a collection of thoughts, comments, research, opinion, and commentary on biomechanics, motion analysis, sports performance, movement patterns, neuromechanics, sports training, performance enhancement
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
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.
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.
Friday, March 15, 2013
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!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
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.
The three keys to acceleration are push, pull and core.
Monday, March 11, 2013
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.
Friday, March 1, 2013
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.
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