Athletes Performance Phase 2!! A review

Well...that was an incredibly intense four days..Athletes Performance Phase 2 rolled into the Richmond Olympic Oval and yours truly was chomping at the bit to get right into it. I also didn't take any time off of work either so I was with AP during the day then working at night.Like I always say I would have sucked as a cop, but would have been awesome in the army...up at 5 am after 3 hours sleep-NO PROBLEM!

AP's expert coaches this time around were Brent Callaway who was a five-time ACC Champion pole vaulter in track and field and a seven-time All-ACC Athlete during his time at the University of North Carolina .This guy knows his stuff- he was joined by Nicole Rodriguez Performance Specialist. she had been previously with Mike Boyle Strength and Conditioning...All of it was overseen by Dan Zieky Business director for AP. Day One started with 'The Art of Coaching' and went into the various elements of cueing and above all else the art of communication.I found this fascinating as I do coach groups of 8 to 10 and although you would think a lot is basic common sense, it amazes me when I see a lot of Trainers and Coaches clearly uncomfortable in front of their clients.Hey it happens.

Following that we went rather extensively over the FMS[Functional Movement Screen]-This was good getting practice on the Functional Movement Screen it's always invaluable, I just did a few lengthy sessions on this back in April at the TSAC conference and of course all of our clients at the Oval are screened using it.I did pick up a few things, and that's what I love about being a Trainer and Coach.From that we moved on to Vertical Jump testing..oh yeah Daddy and his 48 year old ass had to hit it..no surprises there , I don't think the NBA will be calling on me anytime soon..still it was fascinating to see how that data is analyzed and show where your strength,endurance,and power can be tracked.

The day ended with a group workout and reinforced the program design philosphies of AP-again nothing new , but once you start applying it, it all gets a bit easier;a horizontal push balanced with a pull, rotation and anti rotation etc.

Day 2 was all about energy system development but the big and super intense days were 3 and 4- we were out on the track doing speed drills, multi directional speed, warm ups and getting the basic protocols of the best athletic training in the world down pat-

Brent Callaway demonstarting four point starts and various other starts....then we had to do it!!! we were out on the track for three hours, marching,skipping,lateral shuffling hooked into bungees and shot across the track...and again all of our movements analyzed critiqued,and corrected.It was a very hardcore day , that is until...... DAY FOUR HOLY CRAP!!!!! ....coaching evaluations.We split into two groups and led a portion of all of the applied sessions so one by one we again spent eight hours going over everything then followed by group feedback sessions on what can be improved.Eight hours of marching skipping, running, jumping, over and over again... What I noticed was how uncomfortable some people were in front of a group.To me if you can get over that, the rest is easy.That's also something that can never be taught.I see it all the time with my students. I did very very well on my coaching demo.Extremely well.Highest score overall actually. It all wrapped up with a Q& A session and as it came to a close I had a chance to process everything, I realized that these guys really are the best athletic education money can buy.Going over my notes,educational materials etc. showed me that these people are serious... Let's just say I pity next week's Athletic Conditioning class at Eastside Fitness-you have been warned!