For decades, Clay Erro led one of California’s most successful high school football teams. Behind the success and the strong culture was not a set of rules, but strong relationships. Cooperative endeavors require relationships to flourish, not rules. In this episode of the GAINcast, Erro explains his instruction manual for building a relationship-based team culture and how he put it into practice. Read more
I recently came across an interesting book by Greg Ip titled Foolproof: Why Safety Can Be Dangerous and How Danger Makes Us Safe
Every year the University of North Carolina ranks among the top universities in the Director’s Cup race, given to the university with the most overall success across all sports. They have a track record of producing repeat champions in team sports like basketball, soccer, baseball, and lacrosse. On this week’s podcast Greg Gatz (Director of Strength & Conditioning, Olympic Sports) and Jonas Sahratian (Head Strength & Conditioning, Men’s Basketball) join us to discuss how their culture and approach to training have contributed to a culture of success. Read more
Over the last dozen years Dan Noble has helped transform the Hill Academy from a brand new school to one of the top performing high schools in North America. How has he done it? By forging his own path and rethinking what has always been done in sports like hockey, football, and lacrosse. On this episode of the podcast he joins us to discuss what made him rethink his philosophy, how he went about integrating ideas from Frans Bosch and Vern Gambetta, and what he does to get the most from training through better organization. Read more
Robustness is a term that gets thrown around a lot lately, but few people take a step back to look at what the term actually means. Robustness is more than just having the strength to endure more pressure; it is about being able to endure different pressures. Or, to quote the experts, the ability of a system to tolerate perturbations. We are happy to announce that our latest eCourse in the HMMR Media Classroom focuses on the topic. In it, John Pryor provides a practical guide to develop robust running skills. Read more
Speed is key in every sport, but not all speed is created equal. In many sports, maximum speed is not the game changer. Instead, it is how fast you can respond to the opponent, change direction, and get moving again. In other words, multi-directional speed is often more important than linear speed. On this episode of the podcast professor Ken Clark explains the three elements of multi-directional speed, how it differs from other types of speed, and strategies to improve it. Read more
If you watched Christian McCaffrey at the NFL combine, you couldn’t help but be impressed. He was fast, explosive and agile. But nevertheless he had some critics as his weightlifting numbers were not impressive. Interesting. I know for a fact that Stanford University has employed velocity-based training (VBT) methods with their football athletes in the past. To what extent McCaffrey used VBT I do not know, but whatever combination of methods he used it clearly got him results on the field. Maybe lifting all the weight possible like a weightlifter is not the end-all-be-all to being a top athlete. Read more
Competition is a key to getting better and Pete Carroll has built his coaching philosophy around that. On this week’s episode we take a look in depth at Carroll’s coaching philosophy, its benefits, and its applicability in different settings. Plus we answer another question of the week. Read more
American football has undergone drastic change in the 50 years since Vern strapped on a helmet as a college lineman. New practice guidelines are finally trying to keep up with the changes to help protect players. But will they work? On this episode of the podcast we discuss how the sport is evolved and how practice must evolve with it. Read more
Pete Carroll is a divisive figure. He stands there on the sidelines with a cheek of chewing gum, dad shoes, and a big smile on his face. Fans find his happy-go-lucky persona either endearing or grating. But no matter what camp you are in, you cannot deny the sustained success he has had at both the collegiate and professional level. As head coach at the University of Southern California he rebuilt a winning tradition, leading the team to two national championships and a record seven straight BCS bowl games. Since 2010 he has been with the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks where they have now won three NFC West Championships in four years, been to two Super Bowls, and won one. Read more
