Dr. Yessis Sports Training Blog

A common belief among strength coaches and personal trainers, especially those who work with football players, is that you can become more explosive by lifting heavier and heavier weights. However, as has been scientifically proven, when you lift very heavy weights, the movement is slow, and as a result, you develop slowness especially of the neuromuscular system.

To counteract this negative result, coaches and trainers say you must think explosiveness or try to lift the heavy weight as quickly as possible. The thinking and trying will then bring about greater explosive power. This, however, has not been scientifically substantiated through research nor has it been demonstrated in practice. Read more… »

In a recent article in Athletic Business it was brought out that many more student-athletes are leaving prep sports for private organizations. If the trend continues, we will see a demise of quite a few sports that now have club teams. This will dramatically change interscholastic sports as we know them. But since there are over 5 million high school athletes we will probably still continue to see some interscholastic sports competition.

However, the rise and increase in sports clubs is quite dramatic. They are siphoning off many of the best players and even some who probably should not be playing on this level as they will never be able to make the elite level. They would probably enjoy playing on the high school team more than on the club team. Read more… »

Because of the need for strength and muscle mass, many football players now train in the same manner as bodybuilders and/or powerlifters. They typically work one or two body parts per session and train the same body parts up to two times per week. The intensity of the training is high and they usually use many supplements to enhance the training to assist in recovery. Because so many players train as bodybuilders, magazines such as Muscle and Fitness have a yearly feature depicting players with great mass and definition.

However, does such training lead to greater success on the field? The answer is usually no, although there are exceptions. The reason for poor playing success lies in specificity of training. Merely developing the muscles so that you become stronger or more “cut” does not equate to better execution of skills such as running and cutting. The main exception to this is if you have not previously participated in serious weight training. Read more… »

In a recent newspaper article it was bought out that girl high school basketball players devote almost the entire summer vacation to playing basketball. According to some of the coaches ” we have to learn strengths and weaknesses now. (Next season) we have a tough schedule, so we have to progress as a team. This is how you do it.”

The practices and tournaments are not isolated to only a few teams. For example in the San Diego Classic there were 336 teams trying for a chance to play a minimum of five games, each consisting of two 20 minute halves in a one-hour span. Often there were two games in one day.

The overriding reason given for the practices and tournament play was to “home the players’ skills for next season”. Some teams go to several tournaments throughout the country. It should also be noted that these are strictly high school players. Club All-Star teams play separately and are intended mainly for Division I college coaches. Read more… »

The ability to reduce tension and relax muscles affects strength, speed, coordination and, in turn, your sports performance. Athletes who are skilled at muscle relaxation are less vulnerable to injuries, have greater special endurance and are better able to tolerate training and competitive loads.

Conversely, athletes who have little or no skill at muscle relaxation often perform even the simplest of exercises with correct timing of relaxation occurring less frequently in certain muscle groups. This produces rapid fatigue and hampers proper execution of various movements during practice and competition. Read more… »

If only they applied a little science.

It appears that when sports reporters must constantly write about a losing team, they inadvertently look for related topics to help explain why the players are not as good as they could be. For example, reporters who cover the San Diego Padres are now writing many articles about Petco Park and how it is not a hitters ballpark. The park design requires good pitching and good defense in order for the team to be successful.

Their definition of a ballpark being bad for hitters is related to the number of home runs being hit. In this case, because of the greater distance that the ball must travel, there are fewer home runs. Statistics show that there are much less than in other ballparks. However, if they would think beyond the obvious, such a ballpark can be a good hitters dream. Read more… »

I recently read a disturbing article about Little League baseball. The mother of one of the players missed her volunteer shift at a concession stand because she had to go to work and she was unable to get a replacement. Because of this her seven-year-old son was suspended for two games and had to sit in the dugout in full uniform during these games.

According to the article such occurrences are not rare. The real question here is are they fair? Should the young be made to pay for the parent’s problems? In my estimation this should never happen. If the object of the league is to provide an opportunity for the youngster to play this should be the overriding concern. Read more… »

When undergoing a weight training program, strength is usually the main physical quality being strived for. However, in the initial stages of weight training, it is important to first develop an endurance base before undergoing a training program specifically for strength.

Keep in mind that for greater maximal strength, you must have high intensity workouts, which can bring about injury, severe fatigue and possible soreness if you are not prepared for this work. This is why being on an endurance program that also produces gains in strength, is most productive in the initial stages. Read more… »

The recently concluded British Open was a true challenge to the golfer. The conditions were adverse with rain and high winds and as usual, the rough was really rough. The scores indicated this and players who shot in the 70s were in my estimation, great golfers. Surprisingly, there were only four golfers who fell into this category. Most were in the 80s which is still great considering the conditions.

When we compare these scores with other professional tournaments taking place at the same time it is obvious that most courses in the United States are too well groomed and do not offer that great a challenge to most professional players. For example, in one tournament the winner was 16 strokes under par, in another it was 23 strokes under and in a third, 18 strokes under. Read more… »

Static stretches have become well accepted by triathletes and are practiced by most. For anyone to suggest that the athletes should not do such stretches is almost sacrilegious. But, if we closely examine the research done on static stretches in sports, as well as practical experiences, we will see that static stretches do not truly prepare you for running, cycling, or swimming workouts or competition, nor do they prevent injury. ( Read more… »

For years runners have been told that it is necessary to do static stretches before running, especially when sprinting. According to many runners and recent research, static stretching before sprinting does not improve performance nor does it prevent injury. In fact, it may be the cause of some injuries. Although this has been known for well over 20 years, the information still has not trickled down to runners.

When studying animals in the wild, you can see that they do not do any static stretching before going into a sprint to attack their prey. They often rear back to prepare for the initial leap, but that is the only preparation that is typically done. Read more… »

In today’s Parade magazine there was an article titled, “Are college coaches overpaid”? The article brought out some very interesting points of information. For example, the average pay of major college football coaches now stands at more than $1 million a year. Some receive $3 million or more while the average salary for professors ranges from 50 to slightly over $100,000.

What is especially interesting is that according to the NCAA, “college sports are, in fact, money-losing propositions. Among the 119 schools with top Division I football teams, only 19 had athletic departments that generated a profit in 2006.” Athletic budgets at some of these universities are over $50 million.

Whether these salaries and expenditures are warranted has been debated for many years. What has not been looked at is whether the universities are getting their money’s worth. For example, a large portion of the athletic budgets are for player recruitment. But do they always get the best athletes for the money that they spend? Do do they develop the full potential of the athletes that they bring in? Read more… »

Now that we are at the halfway point in the baseball season many sportswriters are looking more closely at their team’s successes and failures. In doing this they do a recap of the successful players and those who can be classified as failures. Very often they are compared to their past performances or the write-ups are limited to their performances in the present season. This is relatively easy to do since they only compare or write about the players statistics.

Even general managers and CEOs of the various ballclubs are the first to admit that many of their selections did not pan out. They were off on their predictions and were very disappointed in the performance of some of the players that they selected. It is interesting to note that many of them still defend their decisions and often chalk it up to factors beyond their control.

It is very easy to look back and see that many players did not do very well or as well as expected. To come up with statements to the effect that they should have gotten a different player or should not have traded a particular player or should have had more faith in some of the players that were selected but later traded is very simple to do. Everyone can be an expert after the fact. Read more… »

According to many teaching golf professionals, the most common fault in the game is swinging over the top so the club approaches impact from outside the target line. This comes from starting the downswing with an aggressive upper body move.

However this “common” fault of swinging over the top has never been shown with actual pictures taken from live digital video film. If this were done, they would see that it is impossible for this to happen when swinging the club in an effective manner. For example, if the club approaches impact from outside the target line, you will invariably lose your balance and fall to the rear after impact. Read more… »

While watching the All-Star game I noticed that the announcers were using curveball, breaking ball and sinker as being synonymous. At times, after stating that it was a breaking ball, they amplified the statement by saying that the ball really sank downward. Sometimes they would say it was a curveball that really sank downward. In essence, they make no distinction between these three pitches.

Thus it is not surprising that I often get into heated discussions with my baseball acquaintances as to exactly what a particular pitch does, i.e. the path that it takes in flight. Everyone seems to have his opinion as to exactly what each pitch supposedly does. To compound the problem, we see contradictory information presented in the papers by players and coaches and from radio and TV announcers and commentators. Read more… »

Over the years I have found that most people believe that you can be a better athlete but only up to a certain point. When you hit the professional, Olympic or world championship level most people say you are already the best and cannot be better. This is true not only of the average person but also of coaches on all levels.

When athletes attain a high level, it is believed that they now have perfect technique and their physical abilities are developed to the optimal degree. This belief however, is a myth. All athletes regardless of their level, from youngster to the top professional or world class performer, can still improve their abilities to become better athletes. In fact, I have never met an athlete who could not be better. This includes world-class and professional athletes. Read more… »

In an effort to glamorize the crunch exercise for the abdominals and make it appear important, many trainers are giving it more credit than it deserves. For example, in a recent golf magazine, the professional advisor stated that the crunch strengthens the hips, abs and back. But yet, the crunch came into existence to eliminate all non-abdominal areas except the upper abdominals.

However, as time goes on, it appears that the value of the crunch is expanding from the abdominals to adjacent and even opposite joints. Simple logic should tell us that strengthening the abdominals will not strengthen the lower back. This would be analogous to saying that if you did a biceps curl you would get stronger triceps or if you did the bench press, you would get stronger traps and so on. Read more… »

To fully understand the shock method it is first necessary to know if you are dealing with bodybuilding and powerlifting or athletics. The shock method in bodybuilding and powerlifting means a change in workout conditions. In sports (athletics), however, the shock method is used to develop greater explosive power and its application is very different from that seen in bodybuilding and powerlifting.

In bodybuilding and powerlifting the shock method refers to a change, most often a dramatic change in your workout routine. For example, if you have been using a constant weight in a particular exercise, increase the weight appreciably and concurrently decrease the number of repetitions. Doing so creates a dramatic change on the nervous system and thus a “shock.”

Note, however, that some authors use the shock method only to indicate a change in routine. But any change, if it is not significant, should not be referred to as the shock method. For example, making gradual increases in the amount of weight you use in your workouts will lead to greater gain but is not an example of shock. Read more… »

Explosive football offensive and defensive backs (and often basketball, baseball, football, lacrosse and soccer players) do considerable training to increase running speed, which is very important for playing well. However, close examination of the movements of high-level football players during game play reveals that the number of runs over 20 or 30 yards is relatively low.

Most often the players use a quick burst of speed, i.e., accelerate to be the first one to get to the ball or to evade an opponent. This burst of speed is usually exhibited for no more than 10-15 yards and is one of the main characteristics of a quick and explosive player on both offense and defense. It and the ablity to execute quick cuts, is the key to getting away from your defender to be free to receive a pass, run for a touchdown or to keep up with or get to an opponent.
Read more… »

It is not uncommon to find articles dealing with exercises for athletes in specific sports. If they are training articles, they typically deal with exercises or training routines that are used with athletes in a certain sport. Usually ignored is the effectiveness of these exercises and exercise programs in relation to the athlete’s level of ability.

For example, the Russians have found that strength training programs for beginning athletes do not have the same effects as with elite or high-level athletes. Thus, it is important to know which level of athlete is addressed in order to make the training practices most effective. Read more… »

In a recent article a columnist for the major San Diego newspaper stated that the Padre baseball team manager should not be blamed for the poor performance by the team. According to him managers (coaches)should not be blamed because “they don’t pitch, hit, catch or throw. They don’t draft players or make trades. They only can use what they have in their kitchen, and making a good stew is difficult when you don’t have meat and potatoes.”

I agree with his comments but only up to a certain point. When the team is winning columnists extol the expertise of the manager and his coaches and downplay how great the players are. Thus they are not consistent in their evaluations. This is especially true in sports such as football. When the team does poorly it is almost always the fault of the coach.

If the managers (coaches) role is so limited why do they get paid so much? The more one gets paid the more he should be able to produce. If not, they should not get the millions that they presently earn. This also applies directly to the players. Read more… »

It appears that some professional teams now require a starting pitcher to throw a changeup on about 15% of his pitches. If they do not, they are relegated to the bullpen or back to the minors.

This new policy raises several questions. First is, exactly what do they mean by changeup? When I ask different coaches they invariably answer with,” well you know it’s when the pitch is different, you could have different speed and/or direction”. Is this the off-speed pitch that was once popular? Read more… »

According to some women’s magazines, the one-legged bridge lift provides a foolproof way to get toned thighs, a gravity-defying butt, and a beautiful back. According to the directions, to do this exercise you lie on your back with your arms alongside your body with one leg bent at the knee and the foot on the floor. The upper leg is held straight at approximately a 45 degree angle. You then raise the butt (hips) until there is almost a straight line through your leg and body. There should be no arching of the back.

This movement may produce some strengthening of the buttocks and hamstring muscles, but very little of the erector spinae muscles of the lower back. Because there is very little resistance in this movement, it is impossible to get all of the benefits that are described for this movement. But you may get positive results if you executed this exercise for a hundred or more repetitions in each workout. Read more… »

After reading an article in the newspaper I couldn’t help but wonder if baseball administrators in charge of scouting and player development are grading their players in the minor leagues too high. For example, according to Grady Fuson, the best player at this halfway point in the season, is pitcher Will Inman. He is 8-4 with a 3.18 ERA in 90 2/3 innings. He has walked 40 and struck out 97.

Also considered to have a chance to pitch in the big leagues is Garrison who is 6-3 with a 2.98 ERA. He struck out 71 in 87 2/3 innings and gave up 21 walks in. Another is Buschmann, who has a 6-5 record with a 3.30 ERA and has struck out 79 with 28 walks.

In regard to position players, Hunter, a third round pick, is hitting .303 with four homers and 42 RBIs. Sogard, a second round pick last year, is hitting .315 with three homers and 54 RBIs.
Read more… »

The use of heavier golf clubs, baseball bats, weighted donuts or rings, weighted balls and other implements is increasing in popularity. These heavier than normal implements can be of benefit in improving your swing or throw but they can also have the opposite effect, they can worsen your swing or throw. The results that you achieve depend upon your level of fitness, skill mastery, when you use the heavier implements, and how much weight is used.

It is important to understand that when you use a heavier implement, it can change your built-in neuromuscular pathway, i.e., the technique that you have developed over the years. When this happens, you will find that you are more erratic in your swing and your accuracy may decrease, especially accuracy of contact. Read more… »

From what can be determined in the papers and from comments made by players, commentators and coaches, there appears to be a set routine with possibly some modifications. For example, in baseball there is typically practice in the AM and game play in the PM. The practices may consist of some stretching, fielding and hitting. Individual players may look at videos of previous games or individual players so that they can better prepare against them. This is usually done by pitchers and catchers.

In football,there is usually some stretching and running of plays to prepare the offense. Very often the plays are based on what was found after looking at game film of the opponent by the coaches. An analogous situation takes place with the defensive team. Other sports follow similar patterns. Are these routines however, the most effective? Read more… »

There are many articles that are touted as being specific to a particular sport. For example in a recent issue of Triathlete magazine it was stated that, “the following 11 exercises represent a full-body, triathlon specific strength session…” However, there was only one exercise that duplicated the technique involved in a particular event.

For an exercise to be truly specific, it must not only duplicate the same motor pathway as seen in execution of the motor skill but it must also develop strength in the same range of motion and have the same type of muscular contraction. The exercises described, even though most of them involved the same muscles, did not fulfill the criteria.

For example, the bend-knee dead lift is executed with a slightly rounded back for backache. The back is kept in a static position which does not strengthen muscles through the full range. This would be a good general exercise for the hip extensors and holding the back in position. Read more… »

Padres baseball team administrators were recently rejoicing at the over $4 million that they spent signing young Latin American players. They felt that their new training center in the Dominican Republic — that cost them over $8 million — will now be a conduit to players in the Caribbean. They will now have first opportunity to talk to and hopefully, sign new players before other teams.

I can understand the joy in signing these players but is merely buying talent and hoping that they will develop into great players the best route, to ensure supplying the major league team with the best players? If having more money to spend is the only way that you know to get good players, then this may be the best way to develop good teams. Past experiences with other ball clubs (Yankees, Mets) prove that this is not always the best way. Read more… »

The last decade there have been few top Americans winning major triathlons. But yet, we have some of the finest facilities, weather, as for example, in the San Diego area where many triathletes train, great equipment and many “experts” in triathlon training.

I believe the major reason for this lack of success in major triathlons is that most triathletes are not applying the latest in training science. If magazines such as Triathlete, which as far as I can tell is a major source for information, do not have the latest in science it is understandable that the best information does not get to the athletes. Read more… »

An interesting article appeared in today’s newspaper titled “Mound magician”. It was a story about Josh Banks of the Padres and his quest to find the perfect pitch. In the article there were pictures of the grip that was used for eight different pitches. At first I thought that the article would go into how these pitches were thrown and how the ball broke on each of these different pitches. However, none of this information was included.

Instead, we were treated to a potpurri of comments from the coaches and other players. The comment by Maddux was probably the most noteworthy — “I just call ‘em all changeups for the sake of it. It’s hard to tell from the side.” I have said something like this in many previous posts. It is impossible to tell what kind of a pitch was thrown when looking from the side. Read more… »

In recent years, many strength exercises involving the use of a stability ball (also known as a physio ball or simply a large inflated ball) have been recommended for runners and other athletes a. However, are doing exercises on stability balls — that are not stable — an effective way to develop greater strength together with stability? If you look at the effects of such exercises the answer is the strong no.

But yet, the physio ball appears to be gaining in popularity and more people are using them. As a consequence, we are seeing more injuries and less strength. This is understandable since you are doing a strength exercise which requires great stability in order to be effective and safe for handling weights. When you have an unstable support base it becomes relatively easy to lose one’s balance and be injured. Read more… »

The concept of improving players’ performances by constantly analyzing and adjusting skill technique and improving their physical qualities specific to their skills, is for the most part, foreign to general managers and coaches. This most likely stems from the fact that they believe athletes are born with the needed abilities and that they cannot be improved. They are guided by the myth that it is “all in the genes”. As a result, they see their role as providing the opportunity to display their talents rather than developing their talents.

Because of this, they believe that a player performance can only be improved by working on strategy and tactics. These of course are very important. However, strategy and tactics are only as good as the players’ skills or abilities allow him or her to display them. Thus constantly working on strategy and tactics will not improve performance if the players don’t have the ability to carry out the strategy or tactics. Read more… »

If you’ve been listening to the sports commentators or reading the reports on Tyson Gay, you would be led to believe that he set a new world record. For example, there was one headline on page 1 of the sports page that claimed his time of 9.68 seconds was the fastest 100 m ever.

Is this however, accurate reporting? The fact that it would have been a world record if it weren’t for the wind factor, was downplayed. Instead we keep reading, If there was no wind, If he ran a few minutes before, If he didn’t slow down for the last 10 m and so on. All of these comments do not change the fact that it was not a world record because of the wind factor. Read more… »