Posted on Jun 30, 2008 under Baseball, Basketball, Player improvement, Player talent, Skill execution, Specialized Training, Sports Technique, Yessis Editorials, player development, sports skills |
It’s never too late to improve player performance. Every athlete can be better, even the high-level professional athlete. This has been proven time and time again but yet, coaches like to have us believe that performance is due to genetics and that it’s all natural, you either born with the ability to perform well or you are not. They believe that mere playing of the game will bring out the athlete’s potential.
On the professional level coaches believe that the athlete has already developed his abilities to the maximum and merely has to display them in the game. You should be able to produce, if not, you are cut, sold or traded.
This of course is one way of dealing with poor performances. But is it the best? From my experiences in working with world-class athletes and in keeping abreast of the training of world-class athletes — especially from the scientific point of view — this way of dealing with the problem appears to be a copout. Read more… »
If you examine the workout programs of many of our young, up and coming runners as well as runners in other sports such as the triathlon, you will see that their training programs consist mainly of different kinds of running. There’s no questioning the need for different kinds of running such as fartlek, tempo, speed, distance, etc.
However, this is the main method of training that has been done for years only to see our runners (with a few exceptions) fall well behind those of other countries (except in the sprints). We keep doing the same thing but yet we expect different results. Read more… »
It was interesting reading a recent article about Kevin Towers, general manager of the Padres baseball team. In the article it was brought out that he is impressed by the Twins’ scouting ability and the stability in their scouting ranks. He also admired the organizations teaching skills.
According to Towers, “The Twins go very deep into other farm systems and do a great job of learning other players. They are very thorough in the scouting of other farm systems” He goes on to further state that, “They’re fundamentally sound the way they teach things and do things, they are very consistent. They don’t beat themselves.”
The question that begs to be asked is why aren’t the Padres doing this?
Read more… »
Most golfers believe that you swing the arms through a great range of motion in the downswing. In reality, however, the arms go through a very short range of motion with independent action. Most of the range of motion seen is created by hip and shoulder rotation.
Because the arms and shoulder girdle are connected, in order to move the arms through a full range of motion, you must move the shoulders and vice versa. In other words, when the hands are held together you create a “single” arm which greatly limits its ability to move through a great range of motion.
Read more… »
If you read carefully the many statements made by baseball players, coaches or team representatives, you will notice that they are excuses for poor performances and/or losses. Some of the more common ones include:
“We’re just not playing good enough to win right now” Read more… »
According to a recent article, Allen Webb, premier US miler, often trained as follows: warm-up, stretching and workout, then a general strength session with push-ups, sit-ups, and so on, plus medicine ball, wobble board, plyometrics, and strength training in the weight room. Total time was between 5 ½ to 6 hrs.
Is this an effective program? In reality such a workout may be good for overall fitness and endurance, but it does little to improve speed. There are several reasons for this. Read more… »
If you look up the number of injuries for each baseball team at the present time, you’ll find an average of six to seven players unable to play on each team. For a non-contact sport this is very high. Most of the injuries appear to be related to the shoulder, elbow, wrist and fingers. One or two injuries on each team is related to the hamstrings or lower back.
Are most of these injuries justified? From my experiences in working with baseball and other athletes most injuries are preventable. As I have brought out in previous articles, in order to prevent injuries you must have effective technique when executing the game skills and your physical qualities must be sufficiently well-developed to withstand the stress of executing the game skills.
If you are lacking in one of these two areas or in both, your chances of injury increase greatly. Granted, there will always be some injuries occurring because of unforeseen circumstances. However, most of the injuries that occur, do not fall into this category. These are preventable. Read more… »
Cross-training is well-accepted in the fitness field and is being used with increasing frequency in sports training. Instead of only doing one type of training as, for example, aerobic, it is now recommended that you do both aerobic- and anaerobic-type activities. This is needed not only for total fitness but to help prevent injury and to produce better results.
Its origins can be found in the triathlon in which the athletes participate in three different sports (events). These athletes must train in these three events that rely mainly on the aerobic and muscular endurance components.
But is participation in more than one sport effective for producing the best athlete who participates in only one sports event? Read more… »
When a baseball team is doing poorly or is having a losing season, fans usually blame the coach. In some cases the players are blamed. However, in this case criticism may come from the general managers rather than from the fans or it can be a combination of both.
Regardless of who is at fault, no one looks at how to improve the players or to get them out of the slump that they may be in. They typically just hope it will pass and reinforce their hopes by commenting that it is only temporary and they will soon break out of it.
What you never see is the application of a little science to help the players improve or to break out of the problems that they are having. And no, I have not lost my mind. I say this with full knowledge of what it takes to do this and what can be done to improve or correct player performance. Read more… »
One of the most common recommendations given to golfers is to rotate the arms on the backswing. There are even many devices now available that teach you to rotate the arms as you take the back swing. What is almost always omitted in these recommendations and device explanations is that you cannot take a full backswing without rotating the arms. Read more… »
In a recent article in a triathlon magazine, the author brought out a different concept of the typical annual periodization plan. It started with base training in the winter and spring that included long steady aerobic miles and weight training. The objective was to lay the foundation in the base period.
This phase corresponds well with what is recognized in the scientific community as general physical preparation (GPP). The objective is to prepare the body for the more intense work that will follow. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 22, 2008 under Active stretches, Running, Stretching |
If you watch runners before a race or baseball, football and other athletes warming up before a game, you will see that most of them do the butt kick (quadriceps) stretch. In this stretch they maintain an erect position, stand on one leg, and bend the other leg so the thigh is pointed directly downward with the knee bent and the heel of the foot close to the buttocks. The athlete then presses the foot closer to the buttocks to get a stronger stretch of the quadriceps. In some cases they even pull the thigh backward for an even strong stretch of the quadriceps and the hip flexors.
This butt kick stretch is constantly recommended in running and fitness magazines and running and sports training books. The popularity of this stretch has even permeated the fitness field where you can see many recreational athletes and bodybuilders doing this stretch. You are even likely to have this stretch recommended to you by trainers and coaches.
According to many pros, tennis is an endurance sport and you should train for endurance to be at your best. Understand that many tennis matches go well over three hours and require a great number of repetitions, not only in hitting groundstrokes and serves but also in movement on the court. Thus, there’s no questioning the fact that tennis requires endurance in order to be successful. But training for only endurance, which involves mostly cardiovascular and respiratory system improvement, is not the answer to improving your game. Read more… »
Athletes and especially golfers experience back pain quite often in their playing career. In fact, of all the injuries that occur to golfers, the low back is involved most often. In other sports such as baseball, football and basketball low back problems rank in the top three to five. Sometimes the injury forces the player to quit playing.
Because there are several major reasons for these problems, it is difficult to give a simple solution for prevention that applies to everyone. However, of all the causes three stand out: improper technique, inadequate flexibility and inadequate levels of strength of the muscles as they function in performance of the skill, swing, kick, throw, etc. Read more… »
According to many sources you get an imbalance between the gluteals and hamstring muscles (hip joint extensors) and the hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus and rectus femoris of the quadriceps group) from running. According to these running specialists, weak gluteals do not allow you to “swing through” your stride. The hip flexors are then recruited to pick up the slack. They pull the pelvis down making the lower back arch excessively.
If you study these statements carefully they are difficult to understand. How can weak gluteals prevent you from “swinging through”? If anything they should enhance it! Emg’s of the muscle activity show that the swing-through of the thigh is made possible by contraction of the hip flexors with concurrent relaxation of the gluteal and hamstring muscles that contract at the end of the movement to stop the thigh when it is well in front of the body. Read more… »
It has been very interesting to read the many articles written about Tiger Woods and his knee problems. The tone that appears to ring throughout these articles is how brave and “gutsy” Tiger was to have played in the Open. Not only did he have a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee but a double stress fracture of his left tibia that he sustained during rehabilitation from his prior surgery.
Also lamented was the fact that Woods’ absence on the PGA will no longer drive tour television ratings, ad revenues and sponsorship support, as well as the interests of many fans who don’t watch golf if Woods is not a participant. According To some tour players, “Tiger is our tour, and when you lose your star player, it definitely hurts”. Read more… »
According to many sources you get an imbalance between the gluteals and hamstring muscles (hip joint extensors) and the hip flexor muscles (iliopsoas, pectineus and rectus femoris of the quadriceps) from running. According to these running specialists, weak gluteals and hamstrings do not allow you to “swing through” your stride. The hip flexors are then recruited to pick up the slack. They pull the pelvis down making the lower back arch excessively.
If you study these statements carefully they are difficult to understand. How can weak gluteals and hamstrings prevent you from “swinging through”? If anything they should enhance it! Emg’s of the muscle activity show that the swing-through of the thigh is made possible by contraction of the hip flexors with concurrent relaxation of the gluteal and hamstring muscles that contract at the end of the movement to stop the thigh when it is well in front of the body. Read more… »
To have a powerful and effective swing golfers need strength explosive power and flexibility. These factors are related to: 1) Your ability to maintain a stable body address position; 2) The development of active flexibility; 3) Increased clubhead speed; 4) Development of a muscular feel for the swing; 5) Preventing injury while ensuring maximum distance and accuracy; 6) Developing confidence in your capabilities.
To attain these outcomes you must do specialized strength explosive power and flexibility exercises that duplicate the key actions of the swing. In this way the special exercises can enhance and improve your swing in a shorter period of time than if you doubled your playing time!
Before going into some of exercises that are specific to golf, it is important to differentiate between general and specialized strength exercises. General physical exercises are those exercises that are not directly related to the specific actions of the golf swing. They are used for overall body conditioning, i.e., strengthening the muscles and increasing your functional potential. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 18, 2008 under Baseball, Baseball training, Skill execution, Sports Technique, Sports Training, Teaching skills, Teaching technique, Youth sports, Youth training, player development, sports skills |
It is interesting to read about the many articles dealing with Little League T-ball and to see pictures of the young boys in their full baseball uniforms complete with matching shoes and caps. The objective of most teams is for the youngsters to have fun and to get better. This last comment may even be an oxymoron. If you get better you’ll automatically have fun. If you don’t get better it will not be fun.
However, is having organized league play the most effective way to develop the baseball talent of young five and six year old boys? I don’t think so. In fact I believe the opposite — it is probably the poorest way to develop young talent. Why? Because children this age naturally migrate to activities that require movement and plenty of movement. In addition these are the most formative years for learning the basic skills of running, throwing, hitting, jumping and kicking. Read more… »
Football players should now be getting ready for the upcoming season. Most players have been the weight training throughout the winter and spring and should now be getting ready to fine-tune their skills and physical abilities. They should be working on the skills that they will be executing in game play by perfecting their technique and the physical qualities specific to the technique.
Most coaches and players reading this will tell you that this is what they are now doing. However, the concept of specificity is often misunderstood. Because of this the training that is done is often quite different from what is stated. For example, specificity has various criteria by which it is judged. Read more… »
In the drive to achieve sports success, more parents and coaches are pushing youngsters to play the same sport year-round. Because of the enormous amount of playing, the youngsters do not have sufficient time to perfect their skill technique and to a good extent, their physical abilities. However, the latter can be made for after puberty.
But improvement of technique after puberty becomes increasingly difficult with each passing year. In addition, after puberty greater emphasis is placed on playing and the importance of how well they perform is critical to whether they will receive a scholarship or have a chance at the pros.
Of all the factors involved in development of an athlete, technique is probably the most important in the early ages. The greater the emphasis on technique at this time the better the athlete will perform in his playing and in learning the strength exercises that he will need in his sport and especially after puberty. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 16, 2008 under Golf, Golf swing |
In the backswing, most golfers with effective swings coil around the right side, not around the spine. If you keep the rear leg slightly bent and the pressure on the inside of your rear foot, the coiling will be especially tight when you turn around the right side of the trunk and hips, and the hips remain basically in the same position.
When you do this you have the greatest potential for power in the downswing. If you have been watching the Open most likely you have seen this in most of the golfers. Read more… »
“If you want to increase your clubhead speed, instead of thinking power, think relaxation. Hold the club lightly and relax your arms and shoulders. . . you’ll actually gain control because a freer club will come into the ball on a better angle, will tend to square up at impact on its own and will automatically make more solid contact.” These are comments that are often heard from many golf pros. But do they hold water?
The concept of relaxation plays an important role in the golf swing. I do not believe there is anyone who would question the validity of this statement. However, how much relaxation and how much tension you have — and when you exhibit them — are critical to how effectively you swing the golf club. Read more… »
According to many sports medicine doctors, there appears to be a knee crisis among runners and athletes who run in their sport. Doctors are seeing an increasing number of knee injuries and are doing more knee surgeries. They attribute the problems to several key factors.
One is running technique. However, doctors and even coaches, rarely examine technique in detail. For example, heel hitters are especially prone to knee injuries because the forces on landing are exceptionally high. When multiplied by many foot strikes, the total amount of force that the muscles must handle is very high. But when the muscles and tendons are weak, the joint structures are especially unable to withstand the landing forces. Changing technique to a midfoot landing can reduce the number of injuries greatly even when there are muscle weaknesses. Read more… »
For many years I have advocated the importance of player development if we are to effectively improve player performance and the level of athletes in this country. By player development I stated that it means improving the athlete’s skills which are specific to his or her sport, that is, their technique. In addition, it means improving or increasing the athletes physical qualities such as strength, explosive power, flexibility and agility, especially as they relate to the athlete’s technique.
By improving skill and the physical qualities specifically related to the skill, the athlete will be able to better carry out his game functions. This means for example, that he will be capable of running faster, cutting quicker and sharper, jumping higher, hitting more powerfully and accurately,etc., depending upon the needs of the sport.
Today however, I read a new definition of player development by Grady Fuson, the San Diego baseball team vice president of scouting and development. His comments were in reference to what they will be attempting to do with the players that they drafted. The training that they would undergo was considered “…the start of baseball graduate school. Player development, it’s called.”
“Development is the maturation of the skill that you’re bringing into the system. It’s the vocal and the physical force constantly around these players during their growth years.” Read more… »
Posted on Jun 12, 2008 under Explosive Golf, Golf swing |
With the start of the U.S. Open today many golfers and golf fans will be watching their favorite pros. Most of them will be watching to see how far the ball goes, where it lands in the fairway, rough or on the green. Few however, will be looking closely, with an analytical mind, to how they execute the swing. For those of you who do I recommend that you look closely at how well they clear the hips. This is an action (really two actions) that they all execute — some much better than others well. The key elements to watch for are explained in the following article that I wrote for Senior Golfer.
To have an effective swing it is necessary to clear the hips. This is a recommendation that has little dispute among teaching pros. However, what constitutes clearing the hips, the roles that the hips play and the need for hip action in the total sequence of joint actions that occur in the swing are often misunderstood. Read more… »
In a recent interview with Bill Gayton, Director of Scouting, San Diego Padres, he was asked the following question: You don’t draft to the clubs needs, but do you draft to what you might be doing in Latin America, specifically the Dominican Republic?
His reply was: “We definitely draft to what we’re doing in the Dominican Republic. Need players coming from Latin America to complement what you are doing here. Overall, a prospect is a prospect.”
If you carefully read his reply it implies that the players from the Dominican Republic have some talents or skills that American or other nationality players do not have. But are they really any different? There’s no questioning the fact that they may have some genetic predisposition to certain qualities but I certainly have not seen them. It would be very interesting to find out what he means by this statement. Read more… »
Most golf instructors will tell you to bend over from the hips when assuming your stance. It is usually taken for granted that you know how to do this.
However, in my work with recreational, semi- and professional golfers, I am continually amazed at how many do not have the ability to bend over from the hips. Most bend over from the waist and create a rounded back position in the stance. Some bend over from the hips and the waist simultaneously. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 08, 2008 under Clubhead speed, Golf, Wrist break |
It is often believed that the clubhead should be accelerating through impact. However, this is a fallacy. The clubhead is actually slowing down somewhat although it is still traveling at a high speed. This is due to the long lever formed by the arms and club shaft. The longer the lever, the slower the speed at the end of the lever; in this case the clubhead.
The key to making sure that the clubhead is moving at the fastest speed possible, is to have a powerful wrist break. This is needed to accelerate the clubhead in the early part of the wrist break (which should occur as late as possible) so that you can counteract the slowdown of the clubhead as the club shaft and arms line up to become one long lever. Read more… »
BREATHING IN SPORTS
Athletes are usually told to breathe normally when playing sports. This is a sound recommendation since the body usually makes the necessary adjustments that are needed in your breathing patterns. However, breathing normally should not mean that you constantly inhale and exhale so that there is no breath holding or extended periods of breath holding or forced breathing.
For example, scientific studies have shown without a doubt that athletes change their breathing patterns considerably during execution of a sports skill. In general, during the power phase when the athlete is exerting maximum force, the breath is held. This can often be for extended periods of time depending upon the intensity of the skill execution.
For example, gymnasts, when executing a routine, always hold their breath during the exertion phase and then forcefully exhale in the transition and then inhale and hold the breath as they initiate the next stunt in the routine. Thus, most of the time is spent in breath holding and the athlete must quickly exhale and inhale because of the short period of time in between the stunts in the total routine. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 06, 2008 under Golf |
After the World Cup in in golf in which the US tied for fifth place, team member Stewart Cink stated, “We had a great week. At least we know we could have won.”
Posted on Jun 06, 2008 under Baseball, Baseball hitting, hitting |
I may be spoiled because of my scientific background but I would hope that on the elite level, coaches would show some expertise based on sound information and not just opinion and guesswork. However, I have seen few examples if any, of true expertise in regard to improving the baseball swing, especially expertise that is based on facts.
For example Adrian Gonzalez of the Padres credits Tony Gwynn for his improved hitting. What he learned from Gwynn was, “Staying on pitches a little more. Take the ball where it’s pitched. I’ve been able to apply that at times. I’ve gotten out of it because I felt like they were pitching me in, in, in, and in, and I was getting beat. But I felt I had to show them I was going to pull the ball, and so at times I got away from it. But lately I’ve been concentrating on it, especially against lefties.”
Read more… »
Most people agree that technique plays a major role in all sports. They also believe that each athlete develops and perfects his own technique. Because of this, doing additional work to improve technique is usually considered a detriment, not a positive way to improve performance.
What is overlooked is that all sports skills are learned acts. You are not born with the ability to throw, kick, jump, run, squat, bench, etc. Each of these is learned mainly through trial and error as you grow up and mature. And it usually took hundreds of repetitions before you mastered the ability to execute the skill with excellent technique. The more complex the skill, the longer it took to master.<!–more–> Read more… »
Most athletes involved in training and conditioning, work the major body parts and actions. Most often this involves the large muscles of the body. Very little if any attention is given to the fingers and hands which are probably used more than any other body part in almost all sports. This is somewhat surprising since injuries to the hands and fingers are more common than injuries to any other body part. And the injuries are not unique to any one or two sports.
When we do find athletes strengthening fingers, they typically squeeze a ball or handgripper to strengthen hand grip. This exercise is somewhat effective especially for the beginning range of motion when gripping. However, because of the tension encountered when squeezing a ball or gripper, it is almost impossible for the fingers to go through a full range of motion. Thus the increase in strength is only somewhat effective for prevention of injury and does little to improve performance that relies on use of the fingers.<!–more–>
For example, in throwing and more specifically in pitching, the index and middle finger flex to impart backspin on the ball. The action occurs in the base joint, i.e., where the fingers join the palm of the hand. However this action cannot be duplicated when squeezing a ball or gripper. Read more… »
Posted on Jun 04, 2008 under Tennis, Women's tennis |
Once again the Williams sisters lost in a major tennis tournament (French open). This time it was in the third round. Because they are losing more often than winning, I believe it is about time that they hung up their rackets and allowed some younger women to take their place.
If there are no women to step in at this time, which appears to be the case, the USTA should be ashamed of itself. They are doing a poor job of developing future players. Merely giving out wildcards to allow young players to gain more experience in major tournaments is not the most effective way of developing their talents. From all indications, it appears that the USTA does not have a training system that can produce players. Read more… »
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