Archive for “Cue” Tag

Youth Conditioning Programs Using Ropes & Tires

Posted on: July 30th, 2012 by IYCA 1 Comment

IYCA Expert Dave Gleason Explains How To Develop Youth Conditioning Programs Using Unconventional Methods

As long as your programming has developmental justification that points pack to the required elements of the IYCA system…everything is in bounds!

This includes tires and battle ropes. Many of our AR franchise partners are co branded or are also a Fitness Revolution Franchisee as well. That said, many of our trainers and coaches have experience with large tractor tires and battle ropes. With safety mechanisms in place, very effective and fun activities can be implemented in your youth conditioning programs for 6-9 (Discovery) and 10-13 (Exploration) sessions.

Here are a few examples of youth conditioning programs to get your creative juices flowing:

1. Team Tire Flip.

Even with a 500+ pound tire if you orientate your young athletes well and put yourself in a position to effective spot this activity, this is a very safe team building and exercise. Systemic strength, object manipulation, and cooperation are all aspects of this fun drill.

Have your athletes form a semi circle around the backside of the tire. Cue them to keep their toes close to the tire, and keep their eyes up as they place their hands underneath the tire. “On a count of three we all lift and drive the tire forward.”

2. Team Tire Drag (Pull).

This systemic strength pulling activity is an adventurous variation of tug o war.

Place a battle rope through the middle of a large tire so there are two equal lengths of rope to pull on. Place your athletes evenly on each length of rope. On your command your athletes will pull and drag the tire to a designated area or length.

You can add variation and problem solving by experimenting with how many athletes you can take off of pulling duties to sit on the tire with the remaining athletes still able to move the tire. Then experiment with different kids on the tire vs. pulling.

3. Angry Monkeys.

This super fun exercise is a battle rope wave drill masked by as silly name and animation during the movement. Straight from the brain of Autism Fitness Expert, Eric Chessen, the set up virtually the same depending on the age and size of the athletes. Your 6-9 year old athletes will do well with a single rope wave. A mature 12 or 13 year old will handle a rope end in each hand with no problem. A 40 foot, 1.5 inch in diameter, rope works very well.

Instruct your athletes to act like an angry monkey with the rope end in their hands while making a wave in the rope. Let them make “angry monkey” noises. 10-20 seconds of work is optimal depend on the age of the athletes in your group.

4. Battle Rope Relay.

Object manipulation, cooperation, spatial awareness systemic strength and kinesthetic differentiation are included in the benefits of this game.

Lay out a battle rope in a straight line on the ground. Form two lines of athletes, one line at each end of the rope. The first athlete in each line grabs hold of the end of the rope like a relay baton. On your command the athletes race to opposites ends and hand the rope off to the next person in line.

This is a perpetual race because there is no winner. Give your athletes 2-3 runs each and then give the group a rest.

When ever you can think out of the box and apply some additional fun and adventure into your Youth Conditioning Programs for young athletes you should do so! If something is working well for you please share in in the IYCA Insiders Forum.

Keep changing lives!

Cueing Athletes

Posted on: June 25th, 2012 by IYCA 1 Comment

Athletes Respond To Cueing

By Wil Fleming

Cueing is a big buzz word among fitness and performance coaches right now. Cues are an extremely efficient way to demonstrate some essential piece of technique to assist in the completion of an exercise.

A cue could be a set of words that concisely convey the result you would like to see: “brace the core” comes to mind for nearly everything. A cue could also be something more visual, like the imitation of “getting tall”, so often used at Force fitness and Performance when doing ½ kneeling movements. A third type of cue could be from palpation of a body part or region, to set the athlete in the correct position.

Stumbling upon, or discovering a new cue for an exercise can be a really cool thing. It can lead to technical breakthroughs, and lead to a cool blog post or a youtube video where you show your new toy off.

Cues then are a great tool, but what is the real value of one cue?

A particular cue may only work with 1 client and to that client, and to that training session, one particular cue may be extremely valuable. Use of this cue is able help them achieve the right position or make the right corrections to form so that the particular exercise can unleash its full potential. For this type of instance I keep a record sheet in every client’s binder to record things that work.

For the athletes on which this cue does not work, this cue has little value to them. In fact it is nearly worthless, but to you it remains a valuable part of your arsenal.

The real value of cues lies in the accumulation of many cues. No singular cue is the hammer and no singular problem is the nail, sometimes a cue is a screwdriver and the problem is a screw, and sometimes the problem is a 5mm hex bolt and the (oh nevermind you get the analogy). Problems take many forms and need many different tools. Having a toolbox is the important thing, not having the coolest hammer.

Being ready with the right cue at the right time is important, but the more important part is being WILLING to try all your tools until the problem is corrected. I see younger coaches getting frustrated when their “go to” choice of words doesn’t have the effect they anticipate with athletes. Although what they are coaching is correct and effective with many athletes, that cue does not work right now.

Patience and determination is key, a willingness to discover an athlete’s preferred learning style is necessary to create successful athletes.

By all means film your successes and share with others, they help other coaches equip their toolbox, but remember that you must be ready and willing to be diverse in your coaching ability.

Outcome Based Coaching In A Nutshell

Posted on: April 30th, 2012 by IYCA 3 Comments

Young Athletes Coaching Style In A Nutshell

By Dave Gleason

The primary coaching style we want to use with our youngest athletes is called outcome based coaching. This style of coaching puts more emphasis on the outcome of the activity or exercise you have asked for from from your athletes.

Outcome based coaching utilizes very little cueing or technique modifications if any. Our 6-9 year old athletes can suffer from goal confusion, leading to frustration and a less than average experience. As athletic revolution franchisees our goal must be to provide an exciting, memorable and remarkable experience – EVERY TIME.

A communicative coaching style such as outcome based coaching is exactly what a young person needs to ensure the indoctrination of a healthy physical culture. At some point in life every athletic career ends. Our role is to provide an opportunity for their ability to move and exercise to continue long into their adult lives…no matter their current level of sporting success.

In addition, it is imperative that a young athlete discovers movement patterns on their own as much as possible. The central nervous system is considered more plastic for a young athlete. That is, a young athlete’s CNS is very sponge like or magnet like. Internal and external stimulus is more readily assimilated, learned from and transferred to movement patterns. This aspect of neural development is a crucial component of the natural development of a child. Let your young athletes “Discover” movement patterns on their own.

Here are some practical concepts to think about as you engage in outcome based coaching:

Be careful what you ask for. If you cue your athletes to skip across the length of your facility and what a few of them perform is a high skip in a zig pattern…they are STILL giving you what you asked for. Encourage their creativity followed by layering one or two appropriate boundaries with simple cueing. In this example ask the entire group to skip in a straight line on the next try.

Be a reflective coach. During and after your sessions reflect on the effectiveness of your coaching cues. Take note of what was successful and what you and your coaches need to improve on. Communicating more effectively with your young athletes will only result in more fun for them..and you!

Praise and praise often. When a child gives you their interpretation of what you asked of them praise them for it. If modifications or boundaries need to be communicated use simple cuing. For instance, a lunge walk with a pronounced forward lean at the hips can be corrected by saying “heads up, eyes up, or reach for the sky”.

Use names. Calling and praising a child by name will add tremendous value to the relationship building process and significantly increase the enjoyment your young athletes experience while in your care. In short, it makes it personal.

Take these concepts and coach your young athletes with your heart first, head second.

Keep changing lives!

Now Available: IYCA Youth Kettlebell Instructor Course

Posted on: April 11th, 2011 by IYCA No Comments

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Over the past 3 years with the IYCA, I’ve spent a lot of time considering this subject.

Are Kettlebells safe for young athletes?

Are they just a fad that our industry is embracing right now?

Are the reputed performance gains you get from using Kettlebells real?

I considered it all.

And then I asked the 2 people I trust more than anyone else in the world with respect to this topic:

Owners of the incredibly popular, Kettlebell Athletics.

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Young Athletes: The Key to Agility Is Positioning

Posted on: October 27th, 2009 by IYCA 19 Comments

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Young Athletes Agility

Tony Reynolds says…

Personally, I have never thought of flexibility or mobility as a factor that plays a huge role in an athlete being able to assume an athletic stance. I do not see where there is enough flexion/extension in any joint throughout the chain where this is really an issue. If you are getting that low you are never going to be overly quick out of the position.

For me, it has always been a matter of reeducation. Young athletes simply have no idea how to align their bodies to create the most effective angles for spontaneous multi directional movement. Often they have been coached wrong or not coached at all and have created their own interpretation of the stance.

So then it comes down to teaching. Therefore, one must be careful with their “selection of words” when describing movements and positions to kids and young.

For instance, flat back can often also mean a completely vertical torso. MANY kids will automatically make this correlation (and so do many coaches.)

I prefer using the terms “neutral” and “tilted.” As Kwame suggested, we work on rounding the spine, we work on arching the spine, and we work on keeping the spine in a “neutral” alignment. Then it is a matter or “tilting” the neutral spine forward as the hips move back.

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Drills for Young Athletes

Posted on: September 11th, 2008 by IYCA No Comments

Drills.

Drills for young athletes.

How do you create them?

Now that’s a question I get asked virtually everyday.

Here are three great ones to use with your young
athletes – especially if you work with kids between the
ages of 6 – 12.

(1) Line Jumps

Have your athlete(s) stand directly in front of a line
either painted or taped on the ground.

They should be only a few feet away from the line.

On your cue, they will jump and try to land with their
toes as close to the line as possible without actually
touching it.

The purpose of this drill is not ‘maximum power’ but
rather a fine touch or precise execution of power.

Have them walk back to the starting point and repeat.

Purpose –

:: Kinesthetic Differentiation (coordination)

:: Bodily Control

:: Jump/Land Technique

(2) Red/Green/Yellow Light

With this drill, you can use any action you want such
as lunge walking, hopping, 1-leg jumping or crawling.

Have your young athletes move (using one of the actions
listed above) in a straight line across a gym, floor or
field.

When you call out ‘Red Light’, they must stop and hold
in place exactly where they are.

‘Green Light’ requires them to resume at normal speed.

‘Yellow Light’ is a command that asks them to continue
the action, but at a slow pace – as slow as possible
in fact.

Purpose –

:: Movement Adequacy (coordination)

:: Systemic Strength

:: Reaction (coordination)

(3) Monkey Tag

There are several variations of tag that are absolutely
wonderful for young athletes…. and this is one of them!

Have your young athletes start in a ‘catchers’ position
with their hands also on the floor/ground.

When they move to avoid being ‘tagged’ they must do
so by crawling/jumping like a monkey.

Purpose –

:: Hip Flexibility & Strength

:: Spatial Awareness (coordination)

:: Reaction (coordination)

Three great drills based entirely on fun and what
young athletes in the 6 – 12 year old range need in
terms of athletic development.

And here’s the thing…..

Within the Level 1 – Youth Fitness Specialist certification,
we show you exactly what those drills look like as well
as many others.

In fact, we have our entire audience playing and
participating in tons of drills so that they could get
a feel for them and you could see what they looked like.

"How do you create drills for young athletes, Brian?"

Easy…..

You become certified through the IYCA.

Become certified now and get started on a brand new
career that is guaranteed to be both rewarding and
lucrative.

Here’s an exclusive link to a deal I’ve put together
for you –

http://www.iyca.org/fitspecialist1

And this is a perfect time for you.

All IYCA Members are invited to the Ryan Lee Boot Camp
in two weeks to enjoy a live IYCA Young Athletes Seminar hosted by
myself and Pat Rigsby for absolutely no charge.

Here’s that link again –

http://www.iyca.org/fitspecialist1

I hope to see you soon!

Brian