The end of the year is upon us, so we asked our team of HMMR Media contributors to reflect on the year behind us. Joining us on the episode are James Marshall, Chris McCormick, Domhnaill Fox, Andy Stone, Patrick McHugh, and Vern Gambetta. They all share what they’ve been learning, plus the mistakes they made in 2021.
Big throws down in New York over the weekend. Senior Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan (Woonsocket, RI) broke the Ocean Breeze Track facility record with a huge toss of over 79 feet to win the Bishop Loughlin Games. Michael Pinckney (High School For Construction, Ozone Park, RI) was also over 70 feet in the competition while Aviana Rezendes (Classical, Providence, RI) won the girl’s competition.
The best sports scientists bridge the gap between theory and practice. They bring coaching experience to the table and help help solve the real problems athletes are facing. This describes Esa Peltola. His diverse experiences in coaching, physiology, talent identification, and sports science helped him drive athletes to the next level, including coaching the first Australian to break 10 seconds in the 100 meters. On this week’s GAINcast he shares his journey.
It’s an age old debate: who are the best of all time in your sport. When it comes to the throwing events we have some objective numbers to rely on, but there are also many subjective factors as well. On this week’s episode we list the top 10 of all time in our sports: the men’s shot put and hammer throw.
As we enter the final month in the year, it’s a good time to look back and share some of our recent thoughts about training and coaching. On this week’s GAINcast we cover a wide variety of topics including coaching and athlete specialization, finding a process, tips on organization, athleticism, sprint technique, and more.
Throughout October and November we looked at team speed and the unique demands of speed in team sports. Our team of contributors put together 7 new articles, 2 podcasts, and 1 training program on the topic. Find links to both our new and archived resources on team speed below.
Throughout October and November we posted a variety of content about team speed. With the chance to talk to so many experts on the topic, I’ve been thinking about it a lot myself as well. Below are some key lessons I’ve learned or reemphasized recently on getting athletes faster in team sports.
Just a short time ago, high school strength and conditioning coach was not a job. Now, across the US, more schools are hiring strength coaches. What makes a good program and how can coaches make the biggest impact at the youth level? On this week’s episode NHSSCA co-founder Gary Schofield joins us to look at these topics and more.
Coach Kelvin Giles once said “If your coach:athlete ratio is 1:25 then you are managing a crowd, not coaching.” It’s not ideal, but it’s reality for many coaches. As I’ve worked more with field sports I’m often tasked with working with up to 50 athletes at one time. In such a setting, you have to make concessions as you transition from theory to practice. But with the right adjustments it can still look like coaching rather than crowd management.
Too often we have a concept of how to train for a sport or event and use that as the starting point for the plan. We fit the athlete to the event. That works in some cases, but other times you need to fit the event to the athlete. In no event is that more important than the 800 meters, where athletes come from a wide variety of training and physiological backgrounds. On this week’s episode coach Trevor Painter and former elite 800 meter runner Jenny Meadows join us to share some examples of fitting the event to an athlete, 800 meters training, and more.
