Ultimate Athlete - Physical Training to Succeed in Sport

Author: Jeff Wood

April 9, 2010

Alright, I think I may have jumped the gun on the topic of agility as being the next foundational component, lets call them Pillars from this point on, to becoming the Ultimate Athlete.  First off, if we look at the definition of agility we see that it is “the ability to move and change direction and position of the body quickly and effectively while under control.”  After going over it in my head several times, it is clear to me that agility is a little more advanced than a foundational component here.  Let’s look a little closer at the definition.

“The ability to move,” being able to move is a pretty basic set of skills that most people have mastered, enough said.  Here is where it starts to get a little more complex.

“And change direction and position of the body,” this is where the more advanced components come into play.  Sports scientists will tell you that there are a great deal of forces that come into play when an athlete tries to change directions at high speeds.  These forces require a unique combination of strength, stability, coordination and balance to prevent injury from occurring.  Agility is now beginning to look a little more complex than most people think in my mind.

“Quickly and efficiently while under control,” quickness again is a more advanced component related to acceleration or starting speed, but efficiency and control are related to coordination which is a basic requirement for all athletes.  Coordination of movement patterns is, whether it is in the upper body or the lower body or even the midsection is a critical foundational component.  Without coordination you cannot throw, kick, run, swing or jump effectively or without injury at some point.

I don’t know how many athletes have come into our facility over the years from training in another environment or playing only a single sport and we have had to essentially rebuild and retrain these athletes and teach them how to move in a coordinated manner and become athletes because they were too concerned with becoming quicker, faster and more powerful (insert sport here) players, without first developing the Pillars of coordination, balance, strength and stamina.   I will use a construction analogy to drive this one home: if you build a structure without having a solid foundation, that structure will crumble to the ground in time.   Building the Ultimate Athlete is no different, if you start with the foundation (Pillars) of strength, coordination, balance and stamina, you can then develop the agility, speed, power, quickness and specific strength necessary to excel as an athlete.

Coordination in my mind is vital to becoming an Ultimate Athlete.  The ability to move the body in a variety of movement patterns through thousands of repetitions lays the foundation for the performance related factors like speed, power, quickness, agility and strength.  Without coordinated movement these factors are impossible to achieve at a high level.

So, how do you train to become more coordinated?

I am not going to get to technical here.  To become more coordinated an athlete must train their body and brain to learn as many movement patterns as possible.  These movements can first be done slowly and properly and then speed increased until they perform those movements at top speed.  They must be done for thousands of repetitions with good form in a proper progression.   Coordination will improve greatly with this process.

I can read your mind at this point.....BORING!!!   Right.   Not so.  Just because you are doing drills that are repetitive doesn’t mean they can’t be fun and challenging.   It is all in the delivery.   Incorporating some races, games or other challenges into the training sessions can add fun and competition to improve at the same time.  Whether you are shooting pucks or throwing a football or baseball it doesn’t change anything.

2 Pillars down and 2 to go.   Next time we will be talking about BALANCE and its role in becoming the Ultimate Athlete.

Until next time, train hard, train smart and make it a great week.

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