Testing is a crucial part of the training and coaching process. On this episode of the GAINcast Vern walks through his approach to testing and shares his best practices, including a walk through of how he set up and implemented the testing program at the Chicago White Sox in the 1990s.
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Every month we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. In this month’s edition we look at failures in talent development, mental toughness, mental rest, using data in elite sport, nutrition, and more.
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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.
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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.
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To paraphrase Kelvin Giles, ‘If your coach: athlete ratio is 1:25 then you are managing a crowd, not coaching.’ Some coaches can only dream of that ratio because they regularly manage groups of 40 or 50 people in a session. Coaching large groups presents unique problems. For example, individualization may seem impossible and we have to hope that everyone gets some improvement.
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Sports science has changed a lot in the last few decades. In some regards it has grown, but it has also become watered down in many ways. On this week’s GAINcast David Martin joins us to discuss how teams can perfect the performance equation, get the most out of sports science, and lessons from the NBA, cycling, and even Jane Goodall.
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The NBA game has changed drastically over the last few decades. At age 73, Ron Adams is the old guard in the new world trying to adapt classic fundamentals to the evolving game. On this week’s GAINcast he joins us to talk about fundamentals, coaching, NBA trends, and more.
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Every month we take a deep dive into the latest research in sports science. To kick of 2021 we’ve put together one of our biggest editions yet, reviewing 12 new articles on a range of topics from a critique of data-driven coaching, repeatability of training improvements, caffeine periodization, crowd wisdom, and what coaches can learn from hunter gatherers.
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The site theme in November was technology and sport. Throughout the month we put together 5 new articles and 3 new podcasts from 7 contributors about how to effectively integrate technology into training. You’ll find all the links below, as well as highlights from our archive on the topic.
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Technology is a good thing, right? When we evaluate technology we tend to focus on the benefits: what it can add. But the paradox of technology is that it often has hidden costs we do not see up front. Determining whether technology is good or not can be harder than it looks. Read more
