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Sports science and sport coaching are essentially a saturated marketplace. By this, I mean the field is full of very intelligent, qualified people doing good work, and there’s considerable competition for jobs. Thanks to the internet, access to information is no longer a problem. Provided you can afford to buy them, everyone has access to the same books, websites, and social media streams. This suggests to me that there’s potentially no performance advantage for us to gain by accessing new information—because everyone who can access it will. Instead, we might gain improvements either by using the information differently or by making better decisions about which information to use in our daily practice.

To that end, I’m interested in smarter thinking—as opposed to accessing new information—and trying to analyze and use information differently than others.

One book that has been hugely influential in this regard is Blunder: Why Smart People Make Bad Decisions, by Zachary Shore. At the time he wrote the book, Shore was an associate professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, and he believes in learning the lessons of history to enhance future decisions. While the book uses historical lessons to inform future military policy (understandable, given Shore’s job), the stories it tells cover a broad range of subjects and past events. And it’s easy to see how the lessons might apply to sports coaching.

The book, as suggested by the subtitle, is primarily about judgment calls—specifically bad ones—and how otherwise intelligent people fall into a common set of cognition traps that set them up for a downfall. In the book, Shore defines cognition traps as:

• Rigid ways of approaching and solving problems
• Inflexible mindsets formed by faulty reasoning
• Ways of approaching a problem based on preconceived notions and pre-set thought patterns
• Often linked to an emotional response

To avoid cognitive traps, an easy, immediate solution is to keep the four points above in mind and take a flexible approach to problems, check your thought processes and reasoning, attempt to minimize pre-set notions, and avoid emotional decision-making or responses. Building on these, Shore proposes seven cognition traps for us to consider; by being aware of their existence, hopefully, we can avoid them.

1. Exposure Anxiety

Exposure anxiety is the fear of being seen as weak, and the belief that failure to act firmly will weaken one’s position. I’m sure we’ve all experienced the challenge of making a suggestion and having someone respond negatively or behave disrespectfully. An example is arriving late to training. Often, our first instinct is to punish the person, but that doesn’t take into account these second-order effects:

• What is that person’s response to your punishment?
• How does that affect your wider team?

An example given in the book is the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War, in which Israel responded to a small attack by Hezbollah with a massive retaliation of air and artillery strikes as well as their invasion of southern Lebanon. By the time the UN brokered a cease-fire agreement, 165 Israelis had died and up to 500,000 were displaced. The Arab nations unified in support of Lebanon, and Hezbollah’s standing in the Arab world significantly improved.

Instead of using excessive punishment to respond to key problems, like arriving late to training, remain as balanced as possible, says @craig100m. Share on X

Conversely, in some circles, Israel was viewed as unnecessarily aggressive, which harmed their international standing. Israel’s initial aggressive response was borne out of the belief that Hezbollah, and the wider Arab world, viewed Israel as weak. By executing a massive retaliation, Israel hoped to signal its strength; instead, they harmed their standing. The key learning point for this cognition trap is not to overcompensate by using excessive force or punishment, but to instead remain as balanced as possible in your response to key problems.

2. Causefusion

With this cognition trap, we confuse the causes of complex events, leading us to think we have an explanation when we don’t. A great example is back pain, which many of us suffer. It’s tempting to believe that back pain has a simple, underpinning cause; there’s something wrong structurally and resolving the issue will reduce (and hopefully eliminate) pain. This is the basis for MRI scans for back pain—to understand what is wrong with the patient structurally and find a fix.

Generally, when a patient has an MRI scan, some structural issue is spotted, and it’s assumed to be the cause of their pain. A level of complexity comes into play when we realize that many people without back pain have the same structural abnormalities as back pain patients. Often, what we think is the cause of back pain may well be a normal part of the aging process. And this causes further problems for back pain patients; when they get the results of their MRI, the way clinicians explain the results to them can cause additional pain and delay recovery. This isn’t to stay that structural issues aren’t a cause of back pain, but they’re not the cause of all back pain—and assuming they are often leads to more problems.

Several variations of causefusion are built upon:

• overlooking important causal links
• overemphasizing an overly simplistic explanation
• believing the consequence of an issue is the cause of it (you’ll have to read the book to see this issue in action, explained through the history of schizophrenia)

What’s the solution? Be aware that we don’t fully understand complex events, and factor this into your thought processes. Consider what you might be missing, and whether A causes B, B causes A, or B happens when A happens because of unknown cause C. By keeping an open mind to the cause of key events—and understanding that we might not ever be able to explain complex phenomena fully—we can hopefully reduce the incidence of this cognition trap.

3. Flatview

Flatview occurs when we view things as binary, black or white choices. In essence, we perceive things as very discrete, while the real world tends to be continuous in nature with a lot of “fluffiness” and context. As an example from sport, we might consider a particular exercise—in European circles, the power clean is a good example—as crucial within a training program. This is a flatview: the exercise is determined to be good, and by extension, training programs that don’t include it are bad. It ignores any context, such as individual differences between athletes or timing. We see this type of thinking all the time in online arguments. People often believe the person they’re arguing with is either completely with them or completely against them, with no in-between.

With a flatview, one determines an exercise to be *good*, and by extension, a training program that doesn't include it as *bad*. It ignores any context, says @craig100m. Share on X

Clearly, flatview has a huge potential to harm our thinking. How do we guard against it? First, we have to avoid overly simplistic explanations, which, by their very nature, tend to be binary. Instead, we must embrace context and nuance and filter our thoughts and decisions with these in mind. Second, we need to cultivate empathy; why does the person who disagrees with me think like that? What could be different about their knowledge, experience, or perspective that leads them to have a different belief or viewpoint? By seeking out and embracing different views and rejecting simplistic explanations, we can prevent ourselves from falling victim to a flatview.

4. Cure-Allism

Squats are a useful way to build leg strength. By getting stronger in the squat, we get stronger leg muscles, which makes us faster. As a result, all sprinters should squat.

The above sentence is clearly nonsense, and yet it’s what happens with cure-allism—where we hold a dogmatic belief that a successful theory can be applied indiscriminately. We see this all the time in the diet world; someone tries a diet, and their health improves successfully (by their definition). As a result, they push this particular diet—be it keto, paleo, low carb, high fat, vegan, or carnivore—as the one true cure everyone should follow.

When one is successful with a diet and they push that diet as the one true cure for everyone, they're falling into the trap of cure-allism, says @craig100m. Share on X

Similar to flatview, this approach removes nuance and context from our thinking. It’s similar to Philip Tetlock’s Hedgehog vs. Fox thinking. Hedgehogs know a lot about one thing; they are big idea people, and they try to use that big idea to explain everything. A strength and conditioning (S&C) coach may view an athlete’s issues as strength-related while a physiotherapist may see the same problem as load-based. This desire to use our predominant theory and mental model to explain everything harms us. Instead, we should endeavor to be like Tetlock’s foxes, who know a little about a lot and are more accepting of nuance, context, and different approaches. 

5. Infomania

Infomania represents an obsessive relationship with information. We live in a world saturated with data to the point that our relationship with it is potentially dysfunctional, turning us into infomaniacs. Shore believes there are two types of infomaniacs:

1. Infomisers who hog information and don’t want to share (the coach with the secret plan)
2. Infovoiders who actively seek to avoid information, thinking that doing so will keep them from being misled

Both types of infomaniacs are in for a hard time. By not sharing information, infomisers won’t have their thoughts and beliefs evaluated and developed. Conversely, infovoiders will never become fully informed if they don’t actively seek out information, especially the information that contradicts their viewpoint.

Let’s take a coach who is potentially interested in understanding patterns of fatigue and injury in their athletes. An infomiser would likely collect a range of information on training loads, volumes, and intensities and keep it to themselves. However, if they were open to sharing the data with their support teams, such as a physiotherapist or S&C coach, they might achieve greater insight.

In contrast, an infovoider wouldn’t have collected any data, possibly out of a fear that it would illustrate their approach was wrong. Both types avoid tapping into the knowledge and wisdom of others (see flatview), but in different ways. The outcome is incomplete knowledge and understanding. The key is to collect the right amount of data and share it with those who could enhance your understanding and decision-making processes.

6. Mirror Imaging

I’m sure we’ve all discussed with someone a reasonably simple issue that escalated into an argument, all because we assumed—in this case wrongly—that the person we’re speaking to has the same viewpoint as we do. This is the mirror imaging cognition trap, where we assume that the other side will think like us. In the vast majority of cases, though, they don’t. Perhaps they have different information, life experiences, or a different grasp on many key underlying concepts.

We see this in armed conflicts the world over: one nation’s army thinks the other nation has the same motivations and incentives as they do. As we see time and time again, however, this is rarely the case. In recent years, for example, it’s become clear that normal disincentives don’t work against suicide bombing. Generally, we assume that people don’t want to cause themselves harm, but in this scenario, the attacker is fully prepared to die. This has forced a shift in tactics for those dealing with suicide bombers. They’re required to see things from the bomber’s perspective and change their defensive procedures accordingly. Similarly, recent occupations of countries such as Afghanistan and Iraq have proved difficult for US forces because they often don’t have the contextual and historical understanding of the local way of life and belief systems, which is far removed from what they are used to back home.

So how do we guard against this?

Awareness of this trap is important. We need to be aware that other people likely see things differently than we do. So the first step is to understand how they see things—typically by simply asking them. Second, building the ability to be empathetic can be hugely useful when guarding against this trap, as would knowledge of the context and history of the people you’re dealing with, especially if they’re from a different culture or background than your own. Finally, the risk of mirror imaging suggests that teams made up of people from a diverse range of backgrounds can very useful. Especially if there is a culture of trust, as everyone would likely have a different perspective—as subtle as it might be—on the issue at hand. 

7. Static Cling

We often hear that first impressions are everything. When it comes to the last cognition trap, this couldn’t be more true. Static cling refers to the continued holding of a static image or belief around something, one that doesn’t change with updated information—often because you reason heavily against considering the information to update your worldview.

We see this in businesses all the time. An organization has success making one type of product, but can’t respond to—or predict—a change in demand for something else. Car manufacturers will struggle if they cling to the idea that their customers want inefficient petrol cars at the expense of the cheaper, cleaner electric power that will be heavily supported by governments. The situation is similar to mobile phone manufacturers who didn’t adequately respond to the development of the smartphone—driven by Apple’s iPhone—in the late 2000s.

Successful teams & coaches are those who innovate & adapt to rule changes quicker than others, avoiding static cling thinking, says @craig100m. Share on X

When it comes to sport, we see that successful teams and coaches are those who innovate and adapt to any rule changes quicker than others—often turning the rules in their favor. In the early 1990s, for example, soccer introduced the backpass rule. Before this, players could pass the ball back to their goalkeeper, who could pick it up and punt it down the pitch. This often slowed the game down, making it boring. The introduction of the backpass rule, however, meant that the keeper could no longer pick up the ball when it was passed to him by a player on their team.

The rule caused teams to adapt. They could either stop involving the goalkeeper in their play or change the position into a more dynamic one. Slowly, we’ve seen goalkeepers evolve from being relatively poor with the ball at their feet to today’s goalie, who is essentially an additional field player. Pep Guardiola, potentially the most innovative manager around, changed the goalkeeper’s role even further by selecting goalkeepers based on their passing as opposed to the more traditional skills. By adapting their definition of what a goalkeeper is, these teams and coaches rapidly altered their worldview and avoided falling victim to static cling. They responded to the rule changes much quicker and set themselves up for sustained success.

Tips for Better Thinking

Based on the cognition traps detailed above, here are some clear ideas we can take moving forward to improve our thought processes: 

• Read widely. To be more like a fox, you have to know a little about a lot. Exposure to new ideas makes you more prepared to understand what you don’t know and allows you to consider multiple explanations for a given phenomenon.
• Cultivate empathy. If you can open yourself up to different viewpoints, you’ll likely understand why people made the decision they did or have the perspective they hold. Thinking through things in the other person’s shoes allows you to view the problem differently.
• Collect some data. Don’t have your head in the sand, and share your information appropriately with people who can enhance your understanding.
• Develop mental flexibility. Hold several competing models and explanations in your head, and hold your opinions loosely. Be open-minded, and guided by evidence—but understand that your own biases will potentially prevent you from correctly weighing evidence in your thought processes.
• Develop a sense of nuance and context. Avoid simple explanations for complex processes and black or white thinking.

By doing these things, we should hopefully guard ourselves against many cognition traps identified by Shore while enhancing both our thought and decision-making processes. The result will be better decisions around various factors that support performance, hopefully propelling your athletes to a personal best.

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When you are about to embark on a journey with a group of athletes, such as at the start of a season or with a new intake of school or college kids, what is the first thing you do? Most of you would probably answer that question with one word: plan. As suggested by the famous Abraham Lincoln quote about being tasked with chopping down a tree, it’s in our best interests to not jump straight into doing random training and instead spend a fair bit of time sharpening the axe.

Within the strength and conditioning field, planning is often synonymous with the term “periodization,” and with that comes a large body of research underpinning it, says @peteburridge. Share on X

Within the strength and conditioning field, planning is often synonymous with the term periodization—and with that comes a large body of research underpinning it. When devising my own training plan, I always have the endpoint in mind and need to ask what is the end goal? Then, I can best plan the route to take my athletes on and make sure I understand where any potential pitfalls may lie along the way. Working with academy rugby players, the best way of summing up my ultimate purpose is:

To build the general physical capacities, to give athletes the platform to express their rugby skills, and ultimately to progress through the pathway.

The outcome is obviously progression through the pathway, but it’s more about the process. I need to provide the guide rope and get them to the top of the mountain to “make it” as a rugby player. Obviously, rugby is king in this process, so it doesn’t matter if they squat 300 kgs and can finish the beep test—if they aren’t any good at rugby, then those physical qualities are useless.

First Step: Performing a Needs Analysis

For each athlete I work with, I have to ask the question: Where are the movement skill gaps? What deficiency in movement skill is going to limit their progression through the pathway? Then, how can I fill these gaps to help them climb up the mountain? For example, rather than looking at it just through the lens of an S&C coach—do more deadlifts or improve their clean numbers—I need to look at it with a top-down approach, putting rugby first.

For instance, it might be that a player can’t drop his body height to effectively tackle. Or, in football they may not possess the braking ability to handle the high number of intense decelerations to play the high pressing game that many modern top sides employ. The remedy may still be to improve their squat or deadlift, but I have to look at it from the movement skill first and then work backward from there rather than just chase ever-increasing squat numbers and hope it all just magically transfers to the field.

From there, I need to do my best psychic impression and a bit of “forecasting.” This is because rugby as a game is developing at a very fast rate: In only 10 years the game has changed tremendously, with the physical demands becoming much, much more substantial.¹ In all sports, players are getting bigger, faster, and fitter, but in rugby it is exponentially so, in part because the game was amateur only 25 years ago.

The game may be completely different in six years’ time, so I need to also think about what challenges and movement skills the player will face in the future game, says @peteburridge. Share on X

You only have to look at clips from the All Blacks of yesteryear versus the All Blacks now to recognize we are dealing with very different animals! With that in mind, if I have a player come into our system at 16, in all likelihood he will be around 22 by the time he breaks into the first team. The game may be completely different in six years’ time, so I need to also think about what challenges and movement skill problems the player will face in the future game.

Finally, in this needs analysis I have to do some problem solving—Why does the player possess this movement skill gap? Is it that he can’t, he won’t, or he doesn’t know how? This then dictates our strategy and how we set up the long-term plan, as well as the medium- and short-term plans (macro, meso, and micro cycles, for all the periodization purists out there!).

Applying the Needs Analysis in Training

As a rugby example to explain this process, let’s use the skill of jackaling (which you can see on the pitch in this montage). This is where a player competes at the breakdown to steal the ball: It requires speed, decision-making, strength, mobility, and a mindset to get whacked by an opposing player while in a vulnerable position.

1. It may be that a player can’t: He doesn’t have the hip mobility to get into that jackal position and maintain his balance, and so may need to work on his mobility to make improvements to his body height and body position.
2. It could be that he won’t: Perhaps he has gotten injured in that position previously and there is some apprehension to get into that position again. (A quick YouTube search of “jackal injuries” brings up some quite gruesome highlights.) In this case, I may have to reduce the risk and slowly expose him to more “live” competitive situations to build confidence. Then, expose him to some outcome success (through constraining drills and training) to get him to be more willing to do it. Failing that, if it’s a deeper psychological issue, then I may have to enlist a sports psychologist to help him get over the mental block.
3. It might be he doesn’t know how: He may not possess the decision-making skills to read the game to know when to go for the ball or not; he may not know how to put his body in a position to be successful and easily gets counter rucked off the ball. Enlisting the help of expert technical coaches is key to helping fill this gap.

Getting the player faster may give him more time to process the cues to make better decisions. Extra strength could also allow him to get away with poorer technique, similar to the old Russian weightlifter adage: Technique is for the weak. (That quote works better with an Ivan Drago accent!) Again, it still might lead to squatting and cleans (if that is your chosen tool to develop these general physical capacities), but at least you’ve arrived at that decision from a much more informed place to get them better at the key bit—rugby!

Once we understand what the movement skill gap is, we can then go about purposefully attacking it with our training. However, we must always be aware that making a change in the body always carries with it a cost, and we must take this into account when making programming decisions. When the player has progressed through the pathway into the first team, where fixtures are regular and freshness is key, doing a large amount of physical development work will steal from the player’s freshness for competition.

It’s better to sacrifice a bit of freshness at the developmental stage because winning isn’t the main goal, says @peteburridge. Share on X

With this in mind, more costly exercises are better performed at the development stage where there is less game pressure. Meaning, it’s better to sacrifice a bit of freshness now at the developmental stage because winning isn’t the main goal. Often, this takes some education at first, but when they trust the process (#TTP!) they understand my mantra: 

You’ll play at 95% today so that you can play at 110% in the future.

(What does our academy training look like? You can see our club’s performance environment in-depth in this longer video here.)

I’m going to take advantage of the window now when game pressure is lower by being more aggressive with players’ training and looking to (safely!) push the boundaries, so that when they do become a full-time professional, they don’t have to do as much work to maintain what they already have. At that point, as they get older, they can bias their training more toward freshness.

There is actually some cool science to support this: It takes around one-sixth of the work to maintain what you have once you’ve got it than what it takes to initially achieve it.² What does this mean? It takes me far less time to stay squatting 150 kgs than it does to work up to getting there. Due to this phenomenon, when working with a younger athlete, if I can bias my training toward development over freshness it will pay off in the long run, as I won’t have to invest as much time to maintain strength levels.

Practical Periodization Strategies

One of the best ways of managing the cost of training is with designated training windows where a real focus can be put on physical development. This has an added positive effect because restrictions to on-field training vastly reduces the players’ energy expenditure, providing a ripe environment for growth.

Let me ask you a question: As a coach, how often are you faced with the situation where you get access to an injured player for an extended period of time and they come back much stronger, having put on lots of size because of that extra development time? Why should we wait for a player to get injured to have this in their development plan? If physical capacity might be what stops them progressing through the pathway, why not combat it early when you can? The only way you can get that opportunity is if you have smart coaches who trust you and understand the overall holistic development of a player.

This thought process is what I imagine many of you already employ when working with your athletes. However, when you first learn about periodization, it can be very easy to be blinded by the long terms, fancy bar charts, and mystical Soviet methods.

In fact, early in my career I went on a CPD trip across Florida to many college programs and professional sports franchises for some further learning. When I got there, the first question often asked of me was: What system do you run? I was a bit baffled by the question, but I put on my polite British voice and tried to answer. When we got into further discussion, the coaches I spoke to basically wanted to know what periodization strategy I employed. Did I follow a conjugate method? Had I ever reverse-periodized? Did I set my program up to be high to low, or low to high? I took a stab at an answer that really meant uhhh…It depends.

Does it have to be that complicated though? All periodization means in my eyes is the systematic planning and sequencing of athletic training to maximize either performance or development. Why do I have to pick a side with something as simple as the planning and sequencing of my training? As long as I can justify why I am doing what I do, does it really matter if I’m #TeamUndulating or #TeamBlockPeriodization?

All periodization means in my eyes is the systematic planning and sequencing of athletic training to maximize either performance or development, says @peteburridge. Share on X

Obviously, this isn’t a swipe at many of the “Original Gangsters” of our field like Hans Selye, Leo Matveyev, and Tudor Bompa, who were the godfathers of the field when it came to periodization. Some of their work still informs a lot of what I do today, and Tudor Bompa’s textbook, Periodization, was actually the first book I ever took out of my student library at university. However, these “systems” were built upon the assumption that the body adapts to stress placed upon it in a fairly linear way, and working with young team sport athletes has shown me that at times this can be a little too rigid to follow my purpose stated above.

Having an understanding of the era that these models were born out of can provide a bit more context for why they may have built their “system” in the way they did. Grigory Rodchenkov (Russian anti-doping advisor and inadvertent star of the Netflix documentary Icarus) shed light on his use of different periodization models when he said: “Doping begins when harm from their heavy training workload becomes more dangerous than harm from using doping.”

Considering that much of the work on periodization came from this era, it has far-reaching consequences for you if you try to blindly follow these methods. Suddenly trying to get your athletes to “do Smolov” to get them strong or do “German volume training” to get them big may not be the best long-term way to set up someone’s training. This isn’t to tarnish some of the great work done by these coaches, but what’s best for a doped-up ’80s Eastern European shot putter might not be best for an 18-year-old rugby player!

Periodization Then & Now

After initially starting out in the Eastern Bloc, in more recent times periodization research has been further developed in Western Europe by researchers from Portugal and Spain, such as Victor Frade and Alberto Mendez-Villanueva, who introduced the concept of “tactical periodization.” Whereas some of the classical Eastern methods often take a very physical-centric view of planning training, these methods aim to piece together the technical-tactical element alongside the physical one. This perhaps aligns better with the more holistic view of performance planning I mentioned above.

Tactical periodization is the zeitgeist of sport science at the moment, and has started to gain greater attention with coaches like Jose Mourinho (football) and Eddie Jones (rugby), who have implemented it with great success in their respective sports. However, much like if you were to put 10 S&C coaches in a room to decide whether conjugate or undulating methods are best, you would get just as much disagreement if you were to ask how to best implement tactical periodization.

When implemented well, at its best it encourages a joined-up, multidisciplinary approach to training planning linked heavily to the head coach’s game model/philosophy. This can lead to a top-down approach to training, where physios, strength and conditioning staff, and technical coaches no longer sit in silos operating as separate entities. Instead, the approach more readily encourages the multidisciplinary team to work together with an aligned vision.

At its best, tactical periodization encourages a joined-up, multidisciplinary approach to training planning linked heavily to the head coach’s game philosophy, says @peteburridge. Share on X

However, sometimes tactical periodization gets held up as an argument (often in football) against any “true” physical-based training by sport coaches. This negative view of gym-based training has helped foster a culture of noncompliance in professional football to physical preparation occurring anywhere outside of the training pitch. This may be one of numerous reasons why hamstring injuries have, in fact, been increasing despite lots more research into preventative strategies.³

There is growing evidence, however, that periodization isn’t as big a deal as I was led to believe when I was a junior coach. For example, John Kiely argues that periodization in the classical textbooks takes too much of a biological view of the body and that, in fact, things like genetics, psycho-emotional state, cognitive state, and numerous environmental factors play just as much of a part in dictating the adaptation that we get from training.⁵

Furthermore, some studies have shown that there were no differences in strength or muscle mass following 16 weeks of periodized or non-periodized approaches to training.⁶ Norwegian researcher Thomas Haugen has shown that there are big differences in elite sprint coaches’ approaches to periodization, and argued more people in the sprint world are becoming skeptical of classical periodization models.⁷ Finally, some prominent track coaches have offered up some choice words on the topic, such as Jonathan J. Marcus: “All periodization models are wrong. They are too complex and don’t work.” In addition, Tony Holler has said: “Periodization is bullsh*t…we sprint always.”

Taking all of this contemporary research in, I think blindly following a classical method because it appears in a textbook may be an over-simplified approach. For starters, why in every traditional periodized plan is there a down week on the fourth week? (The cynic in me can think of one pharmaceutical reason!) What if my athlete is dominating his training in week 3, but I have to back off in week 4 because my “system” dictates he should have a down week? On the flip side, what if in week 2 he is already too fatigued from the training, but in week 3 I have an “overreaching week”? Am I meant to carry on driving the athlete into the ground, risking poor performance and injury because my “system” says I should?

For coaches who don’t work in Olympic sports, the likelihood of you running your program in sequential blocks building toward two or three competitions is very low. A much more likely scenario in team sports is a game every week. It gets even worse in sports like football or basketball, where you may have games every three or four days! How on earth are you meant to peak and taper on a macro level like that if you have big games week-in and week-out?

Key Considerations in Training Teen Rugby Athletes

On an individual level, biochemical factors linked to nutrition and sleep play a much larger role in an athlete’s ability to adapt to training than classic periodization models account for. For example, when working as a university S&C coach, I knew that the first two weeks of the year were “Freshers Week.” In England, this meant my athletes would be consuming copious amounts of alcohol, getting minimal sleep, and partying for at the very least 6 out of those 14 days. No matter how I’ve drawn up my blocks of training, this reality is going to affect the adaptations I can get from the training and I had to account for it.

Often, we overstate our impact as coaches and don’t give enough credit to the role of someone’s genetics in determining the adaptations we achieve. The systems of talent development now are designed to force the cream to rise to the top, and in team sports everyone at the top is a freak. It’s just the way it is.

Often, we overstate our impact as coaches and don’t give enough credit to the role of someone’s genetics in determining the adaptations we achieve, says @peteburridge. Share on X

One glance at the NFL Combine numbers shows that to succeed in the NFL, you likely have to be a genetic beast. It’s not that they had a better periodized plan, it’s just that they had better parents!! There is a large body of research showing that responsiveness to training is largely dictated by genetics: For example, the HERITAGE study showed the level of responsiveness to the same aerobic training is drastically different when looking at the % improvements made in VO2 max.⁸

When working with academy players, I have the added element of academic stress that can affect someone’s responsiveness to training. To complicate things further, there are large individual differences within the group. For example, I might work with an athlete who is stressed out of his eyeballs as he tries to get the grades to go to Oxford or Cambridge. Equally, I will have athletes who subscribe more to the Cardale Jones philosophy of schoolwork—they don’t “come to play school!” With these guys, I might not need to change their training at all; however, with the future Cambridge student, I may need to reduce the volume of his training while he focuses on getting into medical school.

Working with adolescent boys, there is another key stressor outside of rugby and academics for me to contend with…girls! Both in a good and bad way. I’ve had spikes in life stress caused by athletes breaking up with their girlfriend, and as a coach I’ve had to play the role of counselor. Equally, I’ve had a few occasions where the wellness monitoring has shown up as sleep 2/10, but mood 10/10. I will let you work out the probable cause of that!

The lesson here is that when sitting down to plan out your training, can you really account for a player struggling with a breakup or something quite the opposite? Taking a more flexible, agile approach better allows you to navigate these scenarios. That way, you can ride those waves of emotion and better target the windows where your players are in a positive state to adapt to training.

Using monitoring tools can help this, whether RPEs, questionnaires, velocity-based training, sub max bikes, jumps, or the best monitoring tool going: talking to the player. These can all be keys to glean information to tweak and adjust your programming. Sometimes, the simple question how are you feeling today? can give you all the insight you need to effectively change your training plan. Often, far better than any wellness or RPE Z score ever could.

Hearing these criticisms, you are probably thinking that I don’t “do” periodization, and that I now have to be struck off the UKSCA and NSCA accreditation boards forever! The answer is that I just take a much more reactive approach. There is still a training plan, but it is way more fluid. You have to know your players and pinpoint times of the year where you think you know how they might respond, but build fail-safes into your program to allow flexibility. If I just hammer on with my periodized plan without factoring in all these things, I will run into issues that hamper my athletes’ development.

My Approach to Periodization

Where possible, you want to provide a high-potency/low-cost stimulus, so if you can pick up technical/tactical outcomes alongside a conditioning stimulus, you’ve saved some of your training budget to be spent elsewhere. This is the beauty of a tactically periodized approach with coaches who understand what you want as an S&C coach as much as what they want as a technical coach from a session. A secret of our academy is we do very minimal conditioning sessions. Why? Well, if your training on-field is at a good-enough intensity, then you won’t need to. Obviously, through the year you’ll have guys who need top-ups or individuals with a specific need, but whole team-based conditioning? If you can get it from rugby, why layer on more fatigue?

The number of other things you have a chance to develop doing it this way is huge for a developmental athlete. You can still introduce them to the #Grind™, but if they get a chance to work on their decision-making and tactical understanding too, surely that will lead to better outcomes? For example, you can have someone who can complete the beep test or knock out monstrous scores on the watt bike, but if they don’t do the “rugby” bit, it’s pointless! This is where small-sided games and utilizing constraints such as rules, dimensions, and tasks help promote both physiology and skill development.

This approach could be seen as a dangerous one to adopt in professional sport, especially with coaches and senior management challenging performance departments with “we aren’t fit enough” so regularly. I could write a 10,000-word essay deconstructing that entire comment, but often these comments are suspiciously linked to the win or loss column. Fitness obviously is a contributing factor to performance, but often rather than just doing mindless conditioning, the best kind of conditioning is being so good technically and tactically that you never waste energy making mistakes or being in the wrong position.

The best kind of conditioning is being so good technically and tactically that you never waste energy making mistakes or being in the wrong position, says @peteburridge. Share on X

This leads to a mixed approach, where both S&C and technical coaches need to work together. If you look at some of the greatest in their sport, like Lebron James and Lionel Messi, they are expert walkers. They know how to conserve their energy for times when they really need it. Equally, because they so rarely give the ball away, they don’t actually have to work that hard in transition because the pass always hits the mark, or the shot always goes in!

The key message here is that the sport is king, and often being less-accomplished technically or tactically can be perceived as a “fitness” issue. I had one such experience working in football when a player was substituted in part because the coach wasn’t happy with his physical output. His GPS, however, showed he had done more high-speed running than any other player, by some margin. The problem was he kept giving the ball away and having to run the length of the field tracking back! Now, he’s shown me he was capable of a far greater physical output than anyone else, but the issue was he needed to do so much because he was so bad technically! Was this a fitness issue, or would he be better off working on his passing so that he didn’t have to keep physically covering for his technical errors?

One of the other reasons that we do “less” conditioning at the younger ages is that the time for increases in VO2 max training is very short—a week even! But these athletes plateau after about six months. If the central adaptations (i.e., their VO2 max) isn’t quite fully developed but takes only six months to develop fully, I would rather that than them having a strength or hypertrophy “gap” that takes a much bigger training investment. It takes time to put on good-quality muscle mass, and this is time they probably don’t have at the first team end, where they need to be playing and contributing at their absolute best because winning matters more at that level. So, there is no better opportunity to push toward a strength-focused program than when athletes are young. When you get a window of opportunity, take it!

Despite the heavy investment, those strength improvements stick around longer. For example, once you’ve laid down satellite cells, they stay with you for at least 15 years, if not your lifetime.⁹ Due to strength underpinning so many athletic actions, if I can lay a good foundation early, I equip my athletes with the “master key” to unlock all movement skill doors. This then allows them to have the physical capacity to solve any movement problem that the sport throws at them. Not only that, it also equips them with a coat of armor to withstand the rigors of the sport, keeping them on the field and off the treatment table. This then gives them even more opportunity to hone their skills and develop on the field.

What It Looks Like

I view my training planning through three lenses:

• The satellite view
• The helicopter view
• The magnifying glass view

This allows me to stay flexible for all the bumps in the road with my programming, but it still gives me a rough idea of where I want to be in the end.

The ‘Satellite’ View

Figure 8 shows my annual plan. This plan might look nice with fancy colors, but in fact it changed multiple times through the course of the season. It gives me rough ideas of typical windows where I can be more aggressive and other red flag areas where I might need to reduce the athletes’ training load. Periodizing their education to align the pertinent messages is something I would recommend for all development-level coaches to add to their program so that players get a deeper understanding of how to behave like a professional.

The ‘Helicopter’ View

My monthly-based plan, as seen in figure 9, is a little bit more focused, as it shows more detail. This gives me a base idea of what I’d ideally like to do and what the focus of the block is, but this is where things change quite a bit. Often, I plan for, say, a four-week block, but it works so well that I may extend it to a five-, six-, or even seven-week block.

The ‘Magnifying Glass’ View

My weekly plan (figure 10) is what the athlete sees day-to-day. You’ll notice that different athletes do different lifts outside from a one-size-fits-all program and a few tweaks made in-session different from the daily plan. For example, if we look at Athlete #5, he didn’t meet the prescribed load for his lower limb exercise because he came in beat-up from the games, and we had to reduce the load lifted. This may not have fit my fancy periodized progression graphs, but it was the athlete I had to coach on the day so that’s what happened. Equally, Athlete #2 ended up outlifting his prescribed load because he was feeling good that day. Having an adaptable plan is key so I can constantly make adjustments on the fly.

Periodization probably doesn’t need to be as complicated as some make it out to be, and “classical” periodization is probably too linear and too rigid for team sports, says @peteburridge. Share on X

All in all, periodization probably doesn’t need to be as complicated as some make it out to be, and “classical” periodization is probably too linear and too rigid for team sports. You absolutely need a plan, but you don’t want to be completely married to it. Finally, when looking at the year as a whole, you should consistently hunt for opportunities and threats to the plan and tweak it to meet the needs of each individual you work with.

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

References

1. Dubois R, Paillard T, Lyons M, McGrath D, Maurelli O., and Prioux J. “Running and metabolic demands of elite rugby union assessed using traditional, metabolic power, and heart rate monitoring methods.” Journal of Sports Science and Medicine. 2017;16(1):84–92.

2. Bickel CS, Cross JM, and Bamman MM. “Exercise dosing to retain resistance training adaptations in young and older adults.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2011;43(7):1177–1187.

3. Ekstrand J, Waldén M, and Hägglund M. “Hamstring injuries have increased by 4% annually in men’s professional football, since 2001: A 13-year longitudinal analysis of the UEFA Elite Club injury study.” British Journal of Sports Medicine. 2016;50(12):731–7.

4. Oliveira JG. F.C. Porto: Nuestro microciclo semanal (morfociclo); VI clinic fútbol, base fundación osasuna. 2007.

5. Kiely J. “Periodization theory: Confronting an inconvenient truth.” Sports Medicine. 2018;48(4):753–764.

6. de Freitas MC, de Souza Pereira CG, Batista VC, et al. “Effects of linear versus nonperiodized resistance training on isometric force and skeletal muscle mass adaptations in sarcopenic older adults.” Journal of Exercise Rehabilitation. 2019;15(1):148–154.

7. Haugen T, Seiler S, Sandbakk Ø, and Tønnessen E. “The training and development of elite sprint performance: An integration of scientific and best practice literature.” Sports Med Open. 2019;5(1):44. PubMed ID: 31754845 doi:10.1186/s40798-019-0221-0

8. Bouchard C and Rankinen T. “Individual differences in response to regular physical activity.” Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise. 2001;33(6 suppl):S446–51;discussion S452–3.

9. Gundersen K. “Muscle memory and a new cellular model for muscle atrophy and hypertrophy.” The Journal of Experimental Biology. 2016;219(2):235–242.

The neck will almost certainly be mentioned in any discussion or article spotlighting areas of the body which are underutilised (or omitted completely) in conventional strength training for athletes. A ‘shoulders down’ approach underpins most programmes, and while there is discourse about this omission, it has yet to result in consistent, confident, and rounded periodisation of neck training. This is not to underplay the value of work in this area, with multiple posts on this website providing valuable practical insight into approaches being used by strength coaches. My purpose, rather, is to highlight a lack of consensus or sustained longitudinal approach.

This absence is despite the benefits of neck training tending to be generally accepted. It appears likely that neck strength, endurance, and anticipation can be trained using simple methods, such as banded or harness isometrics (Hrysomallis 2016). Naish et al. (2013) demonstrated a reduction in neck injuries following the introduction of neck strength in juvenile rugby players, while greater neck strength was shown to be effective by Collins et al. (2014) in reducing concussion. Given the potential complications of injuries to the neck, and from concussion, any modifiable risk factor is potentially a crucial opportunity to protect athletes.

In addition, it seems likely that technical coaching of sports-related tasks like heading in soccer or tackling in American football, rugby, or Australian Rules (particularly relating to tackle height and head position) may provide athletes an alternative technique for absorbing energy through the neck and shoulders, which could reduce upper quadrant injuries and concussion.

Challenges in Neck Rehabilitation

The net result of the ongoing discussion is a general acceptance across sport that neck strengthening should have a role and would be a worthwhile pursuit. Unlike other areas of strength training, however, principles of this training have not yet been fully explored. In addition, this knowledge gap is heightened following injury, where restrictions may be placed on the athlete and precision is required to avoid worsening an injury. While injuries to other body parts follow established guidelines—particularly in terms of progression and criteria-based rehabilitation to guide exercise selection and clearance for return to play—these simply do not yet exist for the neck.

Sports rehabilitation often relies on established strength and conditioning practices to dictate reconditioning periodisation, but in the absence of clear pathways, considerations for exercise selection for the neck tend to be narrow and general. In many cases, the only strategy utilised are low load, control exercises for the deep neck flexors—perhaps using a band, or perhaps not. This leaves a vast, unexplored chasm to bridge the gap between such exercises and the chaotic demands placed upon the neck in sports performance.

While injuries to other body parts follow established guidelines, these simply do not yet exist for the neck, says @fearghalkerin. Share on X

Testing the strength of the neck muscles is useful as a tool in attempting to predict, prevent, and rehabilitate injuries, allowing this previously unknown variable to be quantified. However, the modality commonly used is an isometric test from a neutral position. Such testing—though clearly worthwhile—only provides clues as to a single component of neck function. This omits a variety of contraction types and positions, as well as the challenges posed by the randomness of sport-specific positions. Relying entirely on this data for neck rehabilitation would be comparable to only using isokinetic knee extensor torque in knee rehabilitation in order to gauge return to play. Or more precisely, a strategy that focuses on this position alone is akin to omitting plyometrics, running, or change of direction training following an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

This simply would not happen at other joints where there is higher injury frequency (such as the knee or ankle), since wide-ranging testing procedures, protocols, and variations in training approaches already exist. This situation highlights the importance of developing expanded rehabilitation pathways for the neck, where it is likely that a lack of familiarity may prevent the gap from being bridged between the early stages of rehabilitation and return to sport. Also, with such an approach, outcome measures must be developed that can guide return to sport clearance.

Assessment

It is beyond the scope of this post to detail the full assessment procedure following a neck injury, though it is worth noting the key points. The first principle should be to ensure the safety of the athlete, and this may require further imaging, investigation, or opinion. Often, range of motion is the first area to assess and treat. Small changes in range of motion can result in big changes in function and comfort, while also giving an indication of the level of the problem and the spectrum within which it is appropriate to work.

The first principle should be to ensure the safety of the athlete, and this may require further imaging, investigation or opinion, says @fearghalkerin. Share on X

While getting an indicator of strength is useful, in most cases, during the initial stages it is most appropriate to assess the ability of the patient to recruit their deep neck flexor muscles in a neutral position rather than any kind of resisted or eccentric test, or outer range loading.

Assessment should include consideration of the scapulothoracic joint and shoulder, and addressing dysfunction—particularly around range of motion or strength in this complementary joint—may define the success or failure of the rehabilitation process, regardless of how appropriate a loading strategy is applied to the neck column itself.

Strategies aimed at local strength recovery of the arm, forearm, and hand may be indicated in the case of radiculopathy or compression or distraction injuries to the brachial plexus following a “stinger.” Hypertrophy training may be indicated if atrophy or wasting is noted.

Consideration should also be given to the kinetic chain, as this underpins athletic motion; being at the top of the chain as it is, the neck will ultimately be influenced by the actions beneath.

Global Overview

Another important early strategy is to give broad consideration to the athlete’s programme—particularly if the injury is not preventing them from completing running or strength training. As an example, pushing (for example, bench press) or pulling (chin-ups) exercises will challenge the ability of the neck to maintain cranio-cervical neutrality, so these can be considered a high load, isometric, neutral task for the neck. Consequently, it is worth considering if such exercises—with appropriate cueing—provide an opportunity to further reinforce the goals and messaging during rehabilitation. Alternatively, poor performance of these tasks may indicate that the synergy of the kinetic chain has failed (for instance, shoulder mobility, rotator cuff, trapezius, or abdominal dysfunction), and may be implicated in the initial problem.

Ultimately, the clinician should view every dynamic task as an opportunity for the neck to be trained. A global review of the athlete’s programme should be considered, allowing minor adaptations as necessary to provide training opportunities. This will allow an integrated approach to rehabilitation and for different aspects of the programme to complement others. For instance, change of direction mechanics during side-stepping will provide an eccentric, side flexion torque to the neck, which may irritate the athlete if they have not demonstrated appropriate range or capacity before carrying out the task.

Ultimately, the clinician should view every dynamic task as an opportunity for the neck to be trained, says @fearghalkerin. Share on X

It goes without saying that tasks such as tackling include an inherent risk to the neck, but as mentioned previously, strategies can be provided to mitigate these by improving technical proficiency. As a result, this too will prepare the athlete for returning to play.

Pathway

A progressive model is presented below which provides suggestions for how rehabilitation can be staged and progressed, with a consideration of multiple variables. The model is not meant to be a dogmatic hierarchy, given that the relative importance of some variables could be debated or interchanged. In addition, an athlete could achieve competence in one aspect before another one that is presented higher on the chart, and these factors may vary depending on the injury, training age, or profession of the athlete. For instance, if later-stage goals for an NFL player following injury are to withstand impact from opponents, perhaps even blindsided, several characteristics of this impact should be considered and trained for. The athlete may require great range of motion, in multiple planes, while producing rapid, high eccentric force following an unexpected collision.

Clearly, there are several challenges in replicating this safely in rehabilitation. However, it is upon the clinician to prepare the athlete for this by applying a step-wise algorithm.

Variables

An initial point to consider is the range in which training is carried out. The term neutral is used instead of mid-range, and range should be considered from a craniocervical, upper-, mid-, and lower-cervical perspective. However, most rehabilitation will begin in a neutral position to teach the athlete the principles of recruitment with low load, high volume, isometric neuromuscular control exercises. The deep neck flexors act as stabilisers during movements in each direction, meaning that once volitional control has been established, there are multiple options for progression of this prime exercise. Increasing the volume (longer repetitions or extra sets) or increasing the load are obvious options, but changing the range of motion to a comfortable point in range in a different plane is also an important component.

Once pain-free, isometric control at an appropriate duration or load is established at a point in range or plane, concentric training should be utilised. This may initially be done with a slow, controlled build up against manual resistance, before progressing to higher loads (for instance using a harness, bands, or plates). Caution must be used when introducing eccentric training, by again reducing and rebuilding the load applied, as change in contraction type has the potential to exceed the capacity of the neck and cause irritation, soreness, and setbacks.

As has been long established in the upper and lower limb, rate of force development is a core component of rehabilitation. This relates to the athlete’s ability to create force quickly, something that is protective in contact sports given the speed at which tasks are completed. Exercises where the athlete has to respond to a visual or audible stimulus and create force quickly should be used. At an appropriate point in range and low load, this type of training can be introduced relatively early in the process.

While the terms control and anticipation may seem similar, they refer to separate components of rehabilitation. However, they may both be thought of as higher-level aspects that require particular proficiency at most other competencies before being introduced. Regarding control, exercises that combine loading with movement of the body or extremities will challenge the athlete’s ability to control the task. For instance, carrying out a head-over-heels roll, grappling, or landing on a soft mat following a tackle will train the athlete in instances where they do not have control over the loads applied and the positions the neck will find itself in.

Finally, preparing for unanticipated loading is a crucial component of the process. While initially this may be low-load, manual pressure from varying directions, perhaps to a Swiss ball in contact with the athlete’s head, the athlete must ultimately be able to train feed-forward mechanisms to tolerate being blindsided in contact from an opponent—with direction and force that can equate to being abruptly rear-ended or hit side-on by a car.

Progression

The variables can be manipulated to provide a pathway for progression—for instance, while first increasing the range in which the athlete is applying load, the clinician may simply reduce the load. If they are introducing eccentric loading, they may ensure that it is anticipated, controlled, and at a demonstrably safe range. Progression then can be gauged by the introduction of these progressive tasks, which will relate to the demands of sports-specific tasks. This allows clinicians and athletes to clearly identify the importance of an exercise on the road to match play.

The challenge in many cases is identifying key performance indicators that ascribe confidence that the athlete is now competent at each stage of progression, says @fearghalkerin. #NeckInjury Share on X

The challenge in many cases is identifying key performance indicators that ascribe confidence that the athlete is now competent at each stage. However, if considering neck strength testing with a strain gauge, this could be assessed at different ranges, contraction types, and different levels of anticipation. Similarly, symmetry could be assessed, or simply successful task tolerance may be an appropriate gateway for progression.

Moving Ahead

A lack of established guidelines around neck training have resulted in a knowledge vacuum that is particularly notable around post-injury rehabilitation. The clinician or coach then requires an understanding of the competencies that challenge the neck, so these can be included or mitigated against during training and reconditioning.

This post has attempted to provide a framework that allows for the progression of exercise across multiple domains. By combining alternate progressions, there can be confidence that rehabilitation is being advanced at an appropriate speed. Lastly, by understanding where these competencies exist in a rehabilitation spectrum, key performance indicators and criteria can be agreed upon, which may guide at which point the athlete progresses to advanced tasks including full contact and match play.

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

References

Collins, C. L., E. N. Fletcher, S. K. Fields, L. Kluchurosky, M. K. Rohrkemper, R. D. Comstock & R. C. Cantu (2014) Neck strength: a protective factor reducing risk for concussion in high school sports. J Prim Prev, 35, 309-19.

Hrysomallis, C. (2016) Neck Muscular Strength, Training, Performance and Sport Injury Risk: A Review. Sports Med, 46,1111-24.

Naish, R., A. Burnett, S. Burrows, W. Andrews & B. Appleby (2013) Can a Specific Neck Strengthening Program Decrease Cervical Spine Injuries in a Men’s Professional Rugby Union Team? A Retrospective Analysis. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 12, 542-550.

Drills have been around since the dawn of athletics. Every year new things come into the fold and catch the eyes of everyone. Often old drills get repackaged, repurposed, and renamed. I’m sure some older coaches who’ve seen it all scratch their head when things come back into existence. Since coaches have been getting results with these basic items for years, it would be foolish not to pay attention to the classics, teach, and implement them as best we can. Coaches often reach out to me and ask for the best sprint drills to do with their athletes. My answer is always, “It depends.” It depends on:

1. The athlete’s experience.
2. How comfortable the coach feels and how well they can teach. If the coach doesn’t feel comfortable demonstrating the drill, they can show a video or have an athlete do the drill.

The best drills are the ones done correctly. Once that happens, figuring out how to use them becomes a bit more clear. The drills in this post are delightfully simple and have withstood the test of time.

Overview of the Drills

It’s important to note that the only good drills are the drills done the right way in the context they were intended. In this article, I’ve taken care to give credit to each drill’s origin as well as clear guidance on how to perform them. When it comes to drills, coaches should also have some bandwidth as to what meets the criteria for acceptable technique with their drills. I will, however, stop athletes if their form breaks down or they don’t take it seriously. No athlete will do the same thing in the same exact way, but drills performed poorly time after time serve no real purpose.

Although no drill is exactly like sprinting, each of these drills needs to look good and shouldn’t be performed robotically. Even when it’s not textbook, I’m never in a hurry to fix something that looks good. Athleticism means doing things right without thinking too much about it. Of course, it can take a while to flow this subconsciously.

The athlete should also know why they’re doing the drill and when they might use it. As a coach, it’s important to get my athletes to buy in and take most things seriously. Coach Ryan Banta, who penned The Sprinter’s Compendium, advocates using different hand and arm positions as well as loads when doing drills to give variations that can motivate the athletes.

Being a good sprinter is about more than having trained energy systems. For all the exciting drills out there, we can get more out of the old ones. Share on X

Being a good sprinter is about more than having trained energy systems. For all of the new and exciting drills that make the rounds, I think we can get more out of the old stuff. I know I occasionally post something eye-catching, but the truth is 90% of our results come from 20% of our items combined with the workouts.

While there are naysayers to including drills in athletic development, plenty of studies have pushed their value. Numerous studies have found that starting slow and progressing to drills nearer the end-range of an athlete’s abilities can help motor learning. An A-skip is not at the far end of Usain Bolt’s abilities and would likely serve as nothing more than a warm-up drill; it would not contribute directly to his world-class speed any more than a heavy squat would.

Two studies have found:

1. Technical skill development for speed involves specific drills designed to isolate and combine joints to rehearse a series of sensations that establish the exact motor pathways.
2. Drills also create patterns of movement, and if performed numerous times correctly, will lead to more efficient neuromuscular patterns.

A-Skip

The first drill is the A-skip. I chose not to write about the A-march because I find most athletes perform it with some proficiency. Gerard Mach was a Canadian sprint coach in the 1970s, and his ABC march, skip, and run series is still used by many coaches today. It’s interesting, though, that a quick Google or YouTube search for these simple drills often produces many different variations. For a coach who’s trying to learn technique, I can see why it becomes confusing at times. Coaches implement A-skips in many different ways. While it seems that Mach wanted us to perform these drills as fast as possible, I always say before doing something fast, do it with rhythm.

The A-series doesn’t seem to have been meant for sprint mechanics. Watch a video of an athlete performing it, and it’s easy to see why. One study of A and B drills discovered that “There were significant differences in vertical displacement, vertical velocity, step frequency, support time, non-support time, shoulder range of motion (ROM), elbow flexion angular velocity (AV), trunk flexion, trunk rotation, pelvic rotation, hip flexion, hip extension AV, knee extension AV, ankle ROM, plantarflexion AV, and dorsiflexion AV…It was concluded that the kinematics in the A and B drills were not the same as sprinting.”

This obvious fact shouldn’t deter coaches from using drills that can promote kinesthetic learning because every drill has some degree of specificity to sprinting.

In the A-skip, Mach emphasized the knee lift, which functions as a specific strength exercise for quads and hip flexors. I’ve seen some coaches cue the athlete to step over the opposite knee in a cyclical action, but nothing I’ve read about Gerard Mach says this has to be. I have included some stepping over variations in the video that follows, but to be honest, cueing it this way overcomplicates it for many of my athletes and really dilutes the ground contact quality.

Two common errors I see when athletes perform the exercise are not punching the ground with enough force and having posture that is too upright. Yes, the knee initially comes up, but after that, the ground strikes reflexively lift the opposite knee. A common cue I use with my athlete is “knees up, feet down.” When the A-skip is done correctly, there’s a period where both feet are in the air in a non-support phase. I use the traditional “heel up, knee up, toe up” cue as well, but the secret is the “toe up.” When athletes keep their toes up to the top of the inside of the shoe, their ground strike is better. To prevent early plantar flexion, I like the foot contact to be as close to midfoot as possible. Another assistant coach I work with, Tyler Colbert, has the athlete think about where the spike plate is located and strike there; there’s certainly a reason for its location.

As far as posture, I usually have them start “hips up and forward.” This is a good entry point for discussing posture and what works best for each athlete. As with most drills, if the athlete is too straight up and down, I find their foot reaches for the ground. I cue them to have some forward lean where they can get to the sweet spot of their foot and have good ground reactive force.

The A-skip is just one of Mach’s drills. Let’s use it to get our athletes stronger in the right places and promote neuromuscular adaptations that can make them better sprinters by teaching it correctly.

Video 1. These athletes are still very much learning, but all display acceptable A-skip technique. As they do them more often, they will no doubt groove the patterns even better.

A-Run

The last piece of Gerard Mach’s A march-skip-run series is the A-run. I have fallen in love with this drill this year. Like the A-skip, the key to this drill is doing it fast and striking the ground hard. I still like my athletes to start with their hips up and forward to give a slight forward lean.

I’ve found that cueing “knees up, feet down” is helpful and prevents them from covering too much ground, leaning back, and thus reducing impulse. When done correctly, the heel should come to the hamstring before being driven back down under the hips. I sometimes call these “sprinter high knees” when coaching my athletes for simplicity. They are not the same thing as high knees, as high knees only focus on lifting the knees rather than what occurs on the ground.

A-runs are a good sprint drill in a warm-up before acceleration & max velocity work and as a finisher to intensive tempo work, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

I’ve had good results using A-runs as a sprint drill in a warm-up before acceleration and maximum velocity work. This drill has a lot of value when included in completion runs as a finisher to intensive tempo work. For example, if I have a kid who’s having trouble maintaining posture and relaxation at the end of a 200m race, rather than immediately panic and increase volume or another training stimulus, I’ve found it helpful to have them do 150-meter reps plus a +30 to 50m A-run. This allows them to run a quality 150m rep before they start carrying the kitchen sink and, after a brief 30-second rest, to finish with an A-run focusing on excellent finishing form. It’s certainly an exaggerated display of mechanics at the end of a race, but it forces them to dorsiflex earlier and advantageously contact the ground. Moving forward, we’re going to use this heavily in our program.

Video 2. The A-run is a useful tool for teaching exaggerated sprint mechanics. The focus is on core strength, front-side mechanics, and getting the foot over the knee and then down with force under the center of mass.

B-Skip

Lots of coaches have moved away from using the B-skip, and I’ve been among them at times. Mach designed the B series to focus on foreleg extension. In a recent post on Twitter, Coach Keith Whitman of Lutheran West High School lamented the epidemic of warm-up drills done poorly at track meets. He’s not wrong. He noted seeing B-skips looking like lazy flicks and A-skips done with pointed toes. I think it comes back to the fact that, again, it’s not a form drill.

Many coaches say that the B-skip teaches unwanted reaching or casting out excessively and risks hamstring pulls. This assumes that the athlete can’t separate a part from the whole. Triple jumpers and hurdlers are two types of athletes who do extend their foreleg quite a bit in their respective events. In both events, they drive their thigh up to the A-position where, at the apex, the foreleg is extended and clawed with control back under the hips. Executing the B-skip is done in much the same manner. It’s an A-skip with a foreleg extension. I find leading with the heel keeps a neat, cyclical loop and better foot contact on the ball of the foot.

Some coaches feel there’s an injury risk associated with B-skips. I’ve had my share of hamstrings injuries in the past (not because of the B-skip), and after including the B-skip, I can say it’s given me some needed confidence in specific hamstring strength.

Like with the A-series, Mach advocated doing these fast. I would argue that if an athlete does a funky A-skip, adding the B-skip without marching first is probably not a great idea. When an athlete lacks mechanics and coordination, almost everything has a risk. Moving forward, I do think there’s room for the B-skip in a hurdler’s and jumper’s inventory, but I understand why many coaches don’t use the drill or feel it’s unnecessary.

Video 3. The B-skip is a good tool for hurdlers and jumpers, who extend their foreleg quite a bit in their events.

Straight Leg Bounds

Most coaches are familiar with straight leg bounds—sometimes called scissor bounds or primetimes after Deion Sanders’ touchdown celebrations. Many top college coaches use them heavily for an abundance of reasons. While I must confess I can’t find the origin of this drill, it seems that many coaches who are disciples of or cite Tony Wells as an influence lobby for its usage. This may be because the drill is in the realm of bounding, which was a Well’s staple and can be a great way to be explosive even during general prep phases of training.

I love straight leg bounds; they teach developmental athletes how to use hamstrings & glutes to apply force into the ground, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

I love this drill because it teaches my developmental athletes how to use hamstrings and glutes to apply force into the ground. All speed athletes use these muscles to generate power through hip extension. I find them to be not only a nice mechanics drill but also a nice specific strength exercise. Getting stronger here can mean faster sprint times and also plays a part in reducing injuries.

To get the benefit of this drill, we must perform it correctly. I find numerous errors that I try to help my athletes with.

1. They perform the drill while leaning back excessively, and they look like the singing frog in the Looney Tunes cartoon performing his routine.
2. They are too concerned with being fast or quick rather than letting great ground contacts under the hip cause horizontal propulsion.
3. Legs don’t come up to about 45 degrees. I find this ROM allows them to prepare for the ground better and deliver a better downward strike and essentially pop away from the ground. The emphasis should not be on kicking upward.
4. Not keeping the toes pulled to the top of the shoe to make sure toes are not pointed. Telling them to lead downward with the heel but strike close to midfoot also helps.

Early in the season, when my athletes are shaking off the cobwebs, this is a terrific option to get a safe level of a sprinting stimulus along with shorter acceleration runs. I’ve also used it as a completion to a lactate type workout.

On the Complete Track and Field website, Kebba Tolbert has some great programming available regarding straight leg bounds in different contexts. (It’s under the General Prep & Specific Prep video. This particular segment on straight leg bounds starts at the 13:45 mark.) I recommend checking it out rather than randomly programming the drill. As always, once you understand how to do a drill correctly, you begin to understand how and when to use it.

Fast Leg Drill

Here’s a drill that’s been around forever, but I never see it done anymore. The amount of timing and athleticism needed to complete this drill is a great measuring stick of your athletes’ coordination. To be honest, I have largely avoided this drill with my most of my athletes because it is quite challenging. I do love the unilateral work done in isolation.

The best way to teach this is to use a smaller straight leg bound/shuffle to set up the fast leg cycle. I would allow your athletes to act intuitively and decide when to step over the opposite knee. This lets them focus on getting the heel to the hamstring and stepping down over the opposite knee. A common error I see is that athletes will sometimes move out of good posture into hip flexion when cycling their leg. Hips should stay up and forward (stay tall) through the entire drill.

The key to the drill is this: the timing of the legs needs to be such that one leg is coming back under the center of mass into a position of full support while the other leg/heel simultaneously comes up before being driven down under the hips. Cueing the athlete to keep their toes up in the shoes prevents a floppy foot contact.

Does this mean someone doing the fast leg drill will learn speed and suddenly set school records? No, but it’s a great ROM drill even if it’s exaggerated. It’s certainly a great way for an athlete to pass the eye test. It can show who is improving on their neuromuscular coordination on some basic level. Make no mistake; this drill in the absence of a good sprint plan may not mean very much at all.

Video 4. In this continuous variation, it’s easier to see the synching of the shuffle leg and the cycle leg. As the foot returns to full support under the hips, the opposite leg drives down over the opposite knee.

Prellhopser

I have to say that I’ve called this drill ten different things. My first encounter with it came from a Swedish drill video in a program called Lauf-ABC, which translated means Running ABC. I’ve spent some time translating articles related to the Lauf-ABC method, and it appears to be a Swedish derivation of the Mach series for distance runners seeking to dip their toe into the coordination and sprint world. I heavily recommend any distance runner just hitting the road for miles to implement the entire Lauf-ABC drill list into their training regimen and see what sticks. They advise 2x a week for about 10 minutes to start and market it as a way to optimize muscular control and clean movements. They do advise a complete install and not an occasional dabble. I think we’re already providing our athletes with huge neuromuscular demand, so as sprint coaches, we can sometimes afford to cherry-pick intelligently.

As far as the Prellhopser, I can’t say if this is the origin of the drill, but it does have the best in-depth explanation. And it’s probably the one drill I use the most. In addition to being fun to say, translated Prellhopser means “bouncer.” When done right, it’s easy to see why.

The instructions from their program are to jump off with both legs, pull one knee, and land again. Keep both feet parallel and land at the same time and then pull the other knee in an alternating fashion. I mostly agree with this description, but I’ve found it easier to focus on getting the feet down together by concentrating on getting the elbow down. Although ground contacts should be relatively short on the ball of the foot, I have a lot of fun asking my athletes to go quicker, higher, or further and watch them manipulate the resultant ground contact. To go higher, the contact is longer. To go quicker, the ground contact is brief but lacks force. Ultimately, I find it teaches them something about harmonizing the ground contact time and forceful pop into the ground.

The Prellhopser is the drill I use the most. We use it as a sprint drill, a technical buildup run, and as a way to stay loose, says @grahamsprints. Share on X

I love including this as a sprint drill on speed days, and we can easily bleed it into a technical buildup run. I know my athletes love doing a few sets of these in between lactate capacity work to stay loose, and it’s proven to be an excellent choice on the meet day after being herded into long race lines.

Video 5. Both feet need to hit the ground at the same time and in a parallel stance. Pop away from the ground by driving down with the arms and legs.

Simple, Not Easy

Especially now in the middle of the Coronavirus, our athletes must continue to work on their athletic development and speed. It’s important that they have some sense of normalcy and routine. I know not all athletes will have access to terrific facilities. The beauty of these drills and sprints is they can do them in most places. Most of these could easily be implemented in any maximum velocity or acceleration day. If we are to hope for autonomy during this hiatus, then perhaps we should have our athletes repeat things. Most of the drills should be done for no more than 10m.

Mechanics and posture are important in sprinting, and I can’t say that drills are the full answer any more than certain exercises in the weight room are. Drills are one part of designing a complete program that includes sprinting, plyometrics, and lifting.

I’ve heard it said that anything works with developing athletes. If that’s the case, why not spend some time polishing the basics? After all, the best drills and exercises an athlete can do are those they can do safely and correctly right now. Don’t get caught up in the latest hype. We can worry about pushing them safely toward harder things and perhaps getting a better effect down the road. When they do the drills right, your athletes have a fighting chance!

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

Medicine ball training is a timeless modality that athletes and coaches love to utilize. From the ancient Roman gladiators to the modern athlete, the classic loaded ball has served as both a training tool and a rehabilitation solution for centuries. Recently, Assess2Perform and other companies have made strides in improving the medicine ball with either better characteristics and features or the ability to extract data from the throwing motions. In this anthology, we cover the best medicine ball articles and posts on the SimpliFaster blog over the years.

Whether you are a coach wanting to know how to use the Ballistic Ball properly or how to use medicine balls in general, we review everything you ought to know about the subject area. In addition to medicine ball training guidelines, we also include a few interviews with coaches who understand the throws in general. Medicine ball training is versatile, fun, and very effective for teaching athletes how to explode their body in a coordinative fashion.

Medicine Ball Conditioning Workouts for Athletes of All Levels

Many coaches are familiar with the use of medicine ball training for power, but what about for conditioning? This article precisely investigates the idea that medicine ball circuits and workouts can enhance conditioning. In addition to the recommendations for training with medicine balls, the article expands on the research and digs into the exact metabolic pathways that the modality exploits. If you are looking for a way to improve athletic fitness without the use of running or practice, this article does a great job reviewing all you need to know about conditioning with medicine balls.

5 Troubleshooting Tips for Your Medicine Ball Training

All training has areas that may create roadblocks for coaches. If you are a young coach who wants to know more about the pros and cons of medicine ball training or a veteran coach who needs to polish their craft, this blog post is a great primer. It addresses, in full detail, five common mistakes in training and includes tips to reduce the pitfalls of medicine ball throws and catches. If you are a Ballistic Ball fan or a regular medicine ball user, this is a blueprint for better training outcomes and testing.

How to Test Athletic Power Using Medicine Balls

Shane Davenport from Exceed Sports and Fitness breaks down the use of the Ballistic Ball in detail, covering everything a new user would want to know. Davenport and his business partner, Sean Smith, do pioneering work with athletes utilizing the latest technology. What coaches need to understand is that in order to have a great evaluation of a quality, you need to have a near-perfect testing protocol. This article covers every type of throw for the Assess2Perform Ballistic Ball in detail. It also includes videos that show the precise technique of how to throw the medicine ball correctly for an accurate reading.

Achieving the Summation of Forces with Medicine Ball Training

A primary quality of medicine ball training is that it teaches the summation of forces to athletes. The summation of forces is basically the ability to generate power from the feet up through the body and finishing with the arms. Nick Garcia, a throws coach in track and field and a very good user of technology, explains why medicine ball training is a wonderful option for teaching the summation of forces. Included in this article are the details he believes are essential for fully capitalizing on this popular training method.

7 Key Strategies to Improve Medicine Ball Power Training for Athletes

In this popular piece on SimpliFaster’s blog, Carl Valle includes seven effective recommendations to improve athletic power with medicine ball training. Coaches in sports performance will love this article, as it includes exactly what coaches and therapists want to know with medicine ball training. If you are a high school coach, an athlete, a parent, or an elite performance coach in team sports or Olympic sports, this discusses the cream of medicine ball training. Also included are ways to fine-tune both testing and training, as well as measuring with a sound set of protocols.

The Art and Science of Medicine Ball Training

This is another article written by Carl Valle on medicine ball training that combines the research and practice seamlessly. His series on medicine ball training reviews all topics and components exhaustively. No stone remains unturned in this guide, and Valle covers some principles that would be very useful for teaching, testing, and training. “The Art and Science of Medicine Ball Training” is not just for strength coaches or track and field coaches, it’s for sports medicine professionals as well. The article is popular and a quick read, as it doesn’t go too deep into the science but does use evidence from research to keep it less opinionated and more informative.

A Deeper Look into Medicine Ball Training

The second article from SimpliFaster to be translated into another language, this is one of the most successful foundational blog posts for all coaches. With thousands of reads, it explains the heart and soul of medicine ball training. No other article is more exhaustive in teaching the core essentials of the modality. Videos, charts, exercise explanations—you name it, and this article has it. If you are serious about refining your expertise on medicine ball training, this article will do everything to get you started and mastering the method.

Integrating the Ballistic Ball into Performance Training

Another comprehensive article by Carl Valle, this covers all the details you need to get started with the Ballistic Ball. Valle is known for finding ways to make the complicated easier to understand and explaining how to apply technology to the real world, and here he outlines how to use the Assess2Perfom device in detail. This includes how to use the app, why athlete management system users can benefit from an API, and the nuances of using the hardware. If you are on the fence about purchasing a Ballistic Ball, this article can help guide you to the right decision.

Developing an S&C Program for Basketball Players with Matt Johnson

The Chicago Bulls got lucky with Matt Johnson, who is one of the best strength coaches in the NBA. In this Freelap Friday Five, Coach Johnson explains what it’s like to train the world’s best basketball players. In one of the questions, he brilliantly points out the value of using medicine ball throws. While jumping on force plates is the new standard for evaluating leg power and fatigue, coaches can use medicine ball throws as a proxy for athletes who may not be tolerant of the impact from playing games. Coach Johnson is a great teacher and knows his way around the barbell, but if you want to know more about athletic development, this is a quick read and perfect for those in strength and conditioning.

Finding Money for Your Strength and Conditioning Program

Doug Gle nails this blog piece on finding money for your weight room, as he nearly single-handedly transformed a school from one with barely any lifting area into a school with one of the best programs in Michigan. Included in this article is a showcase of the Ballistic Ball used by high school athletes, as well as other velocity-based training products. Every coach, even those with large budgets, has to plan for incorporating equipment and renovations into their weight room at some point in their career. If you want to improve your program or sustain excellence, this primer is awesome for anyone in the iron game.

Athlete Development Lessons from Shot Put Coach Jim Aikens

One of the most candid Friday Five interviews, this sit-down with Jim Aikens is off the charts for developing throwers. Known as a coach of coaches, Aikens is a wizard for athletes in the Illinois area. An expert on all areas of throwing, he specializes in the shotput and has helped athletes learn both the glide and the spin. Coach Aikens is currently retired, but he still coaches local athletes at the high school level, as well as in private practice. His videos are tremendous teaching examples of how to throw with better mechanics and movement quality.

Cultivating Talent with Strength Coach Bobby Stroupe

Medicine ball training is a vital part of programming for Bobby Stroupe, the founder and lead coach of APEC in Texas. Coach Stroupe is known for his tutelage of Patrick Mahomes, a standout quarterback on the Kansas City Chiefs, but he has fostered the success of many athletes in the area. If you are looking for more information on long-term athletic development, he is one of the best resources on taking athletes from youth to pro, as his list of athletes is extensive. Also included in this article is a video of great medicine ball throws with some very powerful football players.

How to Upgrade and Modernize Your Local Combine

While the NFL Combine doesn’t use medicine ball throws for their assessment of football players, nearly all the scholastic combines in high school do. Popularized by Nike with their SPARQ testing, the medicine ball throw is more than just an upper body power test, it’s a great way to see athleticism. Many coaches want the medicine ball throw included in testing because they believe, and rightfully so, that the movement and load is an excellent indicator of total body power. If you are interested in hosting a combine for profit or for talent identification, this is a comprehensive review on modern combine testing and sports technology.

7 Methods to Develop Rotational Power in Sport

Rotational sport coaches are often fans of medicine ball training, but there is more to do than simply tossing a load a few times a week. Rotation is a controversial subject because there are so many opinions on what is right and wrong with training today. Instead of sharing an opinion, this article covers the necessary science and practice with all forms of training, including isometric options. If you are involved in rotational sports or want to know more on how to prepare the body for anti-rotation, this article is a compelling read. It also includes information on medical perspectives with rotation, as training and rehabilitation sometimes go hand-in-hand.

Buyer’s Guide to Sport Velocity-Tracking Devices

One of the most popular Buyer’s Guides on SimpliFaster is this review of systems that measure ball or sport implement speed. While most of the products are radar systems for baseball and golf, a few of them are able to measure continuous speed of the body and medicine ball. Included in this guide is a review and explanation of the Ballistic Ball from Assess2Perform and other systems from new companies. Most coaches who are looking to measure ball speed in athletic training will want to read this list of options, as it enables smarter investing in sports technology.

6 Top Circuit Training Workouts for Sport

Circuit training is often poorly implemented and programmed in sports training, and this article reviews the principles that are essential to coaches. Specifically, it covers the use of medicine ball circuits, adding insight on how to create an effective training plan using the world’s oldest ballistic training implement. If you are interested in circuits or want a few ideas regarding medicine ball training, this article does a fantastic job of listing workouts that many athletes can use in detail and explaining the purpose behind in each session. Coaches love circuit training because it organizes groups of athletes and is simple to administer at all levels.

Updated April 12, 2020

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