May 2011 Blog Posts (28)

Just doing drills ad nauseum doesn’t necessarily transfer to skill improvement. In fact it can retard skill development and disturb technique. Just being able to do part of a skill broken out into a drill does not transfer to the actual skill or activity. Regardless of the sport or training venue I see drills predominate but you must remember similar is not the same! Certainly some of the drills look really cool, but are…

                One of my oldest friends, Alvin Pearman has a similar mentality.  Alvin and I went to the same high school and spent countless summers as…

Effective athletic development is based upon the principle of the development of fundamental movement skill before specific sport skill. In generations past this was something that everyone took for granted because the demands of everyday living took care of fundamental movement. People at all ages were very active. Children grew up moving, free play was a major part of daily activity. It was natural to crawl, jump, hop,…

Joe Przytula is a good friend, professional colleague and a member of the GAIN Apprentorship faculty. I first met Joe when he attended one of my seminars around 15 years ago. From day one he impressed me with his hunger for knowledge and desire to improve…

I received this email the other day. I believe this sums many of the issues we face in athletic development today:

"I recently attended a sports specific conference not a personal trainer type of one. Left disappointed. Conference presenters and attendees were primarily college and professional coaches…

Florida State University experts in medicine, exercise science, nutrition, sports psychology and athletic training have partnered with one of the nation's premier sports medicine and orthopedic treatment centers to establish the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine (ISSM), a public-private collaboration…

One of the greatest rewards of coaching is being able to visit with former athletes and see their growth as people. Friday I had a wonderful two-hour visit with two former White Sox players – Kinnis Pledger and Ed Smith. I had not seen them for at least 17 years. I first met them in June 1987…

It was great workout! Yes it was now what? The workout is not an end unto itself. You can do a great workout and end up really hurting, really feel the burn, but does make it a great workout? Did you win the workout? Will you be able to come back tomorrow and train? Doing the workout and leaving totally knackered is not the same as winning the workout. The workout is piece in a giant jigsaw puzzle. It must be carefully…

Dear Strength Coach,

How do you sequence plyometric exercises over the course of a macrocycle (16-20 weeks of training)?

It’s well accepted that a client/athlete adapts to an exercise in 4-6 weeks (or less). So, if we are training a client  for 16-20 weeks, we need a well designed sequence of exercises leading towards the stated goal (for example, improving a vertical jump).

I know this may sound heretic, but in the first steps of this sequence the purpose of…

Here are some thoughts and ideas on training I have been thinking about. Hopefully this will stimulate you on to step back and look differently at your coaching. If nothing else it should make you think.

Consistency in training is rewarded many times over. Big wins come from a succession of small wins. Take…

Dynavision Sports’ D2 technology was featured this weekend on ESPN Sport Science. The device was used to test NASCAR driver Carl Edwards’ reaction time in varying conditions. 

The D2 contains a sphere of buttons that light up in random succession and is designed to measure, track and improve reaction time, peripheral awareness, hand-eye coordination and other visual-motor skills. During the Sport Science segment, Edwards had to call out random flashing numbers and track…

Brady wrote me the following commenting on my original post: Vern, can you explain more in detail why almost every S&C coach uses the glute/ham raise or nordic hamstring curl with their athletes?  You are the first coach I have come across to go against the grain with this.  I know this is the most popular exercise I see with most athletes and every coach believes it is extremely…