams, keen to keep the current paradigm of batting technique—in which they were experts—in vogue, despite the innovations in understanding and technique being driven by outside coaches. It was easy to dismiss those outside coaches; they typically weren’t previously players, which was viewed as a weakness—although, of course, it prevented them from being indoctrinated with the incorrect technical model. When it comes to periodization, there are also potential gatekeepers—those who are incentivized to maintain the status quo (a recent paper defending periodization theory illustrates this quite nicely).

For those of us involved in sport, there are plenty of steps to ensure we are ready for a paradigm shift:

1. It’s useful to consider what our present mental model is: How do we think things work?
2. We need to examine whether how we think things work actually matches up to the data: If, in our mental model, a certain type of training should bring about a certain type of improvement, does that always happen?
3. We need to look for conflicting data: Do the performance statistics match what we think happens? Does training mimic competition? Do the results from biomechanical analysis match up with what we think is happening?

This matches the story of Swing Kings quite closely: What the hitters—and their coaches—thought was happening did not correspond with what the slow-motion video demonstrated was actually occurring, leading to a faulty mental model.

The next step is where the paradigm shift occurs: Can you change your mental model based on the real-world observations you have, and does it improve your outcomes? Finally, who are the key gatekeepers preventing scientific progress in your field? Who are those invested in not challenging the status quo? And are you sure it isn’t you?

Who are the key gatekeepers preventing scientific progress in your field? Who are those invested in not challenging the status quo? And are you sure it isn’t you? asks @craig100m. Share on X

Critical Thinking and an Open Mind

It’s common to develop communities with people who share the same beliefs as us—it’s good for our ego to gravitate toward those who think like we do. We all do this. I would label myself as politically left wing, and so I view news stories through this lens. I prefer to interact with others who are left wing, and I find myself with little time for those with right-wing views. This is, of course, dangerous, and it leads to the development of echo chambers—often resulting in the strengthening of the views of a small group, as opposed to critical and rational thinking.

In Swing Kings, the obvious example of this is two different communities: those who thought the bat moved backward during the initial part of the swing—and so coached this movement—and those who didn’t. Players were caught in the middle. As the prevailing technical paradigm was that the bat didn’t move backward, this was the mental model of those batting coaches employed by the MLB. If a player spent his off-season with a coach who worked with what the data suggested was happening—that is, the bat does move backward—he would then either have this coached out of him upon his return to the team by the gatekeepers, or risk being ostracized.

Perhaps the key lesson—particularly in the social media age—is to develop your critical thinking skills and have a broad base of knowledge, so that you can expose yourself to various different opinions without getting swept along by the tide of public opinion. By being able to absorb and understand information, we prepare ourselves to challenge the status quo where appropriate, make our own paradigm shifts, and gain a competitive advantage.

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

I, like many other coaches, take pride in having what we call a “coach’s eye.” I like to think I can recognize postural problems or mechanical missteps in my athletes and suggest tweaks in technique to help them improve. But no matter how good my eye is, it will never be as good as objective data. I’m okay with that.

The problem with the coach’s eye is that the information it gives is anecdotal, comes in small sample sizes, and is hard to track over time. And that’s without even mentioning the fact that sometimes our eyes don’t tell the truth. In baseball, for example, old-school scouts have sat for decades behind home plate with notebooks and tins of Skoal evaluating what they see with their eyes. One scout famously said of future Hall-of-Famer Chipper Jones—who hit .488 as a top prospect in his senior year of high school—that he “was not aggressive with [the] bat. Did not drive the ball from either side. Displayed non-chalant attitude at all times. He was a disappointment to me […] Young player with two average tools.”

In the case of Chipper Jones, hindsight is 20/20, but this coach’s eye was not. Reliable, objective data, tracked and analyzed over a period of time, can often uncover much more than meets the eye.

When it comes to speed, the most valuable data we have are sprint times…Times don’t lie. And yet, too many coaches aren’t taking advantage of this powerful tool, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

When it comes to speed, the most valuable pieces of data we have are sprint times. Unlike baseball, where there are mountains of metrics by which to evaluate players, speed data is pretty straightforward. Times don’t lie. And yet, too many coaches aren’t taking advantage of this powerful tool. They rarely, if ever, collect times in practice, leaving track meets as the only chance to collect timing data. I’ve worked with coaches who have literally said, “I’m not worried about their times right now.” To me, this is the gravest mistake we can make if we truly care about speed.

When we are training athletes for speed, we should be timing them every day. A stopwatch is cool and doubles as the official Track Coach ID Badge™ when worn around the neck, but even better is a Freelap timing system, which measures sprint times for multiple athletes and multiple splits more accurately and consistently than you can, no matter how quick your stopwatch trigger finger is.

Regardless of how you measure sprint times, the most important thing is that you do, in fact, measure them. Here are five reasons why.

1. “Gamifies” Training

People tend to do well at things that they enjoy, and the sports they play are no exception. It seems like a no-brainer, then, that we have to look for ways to make training enjoyable. This doesn’t mean that we show up to practice and goof around for an hour, so everyone leaves feeling like they just left Chuck E. Cheese. Practice isn’t a party, and that pizza isn’t even very good. But it does mean that, as coaches, we should look for ways to keep our training exciting, interesting, and appropriately challenging. One way that humans have always sought fun or enjoyment is through games. So, what if we could “gamify” the training process? Timing sprints does exactly that.

When you introduce a timer to sprint training, you inherently introduce competition. By timing, recording, ranking, and publishing sprint times from practice, you ensure the athletes are constantly competing against their own best times. Training becomes a game in which the players constantly attempt to beat their high scores, like a kid in an arcade with a pocket full of tokens and no consideration for the other kids who want a turn on the pinball machine. The pursuit becomes addictive. Achieving new high scores in the form of sprint PRs in practice is a way to keep kids actively engaged and interested in their training.

Last winter, before COVID-19 shut us down, every one of my athletes had set a new 40-yard dash PR by the end of a six-week training period, with an average improvement of right around 5%. We trained three times a week, in training flats, in the hallway of our school. The improvement was powerful to see, but equally as powerful was the level of engagement and enthusiasm I saw from them in training, and the anticipation I’d be met with outside my classroom door the next morning as kids lined up to see their new times posted. If I hadn’t been timing in practice, the only chances to measure improvement and chase new PRs would’ve been on meet days. Personally, I’d rather give them that opportunity every day.

Some would argue that you can introduce competition without timing by simply having athletes race, and they’re not wrong. But what about the athletes who lose those races? asks @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

Some would argue that you can introduce competition without timing by simply having athletes race, and they’re not wrong. But what about the athletes who lose those races? They’re now having regularly negative experiences with competition in practice, and that doesn’t help performance. Keep the athletes competing with themselves in practice, and let them compete with others in meets.

2. Creates a High-Performance Culture

Speaking of meets (or games, contests, matches, tests, or whatever your sport has), there are only so many in a season. A high school football team practices at least five times a week from August through October (and longer if they’re good), but only plays nine regular season games. Track and field isn’t that much different. In 2019—the last time we actually had a track and field season in Michigan—my team competed in 10 meets, and that included invitationals with limited entry. Some kids competed only five or six times.

Coaches always preach the importance of high performance, but I argue that if we’re only asking kids to perform on the day of a sanctioned competition, we’re setting them up for failure. That’s why we have to create a high-performance culture by timing sprints in practice with regularity.

In his most recent book, Win in the Dark, Joshua Medcalf highlights the importance of consistent and concentrated efforts toward a goal: “Everyone wants their moment in the spotlight. But you don’t shine under the bright lights. The bright lights only reveal your work in the dark.” I would add that if athletes aren’t encouraged to “work in the dark,” then the chances of “shining under the bright lights” is reduced drastically.

In other words, if athletes aren’t asked to perform at a high level consistently in practice, how can they be expected to perform at a high level during competition? High performance isn’t a switch that can be turned on at a moment’s notice; it’s an expectation we must hold for athletes all the time and a culture we must build in our programs. For track athletes, performance and time are synonymous. Performance on meet day is measured by the clock, and we do a great disservice to our athletes if we don’t measure performance the same way in practice.

3. Encourages Maximal Intent from Athletes

Effort and intent are two key elements of a high-performance culture. If there’s one thing coaches ask of their athletes, it’s that they give their absolute best in every race, and in every practice, and on every rep. I’ve found that the best way to encourage maximal intent from athletes is to measure performances—in this case, by timing sprints.

I’m here to tell you that you can recreate meet-like intent from athletes. This is, perhaps, the single most powerful impact of timing, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

It’s no secret that athletes tend to give their all on race day. Why? Because they’re up against the clock, their own expectations for themselves, and the rankings of the results. I’m here to tell you that you can recreate meet-like intent from athletes. This is, perhaps, the single most powerful impact of timing.

Coaches often speak about the importance of “giving your all” or “putting forth your best effort.” We’re always looking for ways to drive intent. It makes sense, then, that we have to design programs that facilitate the type of intent we want out of athletes.

If I want maximal effort and top-end speed, an untimed workout of 10×300 isn’t the ticket. Instead, I’ll aim for much lower volume and a shorter distance to ensure athletes are physically capable of sprinting, and time those sprints to let the athletes (and myself) know how they did. When the intent is high, so are the outcomes. Use your timing system to drive that intent, and watch what happens.

4. Provides Instant Quantitative Feedback

Competitors crave feedback. I’ve found this to be especially true at the high school level. When I coach hurdlers, they want feedback on every single rep and are often disappointed when I tell them I want to watch them a few times before making any comments. At meets, every coach who has ever lived has been asked “what was my time?” by an athlete—sometimes between huffs and puffs, because they just finished racing. In distance events, we call out splits to athletes at each lap to let them know how they’re doing. If the clock is the purest and most honest feedback tool we have, why wouldn’t we use it in practice?

Without timing, how will an athlete know if they’re faster this week than they were last week? How will a gangly freshman know what it feels like to truly sprint and what a difference it makes on the outcome? How will your kids know they’ve set a new PR if the only time they race the clock is on meet day?

If the clock is the purest and most honest feedback tool we have, why wouldn’t we use it in practice? asks@TrackCoachTG. Share on X

In Michigan, we start training indoors around the first of the year, and our kids may not race until March. How will they know if they’re getting better? Furthermore, if they are getting better, can they ever know how much better if you didn’t time them in practice during those early sessions? By withholding that feedback, we keep athletes in the dark about their objective, measurable growth. To improve anything, you have to measure it. Sprint times are no exception to this rule.

In addition to the feedback timing gives athletes, it’s important to think about what the data gives us as coaches, too. For example, timing sprints in practice over an extended period of time allows us to contextualize performance. Maybe an athlete didn’t set a new one-rep PR today, but maybe all five of their reps were faster than their rolling average in that metric. Or, maybe we can notice that all of an athlete’s times were consistent today, when three weeks ago they showed a dramatic drop-off in performance on the same workout. There are many ways we as coaches can help athletes to understand their progress, but not without data.

While we obviously hope that the data we receive by timing athletes in practice will show growth, it could also unveil potential problems. A pattern of times that are consistently slower than average, for example, could be a sign of fatigue, soreness, or even injury. Without that information, some problems could go undetected by the eye test.

Objective feedback can prompt us to start conversations with athletes. What time did you go to sleep last night? What have you eaten today? How much water have you had to drink? How are things at home? These are all questions we might not think to ask if there’s no alarm signal.

5. Ensures Submaximal Targets Are Met

Full disclosure: I’m not personally a fan of doing much submaximal work. I’m telling you this to be honest, but I also put this section last because if I’d told you I don’t care for tempo work at the beginning of this article, some of you would have quit reading right then and there. Now you’re roped in.

Look, it’s not that there’s anything wrong with tempo training, per se. In fact, when done well, it can deliver really solid results. But, too often, tempo is poorly prescribed by coaches or poorly executed by athletes. Sometimes it’s too slow to be effective and becomes mindless conditioning. If it doesn’t look like sprinting, it probably doesn’t help with sprinting. Other times, athletes struggle to hit a specific pace and end up missing their target: either they blow the first two reps out of the water and are shot for the rest of the workout, or they go much too slow at the start and look like a gym-class hero on the final rep when they leave everyone else in the dust.

All of this misses the point of tempo work. And while I’m not necessarily here to advocate for submaximal training, I am here to say that if you’re going to do it, you better have numbers to help you out. A chart like this one helps, too.

If I’m going to tell athletes they’ll be running 200’s at 80% of their PR, I have to know two things: 1) what their PR is; and 2) what time they need to run in order to achieve the percentage I’ve prescribed. Kids have no idea what 80% “feels” like, as a rule. But by timing sprints regularly, we can ensure those targets are met. For example, a high school athlete who runs 23.27 in the 200 would need to run 27.92 to hit an 80% tempo pace. If we know that, and the athlete knows that, then they will also know that 29 seconds is too slow and 26 seconds is too fast for the prescribed workout.

But tempo splits are also moving targets. What happens when a kid sets a new PR in a meet, and that 23.27 kid suddenly becomes a 22.75 kid? First of all, nice job, kid! But more to the point, all of that kid’s tempo splits have also changed now that the PR has improved. Without an accurate way to prescribe, time, and execute these workouts, it often becomes guesswork—and that’s not great for developing speed.

But What About…?

In my opinion, there is no downside to timing sprints in practice, but I admit that it takes a little bit of effort, planning, and management. Still, none of those are so voluminous that they should keep you from doing it.

In my opinion, there is no downside to timing sprints in practice, but I admit that it takes a little bit of effort, planning, and management, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

For example, some of you might be wondering about the cost of a timing system and how it fits into your budget. This is a valid concern. As a coach at a school with a very tight budget, I had to write a grant in order to secure funding for a Freelap system. While there may not be money in your athletic budget, there might be dollars available through community donors, organizations, or fundraisers you organize.

And even if a timing system isn’t in reach right now, that’s okay. Remember, you can still use the trusty stopwatch you’ve used for decades while you save up for a system. You just won’t be able to time short, flying sprints accurately and will have to account for human error. I’d recommend timing sprints of at least 30 meters, and averaging the athlete’s attempts for the day to account for those obstacles.

I know that some of you just read that and thought, “You mean I have to do MATH, too!?” I mean, maybe. But truth be told, an Excel sheet that uses the AVG function will do it for you. All you have to do is write the times down. Assign a coach, a team manager, or the kid who rolled his ankle playing basketball in his driveway over the weekend to stand near the finish line and write down the times. Then put those times into your spreadsheet sometime that evening while you binge watch The Office for the fourth time. The benefit of the information you’ll gain from doing this with regularity will far outweigh the cost of the time it takes to do so.

Another perceived hurdle to timing in practice is the setup. But, look. It’s not like you’re bringing out the FAT system you use for meets here. I can set up my timing system in the same amount of time it takes me to place any other set of cones on the track, and the entire thing fits in a bag that I carry over my shoulder. It’s a perfect job for an assistant to take care of while you’re coaching athletes through their sprint drills or while kids change into their spikes. I know you can find a few minutes to make it happen if it’s important to you.

At the end of the day, the logistics of timing may be a little more than what you’re doing at the moment, but it’s a small price to pay for the data you gain, says @TrackCoachTG. Share on X

If times are paramount when it comes to speed development, as I argue they are, then everyone should be timing in practice. As consumer analyst Arthur C. Nielsen says, “The price of light is less than the cost of darkness.” At the end of the day, the logistics of timing may be a little more than what you’re doing at the moment, but it’s a small price to pay for the data you gain. Come out of the darkness. If you want your athletes to get faster, can you really afford not to?

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

The primary goal of strength coaches is to develop athletes who are fast, powerful, and strong on the field. To that end, over the years there has been a significant emphasis on the strength portion. As far as the power side, most strength coaches have used Olympic lift variations, traditional plyometrics, or a combination of both. Although you should include these types of drills in your training program, these movements do not account for all of the change of direction patterns we see on the field.

Athletic movement is performed in specific patterns. When an athlete moves from one position to another, they need to create power during this transition or link movement patterns. To bridge the gap between training in the gym and playing the sport, coaches need to understand patterns of movement, which they can use to improve patterns of multidirectional power.

Video 1. This video demonstrates the linking of movement patterns that may happen in sport. It also shows the point at which athletes need to produce power to effectively change direction and accelerate.

Sport Practice Isn’t Enough

Wait, won’t an athlete get enough of this from playing their sport?

Possibly, but not likely. There are a few missing pieces from just practice alone. First, we need to look at the coordination aspect. What I mean by that is good athletic movement can be defined as choosing the appropriate movement pattern at the appropriate time and executing it exactly as you want to.

Good athletic movement can be defined as choosing the appropriate movement pattern at the appropriate time and executing it exactly as you want to. Share on X

The key part of that is executing the movement at exactly the angle and position you want. In practice, a defender may perceive the correct movement, but miss the angle at which to execute the movement—which may allow the offensive player to get past them. This particular defender may continue to lack coordination of a particular movement skill despite playing a sport for a decade. So, if practice is the answer, why is this athlete still deficient in a particular movement?

You also need to consider the intent of the drill. In order to improve speed and power, the quality of the training has to be high. If an athlete is not moving at 95% or higher of their maximal output, then we are not actually improving top end speed and power. In a sport practice, the athlete may perform drill after drill without getting adequate recovery between them. This will automatically decrease performance intensity due to fatigue. Training multidirectional power in a controlled setting allows the coach to choose the particular exercises, as well as the sets and reps, to ensure the highest possible quality and intent.

Understanding Patterns of Speed

Before going further into multidirectional plyometrics, let’s first understand the foundational patterns of movement we see in sports. Along with linear acceleration and sprinting, athletes move in one, or often a combination, of these patterns.

Plyo Step

The plyo step, sometimes called a “drop step,” occurs when an athlete begins in a position with their feet in line with one another. Think of a linebacker in football before a snap or an infielder in baseball. In a sense, the athlete begins in what we know as an “athletic position”—from this position, they are able to move in any direction. For the plyo step, the athlete sprints forward from this stance, and to create a more positive shin angle, the athlete steps backward in order to go forward. If we just fall, the movement is too slow, and we cannot create the same angles of force.

Video 2. Here you can see how an athlete punches one foot backward in order to move forward. This is a more effective way to accelerate from a parallel stance than just leaning forward and taking a step.

Lateral Shuffle

We are all very familiar with the lateral shuffle. From an athletic position, the athlete pushes off of the outside leg and pulls with the lead leg.

Lateral Run

Some coaches may term this a “crossover run.” This pattern is used when an athlete requires more speed than a lateral shuffle. The shoulders stay relatively square while the hips turn to the side.

Video 3. Athletes perform lateral runs all the time in sport. The athlete stays square to the play or the opposing player while their hips face the direction that they move.

Hip Turn

A hip turn occurs any time an athlete needs to move behind them at any angle. Athletes punch a foot in front of themselves in order to create an angle of force to move backward. As they initiate the punch, the other leg repositions itself to allow the athlete to move backward efficiently. A couple of examples of this are a cornerback in football repositioning to defend a wide receiver sprinting past them and a baseball outfielder tracking a ball overhead.

Video 4. In a hip turn, notice how the foot punches in front of the body to allow the opposite leg to reposition to the angle the athlete needs to move.

Curvilinear Running

In sport, athletes don’t always run in straight lines. Often, they run in various curved angles, as they try to get to the edge around a defender. In these instances, we will notice them leaning toward the inside of the turn and utilizing both the inside and outside edges of the feet. When they use these types of speed patterns in combination, the movement possibilities are endless. In other words, athletes need to produce power at every possible angle.

In other words, athletes need to produce power at every possible angle. Share on X

In a typical plyometric program, you’ll probably see countermovement jumps, broad jump variations, depth jumps, and lateral bounds. These are all great and play a role in enhancing speed and power, but what are the angles at which coaches have athletes perform these jumps? Typically, they are done straight up and down (countermovement jumps), straight ahead (broad jumps), or directly to the side (lateral bounds).

How often in reactive sports will someone be moving in exactly these positions? Not often. That’s why we need to add different directions and angles of power to match the patterns we see in competition.

Use Closed Drills as a Movement Assessment

Athletes need to perform multidirectional plyometrics in a closed drill fashion for us to see if they have weaknesses in any particular position or angle. Over the past 10 years, I’ve trained quite a few athletes, and by having them just do a reactive hip turn drill where I point to one side or the other, I can tell which side of the field they play. Any defender who plays on the right side is much better at performing a hip turn to their right as opposed to their left because that is the side to which they are more likely to turn in practice and competition.

What if this player is asked to move to the other side of the field? As a coach, you need to make sure this athlete is prepared for this by including retreating patterns of power development within your plyometric program. Relying on countermovement jumps and lateral bounds is not enough to address this specific pattern of movement.

Reverse Engineer the Sport

The next step is figuring out exactly how we go about improving power in all planes and angles. The whole purpose of this type of plyometric system is to reverse engineer the sport. First, based on the position the athlete plays in their sport, figure out which patterns of power they utilize most often. Defenders will need to excel at any angle moving laterally as well as backward; forwards (or an offensive player) will need to excel at any angle moving forward as well as laterally.

I’ll continue using the example of a defender. Can they produce power well moving from both the left to the right and the right to the left? From there, begin to change the angle. Can they move well to the left and angle back to the right? How about the other side? Based on these answers, it’s up to you as the coach to choose the appropriate drill for the athlete. Give the athlete the best chance to excel in sport by adding more movement skills and power to their movement toolbox.

Once you think about reverse engineering the sport, it seems logical to incorporate multidirectional plyometrics into your training system. I see a lot of coaches incorporate extensive jumps at different angles into their training, but then only include intensive countermovement jumps, broad jumps, and lateral bounds. One of the reasons more coaches don’t utilize this method is because it is difficult to measure. It’s easy to test a broad jump or vertical jump, but how do you measure better quality movement? It is possible using any device that measures ground contact time.

Once you think about reverse engineering the sport, it seems logical to incorporate multidirectional plyometrics into your training program. Share on X

I use the gFlight v2 to get a reading on ground contact time. I have the athlete step down off a box, punch the ground with a single foot, and land with the opposite foot on a low box at the angle or position of my choosing. Make sure to keep the box the athlete is landing on at a standard angle and distance from the point of contact on the ground. With the distance fixed, we can see improvement in power if the ground contact time decreases.

Video 5. Since power is a result of force/time, we are able to track lateral power using this test. If the distance remains the same, but the time on the ground decreases, we can infer that the athlete created more lateral power. You can also have athletes perform this test at different angles to test power in multiple directions.

Focus on Decreasing Time on the Ground

Power is a combination of force and time. Too many plyometric programs focus on the force side of power production instead of on minimizing the time of power production. Both force development, which involves longer ground contact time, and drills focusing on decreasing ground contact time should be a part of training, but the large majority of training programs fail to adequately focus on decreasing ground contact time.

When the focus is always on height or distance, the angle of the shin becomes more upright. Changing directions quickly is about keeping a more positive shin angle to direct force more horizontally. If coaches continue to have athletes focus solely on creating distance, they will ingrain a pattern that is not optimal for coordinating movement patterns.  

Video 6. This shows a focus on minimizing time on the ground as opposed to more of a jump and land with a focus on maximizing distance. This is more specific to the types of movements an athlete utilizes when changing direction.

Train Unilaterally

Another key to improving on-field speed and power is training power unilaterally. Often, this means planting a single leg into the ground to throw an opposing player off balance or, as a defender, reacting to that type of movement. Despite this, just about all plyometric programs stick to only bilateral jumps.

Am I asking people to go right to single-leg depth jumps? Absolutely not! But we do need to get athletes used to planting and punching off of a single leg. If we really want to use the term “physical preparation coach,” we need to prepare athletes for the angles of force and the positions they will see in competition. Once again, if you have the mindset that they get this enough in sport, you will fail to ever notice if they lack a particular pattern of multidirectional power.

Video 7. Patterns of power need to be developed at different angles. In this video, you’ll see a lateral to forward pattern of power. The athlete moves laterally and then punches into the ground to direct himself forward. Also notice the angle of the punch changes to address the different angles that will happen in competition.

Video 8. This is a similar concept as the lateral to forward pattern of power, except this time the force is directed backward in a retreating pattern.

Develop Positional Strength

A phrase I heard recently that I love is “your body can only produce force in positions in which it can absorb force.” If you watch an athlete, and it looks like they get stuck in the mud during a change of direction, they could be lacking the positional strength with which to absorb and redirect force.

There are three different factors that dictate the position of the athlete when changing direction:

1. Speed: What is the speed at which the athlete is moving before they change direction? If an athlete performs a single lateral shuffle before changing direction back the other way, they do not have a lot of speed built up, so the change of direction isn’t as physically demanding as sprinting 15 yards and then having to slam on the brakes and go the other direction.
2. Angle: What is the angle at which the athlete is changing direction? If an athlete sprints 5 yards straight ahead and then cuts forward at 45 degrees, that movement will be easier to execute than sprinting 5 yards and then cutting backward at 45 degrees.
3. Strength: The strength of the athlete also dictates the position. Stronger athletes can stop at higher hip and knee angles than weaker athletes can. A deep hip and knee angle will take longer to accelerate than a higher hip and knee angle.

Creating Transfer

If the true goal of sports performance is to create transfer for the athlete, we have to start taking into account not just the strength and conditioning requirements, but also the movement requirements of different sports and different positions in those sports.

The term ‘sport specific’ should be synonymous with ‘movement pattern specific.’ Share on X

The term “sport specific” should be synonymous with “movement pattern specific”—if we think about sport in this way, multidirectional plyometrics should be a part of every athlete’s program in some way.

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

Originally used in the dynamic world of business as a way to illustrate effectiveness—and therefore, where to focus energy to increase profit margins—“leading” and “lagging” indicators are useful concepts to direct and focus training. In the performance field, testing and evaluation can be seen as a means to validate our efforts as effective professionals (essentially, our profit margins): After X amount of training time, the athlete saw Y improvements in their strength, power, endurance, etc.

Originally used in the dynamic world of business as a way to illustrate effectiveness, ‘leading’ and ‘lagging’ indicators are useful concepts to direct and focus training, says @JuanCTPerez. Share on X

While this method of testing has its merits, it is very limited. For example, if Athlete A improved their squat max, it is safe to say that their strength has increased. We could also say technique improvements, among other things, are the root cause, but for the sake of this argument, we will call it a strength improvement. Additionally, if Athlete A’s 40-yard time, pro agility, broad jump, and vertical jump improved, we could use those all as indications of increased performance. While these numbers look great, they may have little to no carryover to what actually matters: the game.

This is where the concept of leading and lagging indicators comes in.

Leading and lagging indicators can provide more value in defining our roles as performance professionals. In the business world, leading indicators are metrics such as:

• Weekly number of sales calls and meetings.
• Weekly new customers.
• Monthly sales.

To dive in even further, a leading indicator is an indicator that might help predict future success. For example, all of the key performance indicators (KPIs) we track are an example of leading indicators. On the other hand, lagging indicators are:

• Annual or monthly sales.
• Annual cash flow.
• Customer satisfaction.

A lagging indicator is one that actually measures past performances. For example, in soccer, a lagging indicator for a team could be injuries, total number of shots, shots on goal, total number of passes, match possession in the opponent’s half, or wins/losses. If the lagging indicators are not improving, but the leading indicators are, then it may be time to choose new leading indicators that more accurately align with our goals in competition.

Determining Lagging Indicators

The first step in determining lagging indicators is to talk with the actual sport coach. While having an understanding of the game is vital, it is in no way a replacement for actually talking to the coach. In addition, obtaining the box score sheet after each game can be very valuable for the coach who likes to track data points.

This process is also helpful because leading/lagging indicators can be time-based. For example, in the postseason, lagging indicators might increase in a certain category compared to the preseason. This can be due to increased fatigue over the course of the season, which may have implications on what should be measured at that time. Perhaps you were measuring RPE as a leading indicator, when in fact you should have been measuring something more objective such as lower body power?

How to Select Effective Leading Indicators

The key to selecting effective leading indicators lies in the game itself. Typically, sports performance professionals have a reductionist approach where we analyze physiological metrics of athleticism—which are important, but may not have a direct bearing on the game. Chances are, we all know an athlete who wasn’t quite as strong as the competition but was still able to compensate and outperform them in game situations. One of the most notable examples is Kevin Durant, who failed to rep 185 pounds on a bench press at the NBA Combine while he was playing at the University of Texas—most would say that he has been fairly successful despite this shortcoming of upper body pressing strength.

While these physical tests may give coaches numbers to hang their hats on, more effective tests may be something like reactive strength index (RSI) for lower body power, vertical jump repeatability for power endurance, reactive agility, or something similar. The point is not in the actual test, it’s in the fact that these tests have some level of correlation with actual basketball skills such as rebounding and reaction time that may have a greater influence on the game outcome than an action such as bench press.

Internal vs. External Measures

This is a helpful distinction to define when determining what to measure. If a practitioner solely takes internal and/or subjective measures such as resting heart rate (RHR) and rate of perceived exertion (RPE), then only part of the story is being told. On the other hand, if the practitioner only takes external measures such as power output on a force plate, vertical jump height, or GPS metrics, then only half the story is still being told.

One suggestion is to base your indicators on the most important factors in the sport, says @JuanCTPerez. Share on X

At the same time, care must be taken not to have too many measures, as this may become unmanageable during the course of a busy season or during road trips and team travel. The measures must be able to be recorded quickly, consistently, and efficiently, even in a larger team setting. When taking these measures, intra (within the same practitioner) and inter (between multiple practitioners) rater reliability must be controlled for, so that the measures stay accurate over time.

Now that we have a common language on internal versus external, how do we select the most appropriate measures? One suggestion would be to base your indicators on the most important factors in the sport. For example, in basketball, power is very important, so one external measure you would want to take into account is either power output on a force plate or vertical jump height. This will give a picture on whether the training program is positively affecting that key quality.

In conjunction with measuring power, we can also measure RHR to give us a better idea of why we are seeing what we’re seeing. An example of this could again be with the vertical jump: If we see a great score on the Just Jump and then a subsequent tank for a period of time, we may conclude that the athlete just had a really good day and consider that score an outlier. BUT, if we have the RHR and see that there is a correlated elevation in HR at the same time, we may find that the athlete has been going through a period of stress and may be in a state of overtraining/under-recovering. This is just one example of how internal AND external measures can be beneficial, but there are countless others.

The Most Overlooked Measure

One largely overlooked measure in this technological arms race is the simplest of all—conversations with your athletes. This would fall into the category of internal and subjective measures. You can uncover a lot by SINCERELY asking the question, “How are you today?”

One largely overlooked measure in this technological arms race is the simplest of all—conversations with your athletes, says @JuanCTPerez. Share on X

The major missed part in this equation is the sincerity. If you have not fostered a relationship with your team where honest expression can be given, or you don’t have an actual relationship with the athlete, then don’t even bother with this one because the standard answer to avoid further confrontation will be “good.”

Having said that, we must take into account that this measure is not particularly quantifiable; still, there are things we can do to make it so. For example, after posing the question to your athlete, you can either let the answer fade into the wind as most coaches do, or you can track it through a total quality recovery scale (TQR). After compiling your team’s TQR scores, you can then adjust training as needed. While this method is not feasible for those with limited staff, it is something that can make a difference in training.

How Many Data Points?

One of the most common questions within testing is how many data points should I get? The answer: as many as you can take without disrupting training.

The standard college approach is to have a testing session when athletes arrive on campus, right before play starts, and then one postseason. If time and circumstances allow, then one testing session during the season can also be executed. If this approach is utilized, that only allows for three testing points a year…which means in a four-year cycle, there are only about 12 total testing points.

This approach may work in a given setting, but it’s by no means optimal. A more effective approach would be to implement exercises or simple “temperature checks” embedded throughout the training cycles. This could look as easy as implementing a Just Jump score and an RPE at multiple times throughout the week.

For example, if Team A seems to have particularly high numbers on the Just Jump mat after a velocity-based training day, it may be a good idea to implement a velocity-based training day before a game if your situation allows. In basketball this could lead to more rebounds, or for volleyball a higher number of kills. Likewise, if Team A reports that their RPE is very high after a particular training day, you may want to place that session as far away from game day as possible.

Measure What Matters

It would be easy to say measure A, B, and C for the most accurate depiction of what’s happening with your team, but the truth is this would be erroneous and irresponsible. While most sports share commonalities, it is impossible for me to know what is going on in your current setting, with your current coaches, and your current performance staff. If a measure is suggested, but you don’t have the means to record it, then it is ineffective. Care must be taken to work with the coaching staff of your sport, the athletes on the team, and your sports performance staff to see what can be done consistently and at a high level. In the realm of athletics, answers are always sought but hardly ever given.

What matters in determining leading and lagging indicators? The answer is ‘It depends.’ …If a measure is suggested, but you don’t have the means to record it, then it is ineffective. Share on X

Likewise, for the question of what matters in determining leading and lagging indicators, the answer is “it depends.” In my own coaching experience, I can definitively state that when athletes were not hitting their training percentages (leading indicator-external measure), and post training RPEs were higher than normal (leading indicator-internal measure), practice performance also suffered (lagging indicator).

When I took all these factors into account, I could clearly see that I selected the correct measures. While it was much easier for me to make on-the-spot adjustments for athletes who I had been working with for a while—and implement a recovery day when needed—these indicators proved particularly helpful for me when working with incoming athletes such as freshmen or recent transfers. If, after an adjustment period, the new athlete performed a similar workout as the rest of the team but was not hitting their particular numbers on a specific day or was very slow with their weights in addition to a high RPE, in conjunction with a high performance in a practice or a game, then a conversation was in order.

Many times, I was able to uncover that an athlete hated a particular exercise, and I could make an adjustment in order to make training more enjoyable and get better returns. However, when the same scenario occurred—but training performance was poor on multiple days and practice was not as sharp as it had been—I could see that the athlete needed a recovery intervention of some sort. While these particular leading/lagging indicators may not be the first choice for everyone, they have proven particularly helpful for me in my coaching.

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

In grade school, we’re taught the scientific method and how to work through each step in order to draw conclusions about a given problem. The same basic model is instilled all the way through the post-graduate level—during my DPT curriculum, we learned from surgeons that the basic process of developing competence in any given surgery is: see one, do one, teach one. Obviously, surgeons don’t watch just a single procedure before making their first incision (I hope), and the systematic approach remains in place to solidify the learning process and progress towards mastery.

In coaching, however, while we do see freely-shared forms of programming and exercise progressions, what we don’t see as frequently is an implementation of sound movement diagnostics and teaching strategies. What I mean by this is that many programs seem to put more emphasis on the what than on the how in training. Coaches across the nation are now catching on to the idea that sprinting and jumping are critically important aspects of developing speed and power.

Many programs seem to put more emphasis on the *what* than on the *how* in training, says @BrendanThompsn. Share on X

However, there is not a plethora of information being presented as to what these tasks should look like. In videos of athletes sprinting, everything from the starting position to the initial three steps to maximal speed mechanics looks drastically different. Some are overstriding and landing on their heels, others are understriding in favor of frequency. There are athletes who are straining to the point of rigidity without fluidity, and others who are so relaxed that they’re getting no displacement.

Without addressing mechanical proficiency in these tasks, athletes are starting to see plateaus in their performances due to inefficiency. The cost of sprinting and jumping at maximal intensity with poor mechanics can lead to severe detriments in performance, even to the point of regression or injury. Programming is only so effective without technical concepts being taught and refined along the way.

Mind and Matter Working Together

As a coach, seeing the lack of technical progressions in training is discouraging because it removes the most fundamental aspect of sports and performance from the program: proper movement. An athlete doesn’t need a coach in order to understand that running, jumping, and lifting will make them better. Sound programming methodology is great, but the absence of time spent on technique sets the bar extremely low and establishes a norm that movement doesn’t matter.

Many performance professionals have adopted a self-organization model of performance in which they use task repetition to allow the athletes to develop their own natural ways of moving. Many athletes will reach a more optimal stage of mechanical proficiency as their training age increases, but most athletes will not self-discover optimal mechanics without intervention.

Each human being follows what is called the path of least resistance, in that their body tends to utilize positions and movement patterns that are the easiest to achieve. As we adopt different postures throughout our lives, the path of least resistance can vary greatly from individual to individual.

With each repetition of a task, the body self-organizes in a way that is very broad. The cerebellum has a blueprint and is constantly refining that blueprint until we can safely and efficiently complete a task. If I drink from a glass of water and spill, the blueprint in my cerebellum will reorganize so that it doesn’t happen again. If I spill again with the refined blueprint, the cerebellum will again throw out what it believes did not work and refine the pattern. Every time that I don’t spill, the cerebellum will reinforce the pattern and continue to do so each time I drink from a cup without spilling.

All of this is to say that while self-organization does naturally occur without direct intervention, the movement strategy is the bare minimum for the body to survive in the wild, and the majority of athletes will not quickly (or possibly ever) self-discover optimal movement to maximize performance capacity in sprinting.

If we line up 10 self-organized athletes and have them sprint, you’ll likely see 10 very different ways of moving. While a few of these 10 athletes may have naturally good habits with regards to turnover, arm swing, trunk posture, body lean, or striking mechanics, it is highly unlikely that those who do not express ideal mechanics in the group will self-organize to match the others.

Why Teaching Movement Matters

Coaches need to have a general understanding of how the body should be operating during performance in order to give meaningful lessons about it. This is the foundation of coaching, as it allows you to qualitatively dissect performances and give live feedback to an individual or group of athletes. With this comes the ever-growing repertoire of cues, analogies, demonstrations, and drills to help the athlete progress towards understanding the important qualities you’re after. Each time you utilize one of these intervention strategies, you’ll naturally find the things that work and don’t work for each athlete, which will refine your approach in the future.

Not all athletes will respond well to the same teaching strategy, so coaches have a responsibility to recognize when there’s a lapse and to overcome it in the best way possible. As the famous quote goes: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” If what you’re teaching isn’t sticking, don’t be afraid to try a new strategy or come up with a creative idea to get things to click for the athlete.

You don’t need a doctorate in science to have a meaningful impact as a teacher and reinforce key aspects of performance. That being said, I would recommend having at least a general understanding of muscle function, physics, the kinetic chain, and principles of motor learning in order to explain complex concepts in a simple manner to the athlete. It may accelerate your ability to achieve success in your chosen intervention and help build trust in the athlete-coach relationship.

Teaching athletes is not a perfect science, though. Even though there are simple ways to help athletes conceptualize what is expected of them, they don’t guarantee correct performance. Taking a multidimensional approach to teaching concepts significantly increases the odds that something you present to the athlete will be beneficial to the end goal. Because athletes have different learning styles, developing a strategy that presents a variety of learning opportunities (as opposed to relying heavily on one technique) will ensure that fewer athletes fall through the cracks.

Taking a multidimensional approach to teaching concepts significantly increases the odds that something you present to the athlete will be beneficial to the end goal, says @BrendanThompsn. Share on X

A Multidimensional Teaching Model

My teaching approach is systematic, following many principles of teaching and learning in general. The goal is to provide a variety of inputs with opportunities to demonstrate proficiency and maximize learning for each athlete. These inputs allow the athletes to use a wide array of tools rather than just one. I enjoy providing verbal instruction, visual demonstration, question and answer sessions, and information on scientific principles, as well as chances to repeatedly exhibit their skill as their mastery is refined over time.

Below is a simplified checklist of what is involved in my teaching process:

1. 1. Athlete performs task without cues (the “Baseline” stage)

 

1. 1. Present the problem

 

1. 1. Athlete’s first attempt to solve

 

1. 1. Present concept

 

1. 1. Athlete’s second attempt to solve

 

1. 1. Visual demonstration with explanation

 

1. 1. Cue as necessary (the “Work in Progress” stage)

 

1. 1. Gradually remove cues and encourage reflection

 

1. Athlete autonomy (the “Competent” stage)

**Repeat the cycle periodically in training and as you add wrinkles to the task.

I understand that, for coaches, there is a demand to simplify as much as possible and that this checklist may seem complex at first glance. I encourage you to adopt your own systematic approach that works with your practice flow and fits well with your athletes. Even if it doesn’t touch on every aspect of learning, that system will provide a variety of opportunities and serve more athletes overall than a one-dimensional teaching approach. Once you’re comfortable with it, you’ll start to plug in and play different pieces on the fly as you get better at reading and responding to each athlete’s response to a given stimulus.

Now is a good time to drop a quick reminder that we are trying to rewire movement patterns and introduce novel concepts that may challenge preferences deeply ingrained in their muscle memory. While you may be able to make headway on several things, don’t expect those qualities to be permanently improved after 5 or 10 minutes of targeted work once or twice per week.

While you may be able to make headway on several things, don’t expect those qualities to be permanently improved after 5 or 10 minutes of targeted work once or twice per week, says @BrendanThompsn. Share on X

It took the athlete a lifetime to get to the point you found them, and it is your job to communicate with them that technique refinement is a gradual process that will test their patience. It will take tons of guided and unguided practice to really ingrain the new movement pattern to the point of being second nature—reminding the athletes that it will take time helps keep their frustrations low as they experiment with different strategies.

Practical Application: The Pitter Patter Plague

The “pitter patter plague” is one of the most common things I run into when coaching speed for high school athletes: most of them are in such a hurry to get to the finish from the start that they sabotage their performance capacity. There is no sound race strategy being executed and when the gun goes off, the athlete tries to start in sixth gear rather than working through each gear smoothly to win the drag race.

I used to have this problem myself and would often be leading races from the gun for about 70-80m before getting passed. This pattern is even more exaggerated in a 200m, as you’re holding on for the last 80m of a race. I could get away with it most of the time in high school, but capped my 100m and 200m times at 10.98 FAT and 22.41 FAT, respectively.

As soon as I learned how to execute a patient acceleration in college, I dropped my PRs down to 10.57 and 21.18, which effectively took me from irrelevant in the Big Ten Conference to winning medals on different relays, eventually becoming an All-American and school record holder in the 4x100m relay (39.12).

It isn’t that the potential to be a 10.7 and 21.9 high school sprinter wasn’t there, but it is that I was capping my performances due to poor execution. Below is an example of how I use the teaching system presented above to help athletes understand and cure the pitter patter plague.

1. 1. Athlete performs sprint without cues: Many athletes defer to spinning their wheels (frequency) at the expense of covering enough ground (stride length) in the initial acceleration phase of the sprint. Rushing the acceleration causes ground contact times to be too short for optimal force production and the end result is a decrease in displacement and subsequent velocities. Issues are identified during the warmup as I have athletes perform 20yd sprints periodically throughout, starting at 60% intensity and gradually working up to 100% . The shoulder excursion is generally small, which means the hip excursion will be, too. The center of mass tends to rise prematurely, and the athlete is upright sprinting within a few short, rushed steps.

 

1. 1. Present the problem: The equation for velocity is stride length x stride frequency. The pitter patter plague is an issue as it often leads to athletes hitting their top speeds prematurely, after which they begin decelerating sooner and to a greater degree than with a well-executed acceleration. As they are still gaining speed, many sprinters may already be at their limit of holding that speed once the fatigue hits…and they’re holding on for dear life at the end of a race.
      I stumbled upon a recent Tom Tellez piece with this concise yet eloquent statement: “The best way to get passed at 90m is to hit top speed at 40m.” I could not agree more, as this perfectly describes the majority of what I see in inexperienced athletes who train in programs that do not identify or address this nuance.
   2. Typically, I’ll tell my athletes something along these lines: “Hey nice job on that, I like the intensity you brought in that rep. Your frequency is good in that you can move your legs really fast, but it’s so fast we aren’t covering any ground, which is only half of the equation.”

 

3. 3. Athlete’s first attempt to solve: Having been presented with the information above, typically the athlete will try to artificially extend their stride length by reaching their legs out on the next 10-20yd sprint repetition. The wheels are no longer spinning out of control, but the solution they came up with shifts them to the opposite end of the spectrum. I refer to this as “moon running,” as they are meaninglessly floating in the air rather than violently sprinting across the Earth.

 

3. 3. Present concept: Here is the point I tell the athlete that they’ve now exhibited both ends of the spectrum. We’ve now seen Saturday morning cartoon sprints and moon bounds. The encouraging thing is that they’ve demonstrated the ability to consciously express both. The downfall is that neither are ideal in this particular circumstance. They need to explore variances of stride length and frequency that exist in the middle of the spectrum in order to find the optimal ratio for their biological constraints. All they need is guided practice to find it and then they can progress towards mastering it on their own. We can afford to give up some of the frequency in favor of longer strides, but only to an extent. Our arms and legs are attached by invisible strings, so when our arm swing is short and choppy, our stride will be too. Similarly, when the arms are swinging long and slow, the legs will follow suit. The happy middle ground that exists between a choppy arm swing and a passive one will usually yield more optimal results for the athlete.

 

3. 3. Athlete’s second attempt to solve: Usually, this rep would look less exaggerated than the first attempt to solve. The stride length is still excessive, but appears to have a more natural cadence than before. We go back to the drawing board and I begin to give them a plethora of visual rather than verbal information. The visual information may be in the form of a physical demonstration where I exhibit the fault in their movement so they can see what is problematic. Other visual info may come in the form of a quick video snapped on my phone or, at times, I’ll dive in all the way and use Dartfish to get my point across. There are no concrete rules in how you present this information; the goal is to simply provide some form of visual data in the event the athlete is more of a visual learner than a conceptual learner. As stated before, this is just my way of making sure fewer athletes fall through the cracks in the event a certain teaching modality doesn’t suit the athlete’s preferred learning style.

 

3. 3. Visual demonstration with explanation: I show the athlete both ends of the spectrum and break down the progression of a full sprint. I may begin clapping or drumming a rhythm that is initially slower and speeds up as I progress. This illustrates the nature of a sprint, as early on the athlete’s stride frequency will be a bit slower and gradually pick up as they work their way down the track, gridiron, pitch, etc. Here is where I also take the time to show them a video of themselves in a side-by-side comparison with other established sprinters. As they rush through the acceleration in the video, I pause and often say something along the lines of: “This would be the equivalent of attempting a max vertical jump from a quarter- or half-squat position. There’s still a lot of potential power sitting in your legs and the fact that you’re rushing means that power is never expressed. Be patient and you’ll run faster.”

 

3. 3. Cue as necessary: With each repetition from here forward the athlete will wax and wane between too frequent, too long, and just right. If they’re on either end of the spectrum for too long, all they need is a subtle reminder such as “Move your arms faster” to cue faster frequency, or “Bigger arms” to cue longer stride length. The most valuable things the athlete can do to learn are to get high quality repetitions and to experiment with execution. In our physical therapy curriculum, we often refer to this type of issue as a movement pattern coordination deficit. It’s not that the athlete doesn’t have the capacity to perform, it is that their chosen movement patterns are detrimental to that performance, and optimizing these movement patterns is going to be key in their improvement.

 

3. 3. Gradually remove cues and encourage reflection: As the magnitude of the ebbs and flows shrink and the athlete begins closing in on their optimal stride length and frequency, they need less input and more repetitions. This doesn’t mean I stop cueing completely, but it means I cue less frequently and stop being a helicopter parent. They’ve got wings and need to practice flying with less guidance and more self-awareness. As I remove the frequency of input and taper my cues, I replace them with occasional comments to inspire introspection on a given rep or set of repetitions. “How’d that feel?” “What did you do well there?” “What do you think you need to work on?” Subtle reminders to reflect on performance and confirmation that you either agree or disagree with their assessment will go a long way in creating athletes who are both competent and confident in their abilities. You can’t hold their hand throughout competition, so you need them to feel comfortable in their ability to execute without you being by their side all the time.

 

3. Athlete autonomy and competence: Finally, the athlete has demonstrated consistency in performing the acceleration with a proper stride length, frequency, and rhythm, as well as the ability to optimally build speed either completely or mostly independently. Occasionally they may drift from optimal and require a subtle cue or reminder to execute, but they are easily coached back to form. To continue solidifying the correct movement qualities, you may begin to up the challenges by having them perform on variable surfaces (track, turf, grass, court), with different resistance or assistance, from different positions (4-pt, 3-pt, 2-pt, supine, prone, side lying, lateral start, etc.), and any other variables you can safely manipulate or randomize to encourage mastery.

Subtle reminders to reflect on performance and confirmation that you either agree or disagree with their assessment will go a long way in creating athletes who are both competent and confident in their abilities, says @BrendanThompsn. Share on X

Next Steps to Coaching Mastery

The pitter patter plague is only one of the infinite number of mechanical faults that may present themselves with a given athlete. It is easy as a coach to feel the need to correct all of the faults at once, but you may find yourself overcoaching and making problems worse. On the other hand, influencing movement is difficult, and even harder to do in a group setting. This could explain why many coaches choose not to engage in an attempt to make mechanical changes.

If you choose to do so, however, look for the big things that stick out and see if fixing one fault can naturally cause the others to fall into place. If your cues aren’t working, grade the task down and make it simpler. If you think you’ve made it as simple as possible, don’t be afraid to get creative.

It is easy as a coach to feel the need to correct all of the faults at once, but you may find yourself overcoaching and making problems worse, says @BrendanThompsn. Share on X

The point of this article is to bring into focus basic principles of learning and teaching that can easily be used to form a personalized system. Ideally, the system should have the ability to be broadly applied while working on technical concepts with athletes. It doesn’t need to be overly complex to be effective—in fact, your system may lose effectiveness the more convoluted you make it. Start simple and add wrinkles to your approach as you master it and encounter shortcomings along the way.

Teaching movement is not as simple as exposing athletes to a variety of drill progressions with the intent of refining different qualities related to sprinting. Take some time and learn about why a particular technique or pattern is more effective than another. Figure out how to sharpen your coaching eye to identify lackluster patterns so you can address them. A system or program is only as strong as its weakest link—which in many cases is the haphazard attempt (or lack of an attempt) to address the technical aspects of performance with athletes.

We as coaches should demand better from ourselves and from others to provide athletes the coaching they deserve, as it helps us deliver the highest quality service we can provide while keeping our athletes performing at their best when it matters most.

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

Athletes hate being told they can’t do something or that they have to sit out, but at some point or another, every athlete will need to supplement their normal training program. Any setback can also become an opportunity to try something different, and it’s a coach’s responsibility to understand how to facilitate this safely and effectively.

There are three primary situations where I would consider supplemental training:

• Injury
• Poor preparation
• Deload/off-season

Injuries—although devastating to an athlete’s psyche—don’t necessarily require time off. More acute or chronic injuries, such as a SLAP tear or tendinitis, can be trained through by adjusting movement pattern, range of motion, and load placement.

For the second situation, if an athlete is inadequately prepared for training, their coach may need to step in and call an audible. Athletes are humans too, and perhaps they didn’t sleep well, are dealing with external stressors, or simply “aren’t feeling it” on a given day. Exercises should be substituted to de-emphasize load and intensity, and the coach can instead give the athlete an opportunity to focus on mobility or breath work.

Lastly, a deload phase or the off-season are perfect times for an athlete to “play or expand,” allowing the athlete to try new things through fluid and adaptive exercise variations or new movements. This is the time to break away from traditional training and allow the athlete to understand how their body moves, what feels good, and what areas need improvement.

The landmine is a great tool for these times when supplementary training comes into play. Using a landmine reduces the presence of axial/direct loading on the joints, and it can change the position of movement and the range of motion by adjusting how the body and bar are positioned. Athletes can use the load from the landmine to find deeper end ranges of motion and explore different mobility properties that may appear more difficult with just their body weight.

Athletes can use the load from the landmine to find deeper end ranges of motion and explore different mobility properties that may appear more difficult with just their body weight, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

The movement of the landmine itself can help teach an athlete how to effectively transfer force between the upper and lower body, while also presenting a greater demand on transverse (multiplanar) stability. The athlete is now responsible for executing proper technique as they maintain the position of the landmine in relation to their body and the landmine’s countermovement. Ultimately, this can help an athlete build strong body control to become more durable and spatially aware.

A good resource that led me to really explore the ideas and possibilities of landmine training is “5 Reasons Why Landmine Variations Should Be a Staple in Your Training” by Danny Foley. Landmine training helps to build knowledge, develop strength and power, and improve mobility. The benefits of the landmine, coupled with the need for supplementary training options, can provide coaches with a bigger toolbox when these instances arise.

Position/POM-Checker/Range of Motion (ROM)

When it comes to injury supplementation, athletes can use the landmine press in place of a traditional barbell press. If they have a nagging injury (such as shoulder impingement), they can use the landmine to maintain strength and movement patterns. An athlete with impingement or a minor rotator cuff strain can experience pain every time they go overhead, making it difficult to load the shoulders. Having the bar at an angle away from the body changes the mechanics by removing direct, fixed loading of the joints and allows the athlete to utilize their optimal pattern/ROM. An added benefit of the landmine press is preserving scapulohumeral rhythm without worsening the injury site.

Looking to lower body benefits and load supplementation, let’s say an athlete experiences knee pain from their quad tendon. Rather than loading a barbell in a front or back squat, the athlete can adjust the position of the load for a more hamstring-dominant lever. A kettlebell suitcase hold is a good option, but a landmine sumo squat will allow the athlete to move more weight. Additionally, the sumo squat coupled with the landmine brings a secondary emphasis on external rotation strength at the hip.

Video 1. The 1/2 kneel SA landmine press can bring awareness to any limitations in the t-spine. If an athlete is locked in their t-spine, then the scapula can’t glide properly into the overhead position and the rib cage will flare open.

The landmine can also highlight improper movement patterns or restrictions that arise when compensating for an injury. The coach can incorporate t-spine drills to improve mobility, and after the issue is addressed, cue an active trunk so the rib cage remains closed and the scapula can move in an upward rotation. By squeezing the glute on the knee-down leg, the athlete creates a neutral pelvis. The front foot actively provides pressure into the floor via big toe flexion.

The landmine can also highlight improper movement patterns or restrictions that arise when compensating for an injury, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

Navigating Around Injury

Several months back, I had a volleyball player who tweaked her foot at practice. She wasn’t in a great deal of pain, but for two weeks it hurt to land on the foot—so, power cleans and plyometrics were off the table. With respect to the high demand of jumping and ground contact in practice, I wanted to keep hers to a minimum. Consequently, we needed to find a way to retain power and speed-strength without moving her feet.

Two movements that I implemented in lieu of our power/plyo block were the landmine curtsy squat with hip flexion and the landmine stepdown with hip flexion.

Video 2. The landmine curtsy squat: This variation challenges the athlete with frontal plane strength and stabilization for the lower leg and foot.

The curtsy squat variation was included for multi-tempo, single-leg loading, substituting what would be a speed split squat variation. As for the stepdown, here we again use a combination of tempos in place of traditional load to challenge the athlete in a hip-dominant movement. A key to this movement is being deliberate in the changes of direction and stabilizing at end range.

These weren’t just variations blindly grabbed out of a bag—when supplementing exercises, for injury or otherwise, we need to select movements that retain as many of the properties and traits as our sport-specific training would include. By playing with tempos and landmine positioning, athletes can work that power component with a lighter load and/or intensity for that timeframe. The deload/off-season of a program is another time to improve movement literacy or retrain movement patterns that have deteriorated over time, either from injury or simply “going through the motions.”

A tertiary benefit to landmine training is it tends to offer biofeedback. This can be especially beneficial for novice, detrained, or athletes coming off injury. By integrating movements such as the landmine RDL, athletes can reconnect with a simple hip hinge pattern and then build onto it. The placement of the bar forces the athlete to find balance across the mid-foot while applying pressure through the whole foot or feeling like they are going to fall over.

A tertiary benefit to landmine training is it tends to offer biofeedback. This can be especially beneficial for novice, detrained, or athletes coming off injury, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

Coaches can use this same hip hinge pattern to reinforce proper position for a bent-over row. The landmine row is a regression to help an athlete position their body properly for a barbell row. When an athlete is too upright, they begin pulling more with the shoulders and traps.

Video 3. The landmine can coach the athlete into the proper back position to use the upper back correctly during the movement.

Expanding the Movement Pool

I use the landmine to help athletes progress to more advanced barbell movements depending on their sport. It gives the athlete an opportunity to have a little fun and play around with different variations. Movements such as the landmine split jerk mirror the concepts of power development and can be a useful introduction to the barbell split jerk. For others, it may be the only way to perform the movement due to a limited overhead position or risk of an overuse injury.

Video 4. The landmine 1/2 kneel overhead lift-off utilizes the same position as the 1/2 kneel overhead press mentioned earlier, but now we focus on moving the lower body while the upper body is isometrically contracted.

Movement literacy isn’t just about prepping similar movements for a different piece of equipment. Sometimes it is about understanding the mechanics of the body and how they should perform during other movements as well.

Having time to explore new movements in a program can lead to multidirectional and multiplanar exercises. The landmine has no shortage of these capabilities, due to the tool’s own movement variability. The landmine SA OH reverse lunge has a lot happening in its movement, and it is not an exercise that I would recommend for everyone. However, as a weightlifting coach, this movement has a good ROI for our athletes in their overhead position and allows them to only focus on shoulder control and stability as their body moves into the reverse lunge.

This movement can progress into a landmine SA OH squat. Again, in each of these exercises, the multidirectional movement pattern challenges the athlete neurologically and helps prime them for more compound chain movements. With the shoulder locked into place, the athlete can now work into that squat pattern and grow comfortable in the bottom position of the snatch on each side to ultimately lead into a barbell overhead squat.

From a mobility perspective, this forces the athlete to find mobility in the t-spine to stabilize the shoulder as they lower themselves. Often, the athlete can’t get deep enough into an overhead squat to feel where that overhead position of the shoulder should be. By performing a unilateral movement, the athlete can allow for more space in the trunk.

If athletes are insufficiently prepared for training, that doesn’t mean all is lost for the day. This is a good time for the athlete to work on mobility. As shown from the exercise above, the landmine allows an athlete to find true end ranges of motion by using additional load and allowing gravity to force them into those deeper positions.

If athletes are insufficiently prepared for training, that doesn’t mean all is lost for the day. This is a good time for the athlete to work on mobility, says @nicc__marie. Share on X

The landmine adductor sway is easily one of my favorite mobility drills for the lower body. The athlete must shift slowly through one plane of movement in relation to a specific joint (i.e., the hip). As they move into the lateral part of the hip, the opposite adductor is loaded eccentrically, allowing the hip to open up through every angle. The major cues for this exercise are to go slow and strictly move in the horizontal plane. Any vertical displacement removes the benefit of shifting from the outermost point of the hip joint through the athlete’s center of gravity and into the other.

Choosing What’s Right for Your Athletes

The landmine attachment provides supplemental training options for numerous scenarios and programming phases, and its versatility provides athletes with an opportunity to develop movement confidence, whether it be returning from a more serious injury or working through a minor one. The landmine also provides options for an alternate training session when an athlete is having an off day or simply needs to cognitively detach. Athletes can use the attachment to target improvements in strength, mobility/multidirectional movement, and power. They can also be given autonomy to play with the positional load and variations of the landmine during an off-season or deload cycle with little risk and a high reward.

Whether using the landmine in regular training or as a supplemental source, always remember that regardless of the plan you have in place, great coaches are responsible and prepared for anything that can and will happen.

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