All Categories - Building Better Athletes

2019 In Review

1/1/2020

I keep an open work document where I jot down quotes, articles, research, podcasts, and any other notes that I keep during the year. The following is this years collection of the above.

You can find 2018 in Review - HERE
2017 in Review - HERE

Stay Independent

9/29/2019

When you have your own facility, it can be awfully tempting to join arms with a sport club/AAU team. They have a lot of teams, a lot of athletes and it sounds like a potential match made in heaven.

BUT be careful, these offers aren't typically ideal.

Over the past 7-years, BBA has been offered a number of these with different academy's and AAU teams, and we've politely declined all of them.

Why?

Let's go over a number of reasons.

1. Do you know all the coaches, employees, leadership with that facility? How do they present themselves on social media? Are the coaches qualified and have the athletes best interest? Do they have good athlete and coach retention? How is the husband/wife of the owner? What kind of freedom will you have as a "sub-leaser" in their facility?
Do you really want to be associated with a facility that changes coaches every 6-months, has loud mouth coaches, an overbearing spouse of the owner, is about maximizing profits over maximizing player development and experience? Pretty quickly your business will be associated, for good and bad, with the facility you're under.

2. Athletes change teams ALL THE TIME. The turnover in academy's and AAU programs are insane. Every year kids are on new teams, so why set yourself up with 1-team when there is absolutely no loyalty in these businesses? It's far better to be in a position to help all athletes, from all teams.

3. Just because you're in-house, doesn't mean athletes will use your services. Sure they have 15-teams, with 15-kids on each team, but that doesn't mean they will all train with you. In fact, I would guess less than 10% of athletes would actually use your services (if they are an extra service).
Now your service may be included in membership fees, which is nice, but as a coach who actually cares about athlete development, this is in no way a good setting for athlete development. What this usually means is you're allotted 20-30min, 2xday/week for 8-weeks with each team. So now you're crammed with 15-30 athletes in a session (they'll often give you 2-3 teams at a single time) for 20-30minutes, and somehow you're expected to connect and help these athletes improve? I'll pass

4. Lack of Control. I'm a control freak and I would hate having my schedule, facility availability, space, equipment, etc controlled by others. And this is what happens when you're in another facility. During certain periods you may have access to the whole facility. During other periods, you may only have 500sq/ft. Certain weekends will be all yours. Other weekends, they'll have try-outs or team practices and you won't have access. I'll pass.

5. As a business I think it's a poor approach to align yourself with one club. Why would you want to limit yourself? If you're business is under the roof of a certain baseball academy or basketball AAU team or anything else, you are eliminating yourself to athletes who are not a part of that organization. You are also eliminating yourself to athletes in other sports (if you're in a baseball academy, good luck getting swimmers or basketball players).

6. Finally, while all of these organizations will make it seem like a mutually beneficial relationship, it is typically in their best interest.
They get someone to sub-lease space (reduce their rent). Space that they would otherwise be paying for. Space they still get to use.
They get to add a low-cost addition to their programs without any additional overhead. This helps separate them from other programs, but like I mentioned earlier, this will likely have less of an impact on your business than you think.
Have you ever been to one of these places? Kids, siblings and even parents are hanging out/running around at practices, lessons, etc. I never felt comfortable with this as I know these kids, parents would be messing with my equipment, swinging/jumping on my racks when I'm not there. On a Sunday afternoon, when I'm not at the facility but they have a team practice, I do not want my expensive equipment being messed with.
Finally, you're at the mercy of this business. They all of a sudden quit or move...tough luck. Owner gets a divorce...good luck with that. Coaches get drunk in front of kids at a tournament... great look for you to be a part of.

Overall, give yourself more freedom and don't neglect yourself to other athletes. And remember, there is no loyalty in youth sports. I have a varsity HS coach bring his kids to our program, but uses another person train his HS team.

How does that make sense?

It doesn't, and that's all youth sports. They don't make sense, so don't put your business on the line by aligning with another.

Less Is More

8/29/2019

As a business, having more options = more clients/costumers...right?

The reality is this isn't true and it doesn't create a strong business.

I've seen so many places try to have a new 'flavor of the month' and before long they have no identity.

In a rush to build clientele they'll offer a yoga, bootcamp, self-defense, boxing, powerlifting and they spread themselves so thin, they lose touch with what they actually want to identify as.

Not only that, but you then ask your staff (or yourself) to wear many hats and this leads to being average in many areas, great in none. How can you expect your staff to be great when they're asked to coach a athlete session, a bootcamp session, a HIIT session, a mobility session and a yoga session in the same day?

Depth > Width

Have a speciality that people know you for. If you want to be successful long-term and work with a certain population, you have to let that be known.

I've seen this first hand with competition in my area. Facilities try to offer a dozen different packages, for every crowd imaginable and before long this approach actually further helped to cement BBA as the place for athletes. They were so worried about trying to get people through the doors, in any way, that this actually distanced themselves from the athlete population.

If you look at what we offer, it's very simple. Athletes make up about 90% of our business, with a small group of adults to compliment that. If you look at our social media, our posts, our content... it's all geared towards the athlete population. Our message and our model is pretty straight forward and therefore we get that population.

We don't try to muddy the waters with different classes or programs to accommodate everyone, we focus on athletes and because of this any serious athlete in our area comes to our door and no one else.

Now, is there a downside to this?

Absolutely, our adult program stays relatively small because many see it as something similar to our athlete training ie competitive, intense and having a specific athletic goal. Some of our athletes also mention how their friends are intimidated to join because they don't think they'd keep up.

I have friends in the private sector that work in specialized facilities, for example a baseball facility that works with primarily baseball athletes. They speak to how athletes from other sports often don't know if they should train there because they are a 'baseball' facility. So they might lose potential football or basketball athletes.

That being said, I'll gladly lose a few potential clients who may interpret our programs as not right for them, for the many others that seek us out because they know exactly who we cater too.

So as tempting as it may be to offer a myriad of programs to try and get as many people through your doors, this strategy will soon handcuff and worsen your product (unless of course you want to be just a general fitness & wellness facility with no real emphasis).

Make sure you stick and promote your main program. Less is more in this area.

Movement Terminology Cheat Sheet

2/20/2019

For the few out there that actually follow our work at BBA and listen to our podcasts, you probably notice our theme... we are movement based.

We take a movement centric approach to training our athletes, which is backwards from the weight room centric approach most S&Cs take. We value the weight room, but it is only an accessory to our actual movement training.

With that being said, we try to base our movement training and subsequent learning process from an ecological, CLA, rep without rep standpoint rather than a perfect practice, mental model, rep after rep standpoint.

With this process has come the difficult task of communicating with coaches as the terminology used are not likely to be seen in college classes or in common coach interactions. This is sad because the literature is rich and deep in this area and very valuable for all coaches to be familiar with. Being on the same page, and understanding the basic terminology will help coaches have meaningful discussion on these topics.

Below are basic "definitions" of key terms that are common in movement discussions and will help put everybody on the same playing field. You will also find some important books to consider, numerous research articles to explore, podcasts that clearly layout and discuss these principles, and websites that contain great information.

A big thanks to Tyler Yearby (@TylerYearby) for his help and contributions to this work. Many of the following are additions and inserts from his study, so the thoroughness of this list is in major part to him!

Have fun exploring this deep rabbit hole!

Affordances: Opportunities for action.

The environment offers “ability” of actions – the ball has catch-ability, the gap has jump-ability, the space has run-ability. Affordances are dynamic; they can change over short and long time scales based on changes in the environment, task, and organism.

Information in the environment is directly perceived, which contains affordances (opportunities for action). Information specifies affordances, those properties of the environment whose perceived meaning is the actions they both allow and invite and organism to perform (Araujo, D., & Davids, K., 2011).

Constraints Led Approach: Framework to explain how coordination emerges under constraints (Individual, task, environment) that operate under differing time scales. (Newell, 1986)

Constraints: Internal or external boundaries, limitations, or design features that restrict the number of possible configurations that the many degrees of freedom of a complex system can adapt. (Glazier, 2015. Towards a Grand Unified Theory of Sports Performance). Constraints can have spatial or temporal components or both, they reside at all levels of analysis from microscopic to macroscopic, and they operate over a multitude of different time scales, from milliseconds to years. Actions are not caused by constraints; rather, some actions are excluded by them. Typically we consider three types of constraints...

Task Constraints: Specific to the task being performed. They are related to the goal of the task and the rules governing the task. They are not physical, rather they are implied constraints or requirements which must be met within some tolerance range in order for the movement to produce a successful action. (Glazier, 2015. Towards a Grand Unified Theory of Sports Performance)
Individual (Organism) Constraints: Reside in the individual movement system including those of physically, physiologically, morphologically and psychologically. (Glazier, 2015. Towards a Grand Unified Theory of Sports Performance)
Environmental Constraints: External to the movement system. They tend to be non-specific that pertain to the spatial and temporal layout of the surrounding world that continually act on the movement system ie playing surface, weather, ambient light, crowd noise, temperature. (Glazier, 2015. Towards a Grand Unified Theory of Sports Performance)

Ecological Dynamics: Considers athletes and sports teams as complex adaptive systems and examines the emergence of sports performance at the level of the performer-environment relationship and is distinguished by constraints of each individual performer and physical characteristics of participation locations for athletes activities, but also by social and cultural factors surrounding performance. (Araujo, Davids & Hristovski, 2006)

Ecological Dynamics framework sustains a scientific approach to studying the behaviors of neurobiological systems, especially processes of action, perception and cognition (Ecological Dynamics: a theoretical framework for understanding sport performance, physical education and physical activity, Seifert, l. & Davids, K., 2016).

Kugler and Turvey [1] considered that "Ecological science….is a multidisciplinary approach to the study of living systems, their environments and the reciprocity that has evolved between the two (I also liked this from the same paper).

Ecological Psychology: A field of psychology where perception is the functional act of picking up information from the environment to use for regulating movement, NOT for enhancing its automaticity.

Representative Environment: is a framework for assessing the degree to which experimental or practice tasks simulate key aspects of specific performance environments (i.e. competition). The key premise being that when practice replicates the performance environment, skills are more likely to transfer (Krause, Farrow, Reid, Buszard, Pinder, 2018)

Dexterity: Ability to discover a motor solution for any external situation. Bernstein further stated that dexterity is demonstrated by the ability to solve a motor problem correctly, quickly, rationally, resourcefully. (Bernstein, Dexterity and it’s Development). Dexterity is not a property of the movements themselves, rather in the processes of the solutions

Motor Control: How the nervous system interacts with other body parts and the environment to produce purposeful, coordinated movements. (Latash, 2012. The Bliss of Motor Abundance)

Technique: Technique can be considered the kinematics used during a movement. BUT the study of kinematics alone does accurately describe HOW that technique emerged.

It is better to think of technique as the execution of a decision. Technique is linked to the information source, so it isn’t absolute or permanent; it varies depending on the context in which a movement is being asked. Technique is a result of individual, task and environmental constraints of a particular movement. Technique is the outcome of intention and perception, thus technique needs to be studied in that realm.

Action Fidelity: The complete movement action (intention-perception-action) is an accurate (it looks, feels and acts) “picture” of sport.

Non-Linear Pedagogy: A learner-centered approach to skill acquisition. An umbrella term for teaching and coaching that uses task and environment design to develop skill acquisition, where each learner will have individual periods and rates of learning.

Repetition Without Repetition: The process of practice consists of the gradual success of a search for optimal motor solutions to the appropriate problems. Because of this, practice, when properly undertaken, does not consist in repeating the means of solution of a motor problem time after time, but in the process of solving this problem again and again by techniques which we changed and perfected from repetition to repetition. (Bernstein, 1967; The Co-ordination and Regulation of Movement)

Differential Learning: Takes advantage of fluctuations in a complex system by increasing them through no two repetitions being the same by constantly changing movement tasks creating perturbations to the complex system.

Decision-Making: Can be viewed as a functional and emergent process in which a selection is made among converging paths of actions for an intended goal (Araujo, Davids, Chow, Passos, Raab, 2009). Learning to make successful decisions is concerned with the education of intention, attunement, calibration and mastering perceptual-motor degrees of freedom.

Degrees of Freedom: There are multiple ways for humans to perform a movement in order to achieve the same goal. There is no simple, one-way, to perform a movement. Complex movements, involving a greater number of “moving parts” (joints, muscles) involve greater amounts of degrees of freedom.

Contextual Interference: Memory and performance disruption that results from practicing multiple skills in the context of a practice session. In general, the contextual interference phenomenon of learning during practice = more interference during practice leads to better learning than less interference.

Time Scales: Rates of change in motor learning

Explicit Learning: Learner acquires skill and knowledge deliberately and consciously.

Implicit Learning: Learner acquires skills and knowledge without conscious awareness.

Dynamic Systems Theory: Non-Linear systems of highly inter-connected systems composed of many interacting parts, capable of constantly changing their state of organization.

Coordination:
Bernstein said, “Coordination is overcoming excessive degrees of freedom of our movement organs, that is, turning the movement organs into controllable systems.”
Gibson said, “Actions emergent in the temporary couplings formed among the individual and the environment.”
Newell said, "Coordination can be viewed as the function that constrain the potentially free variables (DoF) of a system into a behavioral unit (movement solution)”

Coordination is a property of the solution that emerges from each individuals movement system in response to the constraints the system is facing.

Emergent Movement: Movement behavior or solution that results from the interaction of task, environment and individual constraints.

Self-Organization: Ability of a system to spontaneously organize itself into patterns of coordination. Specific stable patterns form through organization of the available DOF as coordinated movement during complex actions as a product of the constraints that are placed upon it.

Degeneracy: Human movement system degeneracy is the ability of the athlete to effectively perform a movement in a variety of different ways through varying levels of complexity.

Effectivities: Capabilities of the individual

Skill acquisition/adaptation: A functional performer-environment relationship (Araujo & Davids, 2011). Or a reciprocal functional relationship between and individual and the environment.

Research Articles:

Araújo, D., & Davids, K. (2011). What exactly is acquired during skill acquisition?. Journal of Consciousness Studies,18(3-1), 7-23.

Seifert, L., Button, C., & Davids, K. (2013). Key properties of expert movement systems in sport. Sports Medicine, 43(3), 167-178.

Davids, K., Glazier, P., Araújo, D., & Bartlett, R. (2003). Movement systems as dynamical systems. Sports medicine,33(4), 245-260.

Glazier, P. S. (2017). Towards a grand unified theory of sports performance. Human movement science, 56, 139-156.

Bartlett, R., Wheat, J., & Robins, M. (2007). Is movement variability important for sports biomechanists?. Sports biomechanics, 6(2), 224-243.

Latash, M. L. (2012). The bliss (not the problem) of motor abundance (not redundancy). Experimental brain research,217(1), 1-5.

Glazier, P. S., & Davids, K. (2009). Constraints on the complete optimization of human motion. Sports Medicine,39(1), 15-28.

Strafford, B. W., Van Der Steen, P., Davids, K., & Stone, J. A. (2018). Parkour as a donor sport for athletic development in youth team sports: insights through an ecological dynamics lens. Sports medicine-open, 4(1), 21.

Renshaw, I., Davids, K., Araújo, D., Lucas, A., Roberts, W. M., Newcombe, D. J., & Franks, B. (2018). Evaluating Weaknesses of “Cognitive-Perceptual Training” and “Brain Training” Methods in Sport: An Ecological Dynamics Critique.Frontiers in Psychology.

Franks, B., Newcombe, D., Roberts, W. M., & Jakeman, J. (2017). Shhh… We're talking about the Quiet Eye! A Perceptual Approach to the Transfer of Skill: Quiet Eye as an Insight into Perception-Action Coupling in Elite Football.

van der Kamp, J., Dicks, M., Navia, J., & Noël, B. (2018). Goalkeeping in the soccer penalty kick: it is time we take affordance-based control seriously!. Sportwissenschaft, 48(2), 169-175.

Teques, P., Araújo, D., Seifert, L., del Campo, V. L., & Davids, K. (2017). The resonant system: linking brain–body–environment in sport performance☆. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 234, pp. 33-52). Elsevier.

Farrow, D., & Robertson, S. (2017). Development of a skill acquisition periodisation framework for high-performance sport. Sports Medicine, 47(6), 1043-1054.

Spiteri, T., McIntyre, F., Specos, C., & Myszka, S. (2018). Cognitive Training for Agility: The Integration Between Perception and Action. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 40(1), 39-46.

Nimphius, S., Callaghan, S. J., Spiteri, T., & Lockie, R. G. (2016). Change of direction deficit: A more isolated measure of change of direction performance than total 505 time.Journal of strength and conditioning research, 30(11), 3024-3032.

Hart, N. H., Spiteri, T., Lockie, R. G., Nimphius, S., & Newton, R. U. (2014). Detecting deficits in change of direction performance using the preplanned multidirectional Australian Football League agility test. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 28(12), 3552-3556.

Jeffreys, I. (2011). A task-based approach to developing context-specific agility. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 33(4), 52-59.

Jeffreys, I., Huggins, S., & Davies, N. (2018). Delivering a gamespeed-focused speed and agility development program in an English premier league soccer academy. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 40(3), 23-32.

Books:

Podcasts:

Perception-Action Podcast: Rob Gray
Player Development Project
The Talent Equation
Elite Performance Podcast

Websites:

Thoughts on Specialization

1/19/2019

This past weekend was the NFL Draft, and as this weekend arrives every year, so do the cries from people with daily stats on how may NFL draftees played multiple sports, quotes of college coaches saying they recruit multi-sport athletes, and the claim playing multiple sports is key in them getting drafted.

A HUGE discussion was brought out by Keir Wenham-Flatt with this tweet – I encourage you to read all the branches this tweet spurred

I want to share my thoughts on this topic, as it seems I've been booked into promoting specialization by some coaches because I disagree with their commentary and language used. In today's world, having an opinion that differs from the majority gets you yelled at, called an idiot, or the worse of all... blocked on twitter.

In fact, Tony Holler, a coach I highly respect and enjoy his work, blocked me because I disagreed with his opinion on this topic, and instead of having an intelligent discourse, he blocked me and proceeded to tweet negative things about me... heartbreaking

So, here are some random thoughts on specialization

1. First I want to make it clear, I don’t think anyone is truly pushing specialization - in the terms that specialization actually exists. THIS is where I think many of these coaches go wrong – if they’d actually read the literature on specialization, they’d know that it points to NOT specializing at young ages (7-13), and instead to get involved in many athletic endeavors – and this is something I don’t think anyone is disputing.

Again if you’ve read the literature, it actually points to encouraging specialization around ages 16-18 – well guess what – That’s a sophomore through senior in HS. So if a HS kid is passionate about a sport and wants maximize his/her ability in that sport – the literature actually supports this decision.

So, that’s the difference – when to specialize, NOT if specializing is bad. I think we all agree 7-13 year olds should be exposed to as many athletic events as possible. Understand that a 7-13 year old specializing is vastly different than a 16-18 year old specializing.

2. Let's Try an Example

We have Johnny and Billy - both are HS Juniors.

Johnny was blessed with the genetic lottery - He’s a very gifted athlete. Football is his primary sport, with a scholarship on the way. He also plays basketball and track. Johnny is a 9/10 football player, and even though he only plays basketball during the season (3-months out of the year), he still manages to be a 7/10 basketball player because of his raw athletic ability. Physically dominant kids like Johnny can afford to be less technically & tactically skilled in their lesser sports and still be good – hence why he is a 7/10 with only playing basketball 3-months out of the year.

And remember - When you're a good athlete you get pulled into multiple sports. It's not that playing multiple sports causes one to become a good athlete - it's being a good athlete causes one to be pulled to play multiple sports.

Billy on the other hand was not blessed with superior genetics, he's a pretty average athlete. Billy loves basketball; it’s his passion and his ultimate goal is to play college basketball - ultimately he realizes DI is out of the question and DIII is his likely route - but that shouldn't be any less of a reason to pursue this goal.

Unfortunately for Billy, he’s only a 5/10 basketball player.

So, how can Billy compete with Johnny in basketball???

Well, Billy decides to specialize in basketball. He improves his basketball specific skill set, IQ, specific perception, and learns the nuances of the game that can only come from accumulating time in that sport.

Basketball season comes around and now Billy is a 6.5/10 – he now has a chance to compete with Johnny. If he played multiple sports, he’d likely still be a 5/10 and wouldn’t see the court.

By his senior year, Billy has raised himself to a 7.5/10 basketball player, good enough to be a starter and earn an opportunity to play at the DIII level.

Who is to say this is the wrong path for Billy?

I can hear the critics – But he’ll burnout, that doesn’t sound fun, he’ll never be as athletic if he played multiple sports, etc.

But I ask – who led this situation?

It was athlete led; Billy decided this is what HE wanted, and it is wrong for an adult to criticize his decision – and this is where I get frustrated.

3. The language I see used by coaches needs to change.

Athletes NEED to run track; they MUST play basketball; they HAVE to play baseball. If you're under 6'6 and don't have a basketball scholarship yet - you NEED to be playing football (these are real quotes from coaches - publicly displayed on Twitter)

Ever thought for a second that the athlete just doesn’t like those sports? That they don't like track or football or any other sport?

My argument is how is this any better than the AAU coach saying the same thing?

We get pissed if an AAU coach says - If you want to play college basketball you NEED to play AAU. If you want to get noticed by college coaches you HAVE to play AAU.

It’s the same thing – it’s an adult with an agenda trying to lead the decision.

Athletes should be encouraged to play multiple sports – no doubt. But coaches shouldn’t FORCE or MAKE HS athletes play multiple sports. If a kid doesn’t like a sport, stop trying to push them to do it.

A who cares if a kid wants to play hoops all year long, and they’re only 5’10 – if it’s athlete led and the kids passion – awesome.

4. If a HS kid can start to specialize his/her education, then why not sports?

Junior and senior HS kids are asked what careers they’d like to pursue and encouraged to specialize their schoolwork towards those careers.

My junior and senior year, I don’t think I took an English class; instead I loaded up my schedule in the math and sciences because that’s what I enjoyed.

Why is it different for sports?

Or how about this - why don't college or professional athletes play multiple sports?

If playing multiple sports is the panacea of athletic development - why don't athletes post HS do it?

5. What classifies as playing multiple sports?

I have a number of Jr. & Sr. football players who don’t play another sport but play pick-up basketball 2-3 days a week. I have college basketball players that golf 2-3 days a week. Does playing a wide variety of games in the backyard as a youngster count multiple sports?

Does this negate specialization?

6. A final piece and hardest for people to come to terms with – Specialization works!

When done right, specializing has worked for tons of athletes all over the world. Look at sports like gymnastics, swimming/diving, tennis, soccer, golf, basketball, baseball - the majority of the athletes in these sports have specialized from a young age. Look at countries who send little kids to specialized camps from a young age to groom them into Olympians.

Specialization works.

7. Clearly it is much more complex than
specialization = bad
multiple sports = good.

And that’s how this whole thing got started – coaches with an agenda (yes I said agenda) trying to get better athletes to play their sport.

At the end of the day kids should define their own athletic experience.

Trust me, I played 3 sports in HS and couldn’t imagine only playing a single sport in HS – but I also understand everybody is different and kids should lead the decision-making process.

2018 In Review

12/29/2018

I keep an open work document where I jot down quotes, articles, research, podcasts, and any other notes that I keep during the year. The following is this years collection of the above.
You can find last years review - HERE

Enjoy!

August In Review

8/31/2018

Quotes/Thoughts

Appreciate the influence our surroundings have on us
People are inspired by their environments
Where there is a negative, there is a positive
Explore the edges of a “technique”
The opportunity of a lifetime is being who you are
Technique is linked to the information source
As the awareness & use of constraints become more popular in training & practice, it’s important to remember - constraints exclude movements/options, they should not necessarily prescribe a specific movement. The athlete still gets to choose their own movement/solve the problem.

Articles

Podcasts

Research

Harper DJ, Kiely J. Damaging nature of decelerations: Do we adequately prepare players? BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine. 2018; 4 :e000379. Doi: 10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000379 :

Training-specific research, and training practice in general, has historically focused primarily on enhancing acceleration and high-velocity running capacities. While such efforts are undoubtedly important, the future evolution of match play preparation philosophy also requires that we develop training techniques focused on enhancing deceleration-handling capacities, in tandem with aligned monitoring strategies enabling us to better discern and quantify the specific mechanical stressors driving deceleration-imposed deficits. Finally, these insights may hold special relevance for those tasked with the management, delivery and monitoring of training interventions designed to enhance injury resilience and reduce injury risk.

Wild, J. J., Bezodis, I. N., North, J. S., & Bezodis, N. E. (2018). Differences in step characteristics and linear kinematics between rugby players and sprinters during initial sprint acceleration. European journal of sport science, 1-11.

The initial steps of a sprint are important in team sports, such as rugby, where there is an inherent requirement to maximally accelerate over short distances. Current understanding of sprint acceleration technique is primarily based on data from track and field sprinters, although whether this information is transferable to athletes such as rugby players is unclear, due to differing ecological constraints. Sagittal plane video data were collected (240 Hz) and manually digitised to calculate the kinematics of professional rugby forwards (n = 15) and backs (n = 15), and sprinters (n = 18; 100 m personal best range = 9.96–11.33 s) during the first three steps of three maximal sprint accelerations. Using a between-group research design, differences between groups were determined using magnitude-based inferences, and within-group relationships between technique variables and initial sprint acceleration performance were established using correlation. Substantial between-group differences were observed in multiple variables. Only one variable, toe-off distance, differed between groups (d = −0.42 to −2.62) and also demonstrated meaningful relationships with sprint performance within all three groups (r = −0.44 to −0.58), whereby a stance foot position more posterior relative to the centre of mass at toe-off was associated with better sprint performance. While toe-off distance appears to be an important technical feature for sprint acceleration performance in both sprinters and rugby players, caution should be applied to the direct transfer of other kinematic information from sprinters to inform the technical development of acceleration in team sports athletes.

Simperingham, K. D., Cronin, J. B., & Ross, A. (2016). Advances in sprint acceleration profiling for field-based team-sport athletes: Utility, reliability, validity and limitations. Sports Medicine, 46(11), 1619-1645.

Radar, laser, NMT and TT technologies can be used to reliably measure sprint acceleration performance and to provide insight into the determinants of sprinting speed. However, further research is required to establish the validity of the kinetic measurements made with NMT and TT. Radar and laser technology may not be suitable for measuring the first few steps of a sprint acceleration.

Cross, M. R., Lahti, J., Brown, S. R., Chedati, M., Jimenez-Reyes, P., Samozino, P., & Morin, J. B. (2018). Training at maximal power in resisted sprinting: Optimal load determination methodology and pilot results in team sport athletes. PloS one, 13(4), e0195477.

In the current study we investigated the effects of resisted sprint training on sprinting performance and underlying mechanical parameters (force-velocity-power profile) based on two different training protocols: (i) loads that represented maximum power output (Lopt) and a 50% decrease in maximum unresisted sprinting velocity and (ii) lighter loads that represented a 10% decrease in maximum unresisted sprinting velocity, as drawn from previous research (L10). Both resisted-sprint training protocols were likely to improve performance after a short training intervention in already sprint trained athletes. However, widely varied individualised results indicated that adaptations may be dependent on pre-training force-velocity characteristics.

Silva, P., Garganta, J., Araújo, D., Davids, K., & Aguiar, P. (2013). Shared knowledge or shared affordances? Insights from an ecological dynamics approach to team coordination in sports. Sports Medicine, 43(9), 765-772.

Previous research has proposed that team coordination is based on shared knowledge of the performance context, responsible for linking teammates’ mental representations for collective, internalized action solutions. However, this representational approach raises many questions including: how do individual schemata of team members become reformulated together? How much time does it take for this collective cognitive process to occur? How do different cues perceived by different individuals sustain a general shared mental representation? This representational approach is challenged by an ecological dynamics perspective of shared knowledge in team coordination. We argue that the traditional shared knowledge assumption is predicated on ‘knowledge about’ the environment, which can be used to share knowledge and influence intentions of others prior to competition. Rather, during competitive performance, the control of action by perceiving surrounding informational constraints is expressed in ‘knowledge of’ the environment. This crucial distinction emphasizes perception of shared affordances (for others and of others) as the main communication channel between team members during team coordination tasks. From this perspective, the emergence of coordinated behaviours in sports teams is based on the formation of interpersonal synergies between players resulting from collective actions predicated on shared affordances.

Matute, H., Cubillas, C. P., & Garaizar, P. (2017). Learning to infer the time of our actions and decisions from their consequences. Consciousness and cognition, 56, 37-49.

Research shows that people infer the time of their actions and decisions from their consequences. We asked how people know how much time to subtract from consequences in order to infer their actions and decisions. They could either subtract a fixed, default, time from consequences, or learn from experience how much time to subtract in each situation. In two experiments, participants’ actions were followed by a tone, which was presented either immediately or after a delay. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the time of their actions; in Experiment 2, the time of their decisions to act. Both actions and decisions were judged to occur sooner or later as a function of whether consequences were immediate or delayed. Estimations tended to be shifted toward their consequences, but in some cases they were shifted away from them. Most importantly, in all cases participants learned progressively to adjust their estimations with experience.

Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (2018). The Influence of Post-Exercise Cold-Water Immersion on Adaptive Responses to Exercise: A Review of the Literature. Sports Medicine, 1-19.

Post-exercise cold-water immersion (CWI) is used extensively in exercise training as a means to minimise fatigue and expedite recovery between sessions. However, debate exists around its merit in long-term training regimens. While an improvement in recovery following a single session of exercise may improve subsequent training quality and stimulus, reports have emerged suggesting CWI may attenuate long-term adaptations to exercise training. Recent developments in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing the adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle have provided potential mechanistic insight into the effects of CWI on training adaptations. Preliminary evidence suggests that CWI may blunt resistance signalling pathways following a single exercise session, as well as attenuate key long-term resistance training adaptations such as strength and muscle mass. Conversely, CWI may augment endurance signalling pathways and the expression of genes key to mitochondrial biogenesis following a single endurance exercise session, but have little to no effect on the content of proteins key to mitochondrial biogenesis following long-term endurance training. This review explores current evidence regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms by which CWI may alter cellular signalling and the long-term adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle.

Random

This is a great thread about some of the biggest myths that prevail in movement and coaching - https://twitter.com/ollylogo/status/1034814564825747457

Books

Check out Previous Month's

July In Review

8/7/2018

Quotes/Thoughts

Expert movement doesn’t involve a complete lack of awareness
Motor learning is a problem solving process
If practice is always successful, it’s probably not helpful
The shorter you sleep, the short you live – Matthew Walker
Sleep is the most powerful memory aid – Matthew Walker
Coaches don’t disagree with strength training, rather disagree with the perceived simplistic causal effects of strength training on performance
As coaches we are great at making our players stronger and more fit, but not very good at teaching and inducing learning – Mladen Jovanovic
We are told every error in sport is due to a physical limitation – too weak, too slow, too small – rather in most cases, mistakes are due to tactical, technical, perceptual, and/or psychological limitations
Time is the ultimate constraint. We are most creative when we are under time constraints
Skill acquisition/adaptability should be seen as the primary goal of coaching NOT just a component of coaching
What does - we play at game speed – mean? The speed of the movement isn’t what dictates practicing at game speed – it’s actually attacking the speed of decision-making, the pressure of taking perceptual information and using it as fast as possible NOT just the magnitude of speed or the intensity of a drill – Rich Bartel
It’s not the strongest nor the most intelligent of species that survives, rather the most adaptable – Charles Darwin
Technique isn’t absolute
Big forces in a squat rack don’t equal big forces on the track
How can we make the basics matter if we cannot agree on a common definition of what the basics are actually are?
Force production is so specific to a skill that it’s hard to generalize one being weak – Anthony Blazevich
We are now testing 300 athletes with performance tests and isolated strength and ROM tests. So far, all I can say is the associations between performance and isolated strength is weak. As is asymmetries in performance tests and asymmetries in isolated function. – Goran Markovic
The body works differently at slow speeds than high sppeds – Kenan Todd
20-Years ago, it seemed like every issue was blamed on a “weak TA”; more recently, it is “weak glutes aka your ___ aren’t firing”. This is misguided thinking at best, and dangerous, industry-undermining thinking at worst. – Stu McMillan

Podcasts

Articles

Research

Coh, M., Vodicar, J., Žvan, M., Šimenko, J., Stodolka, J., Rauter, S., & Mackala, K. (2018). Are Change-of-Direction Speed and Reactive Agility Independent Skills Even When Using the Same Movement Pattern?. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 32(7), 1929-1936.

The present findings suggest that CODS and RA are 2 different and independent skill domains that define agility. These qualities should be diagnosed by discrete assessments and enhanced by different training methodologies.

Cross, M. R., Lahti, J., Brown, S. R., Chedati, M., Jimenez-Reyes, P., Samozino, P., ... & Morin, J. B. (2018). Training at maximal power in resisted sprinting: Optimal load determination methodology and pilot results in team sport athletes. PloS one, 13(4), e0195477.

Soccer [n = 15 male] and rugby [n = 21; 9 male and 12 female] club-level athletes were individually assessed for horizontal force-velocity and load-velocity profiles using a battery of resisted sprints, sled or robotic resistance respectively. Athletes then performed a 12-session resisted sprint (10x20m) intervention with either a) load that represented maximum power output or b) load that represented a 10% decrease in maximal unresisted sprinting velocity. Both protocols had minor effects on sprinting performance (average of -1.4 to -2.3% split-times respectively), and provided trivial, small and unclear changes in mechanical sprinting parameters.
Both resisted-sprint training protocols were likely to improve performance after a short training intervention in already sprint trained athletes. However, widely varied individualised results indicated that adaptations may be dependent on pre-training force-velocity characteristics

Wild, J. J., Bezodis, I. N., North, J. S., & Bezodis, N. E. (2018). Differences in step characteristics and linear kinematics between rugby players and sprinters during initial sprint acceleration. European journal of sport science, 1-11.

The initial steps of a sprint are important in team sports, such as rugby, where there is an inherent requirement to maximally accelerate over short distances. Current understanding of sprint acceleration technique is primarily based on data from track and field sprinters, although whether this information is transferable to athletes such as rugby players is unclear, due to differing ecological constraints. Sagittal plane video data were collected (240 Hz) and manually digitised to calculate the kinematics of professional rugby forwards (n = 15) and backs (n = 15), and sprinters (n = 18; 100 m personal best range = 9.96-11.33 s) during the first three steps of three maximal sprint accelerations. Using a between-group research design, differences between groups were determined using magnitude-based inferences, and within-group relationships between technique variables and initial sprint acceleration performance were established using correlation. Substantial between-group differences were observed in multiple variables. Only one variable, toe-off distance, differed between groups (d = -0.42 to -2.62) and also demonstrated meaningful relationships with sprint performance within all three groups (r = -0.44 to -0.58), whereby a stance foot position more posterior relative to the centre of mass at toe-off was associated with better sprint performance. While toe-off distance appears to be an important technical feature for sprint acceleration performance in both sprinters and rugby players, caution should be applied to the direct transfer of other kinematic information from sprinters to inform the technical development of acceleration in team sports athletes.

Young, W. B., Duthie, G. M., James, L. P., Talpey, S. W., Benton, D. T., & Kilfoyle, A. (2018). Gradual vs. Maximal Acceleration: Their Influence on the Prescription of Maximal Speed Sprinting in Team Sport Athletes. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 6(3).

The primary purpose of this study was to determine if a difference existed between peak speed attained when performing a sprint with maximal acceleration versus from a gradual build-up. Additionally, this investigation sought to compare the actual peak speed achieved when instructed to reach 75% and 90% of maximum speed. Field sport athletes (n = 21) performed sprints over 60 m under the experimental conditions, and the peak speed was assessed with a radar gun. The gradual build-up to maximum speed (8.30 ± 0.40 m·s −1 ) produced the greater peak speed (effect size = 0.3, small) than the maximum acceleration run (8.18 ± 0.40 m·s −1 ), and the majority of participants (62%) followed this pattern. For the sub-maximum runs, the actual mean percentage of maximum speed reached was 78 ± 6% for the 75% prescribed run and 89 ± 5% for the 90% prescription. The errors in attaining the prescribed peak speeds were large (~15%) for certain individuals, especially for the 75% trial. Sprint training for maximum speed should be performed with a gradual build-up of speed rather than a maximum acceleration. For sub-maximum interval training, the ability to attain the prescribed target peak speed can be challenging for field sport athletes, and therefore where possible, feedback on peak speeds reached should be provided after each repetition.

Beebe, et al. Short Sleep and Adolescents’ Performance on a Concussion Assessment Battery: An Experimental Sleep Manipulation Study. Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine. July 2018 – Volume 28 – Issue 4

Sleep deprivation of 5-days (6.5hrs) vs healthy sleep opportunity
(9.5hrs) in 14-18 y.o’s showed significantly worse symptoms of Post Concussion Assessment and Cognitive Testing. Verbal memory also decreased. Concluding that sleep deprivation of just 5-days increases concussion like symptoms and that sleep deprivation has adverse effects on emotional and behavioral functioning in teens.

Matute, H., Cubillas, C. P., & Garaizar, P. (2017). Learning to infer the time of our actions and decisions from their consequences. Consciousness and cognition, 56, 37-49.

Research shows that people infer the time of their actions and decisions from their consequences. We asked how people know how much time to subtract from consequences in order to infer their actions and decisions. They could either subtract a fixed, default, time from consequences, or learn from experience how much time to subtract in each situation. In two experiments, participants’ actions were followed by a tone, which was presented either immediately or after a delay. In Experiment 1, participants estimated the time of their actions; in Experiment 2, the time of their decisions to act. Both actions and decisions were judged to occur sooner or later as a function of whether consequences were immediate or delayed. Estimations tended to be shifted toward their consequences, but in some cases they were shifted away from them. Most importantly, in all cases participants learned progressively to adjust their estimations with experience.

Broatch, J. R., Petersen, A., & Bishop, D. J. (2018). The Influence of Post-Exercise Cold-Water Immersion on Adaptive Responses to Exercise: A Review of the Literature. Sports Medicine, 1-19.

Post-exercise cold-water immersion (CWI) is used extensively in exercise training as a means to minimise fatigue and expedite recovery between sessions. However, debate exists around its merit in long-term training regimens. While an improvement in recovery following a single session of exercise may improve subsequent training quality and stimulus, reports have emerged suggesting CWI may attenuate long-term adaptations to exercise training. Recent developments in the understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing the adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle have provided potential mechanistic insight into the effects of CWI on training adaptations. Preliminary evidence suggests that CWI may blunt resistance signalling pathways following a single exercise session, as well as attenuate key long-term resistance training adaptations such as strength and muscle mass. Conversely, CWI may augment endurance signaling pathways and the expression of genes key to mitochondrial biogenesis following a single endurance exercise session, but have little to no effect on the content of proteins key to mitochondrial biogenesis following long-term endurance training. This review explores current evidence regarding the underlying molecular mechanisms by which CWI may alter cellular signaling and the long-term adaptive response to exercise in human skeletal muscle.

von Lieres und Wilkau, H. C., Irwin, G., Bezodis, N. E., Simpson, S., & Bezodis, I. N. (2018). Phase analysis in maximal sprinting: an investigation of step-to-step technical changes between the initial acceleration, transition and maximal velocity phases. Sports biomechanics, 1-16.

The aim of this study was to investigate spatiotemporal and kinematic changes between the initial acceleration, transition and maximum velocity phases of a sprint. Sagittal plane kinematics from five experienced sprinters performing 50-m maximal sprints were collected using six HD-video cameras. Following manual digitising, spatiotemporal and kinematic variables at touchdown and toe-off were calculated. The start and end of the transition phase were identified using the step-to-step changes in centre of mass height and segment angles. Mean step-to-step changes of spatiotemporal and kinematic variables during each phase were calculated. Firstly, the study showed that if sufficient trials are available, step-to-step changes in shank and trunk angles might provide an appropriate measure to detect sprint phases in applied settings. However, given that changes in centre of mass height represent a more holistic measure, this was used to sub-divide the sprints into separate phases. Secondly, during the initial acceleration phase large step-to-step changes in touchdown kinematics were observed compared to the transition phase. At toe-off, step-to-step kinematic changes were consistent across the initial acceleration and transition phases before plateauing during the maximal velocity phase. These results provide coaches and practitioners with valuable insights into key differences between phases in maximal sprinting.

Jackson, R. C., Warren, S., & Abernethy, B. (2006). Anticipation skill and susceptibility to deceptive movement.Acta psychologica, 123(3), 355-371.

The ability to detect deceptive movement was examined in skilled and novice rugby players. Participants (14 per group) attempted to predict direction change from video of expert and recreational rugby players changing direction with and without deceptive movement. ConWdence associated with judgments was recorded on each trial to seek evidence regarding use of inferential (heuristic-based) and direct-perceptual (invariant-based) judgments. Novices were found to be susceptible to deceptive movement whereas skilled participants were not; however, both skilled and novice participants were more conWdent on trials containing deceptive movement. The data suggest that the skill-level diVerence in sensitivity to advance visual information extends to deceptive information. The implications of this Wnding, and the importance of considering the underlying process of anticipation skill, are discussed.

Random

Ken Clark’s Rebuttal to Dr. Michael Yessi’s article on horizontal vs vertical forces during sprinting - https://twitter.com/KenClarkSpeed/status/1023297199151693830

MMA Dummy Prank – A representation of what happens when COD meets on-field agility

Grappling dummy prank □□ #Grappling #Wrestling #MMAUK #Prank pic.twitter.com/NXrJIyHYqd
— MMA UK □□ (@WeAreMMAUK) November 20, 2017

Books

The Playmaker’s Advantage – Daniel Peterson & Dr. Leonard Zaichowsky
Strength is Specific – Chris Beardsley

June in Review

6/22/2018

Thoughts/Quotes

If you want to get good at skill A, you need to practice skill A and variations of Skill A – not practicing skill Z in hopes it will transfer

Learning is messy, it requires errors

Motor learning is a problem solving process

We often practice for practice instead of practicing for performance

We often get caught up in evaluating the athlete (testing) and not the actual player (skill)

The idea that strength is this get out of jail free card has permeated sports performance, but strength is not a panacea – Dan Pfaff

Strength rises all ships – this is a common tort to the above quote by coach Pfaff. Unfortunately, when the pursuit of strength takes away (time, stress, fatigue) from specific endeavors, it does not raise all ships.

Habits that have a high rate of return in life via James Clear
- Sleep 8+ hours each day
- Lift weights 3xweek
- Go for a walk each day
- Save at least 10 percent of your income
- Read everyday
- Drink more water and less of everything else
- Leave your phone in another room while you work

What is game speed? Game speed in meaningless when making a preplanned move. It’s nothing more than speed of movement – BUT the for more difficult aspect is speed of thought. Making a decision as to when to make a move & which move to make. That is skill – Rich Bartel

Articles

Podcasts

Research

Amiri, M., Ghiasvand, R., Kaviani, M., Forbes, S. C., & Salehi-Abargouei, A. (2018). Chocolate milk for recovery from exercise: a systematic review and meta-analysis of controlled clinical trials. European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1.

Chocolate milk provides either similar or superior results when compared to placebo or other recovery drinks. Overall, the evidence is limited and high-quality clinical trials with more well-controlled methodology and larger sample sizes are warranted.

Moras, G., Fernández-Valdés, B., Vázquez-Guerrero, J., Tous-Fajardo, J., Exel, J., & Sampaio, J. (2018). Entropy measures detect increased movement variability in resistance training when elite rugby players use the ball. Journal of science and medicine in sport.

The application of match specific constraints in resistance training for rugby players elicit different amount of variability of body acceleration across multiple physiological time scales. Understanding the non-linear process inherent to the manipulation of resistance training variables with constraints and its motor adaptations may help coaches and trainers to enhance the effectiveness of physical training and, ultimately, better understand and maximize sports performance.

Almonroeder, T. G., Tighe, S. M., Miller, T. M., & Lanning, C. R. (2018). The influence of fatigue on decision-making in athletes: a systematic review. Sports biomechanics, 1-14.

The findings appear to indicate that fatigue may only affect the cognitive processing associated with decision-making when athletes approach a state of exhaustion.

Strafford, B. W., Van Der Steen, P., Davids, K., & Stone, J. A. (2018). Parkour as a donor sport for athletic development in youth team sports: insights through an ecological dynamics lens. Sports medicine-open, 4(1), 21.

Analyses of talent development in sport have identified that skill can be enhanced through early and continued involvement in donor sports which share affordances (opportunities for action) with a performer’s main target sport. Aligning key ideas of the Athletic Skills Model and ecological dynamics theory, we propose how the sport of parkour could provide a representative and adaptive platform for developing athletic skill (e.g. coordination, timing, balance, agility, spatial awareness and muscular strength). We discuss how youth sport development programmes could be (re) designed to include parkour-style activities, in order to develop general athletic skills in affordance-rich environments. It is proposed that team sports development programmes could particularly benefit from parkour-style training since it is exploratory and adaptive nature shapes utilisation of affordances for innovative and autonomous performance by athletes. Early introduction to varied, relevant activities for development of athleticism and skill, in a diversified training programme, would provide impetus for a fundamental shift away from the early specialisation approach favoured by traditional theories of skill acquisition and expertise in sport.

Folland, J. P., Allen, S. J., Black, M. I., Handsaker, J. C., & Forrester, S. E. (2017). Running technique is an important component of running economy and performance. Medicine and science in sports and exercise, 49(7), 1412.

Despite an intuitive relationship between technique and both running economy (RE) and performance, and the diverse techniques used by runners to achieve forward locomotion, the objective importance of overall technique and the key components therein remain to be elucidated. This study provides novel and robust evidence that technique explains a substantial proportion of the variance in RE and performance. We recommend that runners and coaches are attentive to specific aspects of stride parameters and lower limb angles in part to optimize pelvis movement, and ultimately enhance performance.

Almonroeder, T. G., Tighe, S. M., Miller, T. M., & Lanning, C. R. (2018). The influence of fatigue on decision-making in athletes: a systematic review. Sports biomechanics, 1-14.

The nature of the results appears to indicate that fatigue may compromise an athlete’s cognitive processing in a manner that diminishes their ability to control movement when rapid decision-making is required. However, three subsequent studies utilised fatigue protocols designed to mimic sports participation and found that fatigue did not influence the effects of decision-making on mechanics. In general, these findings appear to indicate that fatigue may only affect the cognitive processing associated with decision-making when athletes approach a state of exhaustion

Jackson, R. C., Warren, S., & Abernethy, B. (2006). Anticipation skill and susceptibility to deceptive movement. Acta psychologica, 123(3), 355-371.

The ability to detect deceptive movement was examined in skilled and novice rugby players. Participants (14 per group) attempted to predict direction change from video of expert and recreational rugby players changing direction with and without deceptive movement. ConWdence associated with judgments was recorded on each trial to seek evidence regarding use of inferential (heuristic-based) and direct-perceptual (invariant-based) judgments. Novices were found to be susceptible to deceptive movement whereas skilled participants were not; however, both skilled and novice participants were more conWdent on trials containing deceptive movement. The data suggest that the skill-level diVerence in sensitivity to advance visual information extends to deceptive information. The implications of this Wnding, and the importance of considering the underlying process of anticipation skill, are discussed.

Books

Why We Sleep - Matthew Walker
- We live in a society where lack of sleep is championed - we reward and think more highly of those that forgo sleep for extra work, more hours and detract from sleep, rest, vacation
- 1-Hour of cell phone, tv, computer use can decrease melatonin for the next 3-hours. This can also decrease the amount of peak melatonin production leading to les REM sleep
- The most important aspect of increasing the quality of sleep = consistent bed and wake times
- You need to keep your room cool do this via - less cloths, fan, thinner blankets, keeping certain body parts uncovered.
- Your brain needs to drop 2-3 degrees in order to fall asleep
- The shorter you sleep - the shorter your lifespan
- The US runs the worlds biggest sleep experiment 2-times a year = day light savings
- In the fall, where we gain an extra hour of sleep, heart attacks decrease by 21%!
- In the spring, where we lose an hour of sleep, heart attacks increase by 24%!
- If you're going in for sugery, ask how much sleep your surgeon has gotten in the past 24-hours. If less than 6-hours, you're at a 170% increased risk of a surgical error.
- 1 in 5 medical errors is a result of lack of sleep
- Driving without sleep for 16-20hours is equivalent to driving drunk

May in Review

6/1/2018

Thoughts/Quotes

Let kids define their own athletic experience - Rob Assise
We’ve been very good at building physical monsters, but I want perceptual monsters - Shawn Myszka
Poor perception leads to poor mechanics/technique
No evidence that static stretching or flexibility reduce or are related to injury - Quinn Henock
Athletes need to practice pre-competition nutrition. Practice this nutrition before practices/training - Brian St. Pierre
The best vegetables are the ones your athletes will actually eat - Brian St. Pierre
Is the goal motor learning or motor performance?
I love seeing athletes when they are fatigued - they can't hide compensations when fatigued and I can see what they'll revert to when fatigued - Tommy Flanagan
Sleep has an image problem, we stigmatize sleep and think its lazy and slothful - people wear lack of sleep as a badge of honor to be celebrated - Matthew Walker
Chronic exhaustion cost most first world nation 2% of the GDP - 411 billion dollars lost each year to a lack of sleep - Matthew Walker
Speed of movement is easy compared to speed of thought - Rich Bartel
Can’t lead if you don’t read
Increasing variability within practice enhances learning
The stability of a skill is solely dependent upon psychology - Stu McMillan
If you surround yourself with the wrong people, you’re going to do wrong things. If you surround yourself with elite people, you’ll probably do elite things

Articles

Podcasts

Research

Vigne, G., Dellal, A., Gaudino, C., Chamari, K., Rogowski, I., Alloatti, G., ... & Hautier, C. (2013). Physical outcome in a successful Italian Serie A soccer team over three consecutive seasons. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research,27(5), 1400-1406.

The aim of this study was to examine the physical performance of a success-Serie A team of more than three consecutive seasons. 25 players participated in the study and were classified into three playing positions: defenders (n=9), midfielders (n=11) and forward (n=5). Activities match were studied by an analysis of multiple match-camera SICS ® (Bassano del Grappa, Italy) throughout the competition Italian Serie A matches played at home (n=90) for 3 consecutive seasons (first: 2004/2005, second: 2005/2006, and third: 2006/2007). Total team ball possession and time-motion characteristics were examined. Results showed that total ball possession (52.1% to 54.9%) and the number of points accumulated at home (40/48) improved in the past three seasons while that the final ranking at home were stable. The total distances covered by minutes of play were significantly different between the three seasons (118.32±6.69m.min to 111.96±8.05m.min). Distance running and high intensity activities were similar in the three seasons, while the distance covered in moderate intensity running decreased in the third (P<0.05). Variations between playing positions were found during the three-consecutive seasons, with midfielders covering greater distances than defenders (P<0.05) and forward (P<0.01). This study showed how for three consecutive seasons of successful players Serie-A team reduced their distances performed at submaximal speeds, and increased ball possession, while maintaining the high-intensity activities and the number of points at home. It is suggested that this is due to a better understanding of roles and tactics team organization, and to act collectively and individually on these parameters to reduce energy expenditure during the game to maintain a high level performance throughout the season.

Dos’Santos, T., Thomas, C., Comfort, P., & Jones, P. (2018). The Role of the Penultimate Foot Contact During Change of Direction: Implications on Performance and Risk of Injury.Strength & Conditioning Journal.

Most change of direction biomechanical investigations and current technique guidelines focus on the role of the final foot contact (plant foot contact). However, it is evident that the braking characteristics during the penultimate foot contact play an integral role in deceleration prior to directional changes ≥ 60˚; and can therefore, be described as a “preparatory step”. In this review, we examine the role of the penultimate foot contact on change of direction performance and associated biomechanical injury risk factors, and provide technical guidelines for coaching the “preparatory step” during change of direction, to enhance performance and reduce risk of injury.

Sanchez, F. J. N., & de Villarreal, E. S. (2017). Does Flywheel Paradigm Training Improve Muscle Volume and Force? A Meta-analysis. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 31(11), 3177-3186.

A meta-analysis of 13 studies with a total of 18 effect sizes was performed to analyse the role of various factors on the effectiveness of flywheel paradigm training. The following inclusion criteria were employed for the analysis: (a) randomized studies; (b) high validity and reliability instruments; (c) published in a high quality peer-reviewed journal; (d) healthy participants; (e) studies where the eccentric programme were described; and (f) studies where increases in muscle volume and force were measured before and after training. Increases in muscle volume and force were noted through the use of flywheel systems during short periods of training. The increase in muscle mass appears was not influenced by the existence of eccentric overload during the exercise. The increase in force was significantly higher with the existence of eccentric overload during the exercise. The responses identified in this analysis are essential and should be considered by strength and conditioning professionals regarding the most appropriate dose response trends for flywheel paradigm systems to optimize the increase in muscle volume and force

Hodges, N. J., & Franks, I. M. (2002). Modelling coaching practice: the role of instruction and demonstration. Journal of sports sciences, 20(10), 793-811.

examine existing theories and approaches that try to explain the process of skill acquisition so as to determine implications of these theories for instructional provision. This is followed by an evaluation of studies in the motor learning literature in which pre-practice information has been manipulated. Explicit learning strategies are contrasted to implicit and discovery learning methods, and current explanations for instructional eþects are discussed in terms of such mechanisms as eþects-related attentional focus and movement variability. In the ®nal sections, we review data from our own laboratory where pre-practice information has been manipulated during the learning of a novel bimanual coordination task. From these studies, proposals are made to try and explain how pre-practice information works to eþect the process of skill acquisition, including the selection and execution of a response and the processing of associated feedback. An important role is given to the existing skills of the learner in understanding the instructions and performing the desired movement. Finally, we suggest some practical implications of this empirical evidence for the teaching of motor skills.

Moras, G., Fernández-Valdés, B., Vázquez-Guerrero, J., Tous, J., Exel, J., & Sampaio, J. (2018). Entropy measures detect increased movement variability in resistance training when elite rugby players use the ball. Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport.

The application of match specific constraints in resistance training for rugby players elicit different amount of variability of body acceleration across multiple physiological time scales. Understanding the non-linear process inherent to the manipulation of resistance training variables with constraints and its motor adaptations may help coaches and trainers to enhance the effectiveness of physical training and, ultimately, better understand and maximize sports performance.

Spearritt, D. (2013). The impact of field vision on performance within an English Premier league academy soccer team: A case study.

The purpose of the current study was to develop an understanding of visual search behaviour in relation to performance outcome amongst elite level youth soccer players, within competitive match performance. Thirteen matches from an English Premier League academy soccer team (under 15 age group) were analysed using a specifically designed notational analysis system created in Microsoft Excel. Visual explorations conducted by individual players were collated, followed by their subsequent action when in possession of the ball. The results show significant visual exploration differences between higher and lower ability elite level youth players (p=0.000). The results of a series of categorical logistic regression analyses also show a clear positive relationship exists between visual exploratory behaviours that are initiated prior to a player receiving the ball and performance with the ball. This relationship remains when assessed amongst several match conditions including overall pass completion, attacking third pass completion and forward pass completion.

Nyland, N. (2010). Visual perception in soccer: a study of elite and sub-elite defenders (Master's thesis).

The general purpose of this study was to examine how soccer defenders explore the environment for and use the information to deny opponents goals from crosses into the penalty area. A specific aim was to determine which variables differentiated between elite and sub-elite players. An ecological approach was used as conceptual framework. Participants were at the Premier League level - classified as elite (n = 13, m = 28.15 yrs, SD = 3.82) and at the Reserve League and Academy League level - classified as sub-elite (n = 11, m = 18.3 yrs, SD = 1.40). All participants were filmed in at least one game (six were filmed in two game). A high zoom camera recorded and focused solely upon a single player and general game events were obtained from professional camera recordings (obtained from the clubs) using regular zoom. These two videos were edited and synchronized into a split-screen video.
Results indicate that players in the elite group are more perceptually and functionally active than players in the sub-elite group prior to a cross, by exploring more frequently and positioning themselves more with a back-towards-goal posture allowing them to visually perceive more of the actions of the surrounding forwards. However, it was not demonstrated any functional relationship between exportation and performance related to this defensive situation. Further, constraints such as the player’s posture, type of defense, distance be-tween the crosser and defender, and involvement showed some differences between the levels and may affect exploration.

Araújo, D., & Davids, K. (2011). What exactly is acquired during skill acquisition?. Journal of Consciousness Studies,18(3-4), 7-23.

In this paper we propose that the term skill acquisition, as commonly used in traditional psychology, and the philosophy, education, movement science and performance development literatures, has been biased by an organismic asymmetry. In cognitive and experimental psychology, for example, it refers to the establishment of an internal state or representation of an act which is believed to be acquired as a result of learning and task experience. Here we elucidate an ecological perspective which suggests that the term skill acquisition may not refer to an entity but rather to the emergence of an adaptive, functional relationship between an organism and its environment, thus avoiding an inherent organismic asymmetry in theorizing. In this respect, the terms 'skill adaptation' or 'skill attunement' might be more suitable to describe this process.

Teques, P., Araújo, D., Seifert, L., del Campo, V. L., & Davids, K. (2017). The resonant system: Linking brain–body–environment in sport performance☆. In Progress in brain research (Vol. 234, pp. 33-52). Elsevier.

The ecological dynamics approach offers new insights to understand how athlete nervous systems are embedded within the body–environment system in sport. Cognitive neuroscience focuses on the neural bases of athlete behaviors in terms of perceptual, cognitive, and motor functions defined within specific brain structures. Here, we discuss some limitations of this traditional perspective, addressing how athletes functionally adapt perception and action to the dynamics of complex performance environments by continuously perceiving information to regulate goal-directed actions. We examine how recent neurophysiological evidence of functioning in diverse cortical and subcortical regions appears more compatible with an ecological dynamics perspective, than traditional views in cognitive neuroscience. We propose how athlete behaviors in sports may be related to the tuning of resonant mechanisms indicating that perception is a dynamic process involving the whole body of the athlete. We emphasize the important role of metastable dynamics in the brain–body–environment system facilitating continuous interactions with a landscape of affordances (opportunities for action) in a performance environment. We discuss implications of these ideas for performance preparation and practice design in sport.

Djaoui, L., Chamari, K., Owen, A. L., & Dellal, A. (2017). Maximal sprinting speed of elite soccer players during training and matches. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 31(6), 1509-1517.

The aim of the present study was to compare (a) the maximal sprinting speed (MSS) attained by soccer players during matches (MSSmatch) according to their level of play (professional first French division vs. elite amateur fourth French division) and the playing positions and (b) the MSS attained by professional soccer players during 14 different types of small-sided games (SSG, MSSSSG) and match-play. All players monitored through the study performed a 40-m sprint test to assess individual MSS (MSStest) and compare it to the training and match activity, with the calculation of the percentage of MSStest (%MSStest) reached. No differences were found according to the level of play; however, positional wide players achieved a higher MSSmatch, %MSStest, and MSSSSG than central players (both defenders and midfielders) during matches and SSG. MSSmatch were higher than all MSSSSG, and MSSSSG were positively correlated with the area of the pitch (0.45, p < 0.001), its length (0.53,p < 0.001), and the number of players involved (0.38, p < 0.001). The closer SSG was to match situation in terms of rules, the higher the MSSSSG. Wide players reached higher MSS in match and SSG than central players, confirming the relevance of using SSG close to match situation to specifically prepare elite players to the maximal running speed demand of the match.

Wylie, S. A., Bashore, T. R., Van Wouwe, N. C., Mason, E. J., John, K. D., Neimat, J. S., & Ally, B. A. (2018). Exposing an" Intangible" Cognitive Skill Among Collegiate Football Players: Enhanced Interference Control. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 49.

American football is played in a chaotic visual environment filled with relevant and distracting information. We investigated the hypothesis that collegiate football players show exceptional skill at shielding their response execution from the interfering effects of distraction (interference control). The performances of 280 football players from National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I football programs were compared to age-matched controls in a variant of the Eriksen flanker task (Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974). This task quantifies the magnitude of interference produced by visual distraction on split-second response execution. Overall, football athletes and age controls showed similar mean reaction times (RTs) and accuracy rates. However, football athletes were more proficient at shielding their response execution speed from the interfering effects of distraction (i.e., smaller flanker effect costs on RT). Offensive and defensive players showed smaller interference costs compared to controls, but defensive players showed the smallest costs. All defensive positions and one offensive position showed statistically smaller interference effects when compared directly to age controls. These data reveal a clear cognitive advantage among football athletes at executing motor responses in the face of distraction, the existence and magnitude of which vary by position. Individual differences in cognitive control may have important implications for both player selection and development to improve interference control capabilities during play.

Anson, G., Elliott, D., & Davids, K. (2005). Information processing and constraints-based views of skill acquisition: divergent or complementary?. Motor control, 9(3), 217-241.

Since the middle of the nineteenth century, movement scientists have been challenged to explain processes underlying the control, coordination, and acquisition of skill. Information processing and constraints-based approaches represent two distinct, often perceived as opposing, views of skill acquisition. The purpose of this article is to compare information processing and constraints-based approaches through the lens of Fitts’ three-stage model and Newell’s constraints-based model, respectively. In essence, both models can be identified, at least in spirit, with ideas about skill described by Bernstein (1967, 1996). Given that the product of “skill acquisition” is the same, although the explanation of the processes might differ, it is perhaps not surprising that similarities between the models appear greater than the differences. In continuing to meet the challenge to explain skill acquisition, neural-based models provide a glimpse of the cutting edge where behavior and biological mechanisms underpinning processes of control, coordination, and acquisition of skill might meet.

Books

The Culture Code – Daniel Coyle

I’ve always enjoyed Coyle’s books, starting with the Talent Code – actually did an interview with him you can find here – https://www.building-better-athlete.com/blog/interview-with-daniel-coyle

He does a fantastic job of story telling, bring ideas together, and mixing science with culture. Some of his writings may be a little exaggerated with what the actual literature says, but its much less taken out of context as say Malcolm Gladwell.
Some of my favorite tidbits…

In successful groups the following happens
- Everyone talks
- High expectations, and confidence that people can reach them
- Try to help things develop organically
- Leaders show vulnerability
- Surrounded with motto’s
- Leaders are partners not dictators
- They name priorities
- People feel safe and connected

The Energy Bus – Jon Gordon

Personally I find these kinds of books a little cheesy, but it’s a quick, painless read with a few tidbits here and there. Good book to throw into the mixture of more serious reads - with short chapters and some good reminders but too much of Gordon’s self-help message gets old, fast.
2-3 Gordon books a year is plenty

Opening Skinner’s Box – Great Psychological Experiments of the 20th Century – Lauren Slater

This was a fascinating read into 10 of the greatest psychological experiments over the past 100-years. From BF Skinner to Harry Harlow to Eric Kandel to Stanley Milgram. From topics such as love to obedience to addiction to false memories. With subjects from humans undergoing lobotomy’s, monkeys separated from their mothers and having a surrogate mother, rats being rewarded with food and drugs, sea slugs and memory.
Slater does an incredible job of blending the hard-nosed details of the experiments and outcomes, to laying out a story line of each researcher, their backgrounds into their studies, and personal stories of how these scientists affect her and other psychologists.
Give this one a read!