GO FAST - base stealing

How fast do you think you are? How fast could you be?

3D animation and high level biomechanical performance/injury analysis of sprint-acceleration-base stealing, captured on the field, or in the gym, during spring training, as part of combine testing... NO sensors, NO wires, NO markers, JUST DATA!

#unlockyourpotential #gofast #ZenoLink

Hockey Acceleration - PULL (hip-knee flexion)

"PULL" is Yin to "PUSH" 's Yang.  Most who analyze acceleration focus on extension or "push" ... however, flexion or "pull" is equally as important AND is most often the biggest difference between good acceleration vs. poor acceleration. 

What is most important about "pull" or flexion is the timing with which it is initiated, not the magnitude.  Unlike "push" or extension where the hip and knee reach peak force/speed simulatneously, "pull" or flexion is initiated by the knee and followed by the hip.  The initiation of knee flexion should occur while the stance foot is still in contact with the ground - this is of utmost importance.

If knee flexion occurs late or after the stance leg has lost contact with the ground, it disrupts the pull pattern and degrades forward acceleration.

Golf PST - basic Core Separation exercise

One of the most basic, but most important foundational movement patterns - core differentiation/dissociation.  It develops the ability to grip the ground, creating a solid foot-ground interface which in turn facilitates the ability to differentiate between the pelvis and the upper thoracic.

Hockey Acceleration - PUSH (hip-knee extension)

To accelerate effectively a skater must PUSH against the ice with each leg.  This PUSH is accomplished through a rapid hip and knee extension - occurring in the leg in contact with the ice.  The peak extension speed of the hip and knee should be reached simultaneously to apply the greatest amount of vertical and horizontal force.  Peak joint angular speed/force application should occur in the stance phase generation about half way between mid-stance and toe-off to be most effective in creating acceleration.

Hockey Skate Acceleration - ZenoLink 2.0 3D Animation

ZenoLink takes high-speed 2D video of a skater accelerating from a dead-stop and renders a very accurate 6dof 3D representation. Analysis can be done on the biomechanics of performance and injury, distilling highly technical data down into very usable information. Performance issues can be assessed and a specialized treatment/training plan can be created for the athlete. 

 

Is it Functional or just Fancy?!

An exercise/training program is not "functional" unless the physical attributes gained are effectively applied to activity specific performance.

This is an extremely important concept to grasp if you are training to improve your performance in a specific athlete activity.

Just because an "exercise" is deemed "functional" in the gym does not mean its functional with respect to the actual activity you are using it to train for...

Very often an exercise is labeled as functional because its "multi-planar", "multi-joint" and neuromechanically fairly complex... but that doesn't guarantee that it will have any substantially positive impact on the activity you are training for, ie. baseball swing, tennis serve.  Just as often a gym exercise is created that "looks like" the actual activity, but the reality is that the movement patterns are not that of the activity and really have no direct bearing on the activity - even worse many times create ineffective patterns relative to those needed to perform the activity.

In the same vein, a simple exercise may actually create physical attribute (ie. strength, mobility, power) that is directly and effectively transferable to the sport specific activity is used to train for...

The moral of the story is just because its "fancy" doesn't mean its functional or the attributes transferable.  Understand the primary drivers behind the sport specific activity and train to enhance the components used to perform those drivers.  Now THAT'S functional.

ZenoLink 2.0 Base Stealing 3D Animation

ZenoLink 2.0 ... 3D animation sync'd with actual high speed video for base stealing.  No wires, No sensors, No laboratory - just 6dof 3D data!

Dynamic Golf Backswing PST

Setup, take-away and backswing should be as dynamic as your transition and downswing... here is a basic progression of backswing PST that will train athleticism into your setup, takeaway and backswing... AND will help you transition your exercise/PST athleticism into your golf swing and ball striking.

Acceleration 101

In most sports acceleration or quickness is more important than top end "speed".  Acceleration defined as the ability to create speed from a dead stop or change of direction.

The three keys to acceleration are push, pull and core.

Use your upper body to train your lower body

...sometimes the most effective way to train the lower body, is to focus on the upper body... when the upper body moves the lower body has to interact with the ground to facilitate the movement - so the quicker, more ballistic and/or faster the upper moves the quicker, more ballistic and/or faster the lower body needs to produce the corresponding ground reaction force.

Are my eyes deceiving me?!

A real short video, explaining what we see doesn't always match what is actually happening biomechanically... using a photo still sequence, I explain what is occurring as a function of ground reaction forces and relationship between center of pressure and center of mass.  It is important to understand the underlying mechanisms that drive movement and ultimately what we "SEE" to better evaluate performance and train more effective patterns.