S B Coaches College - Athlete Needs




		Athlete Needs *Robb Rogers, M.Ed, CSCS*

In today’s world of athletic competition there are four areas of need in which athletes must demonstrate some mastery in order to excel on the field, court, track, or ice. These are broad overviews which are common to all sports regardless of gender, age or position.

All athletes must be able to bend, rotate and extend. This is a must for any ground based sport. Examining the lower body, the athlete must be able to bend in order to accept and absorb the forces of deceleration. The better able the athlete is in absorbing force, the better able the athlete is in producing force. There is a direct relation between the ability to accept force and the corresponding ability to produce force. In conjunction with this, the athlete must be able to rotate in a diagonal/rotational manner as they bend/absorb force. As the stretch/shortening cycle reacts and begins the shortening phase, the athlete will begin to rotate, sometimes ever so slightly, into the extension phase. This extension phase is usually what we as coaches are so concerned with the ability to generate power and translate it into how high, how fast and how far.

All athletes must be able to accelerate, sprint, jump and change direction. In every sport, athletes must optimize the ability to accelerate their body or an implement. It is a critical factor separating the average competitor from the above average. In conjunction, the ability to sprint efficiently is paramount. Not every athlete is fast, but every athlete can become faster. Again, not every athlete is fast, but every athlete can become faster. This is a key foundational concept to base the training program on as the athlete begins to prepare for competition. The ability to jump goes along with this foundational concept. Sprinting is nothing more than jumping from foot to foot. The better the athlete is able to land and jump (notice the order – land and jump) the better the athlete is able to accelerate and sprint. However, this is not sufficient in total. The athlete must be able to change direction with as much power and speed as they can possibly control. The ability to change direction is of little use if the athlete is unable to control the body through the deceleration and re-acceleration phase which brings us to our next foundational concept.

All athletes should possess high levels of core strength, stability and work capacity.

The core connects the base of support and power generation of the lower body to the upper body which expresses the power though the body itself or into the hands and the corresponding implement. Core strength is more than just sit – ups. Core strength is front, sides and back throughout the upper leg, hip, butt, back and ab region. Imagine the body in an extended position up on the toes with the arms, hands and fingers extended overhead in an upright “diving” position. Now imagine a bull’s eye superimposed over the body with the center on the hips and the radiating rings moving outward to the fingers and toes. More of the time of training should be spent on the center of the bull’s eye and less and less as the rings radiate outward. Stability is a key to this entire region as well as for each joint. Strength and power are not very useful unless stability is great. To borrow an analogy from Michael Boyle, imagine a cannon in a canoe. As the cannon is fired, the canoe will move backward with a great deal of force, thus negating much of the power that should be imparted into the cannonball. Increased stability helps to prevent injury, assists in increased performance and makes skill execution more efficient thereby delaying fatigue. Work capacity is a key concept to consider when devising the training program. Work Capacity is defined as the ability to perform a skill or movement at a high level of competency, and possess the ability to recover sufficiently in the allotted time in order to perform the skill or movement again in as many work bouts as the competition or practice demands. This concept is applicable regardless of sport, skill or movement. Volleyball athletes must be able to jump and squat. Basketball athletes must be able to run, jump, change direction and slide defensively. Soccer athletes must be able to run, sprint and change direction.

All athletes must possess high levels of sport/position specific fitness, technical skill and tactical knowledge. This domain is usually addressed by the sport coach during practice sessions. Sport and position specific fitness is usually developed by actually participating in practice and competition. As the athlete gains knowledge and experience the game will slow down, the stresses will become more manageable and the ability to perform at an increasingly higher level should be apparent. Technical skill in performing the duties and executing the skill demands of the position will improve with focused, practiced, quality repetition. Tactical knowledge will improve as the athlete begins to internalize the philosophy of the offense and defensive game plans and the application of the skills and tactics in order to enhance the individual or teams ability to emerge victorious from the contest.