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Archive for “Case In Point” Tag

IYCA Specialist: Is Your OB-GYN Also A Dentist?

Posted on: May 1st, 2009 by IYCA 3 Comments

 

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IYCA is about creating specialists

There are a lot of reasons someone may feel proud of themselves.

 

But I’m not going to bother listing them all right now.

 

I want to cut right to the chase.

 

I did it.

 

You did it.

 

We did it together.

 

We’re making ‘them’ stand up and take notice.

 

We’re forcing them to respond to us and what we have to say.

 

We didn’t ask for their input, but we forced them into taking action.

 

The fitness world is about to embark on something very interesting.

 

The ‘youth fitness’ craze is about to take over and organizations are
going to start having a ‘mission statement’ and ‘solutions’ approach
to the matter.

 

Good.

 

It’s about time.

 

,h3>But there’s two things you have to remember about the IYCA –

 

1) Youth is our ONLY concern. We’re not a buffet. We don’t offer all
things to all people. You wouldn’t go to the OB-GYN if they also
happened to be a Dentist. Specializing means you know that topics
better than anybody else and can provide the correct kind of information
to actually get things done.

 

2) We’re you-centered and Member-driven. Family first. We care about
your successes and achievements more than anyone else. If you don’t
feel that, odds are you’re not paying attention.

 

Case in point….

 

(more…)

Youth Conditioning Programs Tip of the Week

Posted on: January 23rd, 2009 by IYCA 2 Comments

 

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Youth Conditioning Programs

Why hold on to the ‘norm’?

 

What’s the point of doing what everyone else always has?

 

Case in point.

 

I’ve worked with literally dozens of different high schools
over the past several years and almost always have been
asked to ‘add’ to there already existing programs rather
than re-create a system that I know will work better.

 

It takes time, but eventually the Coaching staff come to
learn that my style of athletic development works better
than what they currently have and turn the reigns
completely over to me.

 

And when that happens, do you know what my first step
is in changing the face of their youth conditioning programs and methods?

 

I separate the freshmen from everyone else.

 

High school represents a perfect developmental model.

 

4-years of having the same athletes – guaranteed.

 

So rather than making the young 14 year olds perform the
same lifts as the 18 year old seniors (and with the same
zeal of heavy loads) I remove them from the equation and
train them as a separate group.

 

We work on things like summation of forces, lift technique
and speed/agility basics.

 

This gives them a solid foundation on which to grow and
ensures they don’t get caught up in the ‘how much can you
lift’ world of high school athletics.

 

By the time they are sophomores, they are much better
equipped to handle loads and perform lifts with more
accuracy and precision.

 

Now this methodology flies in the face of what most high
school athletic programs do.

 

But trust me when I say that it’s a much superior system.

 

Don’t be afraid to go against the ‘norm’ with Youth Conditioning Programs.

 

Carlos Alvarez, looked at as the best high school
strength coach in the entire United States, will be discussing
topics just like this one next month at our International Summit.

 

MORE than worth taking a look at –

 

http://www.iyca.org/2009summit

 

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Brian

 

 

 

The Young Athletes Injury Prevention Lie

Posted on: September 8th, 2008 by IYCA No Comments

 

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Young Athletes Programming Do Reduce Injuries

You can’t build a house on quicksand.

 

You just can’t.

 

When the base isn’t sturdy, the structure is bound to
topple.

 

And that’s the only real lesson you need to understand
when it comes to injury prevention for young athletes.

 

It’s all in building a foundation.

 

From the ground up.

 

As Trainers and Coaches, our entire obligation when
working with younger athletes (6 – 13 years old) is to
fill them with as much athletic knowledge as possible.

 

Nothing ‘sport specific’.

 

Nothing ‘position specific’.

 

Just a full and complete warehouse of information.

 

Force production and absorption.

 

Speed and agility skill.

 

Lift mechanics and positioning.

 

Teaching young athletes how to perform these critical
elements of sporting success in the undeniable key
to the becoming champions.

 

But it’s also the most important factor in preventing
injuries as well.

 

And that is one of the main issues we have wrong in
this industry.

 

True injury prevention does not come in the form of
6-week programs geared towards lessoning the risk of
certain incidents.

 

Real injury prevention occurs naturally as a secondary
result of proper developmental training.

 

It is not an isolating issue that needs to be addressed
separately.

 

Case in point, I was reviewing an ‘ACL Prevention’
program offered by a local hospital last week and saw
the curriculum they teach their young athletes during
this 6-week course:

 

a. Deceleration Techniques

b. Jumping and Landing Mechanics

c. Proper Strength Training Technique

 

Is there anything in there that shouldn’t automatically
be included in a well designed athletic development
training system?

 

What denotes this specifically as an ‘ACL Prevention’
program?

 

A good friend and colleague mine, Alwyn Cosgrove, is
found of saying, "If it isn’t injury prevention that
doesn’t that make it automatically injury promotion?"

 

Alwyn’s comment is meant to make you think.

 

All quality training programs should be based on
preventing injuries.

 

If they aren’t, than they’re promoting them – which
doesn’t seem to make any sense.

 

In the case of young athletes (6 – 13), the most
critical factor in preventing injuries is in understanding
the science and practical application of coordination
development.

 

 

Balance

 

Spatial Awareness

 

Kinesthetic Differentiation

 

Rhythm

 

Movement Adequacy

 

 

How each of these commodities apply to a training
session.

 

How to create fun and engaging drills for each of them.

 

Why they are critical for both future performance and
injury prevention.

 

And it seems to me that when it comes to working with
younger athletes, very few Coaches and Trainers truly
seem to get it.

 

ACL and other debilitating injuries that occur in the
teenage years can be prevented by applying the right
kind of exercise stimulus while athletes are still
very young.

 

Maybe worth looking at a resource that is considered
one of the greatest information products ever produced
when it comes to the training and development of young
athletes.

 

Complete Athlete Development has been field tested on
more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide and changed
the lives of countless Coaches, Trainers and Parents.

 

I’ve been coaching for 13 years now.

 

Not one major injury suffered to a single athlete
yet.

 

Could be chance.

 

Maybe I’m just lucky.

 

Or perhaps there’s some stuff about injury prevention
that you need to know better?

 

Have a look at Complete Athlete Development and find out –

 

http://www.developingathletics.com/cad-short-copy.html

 

Over 3.5 million young athletes will get injured playing sports
this year in the United States alone.

 

Tragic but largely preventable.

 

Give CAD a try –

 

http://www.developingathletics.com/cad-short-copy.html

 

 

‘Till next time,

 

Brian