EliteVolleyballPerformance

RE: Stability and Mobility Adaptations in the Overhead Athlete

2011-04-05T20:45:00.000-07:00

First things first, specific to the images displayed I do not see significant alterations in the external rotation of the athletes pictured (just so that is said). I do see more of a laying back of the torso specific to foot positioning. This position is poor for hitting as we lose significant links to the kinetic chain. Essentially our anchor occurs in the low back instead of linking to the hip and ankle. I also do not see the opening of the pelvis we want to see in the athlete pictured on the bottom. This eliminates the same linking of the kinetic chain specific to the rotational power needed for the same activity. The top athlete is using this rotation, granted in the arched back position, and I would bet has greater range in her attacking ability (meaning where she is able to close and place the ball effectively). From a skill development standpoint the athlete on the bottom could very well be capable of doing this effectively and just be pictured in the incorrect posture for this single instance but experience tells me this is not the case (even when taking a "straight line" striking angle good hitters will take advantage of the rotational power needed as a way to gain valuable ROM).

Good Example of Powerful Jumping/Hitting Position with the Requisite Shoulder Mobility

Beyond that, and more specific to the content of my friend Sam's post, I have to say that the primary way that we communicate effective use of the shoulder is through effective use of the rest of the body. So what Sam communicated is important but for what I believe the majority of my role encompasses is presented in a fairly limited scope (essentially becoming a programming consideration and not necessarily a coaching cue). Within my practice the work is in the coaching and in getting the shoulder work done.

Developmentally speaking volleyball players are more limited in the volume of their overhead striking as there are many obstacles to doing this effectively at the youth level. So volleyball teams and athletes essentially have to earn the ability to attack aggressively and this tends to match up well with what they are prepared for as an athlete. I believe a major roadblock in this process is coaches doing private lessons or hitting clinics where they are teaching overhead actions the rest of the body is ill prepared for. So I don't go on a rant about this that takes this post further off-topic the easiest way to initiate some of the physical actions we want to impact overhead work is through the dynamic warm-up and in brief jumping and reaching progressions that teach athletes to complete vertical extension and close aggressively to a great landing position.

Many of the progressions I outlined in the 'Vertical Jump Methodology' post can serve as effective ways to vary the skill and effort. The need for variation is there because simple exercises only guarantee improvement in said exercise and the primary physical capacity it develops. There are skill development considerations that need to be adaptable to a constantly changing environment (in the video posted below what was she supposed to do?) and to me, it makes no sense to develop great vertical power, rotation, or upper body power and then attempt to apply it to the skill. It is more than just a high contact point, it must be integrated, and it must be practiced.

Stability and Mobility Adaptations in Overhead Athletes

2011-04-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

A guest blog from my friend Sam Leahey. Sam is a brilliant strength coach who is focusing this piece on overhead demands for athletes. I will post some short commentary tomorrow for discussion. Enjoy.

Stability and Mobility Adaptations in Overhead Athletes

Overhead athletes require a delicate balance of both shoulder stability and shoulder mobility relative to their sport. Certain structural and functional consequences arise, and are magnified, depending on how hard the athletes throw, strike, or swim. Functionally, for example, it’s advantageous for swimmers to have hyper shoulder mobility given the correlation with greater stroke length and swimming speed as it is for a baseball pitchers to exhibit greater external rotation allowing for a greater “cocking phase” and subsequent ball velocity to home plate. Volleyball, handball, and tennis athletes also benefit from increased “lay back” of the humerus during the cocking phase. Interestingly, this increased external rotation at the glenohumeral joint is accompanied by a loss of internal rotation. The total motion of the shoulder (ER + IR), or “arc”, tends to shift backwards on the throwing/striking shoulder. This is due to the external rotators of the shoulder having to eccentrically decelerate the high velocity of throwing/striking and stiffening up as a result, hence moving the arc of total motion posteriorly. At the scapular thoracic joint, overhead athletes tend to have increase scapular protraction, decreased upward rotation, and increase anterior tilt.

More external rotation of the striking arm = more range of motion to accelerate through = greater striking force

Structurally, it’s common to find these same athletes with posterior capsule stiffening which many will agree has a cause and effect relationship with the concurrently acquired anterior hyperlaxity in throwing/striking shoulders. The anterior aspect (hyperlaxity) represents the end result of gradual stretching of passive shoulder restraints whereas the posterior aspect describes the stiffening of passive restraints. If the athlete has been engaging in high velocity humeral IR movements since their youth, it’s likely they’ll also present with varying degrees of humeral retroversion. This is due to the fact early in life, about 12-16 years old, our humeral growth plates are still not solidified and violent throwing/striking during these developmental years can cause the plate to twist backward because of the large amounts of deceleration and close in an altered state resulting in us having naturally more external shoulder rotation for the rest of our lives.

At the end of the day the higher the velocity with which the athletes throw or strike, the more likely they are to present with inefficiencies/dysfunctions or pathology. This tells us a lot about what to expect when dealing with high level overhead athletes who’ve been throwing, striking, or swimming for a long time.

Read more from Sam at his website SamLeahey.com.

Successfully Implementing the Olympic Lifts

2011-02-13T13:29:00.000-08:00

Anyways, as said, I'd like to pick your brain a bit. A month ago I was asked to coach a college men's volleyball team. Strength and conditioning only.Since I've got nowhere near the experience that you have yet, thought I could stand on the shoulders of giants to help see better. Could you tell me what kind of things you mostly prescribe, and what do you stay away from? Some guys don't prescribe overhead lifts for overhead sport athletes (so no oly lifts variations), but I know of other coaches who use the Oly lift variations quite a lot. What's your take?

On average I believe that the Olympic lifts, and their nearly unlimited amount of variation, fit nicely into the progression of the program as a whole and I have seen no evidence that injuries or overuse are more common to programs with them in practice (assuming the same basis of rational thinking within the strength and conditioning program; there are idiots everywhere fully capable of injuring athletes with programming that is otherwise considered safe). There are a couple of issues that come with the lifts, and overhead work as a whole, and this can be primarily summarized to athlete's having progressed far enough in programming to make the introduction of the Olympic lifts at best tedious with less return on investment, and at worst allowing athletes to become injured because their training background has not progressed in a way to allow the lifts to be performed correctly. Coaches with a razor-sharp focus on implementing them can do so effectively because they are so uncompromising in their demands on how they are performed. If coaches are unwilling or unable to coach the lifts on that level then they should explore alternative methods.

Beyond that when it comes to programming or restricting overhead work, especially of the explosive variety, it depends greatly on the performance needs of the athlete. It is very common for me to limit overhead work through the competitive season and even overall in a program. Especially if an athlete has advanced far enough for me to be less concerned about their explosiveness and more concerned with the likely ill effects of having pushed their bodies hard for so long (assuming they have not had a system in place to manage their mobility and structural balance; my experience suggests that this is in fact the norm). Obviously with that increased wear and tear it is also more likely that they are having mobility limitations that should affect our programming decisions (perhaps even permanently). With that said I do believe in taking advantage of every available opportunity for growth since we have such limitations in place already so I believe you can program the Olympic lifts effectively in-season but you have to manage that process from day to day and be prepared to take a step back when necessary.

Further we all have to consider the unique needs of the athletes we are working with. My experience with volleyball tells me that there are still significant opportunities for the development of general skill, strength, speed, stamina, and suppleness that significantly aids the specific process needs, yet the time we have to effectively train all of those bio-motor abilities is still limited. So we have to program in a complementary fashion that allows us to accumulate a significant amount of repetition while not overdoing the athlete's resources. With volleyball being considered a "touch" sport, where athletes are wanting to practice and touch the ball constantly through the year and their schedules have grown to reflect that, we have to use the most effective tools at our disposal to maximize training time and my belief is the Olympic lifts fit that role perfectly.

In closing a good rule to follow when considering an effective training methodology is do not start anything you cannot finish. If the athletes only have the time to become competent with an unloaded barbell it is unlikely that they have benefit from the power that can be developed with the lifts. If that is true then it may have proven worthwhile to have invested time in less technical work that offers more immediate benefit (barbell squat jumps,complex training, med ball throws, plyometric variations, etc). At one point I had removed the Olympic lifts entirely from my EVP program for at least 90% of my athletes for this same reason. As I have worked harder to create progression and opportunities for growth I have managed to program them effectively and use them consistently in all of our training programs.

Big Rocks for the Sand and Water

2010-12-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

This is starting out as a thought that I have hoped would help to communicate my criticism of some within the industry without coming off as a "hater":

I have written previously, relying heavily on what I have learned from Dan Pfaff, on the integrity of a system and/or training method. If they are integral then they can be expanded or compressed to accurately reflect the preparatory and/or competitive needs of the athlete.

As far as time management goes hopefully many have already heard the story of "the Big Rocks" (to my knowledge popularized primarily by Stephen Covey; linked and shared below at the bottom of this post). Well here's the rub for me on the application of this story: the jar itself contains its big rocks and items of less importance (sand, gravel, water, etc) but two things jump out at me:

1-The jar itself cannot be filled without an appropriate balance of all of the requisite elements.
2-Every item within the jar has its own big rocks within its unique structure.

Filling the Jar
Big rocks alone leave space in the jar and no matter how hard you try you cannot fill in the gaps with large rocks alone. Many of us suffer from proximity bias where we hold a specific belief or training method too closely to our core and that bias reduces the effectiveness of our coaching and programming because it does not allow us to see the big picture.

As an admitted speed/power junkie I suffer from this bias as much as anyone but our discipline as educators must trump that thinking. The disciplined way to do this is to plan the work and then work that plan. Given the option most coaches would prefer to spend more time teaching power cleans and sprints than hip mobility and correct breathing. However we have to be convinced that good training requires that focus and work and if we are convinced we have to find an appropriate time to fill in the gaps.

With enough competitive coaching experience we draw more of an appreciation for this as our athletes not only perform at a high percentage of their capacity but also maintain that performance more effectively when we find harmony in the training program. An easy way to think of this harmony, to me, is to consider the items in the jar as directly associated with a specific bio-motor ability:

Big Rocks = Speed, Strength - In combination, depending on the specific contribution of each, these function as a specific power ability

Gravel and Sand = Stamina (Work Capacity)
Water = Skill, Suppleness (Mobility) - As bio-motor abilities go skill and suppleness should be present and, as Bruce Lee would put it, "flow" through all other bio-motor abilities as necessary.

The Big Rocks of Water
The easiest way to communicate that each item in the jar contains its own big rocks is to look at the structure of water: h2o. Without the appropriate amount of hydrogen and oxygen we no longer have water. Essentially if we know what our water's big rock should look like but we cannot break down its structure to see its own balance of rock, gravel, sand, and water, then we cannot effectively use that rock in our structure.

In communication with my colleague Carson Boddicker, after Carson wrote a fantastic blog on the trigger mechanism of the ankle/foot in the stretch-shortening cycle, I asked Carson, "what do you do with your athletes when that doesn't happen?" If we know that the big rock of that mechanism is an appropriate level of stiffness and optimal functioning of the ankle, and by extension the sub-talar joint, and we do not see this occurring with our athletes in training then what do you do as a coach?

From an experience standpoint we should all be very well aware that we cannot simply tell the athlete to make that happen as if they have any focus at all they are already trying (in volleyball I tell players often it's as if coaches and parents sometimes think they are trying to make errors on the court). We have to understand that good programming will allow for training to continue through that session, and the program, whether it is in a group or individual training with a focus on improving the function of that mechanism as well as training content that gives that focus direction: appropriate mobility work and low- to high- intensity progressions of unilateral and bilaterally focused jumping, hopping, skipping, and running in multiple planes (We can break the mobility work down further by distinguishing between the isolated, integrated, and functional movement needs of the athlete as communicated by Charlie Weingroff in his "Training = Rehab, Rehab =Training" DVD product. This will often necessitate communication with a qualified PT and/or soft-tissue therapist).

When it comes to successful coaching and athlete development I often see the necessary focus for excellence in performance drift as we are sometimes overconfident in our current working knowledge and only true experts can see exactly what is missing. I have seen Olympic lifting technique that is leaving hundreds of watts on the bar and jump performance far beneath the athlete's potential being repeated over and over only conditioning a sub-maximal capacity. Poor Olympic lifting and jump performance is especially significant if we consider the volume of these repetitions being performed sub-maximally. The most common way to spot this shortcoming is to see that there is no integrity to loading changes being made in the athlete's lifting performance (they are stuck at 70-kilos for the season or haven't seen a vertical jump improvement since W. was in office). Similar shortcomings (missing sand, gravel, and water especially) can be found in all aspects of programming, depending on the coach's background, and I can assure you that there is not an UNIMPORTANT part of your program so be comprehensive.

These inadequacies in system and technique are often what will keep our athletes off the medal podium so I assure you overlooking these things should be unacceptable. I can tell you that if there is not excellence in the training and physical preparation then it does not happen in their performance.

Das Big Rocks
"A while back we read about an expert on the subject of time management. One day, this expert was speaking to a group of business students and, to drive home a point, used an illustration I'm sure those students will never forget. After we share it with you, we hope you'll never forget it either.

As this man stood in front of the group of high-powered over achievers, he said, "Okay, time for a quiz." Then he pulled out a one-gallon, wide-mouthed mason jar and set it on a table in front of him. He produced about a dozen fist-sized rocks and carefully placed them, one at a time, into the jar.

When the jar was filled to the top and no more rocks would fit inside, he asked, "Is the jar full?" Everyone in the class said, "Yes." Then he asked, "Really?" He reached under the table and pulled out a bucket of gravel. Then he dumped some gravel in and shook the jar causing pieces of gravel to work themselves down into the spaces between the big rocks.

Then he smiled and asked the group once more, "Is the jar full?" By this time, the class was on to him. "Probably not," one of them answered. "Good!" he replied. And he reached under the table and brought out a bucket of sand. He started dumping the sand in, and it went into all the spaces left between the rocks and the gravel. Once more he asked the question, "Is this jar full?"

"No!" the class shouted. Once again he said, "Good!" Then he grabbed a pitcher of water and began to pour it in until the jar was filled to the brim. Then he looked up at the class and asked, "What is the point of this illustration?"

One eager beaver raised his hand and said, "The point is, no matter how full your schedule is, if you try really hard, you can always fit some more things into it!" "No!" the speaker replied. "That is not the point. The truth this illustration teaches us is: If you don't put the big rocks in first, you'll never get them in at all."

What are the 'Big Rocks' in your life? A project that YOU want to accomplish? Time with your loved ones? Your faith, your education, your finances? A cause? Teaching or mentoring others? Remember to put these BIG ROCKS in first or you'll never get them in at all. So, take time to reflect on this short story. Ask yourself this question: What are the 'big rocks' in my life? Family or business? And remember to put those in your jar first."

Olympic Weightlifting for the Speed and Power Athlete

2010-12-17T11:40:00.000-08:00

published at Olyathlete.com

Holla at yo' boy

Slaying The Dragon

2010-11-05T09:09:00.000-07:00

"There is a saying among some athletes that after you have stared long enough into the dragon's eyes, there is nothing left to do but slay the dragon. For each of us, that dragon is the thing closest to the center of our lives. It is our core, our ambition, and our joy." - Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon

One of my best athletes played her last high school match last night. Well before the match was decided I knew what I needed to know about her and the effort she was going to put out there. There is a consistency to this effort common to all of the better athletes I have been fortunate enough to work with and that consistency can teach us all a lot. In victory or defeat these athletes are prepared for the challenge and have committed themselves to doing their best.

It would be beautiful if all of my hardest working athletes were rewarded with great success and victory to complete their playing careers. Yet the value of who they have become, at their core, has helped them develop something longer lasting and far more powerful. Trophies and medal ceremonies are for spectators. Real character is the championship.

"Even in the best race there will always be a slight stumble, a shudder, a hitch, always room for a hundredth of a second improvement. That is the great thing about being a human being. You can always go just a little bit faster." - Michael Johnson, Slaying the Dragon

Here's to continuing your chase in college, Hayden.

Junior Club Volleyball Performance Training Methodology (Part I)...

2010-05-27T11:27:00.001-07:00

Published at prepvolleyball.com

First in a series on the nuances of junior club volleyball development and how the performance training schedule has to be managed and planned properly for the benefit and health of the athlete.

I can't apologize for my absenteeism as my #1 focus is absolutely my family, my friends, our athletes, and business. My schedule is somewhat cyclical so I am coming up on a period in which I can typically accomplish more writing but I do not schedule that time as part of my normal week so it's often the first thing I drop ("Sorry I didn't get to your e-mail last week I had to write my blog...").

Hope everyone is well.

- Daniel

Power by the Numbers

2009-12-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

To avoid proximity bias I prefer to deal with numbers and objectivity as they are available. I am in no way a math genius but I try to be as logical and reasonable in my thinking as the issue allows....

PR Power Snatch (Previous Training Cycle):

80-Kilos

1662 Watts @ 2.12 Meters/Second (Peak Power and Peak Velocity Measures)

PR Power Snatch (Current Training Cycle; Off Blocks):

90-Kilos

1861 Watts @ 2.11 Meters/Second (Peak Power and Peak Velocity Measures)

+199 Watts and +.01 Meters/Second

+199 Watts is a significant improvement in power especially in consideration of the fact that peak velocity was maintained with a 10-kilo improvement in load (80 to 90k). Interestingly my numbers continued to climb as I moved on to squat snatch. This is logical although it does not always occur as technical or specific strength limitations will limit individual expression on the lift.

Power Snatch off Blocks (Peak Power, Peak Velocity, Avg Power, Avg Velocity):

80K (1811w, 2.31 m/s, 941w, 1.2 m/s)

90K (1861w, 2.11 m/s, 970w, 1.1 m/s)

100K (2009w, 2.05 m/s, 970w, .99 m/s)

110K Miss 1 (2027w, 1.88 m/s, 981w, .91m/s)

110K Miss 2 (2059w, 1.91 m/s, 1002w, .93 m/s)

110K Done! (2016w, 1.87 m/s, 981w, .91 m/s)

If we take a specific look at 110K you will see that the 110K Miss #1 and the successful 3rd attempt (110K Done!) were very close and match exactly in average power and average velocity (with peak power and peak velocity just off the mark). 110K Miss 2 was actually a more powerful lift overall but the technique was not there to record a successful lift.

Also worth noting is that the maximum training load I am capable of performing properly is a 160K clean pull off of blocks and my power numbers have never gone beyond 2000 watts (with my last training cycle I was in the high 1900s but no 2000s). This brings to light an important consideration as my power (speed-strength) numbers on snatch suggest that my lifts at 100k and 110k are more than sufficient as a specific stimulus.

We cannot conclude however that if I were a speed-power athlete in another sport that all I would need to do in training were power lifts (not powerlifting as in squat, deadlift, and bench press). The clean pull off blocks is less technical and an overall simpler task to perform and in many ways can help to effectively maintain hip dominant pulling and lower back/leg strength. The last point specific to this situation is that as a speed and strength stimulus if the athlete is proficient at performing the power lifts and we are hoping to maintain a higher "reserve" of our physical stress resources then the lighter loads used in training on the power snatch or power clean movements should be more than enough to help an athlete maintain form for an extended period. If we accept this conclusion than this means we can take an altogether different view of the maintenance of strength.

Vertical Jump Methodology (Excerpt from prepvolleyball.com article)

2009-12-23T15:09:00.001-08:00

Here is an excerpt from my article '4 Steps for Successful Vertical Jump Performance in Volleyball'. I'm wordy but that's why you love me:

...

Strength training plays an integral role to support high performance on the volleyball court but the process that enhances performance is the development of speed and power. Strength training alone would limit performance enhancement for the sport without a specific focus on the time allowed for the application of force in jumping, hitting, blocking, short sprints, and changes of direction. These qualities are referred to as speed, power, elasticity, and rate of force development (RFD) and they are expressed in volleyball through several different yet complementary mechanisms. To put it simply each skill in volleyball requires a unique combination of these abilities and this combination functions optimally if they are developed appropriately.

The consistency we should focus on in this development is the achievement of a maximum movement speed specific to the exercise or drill. In analysis of speed and power training performed in our training program and other successful programs from around the world the primary factor in improving an athlete's performance is their ability to create this speed. Putting it another way let's ask this question: are younger players limited by the time of a match or the speed and skill required to perform at a higher level? You see all volleyball players play the same match length but the high-performing collegiate and Olympic level players play with greater speed, skill, and power. Speed and power training for the sport should teach the athlete to produce great movement speed and power with a high degree of skill in a wide variety of environments.

Specific decision making has to be made regarding the athlete's technical ability with these movements. Anyone who has attempted to use some of these techniques without the technical and physical prerequisites realizes that jump and sprint training, plyometrics, Olympic lifts and Olympic lifting variations, and medicine ball exercises do not benefit athletes as described without them. Another thing to consider is that there have been many athletes who have been successful without many of these specific methods either because they were intentionally left out or because their program lacked access to the appropriate facilities and equipment to perform them. Speed and power performance is not fixed or tied to performance on one exercise or training method but there should be a clear focus on maximizing speed and power in training to benefit performance on the volleyball court. If the coaching staff is not proficient in the teaching of Olympic lifts and lift variations there are very appropriate methods that serve as effective alternatives.

To review these capacities further I will focus on the methods that can be utilized to develop them for vertical jump performance. However an important note is that great care must be taken to not overwhelm volleyball players with additional training focused on these qualities as volleyball itself is a tremendous expression of speed and power. In combination with volleyball’s intensity, an extended playing schedule through much of the year, and other stressful demands common to life coaches and athletes must carefully decide when to try and improve physical performance and when to stabilize and maintain these abilities.

Progressive Loading Jumps (Technical)
Difficulty: Low
Methodology: This specific loading technique is to teach athletes to achieve the proper jump position and to utilize the arms and trunk properly. It is most definitely a regression of what athletes should be capable of but if there is a lack of understanding at how the arms and trunk help contribute to a great vertical jump this technique helps athletes understand the relationship better. This loading technique is not limited by the resistance of gravity, since we are moving downward with gravity, so the athlete should be capable of a very fast arm and trunk motion. The essential parts of the loading technique are:

Drive: Drive is the final arm drive used to get into jump position. This motion is used to teach the athlete to create a powerful descent that allows for a more explosive ascent. A faster down motion results in a faster upward motion due to the stored elastic energy within the neuromuscular system (the linking between the mind’s concentration of the effort and the body). A simple way to describe the drive motion is to think of “attacking the floor”.

Swing: The Swing technique is used to teach a relaxation of the arms to help athletes understand that there is a synergistic action that occurs between speed and relaxation. Essentially there is a burst of energy from the arm swing and drive created at shoulder height that results in higher speeds if the athlete can coordinate that movement with a more relaxed shoulder and arm motion.

Stick (the Jump Position): The Stick of the jumping motion is at the end of the arm drive and swing motion where the athlete uses the same principle of a coordinated speed and relaxation movement to stop and stabilize the jump position. The faster we can initiate this braking motion the faster we can begin our ascent, resulting in a higher and more explosive jump.

Exercises:
Arm Drive + Stick
Swing, Drive + Stick
Arm Drive + Jump
Swing, Drive + Jump

Explosive Jumps (Stationary Loaded-Countermovement; Speed and Elasticity)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: These jumps are fundamental in that they offer an excellent view into the skill of jumping with little distraction. Jumping from a stationary position is the technique that we will depend on when we add speed and elasticity via an approach. What I often see as a coach are athletes who can jump with an approach but not without. I almost never see the opposite scenario of an athlete who can jump from a standing position but who cannot jump effectively when adding running speed to their jump. Explosive jumping from a stationary position is a fundamental building block for the approach jump. Loading this jump by using an effective arm and trunk motion followed by an explosive transition from descent to ascent is a critical step in teaching athletes to jump effectively. If good technique on this jump is displayed then all that is left to do is add speed, strength, and power to the movement.

Exercises:
Split Jumps
Standing Jumps

Elasticity Jumps
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: The stretch-shortening cycle, or stretch-reflex, is a mechanism that helps to prevent injury to muscles and joints but can also serve as a performance-enhancing mechanism when trained appropriately. Training the stretch-shortening cycle helps to develop more elastic jump performance (elasticity). Specific to volleyball, developing elasticity helps us jump higher, faster, and requires less mechanical work resulting in less fatigue. The focus of elasticity jumps is:

Faster Ground Contact Times: This means we are spending less time on the ground to develop a higher vertical jump. To explain further ground contact time is from the time we touch the ground to the time we get into the air. Fast stretch-shortening cycle activity registers at under .25 seconds and slow stretch-shortening cycle activity occurs above .25 seconds. There are specific measurement tools that help us to assess an athlete’s ground contact time and elasticity but we can still make progress in the absence of such equipment.

Faster Turnover: A simple way to describe elasticity is we want to achieve a faster turnover of the down and upward motion. We can cue athletes by describing the ground as “hot” and therefore we want to get off the ground as fast as possible. To add elasticity to a jump we do not have to jump off of high boxes as many believe. Adding elasticity to a jump can be as simple as adding a shallow hop before the jump and focusing on rapid turnover.

Stiffer Jump Position: Elasticity is sometimes described as “stiffness” at the appropriate body position. The stiffness of our spring prevents a slowing of the jump by “springing” us right back into the air. Elastic jumpers do not require as deep of a knee bend for jumps if they can either achieve an appropriate running speed or generate more stiffness earlier in their descent.

Exercises:
Double-Hop Split Jumps
Double-Hop Standing Jumps
Power Step-Ups
Hurdle Jumps
Standing Triple Vertical Jumps
Hop + Jump
Lateral Hop + Jump
Crossover + Jump

Vertimax Jumps (Speed/Power/Elasticity)
Difficulty: High
Methodology: The vertimax is a jump training device that is simply a platform with a series of rubber bands that allow for adjustment of the loading intensity. I encourage its use in training assuming that jump technique is up to speed and we have enough control over training to eliminate overuse. We typically add vertimax jumps into our club training program 4-8 weeks into club season although I will eliminate or limit its use when the tournament schedule becomes more rigorous. If available the vertimax offers a great deal of mechanical specificity and does not require additional instruction as Olympic lifting technique does. One primary consideration in using the vertimax is that athletes should maintain a focus on movement speed and not let the additional resistance slow them excessively.

Exercises:
Split Jumps
Standing Jumps
Double-Hop Split Jumps
Double-Hop Standing Jumps
Power Step-Ups
Standing Triple Vertical Jumps (Elastic Response)
Hop + Jump
Accentuated Eccentric Hop + Jump (with Straps)

Explosive and Elasticity Jumps with Variable Landings (Technical and Speed/Power)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: Jumping in volleyball at times requires complex adjustments and landings. If the athlete must change position to adjust to a ball or another player, whether that is through a simple rotation, holding their jump longer, or otherwise, there will be a definite change in the ability to land "properly".

Landing properly is not limited to landing in a perfect athletic position as many describe. This is a gross oversimplification. Landing properly is the ability to decelerate and place appropriate loading to the body's active supports, primarily muscles, while minimizing stress to passive supports (ligaments and other joint structures). In short, it's a best case scenario for a worst possible situation. This requires a great deal of coordination, spatial awareness, muscle stiffness, and elasticity. It is a thin line we walk by training to make some of these adjustments but it is my opinion that this skill must be addressed. By including these minor adjustments in training we are including a physical decision making process that will help athletes make a better decision in a more challenging environment.

Exercises:
Single-Leg Hops (Low Intensity)
Lateral/Medium Hops (Low Intensity)
180s
Alternating Split Jumps
Vertical Jump to Split Landing Right or Left Landing
Split Jump to Symmetrical Stance Landing
Hop + Jump to Split Right/Left/Symmetrical Landing
Hop + 1-Arm Reaching Jump to Right/Left/Symmetrical Landing
Vertical Jump to Split Landing Right or Left (with Audible Cue)

Concentric Power Jumps (No Eccentric Loading or Paused; Speed/Power)
Difficulty: Low to Medium
Methodology: This specific jump technique is meant to teach the distinction between a fast loading technique and paused jump technique that sometimes occurs during the block and approach jump. These jumps teach athletes to accelerate and jump effectively from a static start position like a sprinter taking off from starting blocks. These jumps teach athletes to work through a difficult jump position, as the pause takes speed and momentum from the jump, and forces them to push hard from a proper position.

Exercises:
Seated Vertical Jump
Paused Split Jump
Paused Standing Jump
Hop + Pause Jump
Lateral Hop + Pause Jump
Crossover + Pause Jump
Dumbbell or Barbell Pause Squat Jumps

Medicine Ball Exercises (Speed/Power/Elasticity)
Difficulty: Low to Medium
Methodology: Medicine ball training is an excellent source of training variety and is also a great teaching tool in the development of speed and power. We can use medicine ball training in a number of ways to teach explosiveness and reinforce athlete’s to work through proper jump technique. Relative to jumping medicine ball training is sub-maximal, meaning that the utilization of the medicine ball in teaching jumping will slow their jump performance versus jumping without the medicine ball. This occurs because medicine balls are extra weight. If an athlete gains 6-12 pounds, a common weight for medicine balls, they will most certainly not jump as high. The extra weight of the medicine balls serves a purpose:

The weight varies with body position: Because the medicine ball functions as an extension of our body position we can move the ball faster on the way up and down. In this way we say that the weight is “smart”. Speeding the ball up on the way down, by pulling it down with us, adds an effective load to our jump position. By speeding the ball up on the jump up, by “pushing through the ceiling”, the ball gains momentum and feels lighter near full extension.

The weight forces a concentration on position and technique: The athlete experiences medicine ball training as slower and at specific points in medicine ball training we must work harder to create an effective jump. We can also use specific techniques to reinforce full extension. For example on a medicine ball vertical jump toss we can do two things: 1-reinforce full extension by teaching that the hips should continue to rise after release and we should create a straight arrow with release; 2-do not release the ball at the top position of the jump to show the athlete if they are at full extension or if they have cut their jump short.

Exercises:
Medicine Ball Standing Vertical Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Standing Split Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Caber Toss (Between the Leg Toss or Granny Toss)
Medicine Ball Hop + Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Hop + Pause Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Seated Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Lateral Hop + Jump Toss
Medicine Ball Standing Vertical Jump Toss (No Release)
Medicine Ball Caber Toss (No Release)

Olympic Lift Variations (Speed, Strength and Power)
Difficulty: Medium to High
Methodology: Olympic Weightlifting is a contested Olympic sport. In using these lifts the training and technique needed to develop power and speed in athletes is extensive, however, we can simplify several of the movements by using appropriate Olympic lifting variations to make them more accessible for volleyball players. Hang variations and variations used from above or just below the knee are often the first step in adjusting the lifts for taller athletes. During this portion of the movement the speed and power peaks and it is easier to teach athletes to stay in proper position than when attempting to initiate the lift from the floor. This list is far from comprehensive but is a good start for many lifters:

The Set Position: The athlete should slowly descend to this position focusing on keeping the barbell or dumbbell close to the body or “tucked” just against the thigh. A way to teach the set position is to teach the athlete to keep their knuckles and chest over the bar and hang over it by creating a proper hinge from their hip. The athlete should be in a proper athletic position with weight centered on the heel and hip. A flat back should be maintained through the complete movement.

The Jump: Keeping the barbell or dumbbell close to the body the athlete should drive the chest up and push through their legs (imagine “pushing the floor away”) until they achieve full extension. Upon full extension the athlete should stay with the barbell or dumbbell keeping their elbows high and rotating from the shoulder as appropriate.

The Catch: Catching the barbell or dumbbell properly is one of the more challenging parts of the lift. A successful catch takes the same amount of skill as creating a proper landing. We must teach the athlete to use their body to receive the weight of the barbell or dumbbell. The transition from the set and jump position to the catch position can be seen as “leaving home” and “returning home”. The athlete should also be taught how to successfully miss a lift if the weight is out of position.

Exercises:
Hip Power Snatch (also referred to as a Pocket Snatch)
Hang Power Snatch
Hip Power Clean (also referred to as a Pocket Power Clean)
Hang Power Clean
Hang Power Clean (Below Knee)
Dumbbell Snatch
Dumbbell High Pull
A Successful Miss

More Wisdom from John Kessel's Blog:

2009-11-12T09:39:00.000-08:00

Tryouts and Our Deepest Fear

For those who favor brevity these 2 things really stuck out to me:

from Mia Hamm:
"Do you remember why you play or has it been too long? Do you play because you've worked so hard to get where you are or is it because you love to be part of a team? Is it because you love the anxiety before the game? Is it because you don't want to let anyone down or because you don't want to let yourself down? Somewhere behind the athlete you've become, the hours of practice, the coaches who pushed you, the teammates who believe in you, and the fans who cheer for you is the little girl who took that first perfect shot. The little girl who fell in love with the game and never looked back, PLAY FOR HER."

from Marianne Williamson:
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant,
gorgeous, handsome, talented and fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking
so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God within us.
It is not just in some; it is in everyone.

And, as we let our own light shine, we consciously give
other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear,
our presence automatically liberates others.

Steven Plisk is a Genius

2009-11-11T12:51:00.000-08:00

Read if you value a structure beyond "keep it simple"

I get questions that refer to a specific coaching situation or what an athlete has in mind for their training. When asked, my response is "If you had to do it that way this is what I would do but if you ask me how I would do it I will tell you a different story." When has excellence been formed on the foundation of compromise?

A common trend in coaching is for coaches who have a specific population in mind generalizing advice to all populations and environments. If all I did was train a collegiate volleyball team my advice would probably center on that environment. But since I get to train athletes at many different levels of development, and since I also recruit athletes to participate in my ELITE long-term athlete development program, and since I am seeking to truly help develop a process that will develop elite volleyball players and athletes I will continue to discuss the optimization of the physical preparation process.

That is all.

Is strength enough?

2009-11-09T12:26:00.000-08:00

The Plan (It is elegant in its simplicity):

The Actual Process (Note the drastic change in form):

The Complete View:

Is it fairly easy to see how small errors in the development of motor skill can drastically affect our total accuracy and by extension our development of a "complete" athlete (with respect to the targeted motor qualities)?

To many coaches the "strong" athlete is key but how much is being left on the table? How does strength help them express other qualities? When does an athlete have enough strength and when should more time be focused on other motor qualities (perhaps the ones we are sucking at apparently in the example above)?

Strength and speed in combination is typically oversimplified as the term power (I am guilty of this as well) but what happens when transfer to sport tells us that the speed side of the equation is more significant and we are off target and underdeveloped there?

The goal of training should have integrity to it and strength training plays a big part in this but if we allow for proximity bias to occur the strength coach will always lean towards strength!

We should be clear to athletes that development is a comprehensive process and excellence and expertise in one motor skill does not guarantee expertise in the others.

LT266 Meet Results:

Snatch:
Execution on my snatch attempts was poor and is an extension of my training to date. I'm still working very hard on my 2nd pull and being more patient to the end. Staying over the bar longer is key but I am learning how to squeeze, or "tuck", the bar in towards my hips so the bar doesn't sneak away from me and go on its own ride. Keeping my knuckles over the bar and setting my hips more slowly will also definitely help me execute more effectively in the future. Now a blending/layering of technical work in combination with "gettin' after it" more for further improvements.

Clean and Jerk:
My psychological/physiological arousal level is definitely more accurate on my clean and jerk attempts. The bending of my knees/hips before I drop into position to initiate the clean helps me to set my hips/ankles (making sure I feel my foot/ankle engaging with the floor). I realize for many this may be overkill but for me I feel much better in my set position if I set my foot diligently. Overall I kept the bar in close and pulled hard and long with my feet glued to the platform until the last possible millisecond. Patient in my recovery on 125k but more aggressive with 130 and 135k (by necessity). Jerks were solid but still need more strength from my trunk and hips to support stronger drive and recovery. Overall, my kung fu was strong on clean and jerk.

I also had a better focus on my visual targeting/accuracy for the clean and jerk. A lack of platform experience (this being only my 2nd competition) had me a little confused on where I should be focusing and how to reduce distractions (environmentally and internally).

Also snatched 110k in training 10 days after...

It was killer!

Recent "Work"

2009-10-29T08:47:00.000-07:00

Guest Blog for Patrick Ward of Optimum Sports Performance and Reality Based Fitness Podcast:

Training Female Volleyball Players

Also competed in the LT266 Invitational Meet 2 Weekends Ago:

Snatch: 97K Miss, 97, 102 Miss
Clean and Jerk: 125K, 130K, 135K (Will definitely get called for elbow bend in larger meets)

Will elaborate on my performance in the next post...

Med Ball Mastery: Owned

2009-09-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Finally actually gave the presentation last night for my friend and colleague Anthony Renna's site. Very excited to have it finished and managed to streamline things enough to make it practical for everyone. If you have some time check it out at scwebinars.com

Working hard now but updates coming soon...

For a preview, check out www.lt266.com

Tortoise and the Tortoise

2009-09-01T10:12:00.000-07:00

Brent Kim, a weightlifting friend of mine, is nearing completion of a linear progression program (Mark Rippetoe helped develop it for him) and his results are great.

Magic Man Workout #13

Keep in mind that Brent is an intermediate level weightlifter with a good training history. This isn't a fat boy to fabulous program. Just goes to show you that the simplicity of an organized program performed well will bring positive results for extended periods. His early squat sessions were 335 (3sx5r) low-bar back squat and his most recent squat workout was 385 (3sx5r)... on a linear progression program (basically adding 5 pounds to the bar every workout).

For volleyball players, I prefer to change/vary the speed/power stimulus regularly but favor a more linear style with strength work (depending on the time of year).

If you would like to read more on Brent's training check it out here:
http://cavemanfinesse.livejournal.com/99464.html

Paul Revere

2009-08-11T20:56:00.000-07:00

As I transition back into fall coaching mode I have more time to train myself and have been taking advantage of that for the past 2 weeks. I feel like the time I spent this summer working hard on my snatch, clean, and jerk technique has helped but as is typically the case I focused so much on that I find myself lacking in the areas that I simply could not fit as much time in to address properly. For me squats and pulls are very taxing so I decided to not stress my recovery by keeping up with everything (squats/pulls notably) and compromising my coaching work (by walking around crippled and not being able to physically demonstrate or adjust athletes); I could have attempted to "cocktail" things more or used split sessions but I felt like this was a more appropriate step and one that should help me improve faster given the extra time/work I will be able to now put in. I would have definitely used split sessions if I felt my technique was better. Anyway, to the test:

Officially, I have beaten my record of 3157 watts @ 4.13 m/s (40.5 watts/kilogram) by jumping 3249 @ 4.25 m/s (41.7 watts/kilogram), and I am as awesome as I thought I was... The reality is that I have most of my female volleyball players in the 30's in the watts/kg average. Highest recorded volleyball female is 36.7 watts/kg (20y.o., 50k bodyweight) and highest volleyball male is 40.1 watts/kg (18 y.o., 68k). I'm still trying to create more of a baseline on which to base performance and readiness but feel like I'm on the right track with this testing/training.

An important point on this training/testing is the warm-up through the kettlebell swings (detailed below) did not prepare me properly for the power test (this is why I tested twice, indicated above as test 1 and 2). This brings up a couple of thoughts/points:

-If the goal was not to "test", but rather was to express speed/power at near maximum in training then a more effective means of warming up is required. Specifically, the gap in speed/power performance was simply too large. There's a continuum and too big of a jump was made and I was, in this case, ill prepared. It's going from 70% to 95% in 1 jump. Ridiculous, most of the time... but more on that later (hint: a story I have heard, but not confirmed, about Dragomic Cioroslan and Pete Kelley)

-If the goal was to test maximum speed/power then a more specific means of warming up is required. Force/velocity specificity considered, something I did before testing should have been done to make my body more aware of the demands of the test. Not including this is the equivalent of leaving numbers out of the formula taught and then testing students. An even simpler comparison is giving someone a phone number with the right area code but wrong prefix. I try to be specific to these problems as this helps to educate the athlete on issues such as why "I jump better in a match than I do in training" (which by the way I have tested athletes during scrimmage play and practice before with no difference typically).

Also, when it comes to weightlifting and/or training olympic lift variations I see coaches using many poorly executed complexes and lift variations that are not complimentary to lift performance meaning:

-they do not aid lift performance beyond as a general warm-up, and/or

-they do not help improve the specific expression of a quality/skill that can aid lift performance (eg speed/timing of extension in a power snatch/power clean demonstrated at a high level with a series of hurdle jumps, box jumps, dumbbell snatches, etc). If it's too slow/fast or in the wrong area code with mechanics then you will unlikely see improvements (especially in session).

I re-test after performing the med ball circuit for 2s x 3/3/5r (caber toss, hop + toss, slams) with a more positive result. For my purposes, the med ball throws work effectively because they accentuate a specific point in the movement's performance (eg the initial push from the bottom of a jump accentuated with the between the leg caber toss and the faster turnover from the trunk/hips with the hop + jump toss). Caber tosses were a little off technically but were not poor, in speed or mechanics, so we continue to move in the right direction.

Now here's a little story, I've got to tell
About 3 bad brothers, you know so well...

Warm-Up/Movement Prep/Greasing the Wheels/Putting the Cape On/Prepping to "Do Work"/Going from Peanut to Just Nuts/From Weak Sauce to Hot Sauce
I. Jump Rope - 90 Seconds (That thing's just a rope, man, you have to make the jump thing happen - Mitch Hedberg)
II. Foam Roll - "300" Seconds
III. Floor/Mat Warm-Up
A1. Reach, Roll, + Lift
A2. Kneeling Rotations
A3. Kneeling Prone 1-Arm Wall Slide
A4. Floor Bridge Variations (I will continue to invest the 30 seconds here even though some think it's a waste of time because I waste a hell of a lot more time blogging, sleeping, saving the world, etc)
A5. 90/90's, Plank, or Rolling Variations (Gray Cook)
A5. R/L Kneeling Lunge Position Shoulder Warm-Up - Arm Circles F/B, Shoulder Angels, Opp. Reaches (like Apley's Scratch Test), Should PNF (call them thumb high/thumb low for players), Arm Swings
IV. Movement
RNT Prisoner Split Squats, S-L RDL/Balance, Lateral/Transverse Squats, Cook Squat Progression, Spiderman (fewer reps than most I'm sure)
V. 4 x 30-Yard Skips to Accelerations
VI. 2 x 15-Yard R-L and L-R Shuffles or Crossover/Carioca Variations
VII. Kettlebell High Pulls + KB Swings
VIII. Power Test
IX. Med Ball Circuit - Caber Toss, Hop + Toss, Slams (2 s x 3/3/5r)
X. Power Test

Order typically gets switched based on needs but you get the idea... So where did the warm-up end and the training begin?

Low Battery

2009-08-05T19:13:00.000-07:00

What I thought was a record-setting performance (previous best of 3157 watts @ 4.13 m/s) for a triple turned out to be a major disappointment (major in a 'I'm not as awesome as I thought I was' kind've way). With that said, it's hard to say if I achieved the in-session progression I was looking for on this power test (a bodyweight squat jump test using the tendo unit attached to a piece of pvc) or if the low-battery warning that flashed at the VERY END OF THE SET, upon completion of the jumps, was also an indicator that the tendo readings were inaccurate (as I have learned they are when the unit has low batteries).

I think you will see a significant difference in performance between Set 1 and Set 2 and this was the focus of the warm-up (although I will continue to argue with myself about the potential inaccuracy of the testing on this training day). I've learned that if an athlete, including myself if I can be so bold, does not start a session sharp better to extend the warm-up, sharpen the blade, and get 60 minutes of quality work (assuming an average training session of 90 minutes) then rush into things and get 90 minutes of average work. Having begun this session feeling relatively average, having a low battery of my own if you will, I was happy with my lifting performance on this day.

"If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree, I would spend 4 hours sharpening the saw." -Abe Lincoln

Tell me what you see?

The Funny Angled Triangle

2009-07-16T20:05:00.000-07:00

More on this later, but hopefully an image will help at least spark a thought process (one that I'm sure is consistent with good problem solvers, whether it's via the same example/demonstration or just in thought).

Med Ball Mastery

2009-06-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Near completion for my Med Ball Mastery presentation that I am doing for Anthony Renna's new website Strength & Conditioning Webinars. Being able to present via the internet is a great way to maintain my secret identity so I'm pumped about the opportunity. Anthony is also just about the nicest guy I inter-know so I'm glad I can help him continue to develop his website.

The thing I love about showing what one knows and does not know is I am just arrogant enough to want to make sure that I know my stuff (at least specific to the topic). Some of my programming concepts are honestly works in progress and while I'm confident in what they do for development it would be a flat out lie to say that it has had this tremendous impact on LTAD (Long Term Athlete Development) or similarly hard to reach goals that are the true test of a coach beyond a basic return to fitness/conditioning.

Also have had the time this weekend to:

-Continue reading the IOC Medical Commission publication 'Volleyball'. The chapter on 'The Elite Athlete' is freakin' sweet. Really, the whole book has been excellent although I would disagree with much of the methodology presented in Bompa's chapter on 'Peak Conditioning for Volleyball'. I will save most of the disagreement's for my book. At least those that go beyond what one can pick up from what I have written so far (which ain't much).

-Sit down and review several dvd's that have stimulated some great thought. DVD's were the HPC Elitetrack Gold Medal Track Clinic and Developing a Dynamic Warm-Up Program for Speed-Power Athletes. Presentations from Dave Kerin, Will Wu, Tom Tellez, Larry Judge, Dan Pfaff, and Mike Young on the HPC Elitetrack Clinic DVD were all just fantastic for me. I do have to say that it seems like I cannot get through 1 track/field seminar or DVD without an attack on the agility ladder. While I do not use these much at all I find it incredibly ironic that track coaches would attack these when their own 'sprint' drills do not even serve the purpose their name describes. Ask a good track coach what these drills do and often you will get the answer that while they do not help actual sprinting, they do help with postural alignment, dynamic flexibility, or as a good way to extend the warm-up/transition into sprint work. That sounds like the same thing an agility ladder can do if used properly. I like to use sprint drills and skips in the warm-up, however, most of these drills utilize a vertical posture. This vertical posture is not seen frequently in sport. Whether one uses the agility ladder or not in the training of the team sport athlete is not important. The important thing is that we address postures specific to shin angle and plane of movement in the warm-up and in the training. The appropriate use of the agility ladder can help to do that.

- Had a 60-minute battle with about 20 yellow jackets. I wanted to barbecue (including beer can chicken) and drink a beer or two and these suckers were out to ruin it for me from the beginning. Underprepared but highly motivated, I was determined to take every one of these things down. This ended up being much more fun than just sitting there toasting my excellence.

Summer Prep

2009-05-25T22:37:00.000-07:00

Always an exciting time for me. The 'Volleyball' text above has me as excited about reading as I have been in a long time. The chapter on 'Biomechanics of Jumping' alone is worth the price of the whole book.

In the picture you can also see the bottom half of Dan Pfaff's General Strength DVD to the right. Dan Pfaff is my current man crush and his thought process alone paralyzes me. His presentations for the TCACC (2005) on training theory/chronic loading where he discusses 'enzymatic routing and fascial connections' made so much sense to me and yet requires so much more study to really make the concepts concrete and applicable. Many experts can have this effect on others where they can communicate something so eloquently you feel much more confident in your knowledge of the material than you should be.

Also on my list of reading for the new couple of weeks:

Oschman, James. Energy Medicine: The Scientific Basis (A Pfaff Recommendation)

Wooden, John. Coach Wooden's Pyramid of Success: Building Blocks for a Better Life (Just the connection of brick and mortar life qualities hit me hard)

Ericsson, K. Anders. Expert Performance in Sports. (The Reference everyone references when it comes to expert performance)

Collins, Jim. How The Mighty Fall. (Good to Great was, ha, great so this should be a good, no, great read. The five step-wise stages of decline introduced on the book's jacket was enough to lock this one in my sights)

Stone, Michael H. Principles and Practice of Resistance Training. (Reading through this one for the 3rd time. My reading pace is either much slower than everyone else or I have less confidence in my mastery of the material. A little bit of column A, a little bit of column B...)

As for summer training, I am looking at this summer as improving on and extending our performance from the spring. Some of my plyometric progressions have developed much differently than those of my mentors but I have confidence in my ability to manage the distribution of intensity/volume appropriately. Some of the work we have done in the spring has helped my practical understanding of said management skills and I will apply this knowledge as best as I can to our summer programming. To say that I am not always fascinated and always learning would not give the body's adaptive processes enough credit...

One methodology concept I have been working hard on is that of stable variation. I plan to elaborate much more on this later but essentially I rotate the speed/power stimulus in nearly every session on a weekly or bi-weekly basis while stabilizing our strength work by using sessions with more consistency in the stimulus (more linear to slightly non-linear depending on several factors). My feeling is that when we are evaluating the complexity of physical development we have to not just think of the weight on the bar (although this is an obvious indicator for success). There also must be concern for an appropriate level of coordination development that teaches the athlete to be flexible in the performance of motor tasks. When athletes lack this level of coordination you will find less transfer from general to specific work.

I am also finishing part deux of my principles of volleyball performance training article focused on methodology. Part I was a little lengthy for most readers so I'm hoping I can be a bit more brief.

Inspiration

2009-04-20T13:05:00.000-07:00

"You have to ask yourself, 'Who am I being if my players' eyes are not shining?'" - John Kessel, USA Volleyball

Short and Long-Term Progression:

2009-04-05T20:38:00.000-07:00

I'm all for kaizen but don't mind seeing technical adjustments and good training processes feed the organism's machinery. For example...

Today had one of my very serious collegiate athletes (as serious as one can be with the schedule they have this month) begin with a series of seated vertical jumps and med ball vertical tosses (2s x 3r per movement in combination). We moved past that into elasticity jumps (a hop onto the contact mat into an explosive vertical jump) paired with elasticity throws (a hop into a vertical toss). Same set/rep combination. After that we loaded the movement with the vertimax for 4 s x 2r and kicked things into high gear. Once we made the technical and positional adjustments the focus shifted to maximize the elastic response and finishing the jump. So the progression led to about a 3" increase in jump performance through the session. That 3" represented the performance this athlete is capable of if the right adjustments are made in combination with the right speed/power development methodology.

So in total, the jumps performed today were in this range:

A1. Seated Vertical Jumps - 2s x 3r (21.5 avg)
A2. Med Ball Vertical Tosses - 2s x3r (3k med ball)
B1. Elasticity (Single-Response) Jumps - 2s x 3r (21.5-22-22 avg)
B2. Elasticity Tosses - 2s x 3r (3k med ball)
C1. Vertimax Elasticity Jumps - 4s x 2r
D1. Elasticity (Single-Response) Jumps (Test) - (24.5, 24.7)

Not exactly a high volume of ground contacts (36 g.c.'s if you count the med ball throws; as an aside, I have noticed that the transition from a med ball throw into landing parallels the simple adjustment process off of a maximum vertical jump) but certainly high quality. We did all of this after an extensive warm-up (around 25 minutes today). Training finished with bb f split squats and trunk/abdominal work. Bonus to high quality programming: athlete has no more complaints of knee pain or stiffness in the outer quad/hip area.

I'd put money on us with a 27-28" average at the end of summer. If my stats on our training numbers are consistent so far, this should positively correlate with approach jump performance.

EGO

2009-04-03T08:09:00.000-07:00

An exaggerated sense of self-importance; conceit.

So one of my athletes was involved in a discussion with a club coach about a year or so back. In discussion she mentioned that she had the opportunity to attend Karch Kiraly's Volleyball Academy that prior summer. She mentioned some of the positive things she had taken from Karch, of which I'm sure there were many, and this coach just had to let her know that, "Well I have beaten Karch before."

To keep this short, let me go ahead and go over what this coach has not done:

1-He has not won 3 Olympic gold medals.
2-He has not been twice named best volleyball player in the world by the Federation of International V0lleyball (FIVB)
3-He has not helped redefine the sport and the competitive spirit of the United States, especially relative to international competition.

Besides the fact that I have a huge amount of respect for Karch Kiraly, both as a player and as an ambassador for the sport, I have a very hard time respecting others who can only make themselves feel better by building themselves up and tearing others down.

I have told my athletes that in all seriousness if my training program ever becomes more about me and my ego, less about them, and I start to refer to myself as "The Diesel" or some other nonsense then I want one of them to punch me in the face.

Appropriate Coaching Blog Post

2009-03-30T09:54:00.000-07:00

This blog is courtesy of John Kessel and USA Volleyball:

Appropriate Coaching Blog Post

I will make sure that coaches within my network of influence read this at least once.

I think that so many coaches are simply not comprehensive enough in their approach to really develop athletes and volleyball players. There is either a purely technical focus, or a psychological focus, or a "just play hard" focus. Great coaching is great blending of the motor qualities of the sport and the psychological qualities of performance.

D-I Baby!

2009-03-28T18:50:00.000-07:00

So one of my long-term athlete development program clients (within my EVP program this is my ELITE program) just signed a D-I volleyball scholarship. Full ride!

This particular client has trained harder and more consistently then any client I HAVE EVER HAD. I know that the second she finishes a tournament I will get 2 text messages: the first tells me how her and her team did, and the second is asking me WHEN ARE WE GOING TO TRAIN AGAIN? When she text me tonight to tell me that she was signing her scholarship her next text was... WHEN ARE WE GOING TO TRAIN AGAIN? After 6 years of hard work I can honestly say that I'm not surprised by what success she has achieved.

Needless to say I'm very excited.

Also in the works:
Met someone today in a relatively random conversation at a volleyball tournament on development. As it turns out, she works in the biomechanics/motion lab at a local university. She's got force plates, motion analysis software, the works. We quickly progressed our discussion into talk on a project to measure and evaluate performance of collegiate volleyball players I have training with me.

So today was a good day.

Pow-Wah

2009-03-02T22:25:00.000-08:00

Crazy, crazy times...

I am now the Club Director for Bexar County Volleyball Academy and things are very crazy. If it wasn't for the tendo unit I picked up recently I would have nothing to be excited about in my training.

Thought this would be a good time to do a basic overview of technical/performance issues involving olympic lifts and speed/power development.

Often the argument presented is that power version of the lifts initiated from the floor offer more benefit to athletes. Not sure that I agree there.

80K Power Snatch 60K Hang Snatch 70K Hang Snatch

Set 1
1. 1678 W, 2.14 M/S 1. 1411 W, 2.40 M/S 1. 1598 W, 2.33 M/S
2. 1615 W, 2.06 M/S 2. 1411 W, 2.4 0 M/S 2. 1619 W, 2.36 M/S
Set 2
1. 1717 W, 2.19 M/S 1. 1517 W, 2.58 M/S 1. 1633 W, 2.38 M/S
2. 1615, 2.06 M/S 2. 1476 W, 2.51 M/S 2. 1612 W, 2.35 M/S

*Any coincidence that the 1st rep of the 2nd set was my best rep on each exercise? (Vids are linked via youtube)

80K P Sn
1656 W, 2.11 M/S
100% W, 85% M/S

70K H Sn
1616 W, 2.36 M/S
98% W, 96% M/S

60K H Sn
1454 W, 2.47 M/S
88% W, 100% M/S

Obviously the heavier lifts are producing more power, however, the hang versions are producing a high percentage of the same power (98 and 88% respectively) while producing more speed (60K was 12% faster and 70k was 10.5% faster). This comparison was not made to be exact or precise. My primary purpose was to see for myself if a reduced load with reduced ROM lift could produce comparable power/speed. Did it.

Principles of Volleyball Performance Training Part I: Organization

2009-01-25T20:27:00.000-08:00

Read if you dare

Attila the Hun and Expert Performance

2009-01-04T12:40:00.001-08:00

Lifted yesterday with my weightlifting group in Austin at Hyde Park Gym. Had the chance to lift with a guy named Attila... and he's Hungarian. He's an older lifter, relatively speaking, but is still rock solid. After years and years of motor skill development and physical training (are they one and the same when it comes to performance?) this guy defines expert even if his current performance does not qualify him as such. Every time I think of my own current development, just past 2 years of near full-time training, in weightlifting the 10-years and/or 10,000 hours of practice rule comes to my mind. In case you don't realize what I'm talking about, researchers have suggested that this is the amount of time and energy it takes to reach expert status.

For my development, this means I have a long way to go for everything to "feel" better. For volleyball players it often means that whether it is at the high school or collegiate level their development will be cut short (assuming an average start of 12-14 years old). What it means for both of us: arrogance. It's arrogant to believe that we are capable of putting out consistent, near perfect performance (def. as having, involving, or demonstrating great skill, dexterity, or knowledge as the result of experience or training.) when we have only been practicing and performing for such a short time. There's a reason why it is not common for collegiate level volleyball players, even those with high potential, to play on the Olympic team. There is a reason why high skill activities with earlier starting ages, such as gymnastics, achieve expert status and performance earlier. It all comes back to how much time and deliberate practice that person has achieved (that process being what drives them to expert status). In a team sport such as volleyball, this does not just point to individual skill development but also the ability to make adjustments based on the make-up of the team.

Honestly ranking yourself based on your level of achievement and not on your level of ambition is a difficult but necessary step if one ever hopes to achieve elite or expert status. I've acknowledged to many that I don't think I will ever get past intermediate status in weightlifting as currently I can't see myself continuing full-time training for more than another year or two. It's hard to define yourself as mediocre but I hope that honesty can help someone.

Gu-Ru and the Secret to Superior Huh?

2008-12-17T14:57:00.000-08:00

Does anyone really know a guru? I haven't met or seen one and don't know anyone that has so they are definitely taking on the characteristics of other similarly fascinating but unseen creatures such as the unicorn, bigfoot, etc. Did you know that the word guru is taken from Sanskrit, specifically Gu is darkness and Ru is light. So a guru is literally one who guides others to light through darkness, or in other words, a teacher. Thank you wikipedia.

With that said there are many who while not acknowledging themselves as said creature, would have one believe that they have the secret to superior insert superhuman physical ability here and an ego to match. Notice that if we are working from the original definition there is no mention of secrets or superiority, only light and darkness, or knowledge and ignorance. So in the classical sense of the term guru is a term of respect. Today, it speaks to ego and greed.

So here is my best take on that which is guru in the present day meaning of the word:

Snatch Extended Warm-Up:
As an extension of more traditional warm-up means at lower intensities, this extended warm-up variation allows me to focus on several positions important to my own success in continuing my development as a weightlifter. Primarily this warm-up helps me stay over the bar from several different positions with a weight (80K) that still forces me to work through the lift.

Also, moving the bar to the front of the platform forced me to focus on finishing vertically and not cutting my pull short or finishing forward. Some lifters/coaches will use a chalk line drawn horizontally across the platform. I find the risk of losing the lift off the platform to be more devastating. There are chalk advocates worldwide singing my praises as well. Save the chalk!

Core Work Superset:
This is sweeping. It is an excellent core/abdominal exercise and also fundamentally necessary to maintain the condition of the gym. How's that for killing 2 birds with 1 stone? My old weightlifting coach Oleg, from the former Soviet Union, used to say "What you Americans call exercise, in Russia, we call work. Walking home to the farm? Work. Walking on treadmill? Exercise?!" Notice I sweep using both sides of my body to address muscle imbalance/asymmetry.

Music:
I don't know why Yankees in Boston feel it is necessary to attack the awesomeness of Bon Jovi when the music was clearly not intended for wusses. We've gotta hold on to what we've got...!

Off-Topic (Relationships)

2008-12-08T10:02:00.001-08:00

Visited my mom this morning and she has been struggling with some things lately. Have to admit that initially my thoughts were centered on just how busy of a day I had in front of me and how I was getting more and more behind by the minute. I tried to look past that, appointments, meetings, and a court date for a speeding ticket be damned, and think about just how important she is to me. How important everyone in my life is to me.

I talked to her and really just tried to listen more and give feedback when appropriate. The main thing that came out of our conversation is that her problems are everyone's problems, and that while the solutions to said problems take time often it is just having the opportunity to speak out that makes our problems seem less overwhelming and insurmountable.

I even shared a funny story with her about a job I had in my late teens:

I was working as a waiter and one day a manager saw a napkin and a bit of trash centered in an aisle of the restaurant. I was told later that at least 4 employees had walked past the trash ignoring it either just to ignore it or to focus on their task at hand. As I walked past it (really my walk is often less of a walk and more of a half jogging, beaming bounce) I picked it up and took it to the wait station to throw everything away. That earned me a free lunch!

I told my mom that despite our daily tasks/objectives we should stay focused on living life and clean up the trash when necessary so we can move forward and continue to enjoy things. Clean up the trash and put it behind you so you can get back to that bounce.

After talking with my mom I realized that my court date is not until tomorrow, a day in which I have much more time available. Use the time that you have and by all means do not keep it all to yourself. Getting everything done on time, including the court date, would have been much less satisfying that some quality time with my mama. Love you mom!

Periodization Schmeriodization

2008-12-02T11:06:00.000-08:00

I fantasize daily on the concepts and application of periodization, especially those associated with the development of the high performance athlete (for me specifically, volleyball players). I like to say that I have a close, intimate relationship with performance training dating back to my early youth. To this day, I can watch a training scene from any documentary, movie, or tv show, no matter how bad, over and over. I am truly fascinated by the process.

As young as 4 and 5, I was a training nut and this has continued through my adult life thanks to the special influences of all of the great coaches, athletes, and people I have shared my competitive career with. My dad, mom, Coach Gary Green, Michael Boyle, Steven Plisk, Ikki Soma, Oleg Kechko, Ursula Garza, and many others have had a profound influence on my development as a coach, athlete, and most importantly, as a person.

With that said, I can't claim the confusion many feel when they study and examine periodization, the planning and organization of training. I'm sure some of this is based off of my education and experience, but a lot is that whether I knew an advanced method or not I have always been able to make sense of a good training plan. I can't perfectly reference this now but I believe it was in the CFTS (Charlie Francis Training System, now sold as Training for Speed) that Charlie Francis wrote that early aircraft design followed the mantra "Looks right, flies right." This is my fundamental view of periodization. While that statement strikes me and others as too simple, especially when most yearn for complexity, it makes perfect sense. But as this introductory post on periodization will demonstrate, sense is less than perfect and never common.

The difficulty arises when we begin the organization and design process of the training program. Most often it goes in 2 directions:

1-You can't catch 2 rabbits at once or as recently stated by Charles Poliquin, ubertrainer, "If you have one ass, you can't sit on two horses." Funny how when we hear a guru state something that sounds so brilliant we forget things we know like killing two birds with one stone. This process can, and does, go in circles.

2-Cocktails. Programs attempt to address every aspect of their program in every session, in the same way yankees drink Long Island Iced Teas and Texans drink Texas teas (same, but with tequila, sans gin) looking for a quick fix. This is the opposite argument of the catching 2 rabbits example. Trainers and coaches here attempt to address every quality, no matter how complex, in every session. A jack of all trades makes a great handyman but be cautious before you hand over the keys to your ferrari. There is a hierarchy of needs in athlete development as there is to human development (read maslow): as you ascend the pyramid it is not necessary to backtrack on the ascent (unless you have somehow forgotten your way; read detraining).

The key to making a successful distinction of training variables is in the analysis of the training program on the long- (macrocycle), medium- (mesocycle), and short-term (microcycle) level. Fundamentally speaking, you have to be willing to analyze your training program on every level to determine success. If you are analyzing your training program from workout to workout (on the microcyclic level) or from phase to phase (on the mesocyclic level) with no concern for the interaction of each then you are not maximizing your program's potential.

In my next post I will specifically analyze the "common" program and give my personal views on the benefits and shortcomings as well as provide a specific example of the early stages of program design (the Trinity University Training Program I will be writing in the next couple of weeks).

Specificity in Performance: The Actual Analysis

2008-11-19T16:33:00.000-08:00

Postural analysis indicates supination of the right foot, tibial external rotation of the lower leg (the shin rotated outward), knee valgus (knee caves in), and hip external rotation. The left foot is close to normal so I will focus on just the right foot in this post. There is tightness on both sides in the anterior hip musculature (the hip flexors primarily), quadriceps, and calves. Since the left side functions close to normal and the right does not we can see that flexibility alone is not the problem.

Dynamically, the right foot stays supinated essentially rendering itself useless (no toe-off) and the loading it should have helped create up the chain is lost (reducing performance of all subsequent links). This centers loading on the quadricep group (referred to as quad dominance) and because the foot/ankle is not in proper use (gripping the floor with the foot and eccentrically/spring loading the foot/plantar flexors) there is limited use of the glutes/hamstrings. There has to be an anterior/forward movement of the tibia/shin (the spring loading/gripping of the floor) to create a posterior/backward movement of the femur/upper leg. Because the shin stays relatively neutral (any forward movement of the shin here is more of a collapse of the foot/ankle and not representative of true loading of the foot/ankle musculature) the femur follows creating an anterior weight shift which further reduces loading to the glute/hamstrings.

On take-off and landing there is a lateral shift of the pelvis (on the right leg the hip shifts out to the right) which also indicates the lack of stability created by the breakdown in the kinetic chain and anterior loading of the quads (also the lack of loading to the glutes/hamstrings which would help to stabilize the leg).

There is a relationship to the core/trunk musculature but that will have to be addressed later as this post is focused on the foot/ankle, and by extension, the lower body. It is important to note that stability refers out from the core/trunk, as a pebble does in water creating ripples, so any analysis would be incomplete (which this will have to be for the sake of brevity) without analyzing the two and their interdependence.

Technical/Physical Adjustments:
The foot should be centered with loading focused on the medial side of the foot with good contact and stability felt from mid-foot to heel. The shin and knee should be aligned vertically over the foot. This will allow for appropriate loading up from the lower leg increasing balance and movement efficiency, correcting the tibial external rotation, knee valgus, and hip external rotation present before. The first 3 reps of the split squat demo below are demonstrated inappropriately and the next 3 reps make a slight correction that positionally makes a great deal of difference.

If the problem is merely positioning, this change should correct technique. This is typically not the case.

In single leg stance, as shown on the single-leg jumps, there has to be a lateral shift of the pelvis because of the change in center of mass (position of the body, specifically the hips, over the legs). However, this rotation should be slight. If the rotation is excessive, there is a breakdown in the chain as presented earlier. This is often the case with female athletes as their quadricep-angle (the angle of the femur from the hip to the knee resembles the line through the bottom right of a Q) is more distinct from the start. Differences in q-angle are attributed to wider hips in females and in single-leg stance the differences compound as female athletes often display quad-dominance with lack of recruitment to the glute/hamstring musculature. This makes female athletes more susceptible to knee problems, specifically ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) injury.

Quad Dominant (Compromised Performance):

Not Quad Dominant (High Performance, specifically a 182-kilo Clean and Jerk):

Also an important thing to consider here is how an overhead goal changes landing mechanics as demonstrated on the 2-legged jumps. If the athlete must change position to adjust to a ball or other player, whether that be through a simple rotation, holding their jump longer, or otherwise, there will be a definite change in the ability to land "properly". Landing properly is not limited to landing in a perfect athletic position as many describe. Landing properly is the ability to decelerate and place appropriate loading to the body's active supports, primarily muscles, while minimizing stress to passive supports (ligaments and other joint structures). In short, it's a best case scenario for a worst possible situation. This requires a great deal of coordination, spatial awareness, muscle stiffness, and elasticity.

Corrections to posture and movement mechanics will help athletes better express their physical abilities with a reduced incidence of injury. It is important that coaches and athletes analyze general and specific movement mechanics and address strengths and weaknesses appropriately to drive performance enhancement further. There are no new movements for the body so it is important that we maximize what movement we have available.

If You Aren't First, You're Last

2008-11-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

First Link or Last?

I lack the knowledge and experience to speak in absolutes regarding a joint's functionality so when I wrote in the last post that the ankle and foot were the last link in the chain that is only specific to the toe-off action. In reality there is an initiation of kinetic energy that starts with the eccentric loading (spring loading if timing is appropriate) through the ankle and foot musculature and works its way up through muscular, tendon, and fascial connections into the quads, glutes, hamstrings, spinal erectors, etc.

Many colleagues will refer to ankle issues as hip issues, however, I always see and try to think of general and specific factors and their relevance to the problem and solution so we will analyze both. This is not to say that colleagues do not go through the same process but that needed to be said. So even with a more global or general view of the problem, most problems still require a specific intervention to truly ingrain a correction to motor programming and movement. Andy Twellman's staff at Train 4 The Game in Austin, Texas, in following Todd Wright's lead and Gary Gray methodology term this "groove the move".

Relevant to creating and correcting movement patterns and positioning is the relationship between static and dynamic balance and the impact on slow and fast movement. Static balance is simply posture and the maintenance of stability. Limitations in static balance are limitations in static posture as this is what our original design and structural framework is meant to support. Dynamic balance is static balance applied, or simply put, the interaction of body position with an external environment. Properly applied body posture in space/movement is dynamic balance. It is important to note the differences between the dynamics of movement and the postures our bodies are capable of creating, especially regarding mechanical law. Geoffrey Dyson, in his landmark text The Mechanics of Athletics, described the relationship beautifully when he wrote, "here, too, principles applicable to rigid bodies are being applied to bodies that are far from rigid." That text was first published in 1962.

This introduces a paradoxical relationship between body positioning and performance: proper position may sometimes encourage poor performance if the athlete is not physically capable of supporting such a position leading to the creation of dreaded compensation patterns. The track and field example is the introduction of starting blocks to a still developing runner. If that runner is lacking the strength and mobility to use the starting blocks effectively the athlete will learn how to not use the starting blocks effectively. This athlete will stand up instead of push off the blocks.

Because of the high demand for technical skill in volleyball many tasks present the same limitations based on physical weaknesses. It may be poor performance in the approach jump, defensive position, blocking, etc. If a coach has no concept or understanding of proper progression regarding the introduction of specific movement that requires a high degree of coordination, strength, and mobility, the athlete will often do their best to perform that movement as accurately as possible but often with a high degree of compensation. I tell athletes they are faking the skill performance.

A good rule for the introduction of skill development, taken from strength coach Michael Boyle, is to learn the movement:

1) Correct
2) Slow
3) Then fast

This works very well with beginner and intermediate athletes but as athletes near the high performance level skill development often goes beyond major technical and positional adjustments, although they may very well require minor technical corrections to further improve performance. This is the complexity of elite athletics. These athletes often require true improvements in speed, strength, and power to further their development. I say true improvements here as the distinction between speed, strength, and power and their interaction at the beginner and intermediate level is difficult to distinguish and improvements are often centered in coordination that merely bring the athlete to the point of improvement upon which they must truly become faster, stronger, and more powerful. I tell my athletes that initial improvements are our push to the body to improve this skill and that this is the point where the skill pushes back.

As a more specific example, I can often get my female volleyball players to improve on the front squat from the bar (33-45 pounds) to around 100 pounds in 8-12 training sessions (assuming no serious problems with injury history or schedule). Before this point the weight is relatively comfortable on the chest and shoulders, but past this point the weight literally pushes the athlete down, unless they have learned to focus their body position properly (from heel to head).

Olympic weightlifting coach Glenn Pendlay of Wichita Falls Weightlifting Club describes the limit most athletes reach, whether physical or technical, as the same limit many people reach in their professional careers: the Peter Principle. The Peter Principle states that "In a Hierarchy Every Employee Tends to Rise to His/Her Level of Incompetence." Put simply, you cannot progress past your own stupidity (or your coach's). Whether that incompetence is physical or technical, it requires a focused intervention to develop further. In my next posting I will specifically analyze the leg mechanics from the jump video.

Med Ball Throws and Box Jumps

2008-11-11T11:46:00.000-08:00

Nothing incredibly fascinating about this but perhaps a couple of things are noteworthy:

1. The acceleration of the body (trunk/torso specifically) into the legs, driven by the arm and shoulder drive, is of primary importance to loading the legs properly on the med ball throws and the box jumps. Often an athlete will attempt to over control their torso and resist the drop limiting the elastic energy stored in the legs. This is a mistake! Every action produces an equal and opposite reaction so a faster downward movement of the torso (the action) increases the speed/power of the jump (the reaction). This is pivotal as it is very difficult to rapidly accelerate, and therefore jump high, if the athlete has not loaded their spring (their legs and trunk) properly.

2. On the box jumps, the critical factor is hip height. Many believe that a 42" box jump is equivalent to a 42" vertical jump but this is simply not true. It's the change in center of mass, at the hips, that indicates true jump performance. This jump specifically is probably in the range of 32 to 34". A good rule of thumb is to jump and land in the same position and this goes way back to Coach Jimmy Radcliffe at the University of Oregon. Landing in too deep of a squat position, as I am guilty of in my chase for a 52" box jump, should not be encouraged in training. It is still a reasonable display of athleticism but not a practice common to great training programs where the best interests of the athlete, and not of puffed up box jump or other performance numbers, are the focus.

A good guideline for selecting box jump height is not to go beyond a 10-20% difference than the athlete's best vertical jump. So for an athlete who jumps 20" high, a 20", 22" (10%), or 24" (20%) box is appropriate.

3. There is nothing magical about box jumping. Jumping onto a box is not a secret to superior sports performance. Jumping onto a box simply saves the athletes legs from landings. So considering good quality jump performance the only difference between jumping over a 42" hurdle and jumping onto a 42" box is the height of the landing. I will often have a box at about 50% of the height of the box we are jumping for the athlete to step down onto to save the legs.

As you can see I'm quite the rebel and do not step down onto another box. But you can see that I do pay attention to how I am landing. It's not the fall that kills ya, it's the landing!

3. Look at the foot/ankle mechanics closely on the med ball throws and box jumps. The ankle stays relatively neutral, and to a certain extent the foot is not loaded properly and the ankle resists any dorsiflexion which will limit successful toe off on the jump. This same toe off is critical to great sprinting and jumping as this represents the last link in the kinetic chain. This is a relatively minor detail but when the difference between 1st and 2nd place is often percentage points on percentage points we owe it to the athlete to look everywhere for improvements. In this case, I am the athlete demonstrating and outside of box jumps and med ball throws I am not focused on these improvements although I will certainly address them in my training. My primary focus is improvement on the snatch and clean and jerk movements from olympic weightlifting. Keeping things in context is important as well for this is no reason to focus on one detail that will give you a percentage point on a percentage point when there may be other details (in my case maximum strength, olympic weightlifting technique, and bodyweight) that will give you ten points.

4. This is really an aside but this kind of thing is common in my thinking so deal with it: Any coach training athletes should have athletes capable of performing any portion of their training program at a high level. I can't stand things that my athletes cannot do well. Whether it's a coaching limitation or an athlete limitation, if I can't correct the skill and improve the athlete's proficiency in said skill then I either need to move back in the progression or focus on something else entirely until training such a skill is more appropriate. I'm demonstrating the med ball throws and box jumps here because I don't video a lot of my athletes training and haven't asked permission to use the video I do have (although I will certainly do so in the future). Video allows for a different kind of feedback and with so many athletes learning and developing in so many different ways more feedback is almost always better than less (although there are reasons to reduce external feedback as well but more on that later).

Big shout out to Coach Turner at Vanderbilt University Strength and Conditioning. Super bright coach focused on the best interests of the athletes in his care. Thanks for the shirt!

Daniel

Conference Champs

2008-11-10T10:36:00.001-08:00

Trinity volleyball won the SCAC Conference Championship and Megan Dudley won the Tournament MVP. Dudley was the one Trinity volleyball athlete training with me this summer and while her hard work there certainly helped it was the VOLLEYBALL coaching staff and team that really helped her to excel. There is no doubt about it: speed and power training helps volleyball players access their ability but there is no substitution for high quality, high performance volleyball coaching. Coach Julie Jenkins and April Fricke are a couple of the best and their success record substantiates that. Substance is a good thing.

This is my first year working with the Trinity volleyball program and I'm happy to be able to learn from the coaching staff and athletes there. Trinity is often referred to as the "Ivy League of the South" so there's no doubt that all of the girls are smarter than I am.

So as to not leave out any details that might be helpful to some, here were the things we did focus on this summer:

1. Improving Power and Speed

2, Improving Relative Strength (Strength to Bodyweight Ratio)

3. Decreasing Bodyweight

Dudley had a great starting point as her fitness was/is top notch. This allowed us to focus on the program qualities that would maximize her abilities and not simply guarantee that she could perform healthy. Often I have to spend a good deal of time retraining movement and addressing poor mobility/coordination relationships, especially with more seasoned volleyball players as the compensation path is an incredible one. Take note: a broad range of physical abilities focused on early in athlete development will allow an athlete to maximally express specific abilities further down the road with less physical wear and tear. Early specialization is a stupid concept but so is not exercising/training at all (more on that soon).

Dudley also felt like she needed to lose around 5-pounds and I agreed it would not hurt, especially if we could concurrently increase her power/strength numbers. She is a very muscular-lean athlete and started training this summer with a 28" approach jump. Her approach jump ended up improving to 31", which we both felt was a great improvement considering she had a solid 3 years of training under her belt prior. To get there, we focused on:

1-Improving her stretch-loading for jumps and increasing her power via the hang snatch

Jump/speed work was a variety of medicine ball throws, fast-SSC (Stretch-Shortening Cycle) transitional jumps focused on rapid ground contact in a stretch-loaded position combined with full extension. Med ball throws were vertical jump tosses, caber tosses (granny tosses do not sound athletic. Caber tossing! Now that screams aggression!), and med ball slams. I think often people are so caught up on rapid ground contact (less than .25 seconds and really focused on around .10 which is essentially the snap of your fingers) that they forget about what the body should do after initial contact. We focus on rapid ground contact and the mechanisms that create good extension (jumping from a power position and extending through the hip/knee/ankle). Otherwise the athlete is just bouncing, which in the complexity of athletic performance and volleyball, simply won't cut it. The timing mechanisms and rhythms of fast stretch-shortening cycle activity contribute beautifully to jumps common to volleyball, namely the approach jump and block jump.

Hang snatch work was highly technical at first as Dudley needed improvement on her technique. She had experience with cleans before but snatches were relatively new to her. We were very conservative with loading as the coordination improvements I see with people new to oly lifts and variations are often enough to drive the force-velocity curve towards positive change without the traditional power loads. As an aside, I often view the percentage recommendations as plain fiction, seeing as working off a percentage of intensity always assumes several things:

A-That the lifters 100% effort was of high quality. With olympic lifting this is a big problem as often it is only maximum loads that expose the athletes weak points in the same way as a faster/more powerful or technical team exposes a volleyball teams weak links.

B-That the athlete is capable of reproducing the same effort and technique on a very consistent basis. Practice does not make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect, so there will be no assumptions about proper technique being ingrained so early in the training process at my house. Technical mastery of complex skill, whether it be olympic lifting or volleyball, requires thousands of hours of practice and training with constant attention to detail. There is no, "This is the snatch. Now let's get after it!"

2-Eliminating unnecessary volume from the training and focusing on the front squat and chin-up as the primary relative strength indicators

Front squat improved over the summer from a 60-kilo (133 lb) triple to 75-kilo (165 lb) training doubles performed for multiple sets (we never went beyond 4).
Chin-ups improved from band assisted work to bodyweight triples for multiple sets. Given a bit more time, I'm sure we would have progressed quickly into loaded chin-ups. Dudley represents that athlete who is ready for improvements if given an appropriate training structure.

3-Decreasing Bodyweight

This change was quite simple and was simply an extension of the training process. We performed much less total volume than she was used to and Dudley was very disciplined on her nutritional program. Dudley continued to perform the Trinity conditioning work on off-days and had a great summer of preparation to improve her confidence and performance for the competitive season.

With that said, I hope my thought process helps others to see how complexity and simplicity can be successfully interwoven for a great training result. Every athlete presents unique challenges but all can benefit if their energy and talent can be focused successfully.

Evening Training

2008-11-08T16:27:00.001-08:00

After waiting for a plumber for the better part of yesterday and waiting for my coach to be free today, I am itching to get in there and lift some bloody weights. Training has gone well this week and I'm hoping to continue that process tonight.

Trinity volleyball is in the championship game this evening and I'm going to try and follow it live when I get back in.