A planned program of preparation is the foundation that elite performance is built upon. Under normal circumstances, a coach creates a strategic plan based on a variety of factors, the athlete then executes the plan, and results follow. Read more
What are the hurdles we face in sports performance? What hurdles do we face in getting a job, in supporting athletes, and in moving profession forward? Steve Ingham has looked closely at all of these questions as both a sports physiologist and consultant. On this week’s episode he joins us to share how he approaches these issues, as well as his new book and online community. Read more
Over the last eight months we’ve heard from high school coaches, professional coaches, and others about how they’ve adapted their training to pandemic. One voice we haven’t heard from is NCAA coaches. The NCAA system puts some unique restrictions on coaches and athletes, and on this episode we invite on several NCAA coaches to discuss how they’re planning in uncertainty and dealing with other uncertainties like program cuts. Read more
On the first day of my masters program in sports coaching we were told to study supercompensation theory for homework. All the students dove into Tudor Bompa’s treatise Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training. The book made the whole concept seem so easy, including nice graphics on how supercompensation worked. I thought I had hit pay-dirt with the organization and structure laid out in the book, and got Bompa himself to sign my copy a few years later. Read more
Sport systems have always fascinated me, even before I started coaching. When I was in college, we played the great San Diego State Football teams coached by Don Coryell. It was obvious they had a system and played to that system and recruited players for that system. My junior year in college we had a clinic at Fresno State and the defensive line coach at San Diego State, John Madden, was the featured speaker. He gave insights into the system, how he selected players for the positions and what he did to develop them. Needless to say, that confirmed what I had seen on film and on the field, it left a deep impression on me of the need to have a system if you wanted to have sustained excellence. Read more
As the athletics season in the Northern Hemisphere comes to an end, many coaches will be evaluating how their athletes performed in the previous season, and then use this information to inform their training program for the coming, and future, seasons. This is similar to what businesses do frequently, particularly when it comes to developing a strategy to drive what they do on a daily basis towards a long-term, overall aim. Read more
Of late I have been thinking about those who have influenced me over the course of my career. Below I have listed the people in four categories: teachers/professors, coaches, sport scientists, and athletes. Some of these people I have been able to work directly with, some I just learned from through reading their writing and some through observation. Read more
We are living in a time of unprecedented change. This gives us a great opportunity to grow and adapt. There are two choices:
During last month’s GAIN Master Class Series event, Grace Golden spoke a lot about shapes. “Shapes” has become a bit of a buzzword over the last few years. The concept is great: if you body can’t make the shapes your sport needs, you don’t stand a chance. By focusing on shapes, we start shifting the focus from muscles to movements. But what is often missed in the message is that shapes are not enough. Shapes are just one piece of the performance puzzle. To reach elite performances, you have to go beyond shapes. Read more
Traditionally the rehabilitation process chases pristine movements. Grace Golden has a different approach: explore permutations of each movement and force the athlete to respond to their environment. After presenting at last month’s GAIN Master Class, Grace Golden joins this week’s GAINcast to discuss her principles of rehabilitation, as well as how to create a team approach to returning athletes to play. Read more
