Building the Habit: Four Strategies for Improving Training Consistency

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Getting athletes to take lifting seriously is often easier said than done. Without any interest in the process, there is little you can do besides patiently wait for their minds to change. Making athletes do something they don’t want to do only leads to a stronger aversion to that specific activity. The introduction of training places a challenge on pre-existing habits and routines, and can be frustrating to break if they aren’t conducive to the new demand of training. The creation of new habits, routines, and environments will be necessary for the success of your training program. Inside, you’ll see four strategies to help athletes build habits that support consistent and committed strength training.

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Building Interest and Commitment

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Most coaches in the sporting world agree that weight training offers massive benefits to athletes. However, from the perspective of a young athlete stepping into the weight room for the first time, it can be difficult to accept the type of commitment it will take to see the benefits of strength training. To be fair, from an athlete’s point of view, it makes sense! If that’s the case…how should you, as a coach, build interest and commitment in the weight room?

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Fool’s Gold and Diamonds in the Rough: The Adolescent Growth Spurt in Boys

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An athlete’s potential is typically predicted from a young age, many times based on their size. In tryouts, coaches tend to home in on the big kids first, and forget the smaller boys. Coaches note how hard the big kid throws and hits the ball — irrespective of his technique or coachability. On the other hand, the smaller, weaker boy — who possesses a good understanding of the game and great footwork and hands in the infield (yet struggles to throw it hard) — gets discarded because “well, he’s too small.” Has this coach selected the Fool’s Gold at the top of the pile? And didn’t dig deep enough for the Diamond in the Rough?

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Overtraining vs. Under-Recovery: A Paradigm Shift

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“Overtraining” is a buzzword used in the strength and conditioning industry. Often we’re told that overtraining leads to reduced performance on and off the field, delayed progress, and even injury. But does overtraining exist, or is it simply a misused term, describing another aspect of performance that’s often overlooked? Tyler Koch, MS, CSCS, argues that instead of focusing on overtraining, coaches should focus on their athletes’ ability to recover from training.

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4 Dimensions of Athletic Development, Part 2: Performance

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4 Dimensions of Athletic Development, Part 2: Performance

If athletes are high-performance sports cars, then strength coaches are the mechanics: the weight room is our garage, and the practice court is our test track. And just as sports cars need test runs and consistent evaluation to optimize performance, so too do our student athletes. In this second article in a 4-part series on athletic development, Clemson strength coach Kaitlyn Cunningham shares how she tests and evaluates athlete performance—along with practical applications for using that data to construct effective training.

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See Jack Zig and Zag: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

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An athlete’s success on the field or court can be defined by their speed and ability to change directions. But too often, fundamental movement skills like running, backpedaling, shuffling, decelerating, and changing directions are not taught and coached in young athletes. In Part 4 of his series on Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD), Joe Eisenmann, PhD, shares how to teach athletes how to efficiently move their body from point A to point B—and why it’s so important.

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4 Dimensions of Athlete Development, Part 1: Mental/Cultural

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4 Dimensions of Athlete Development, Part 1: Mental/Cultural

“By putting the student-athletes in positions to lead and receive constructive feedback, we saw immediate results.” Clemson strength coach Kaitlyn Cunningham knows that well-rounded athlete development starts with the mental and cultural component. In this first article in a 4-part series, Coach Cunningham shares some DI wisdom on how to cultivate accountability, foster responsibility, and empower her athletes to depend on one another.

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See Jane Jump: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

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See Jane Jump: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

Watch any sport and you’ll see a variety of non-sport-specific movement skills at play: running, jumping, skipping, shuffling, decelerating, cutting, and more. And like technique-based sport-specific skills—swinging a bat, shooting a free-throw, and so on—these fundamental movements should be taught, coached, and trained. In Part 3 of his series of long-term athlete development (LTAD), Volt’s Head of Sport Science, Joe Eisenmann, PhD, provides practical coaching cues and sequences to help coaches teach athletes how to excel at these fundamental movements: athletic stance, bodyweight squat, hip hinge, jumping, and landing.

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Coaches, Pay Yourselves First

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Coaches, Pay Yourselves First

The boundaries of a coach extend beyond just the field and the season. As a coach, you give of yourself year-round to your players, staff, parents, and the entire program. Then, after a long day at the office, you give of yourself to your children, spouse, and the program at home. So how can you guarantee that, after giving so much of yourself to others, you have something left for yourself? Cletus Coffey, a former professional football player and World Champion athlete, shares some strategies he’s learned to help coaches learn to pay themselves first, in order to stay healthy, balanced, and successful.

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Saving Our National Pastime

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Saving Our National Pastime

Somewhere across America, an early-maturing 12U All-Star is pitching in his third game in two days for his second team. Elsewhere, in an operating room, an orthopedic surgeon performs Tommy John surgery on a 16-year-old. Our national pastime is facing some challenges — but luckily, USA Baseball is implementing a Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) plan to combat them. Volt’s Head of Sport Science, Joe Eisenmann, PhD, takes us through USA Baseball’s model for developing athletes and discusses potential solutions to the challenges facing America’s game.

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