Martin Bingisser

GAINcast Episode 238: Athletic development paradigm

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Where do you start when training athletic development for a new sport or athlete? Vern Gambetta’s athletic development paradigm gives coaches a 4-pronged analytic tool to make sure you develop a plan that fits the sport, position, and athlete. On this week’s GAINcast he breaks down all four elements with examples from his experience working in a variety of sports at the highest level.

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Notes and quotes

  • 0:00 – Introduction
  • 5:00 – The four key points of the athletic development paradigm.
  • 6:00 – Demands of the sport: “It’s about what the sport actually entails, not what you think it entails. We know more about the actual demands of the sport now than we ever have before.”
  • 9:30 – Moving beyond tactics: “Much of game analytics now is focused on tactics and strategy rather than physical demands. We need to ask what has to be done to physically make this player better, increase their trainability so they can get more out of practice?”
  • 14:30 – Project Gold and the role of coaches in driving the process.
  • 17:15 – Demands of the position.
  • 19:00 – Examples of position-specific demands in baseball.
  • 20:30 – Qualities of the athlete and examples of individualization.
  • 25:15 – Nuance of the paradigms: “Athletes might have individual differences, but does that mean their training is entirely different? No. The sport demands are the same, the position demands are the same. At the athlete level, individualization comes down to nuance and prioritization.”
  • 28:30 – Pattern of injuries: “Many injury prevention programs increase injuries by calling attention to things or inordinately stressing or isolating one area.”
  • 34:15 – Science vs. art of the paradigm and the role of sport culture and traditions.
  • 36:30 – Preparing for the sport and working together with coaches.

To hear more about these topics you can listen to the full episode above. If you like what you hear on the GAINcast, don’t forget to give us a review and subscribe on iTunes.

Further reading

The following links were referenced in the podcast or provide some additional reading material on the topic:

  • GAIN 2022 will take place from June 14 to 18 in Houston Texas. You can learn more about GAIN 2022 and send in your application on the GAIN website.
  • The GAINcast is also sponsored by HMMR Media. Join HMMR Media to get access to a vast library of online training resources, video, articles, podcasts, and more. A HMMR membership is also included with GAIN 2022 registration.
  • Vern has written before on how sport specific training is a must and where to start. We also discussed analyzing sport demands in more detail back on GAINcast 17.
  • Our new article also looks at the concept of “similar is not the same” and how that is both good and bad for training. Our most recent HMMR Classroom Video Lesson 31 looks in detail at advanced specific strength concepts as well.