Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Mad Libs and "Sports Specific" Training

I remember using Mad Libs as a kid for a fun way to learn grammar and different ways to phrase a sentence.  Maybe Daniel Coyle would consider it deliberate practice for grammar?  Why am I bringing up Mad Libs?  Well, from my experience and what I hear from other coaches, everyone wants sports specific training.  Working with high school age and younger, the sports specific training is somewhat laughable.  "Johnny needs to increase his vertical 8 inches before basketball season." Oh really? He literally can't even squat or do a proper lunge, I think I'll start there instead of the exercises you saw Lebron James do in a magazine.

Do I want my training to specifically help one's sport? Most definitely, but there needs to be an efficient base of movement, strength and power, which is specific to every sport. 

So here's my Mad Lib for when a parent come's to talk to you about there 13 year old phenom and what type of program they need.

"First, thank you ______ (add parents name name) for choosing me to help your son/daughter become a better ________(choose a sport) player.  I understand you want to see your child succeed at a high level, and don't worry, I got your back.  Our mission is to create an environment where _______ (add athlete's name) can improve and maximize their athletic potential.  From my experience, looking at _______ (choose a sport) athletes, they always need to improve their mobility, stability, core strength, upper body strength, lower body strength, and overall power.  This base of movement creates a quicker, faster, and more explosive ________ (choose a sport) player.  You probably want to improve their ______ (choose a sport specific athletic characteristic), and we enhance that by using ________ (choose specific exercise that improves that quality).  We also aim to prevent ______ (choose typical sports injury) by screening ______ (add athletes name) and looking for imbalances and movement deficiencies.  Our program is also designed to create a well balanced athlete who stays healthy by using a dynamic warm up, single leg strength exercises, and proper core exercises.  I think we both can agree that the best ______ (choose a sport) players are almost always the best athletes.  You came to the right place because I train each athlete like they were my own child and will look to make him the best _____ (choose a sport) he can be."

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