Have you ever used brain drills for athletes to help them warm up? In this blog I will start sharing Brain Drills for Athletes, starting with Drill 1.
We all know that a proper warmup is vital in raising the body’s temperature. This ensures an athlete is ready to perform at a high level during practice or before a game. But what about the brain? Should we warm it up too?
100% YES. Brain drills for athletes can be game-changing.
The nervous system must be primed and muscles ready to fire on command. As I evolved, as a trainer, I began looking at incorporating drills to warm up the brain before training sessions. I have found the drills mentioned below to be very helpful when starting a training session.
Not only do these drills fire up the synapses in the brain, they also help the athlete focus at a whole new level. When I watch them perform the drills I can see their eyes track the tennis balls or the HECOstix.
Not only are these drills beneficial for hand-eye coordination, tracking, concentration and a neural stimulus it adds a new element of fun. Fun in the beginning of a training session is a great way to start out a session. If your athletes come to training dragging their feet have them use these drills to wake up their nervous system.
In this blog I’ll share one drill to get you started, but stay tuned for more.
Drill 1:
To begin, have your athletes grab two yellow tennis balls. Have them hold out their hand supinated with a tennis ball in each hand. Then have them toss the tennis balls upward. As the tennis balls descend, have your athletes cross their hands and then catch both tennis balls, one in each hand.
Have them pronate their hands for a different stimulus. Athletes should hold a tennis ball in each hand. Have them drop the tennis balls. As the tennis balls descend toward the floor have them cross their hands and catch the tennis balls before they hit the ground.
Author: Doug Heslip
Doug Heslip is the owner of Heslip Elite Sports Performance Training in Negaunee, MI and the creator of Seek & Destroy – Elite Running Back Drills a video product for football coaches. He works with young athletes in a variety of sports and teaches football coaches how to incorporate speed & agility training into their sessions.
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