I have to laugh when I hear people justify how good of strength coach you are by who you have trained. Ninety-five percent of the time they want to hear names of players who are in the professional ranks or high profiled college players. As if these are the guys that don’t already have God-given ability.
What I have always said is show me what you can do as a strength and conditioning coach with a 13-year-old who doesn’t have much ability. You have to take someone who doesn’t have incredible …

There have been many name changes, many new products, and many services provided through Sports Speed, Etc. over the years but one thing has never changed…Education!
Sometimes I have to shake my head and just laugh it off when I have people commenting on how they didn’t like a DVD because there wasn’t enough drills in it.
I could agree if I promoted my products simply as sources for more drills. There is nothing wrong with this approach as long as you state the purpose. But I have always stated my products …

No one likes to win any more than I do. But over the past few years of coaching youth sports I have been able to fight the urge to go for the big win and sacrifice the big picture. Now I admit, I may not have created equal playing time for all my kids, but on that note I reward hard work and commitment to the team. The girls who played mostly are the same girls that worked their tails off all year long and committed.
A big issue with youth …

I don’t think we know the exact science behind what makes some people more confident than others, but we do know certain components of it.
Why did Jordan, Montana, Gretzky, and Reggie always want to be in the spotlight during the big moments? It seemed when they came through in the clutch they weren’t surprised, but when they didn’t they were amazed. Why? They expected to win.
Why do some have it and most don’t? Like I wrote earlier; I don’t think we exactly know. A lot has to do with individual …

Frequently we receive calls or e-mails from people asking if it is really worth their time to attend a seminar, purchase a product, earn a certification or join a coaching program. When we launch a new product, we get calls from customers asking if they can return it if they don’t like it. This is before they even invest in the product.
I am not sure what determines a person’s views on investing in their own personal knowledge and improvement; could it be genetic, or a bad experience in the past, …

I can remember the first time I learned to dribble two basketballs. It was a very awkward feeling. After a few sessions it became easier and felt more “normal”. Why would I want to learn to dribble with two hands when the game is played with one ball? Here are my thoughts on practicing, not only two handed exercises, but exercises that require off hand manipulation. 
The reason I teach all my players how to dribble with two basketballs is because Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

Sometimes my frustration level reaches such a high I do a poor job of communicating my feelings regarding poor training methods with young athletes.
There is a youth volleyball coach that coaches at a local club. She is currently working with 12- and 13-year-old girls. Her practices are absolutely brutal. An extreme volume of suicide runs, shuffles, holds in a defensive stance and more. Yet, none of that has to do with making the young kids better volleyball players.
At a young age it is all about skill development and motor programming. …

The Fun, the Furious, and the Fantastic!
As we all know, when we are having fun time flies.  But, when we don’t like what we are doing time stands still. This is even more the case for youngsters. Yet, we still want to make tasks hard and expect positive results.
The most important factor in being successful when working with kids on their fitness, or any thing for that matter, is to have a complete clear understanding of the goal. If we look deep into the goal we have set for kids’ …

How many times have you taught a skill and then evaluated your own coaching? Maybe you evaluated your coaching based off the performances of the athletes. The athletes may have struggled and you couldn’t figure out why. I do this all the time. If I have a session that didn’t go over the way I would have liked, so I go over my coaching for the class.
One area we all have to be on our game is knowing the final result we wish to reach. Have you ever put together …

Here I go again….I recently spoke with parents and athletes about making better choices for nutrition. When I mention certain foods to eat, the unanimous answer is “But I don’t like it.” This statement bothers me and I really do not understand it. The reason it bothers me is because I hate seeing people getting sick, developing diseases, feeling tired, becoming over weight, losing confidence, and being less productive in all areas of their life. A simple change in nutrition can make all the difference.
What frightens me the most is …

I trust you are recovering nicely from the Thanksgiving meal. I can remember when my family would all get together at my parent’s house in Whitehall, NY. There are six brothers and sisters in my family, plus many have their own kids so it was a house full. I can always remember after we had our big meal, within an hour or two there was a slow migration toward the big couch in the living room and the couch in our play room. Who ever got to the couches first …

I can’t tell you how many former students and athletes over the years that have said to me, “I want to be a PE Teacher or a Trainer. It looks like so much fun.” My first reaction is always, “Good for you. It’s a great profession.” Little do they know how much work actually goes into the job.
I can honestly say in just the past 5-6 years there have been roughly 10-15 athletes that I have trained who went into the exercise science, physical education, athletic training, or physical therapy …

Brian Grasso is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and considered by many to be one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. I had a chance to sit down and talk to him about training young athletes.
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Check out this video I taped this morning. My good friends at the IYCA and I laugh some times at how often we are misunderstood when it comes to our philosophies on deceleration. We agree on each others methods. We just attack it from different directions. Take a listen to me rambling about this topic. I love your questions about this topic and hope they keep coming.

P.S. -  If you have not registered yet for the IYCA 2010 Summit, then jump on it now. It is going to be fantastic …

My family and I made it back from our vacation yesterday evening safe and sound. Here I am hanging out with Goofy and Donald.

It was tough to leave. We left sunny Orlando with 80 degree weather and landed in Cincinnati for a lay over with the temperature at 50 degrees. It was a fun trip! Jenn and I are ready to get back to work and the kids are ready for school….well, sort of?
Mobile and Stable Athletes
We often talk about making our athletes more mobile however, let’s not forget about …

Over the past years I have written many articles, produced many products and outlined many programs. Yet, the big question I am continually asked is “how many sets and reps do I perform”. This is a great question. I always make sure to spend time trying to explain my answer and educate those who want to know why I do things the way I do.Please Login or Register to read the rest of this content.

Saturday three new athletes start training with me…a brother, a sister and a friend. They are between 10 and 12 years of age. My typical starting point with any new young athlete is to find out how their posture is during basic running exercises. To see this I use low cones. (Low cones allow them to run over them-one step between each). With this exercise, I am looking for how the athletes maintain tall posture while lifting their knees and driving their arms. What typically happens in younger kids when …