Shawn is the owner and founder of Movement Mastery: The Art of Optimizing Movement. He's a movement coach for a dozen NFL athletes and continually looks to push the envelop on what makes great athletes - great! To him, and I agree, this means movement - not necessarily strength, or weight room numbers, or power, or motor performance - rather great movement qualities, attuned perception and action coupling, free and creative thinkers/movers, and refined motor learning processes. In this episode we discuss everything from…
What a movement first approach means
How coaches can tweak agility training for better outcomes
What reactive agility really is
How warm-ups could be better structured for the subsequent tasks of sport
Mistakes coaches make during practices in terms of removing messiness, mistakes, and creativity
Where he found his roots in dynamic systems theory, a constraints led approach, and ecological psychology
We talk about the greatest mover of all-time - Barry Sanders
Much More
Favorite Quotes:
"My only goal with athletes is getting them better when and where it counts, which is in the arena of sport"
"Sport is a problem solving activity"
"If the perception is inaccurate or wrong - the action won't be appropriate"
"I don't refer to it as a warm-up, but a movement preparation scheme. Warming-up is general; I'm trying to prepare behaviors"
"A major mistake I see is the training environment is not truly representative that of which happens in the sporting environment"
"An offensive player and a defensive player have much different requirements in sport - so should their warm-up, training, and patterns"
"I try and learn from different fields - I've gone to watch dance instructors, martial arts instructors, teachers - it should come as no surpass that we can learn from various disciplines"
"Often we gets athletes so restricted on reproducing what we deem an ideal movement pattern, that we don't even know if it's ideal or optimal for that respective athlete. Instead we should help guide and be a facilitator rather than an instructor"
In this episode, we have a special roundtable discussion with fellow coaches to discuss the various aspects of S&C coaching in the public and private sectors. In this great podcast we have the following coaches
Steve Brown - UW-Oshkosh
Twitter - @CoachBrown19
Zach Cahill - Northern Illinois University
Twitter - @CoachZCahill
Matt Gifford - NXLevel Performance
Twitter - @GiffUsStrength
Korey Van Wyk - Northwestern College
Twitter - @KoreyVanWyk
Topics Covered
Caliber of Athlete
Freedom Allowed - Freedom of programming, freedom from sport coaches, freedom of the facility, freedom of equipment, freedom of space, freedom of time/hours
Job Stability/Security
Typical Schedule/Hours
Salary/'Compensation
Favorite Quotes
"Much of my day is running around like a chicken with my head cut off, working with athletes of every make and model"
"As a strength coach, I'm support staff, but I've found that the better my relationship with the sport coach - the more freedom and trust they give me in the weight room"
"Much of my job was educating the parents - they often just wanted to see Jimmy and Johnny sweating, but if we're doing pure speed work, the athletes might not be sweating"
"I have many friends, who I know are good, quality coaches who are out of jobs because their team didn't have the wins. The higher the level, the less job security"
"Being a good Strength coach isn't enough anymore - you have to branch out and find 1-2 other areas of speciality like speed & agility, technology, nutrition, rehab, etc"
"Definitely a benefit of most public sector positions is the benefits like health insurance, retirement, life insurance, etc. When I worked in the private sector, my salary was basically the same as it is now, but the benefits I now receive make my current job more worth while"
"A hidden part of being at my University longer and longer is I always seem to be roped into more and more committees - whether it be a hiring committee or leadership committee or coaching committee - these add to additional meetings/hidden hours"
"When I was in college, I didn't know until my senior year, that our Strength coach did summer training for free. His contract didn't include the summer and wasn't paid to be there - I'm now in that situation with maybe a small stipend"
"Do an internship in the college setting, do an internship in the private setting - every situation is different and you won't know what you'll like unless you spend valuable time in each setting"
"You better love it, you better have a why to what you're doing"
"We do such a good job in our own weight rooms of building people up, but we could do a better job building up people in our S&C community"
"How many athletes are totally healthy? In my experience, not very many, so spending time to figure how to work with injured people because it's a huge part of the job"
I've done this in the past, and after reading Stuart McMillian's list, I thought it would be nice to jot down some of the books, podcasts, research I've really enjoyed in 2016. Hope you enjoy!
Elite Performance Podcast - Us at BBA! (Selfish Plug :)
Perception & Action Podcast - Rob Gray
The EntrelLeadership Podcast - Ken Coleman
Historic Performance Podcast - James Darly
Ted Radio Hour
Tell Me Something I Don't Know - Stephen Dubner
Top Research
Van Hooren, B., & Bosch, F. (2016). Influence of Muscle Slack on High-Intensity Sport Performance: A Review. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 38(5), 75-87.
Nimphius, S., Callaghan, S. J., Sptieri, T., & Lockie, R. G. (2016). Change of direction deficit: A more isolated measure of change of direction performance than total 505 time. J. Strength Cond. Res.
Rumpf, M. C., Lockie, R. G., Cronin, J. B., & Jalilvand, F. (2016). Effect of Different Sprint Training Methods on Sprint Performance Over Various Distances: A Brief Review. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30(6), 1767-1785.
Petrakos, G., Morin, J. B., & Egan, B. (2016). Resisted Sled Sprint Training to Improve Sprint Performance: A Systematic Review. Sports Medicine, 46(3), 381-400.
Morin, J. B., & Samozino, P. (2016). Interpreting Power-Force-Velocity Profiles for Individualized and Specific Training. International Journal of Sports Physiology & Performance, 11(2).
Gabbett, T. J. (2016). The training—injury prevention paradox: should athletes be training smarter and harder?. British journal of sports medicine,50(5), 273-280.
Rhea, M. R., Kenn, J. G., Peterson, M. D., Massey, D., Simão, R., Marin, P. J., ... & Krein, D. (2016). Joint-Angle Specific Strength Adaptations Influence Improvements in Power in Highly Trained Athletes. Human Movement, 17(1), 43-49.
de Hoyo, M., Sañudo, B., Carrasco, L., Mateo-Cortes, J., DomÃnguez-Cobo, S., Fernandes, O., ... & Gonzalo-Skok, O. (2016). Effects of 10-week eccentric overload training on kinetic parameters during change of direction in football players. Journal of sports sciences, 34(14), 1380-1387.
de Hoyo, M., Gonzalo-Skok, O., Sañudo, B., Carrascal, C., Plaza-Armas, J. R., Camacho-Candil, F., & Otero-Esquina, C. (2016). Comparative Effects of In-Season Full-Back Squat, Resisted Sprint Training, and Plyometric Training on Explosive Performance in U-19 Elite Soccer Players. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 30(2), 368-377.
Van Hooren, B., & Bosch, F. (2016). Is there really an eccentric action of the hamstrings during the swing phase of high-speed running? part I: A critical review of the literature. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1-9.
Van Hooren, B., & Bosch, F. (2016). Is there really an eccentric action of the hamstrings during the swing phase of high-speed running? Part II: Implications for exercise. Journal of Sports Sciences, 1-12.
Hausler, J., Halaki, M., & Orr, R. (2016). Application of Global Positioning System and Microsensor Technology in Competitive Rugby League Match-Play: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis. Sports Medicine, 46(4), 559-588.
Lamela, D., Sachandani, K., Hubble, K., & Keenan, K. (2015). MEASUREMENT OF LEVEL OF BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACIDS IN NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENTS. The FASEB Journal, 29(1 Supplement), 559-25.
Dr. Clark is a professor at West Chester University in Pennsylvania and is a foremost expert in speed research and we talked all about speed on the podcast. Everything from his research with Dr. Peter Weyand, difference in mechanics between Elte vs Non-Elite athletes, what makes a great accelerator, what makes a great top-end sprinter, what the research has to say on sleds/resisted sprinting, where the role of strength applies in speed development, and much more.
Favorite Quotes
"Great acceleration is marked by posture, piston like leg action, stiff contact, and front side dominant mechanics.
"There is still a lot we don't know with sled or resisted sprinting - but heavier may be better for acceleration"
"Assisted or over-speed sprinting may be the new frontier in sprint performance, especially with tools like the Sprint 1080"
"No plyo or lift in the weight room can simulate the GCT and forces seen in top-end sprinting"
"Once you hit a certain strength standard, you see dimishing returns on continuing to push max strength development"
"We've started to use a compete-technique-compete format in our speed and agility training"
Books
Weyand, P. G., Sternlight, D. B., Bellizzi, M. J., & Wright, S. (2000). Faster top running speeds are achieved with greater ground forces not more rapid leg movements. Journal of applied physiology, 89(5), 1991-1999.
Jeremy Frisch is the owner of Achieve Performance in Clinton, Mass. Achieve Performance caters to athletes ranging from young athletes (6-7 y.o.) to college athletes to adult athletes. Before opening Achieve Performance, Jeremy spent time as a Strength and Conditioning Coach at Holy Cross working primarily with the basketball team.
Jeremy's youth program - Speed Demons - is a wonderful youth training program and the things he does with his youth athletes are amazing and very important given the nature of our youth/adolscent population. So we talked about his goals when working with youth athletes and where he derives many of his philosophies for working with young athletes. We also discuss some of the fun tools he uses with his young athletes such as mini trampolines, obstacles, gymnastic mats, balance beams, rings, etc. Since Jeremy is a business owner, we also discuss life of a gym owner and the pros and cons of owning a gym. He talked about some of the hidden things that go into owning a business and some traps young gym owners probably fall trap to.
Finally we talked about a topic close to both of our hearts - Division III athletics and some of the misconceptions about playing sports at the DIII level.
This was one of my favorite talks and Jeremy keeps it real and puts things into perspective during this great episode.
Sean is the co-owner of Dietetic Advantage, owner of CasePerformance, and a physical preparation coach at UW-Health in Madison, WI. Sean is a CSCS and also an RD, and in this episode Sean and I discuss all things nutrition. We talked about how he approaches nutritional interventions with athletes, 3 of the biggest mistakes athletes make in their diet, and why he decided to start his own supplement company and what he hopes to achieve with his supplement line. All in all, this is a wonderful podcast for coaches to get great in-sight on all things nutrition and supplementation.
Sean is the co-owner of Dietetic Advantage, owner of CasePerformance, and a physical preparation coach at UW-Health in Madison, WI. Sean is a CSCS and also an RD, and in this episode Sean and I discuss all things nutrition. I ask him about 10 popular supplements and he gives his thoughts about the effectiveness and efficacy of each. We then talk about how he approaches nutritional interventions with athletes, 3 of the biggest mistakes athletes make in their diet, and why he decided to start his own supplement company and what he hopes to achieve with his supplement line. All in all, this is a wonderful podcast for coaches to get great in-sight on all things nutrition and supplementation.
