Multi-Directional Movements: Transit

In the last post I outlined Base Positions as a category of multi-directional movement going through my Hierarchy of Coaching Success related to speed and agility.  The next catergory is transit movements.  These are movements with the goal of propelling the athlete through-out their playing space (field, court, lane, etc...).

Many people training athletes like to break down movements into linear and lateral.  It seems natural and has a nice separation.  I used do this entirely, but now only do it in early phases.  The reality of sports is usually that these are always intertwined out on the field.  Training should work that way as well.

Big 4

For all of the transit movements, I still emphasize the Big 4 as I was introduced to from Loren Seagrave.  It is a breakdown that covers the different aspects of the movement as well as ties the rest of training to improving movement. This should be an entire post of it's own, but here is a quick rundown.

• 
  
  Big Force
• Small Time
• Proper Direction
• Optimal Range of Motion

Big Force

To propel the athlete significant forces have to be applied to the ground.  Drive harder may be the key for some athletes.  This means that we need to consider the strength qualities of; starting strength, rate of force development, max strength, relative strength and reactive strength.  The importance of each will differ with the transit modde, sport and conditions to some degree.  We will need to consider how we improve these qualities through drills, resistance training, and plyometrics.

Small Time

In sports, speed counts so applying that force in a small time, while in contact with the ground, is critical.  This requires the right strength qualities as mentioned above. Some athletes need to train to apply the forces faster.  Again this comes back to specific strength qualities and how we cue and emphasize certain movements.

Proper Direction

Force is a vector which means it has a direction as well as quantity.  Efficient and effective movement requires not just the right magnitude of force, but the right direction.  As we examine movement mechanics, especially multi-directional, the proper direction of application becaomes important.

Optimal Range of Motion

To move well an athlete requires the proper range of motion through their joints and soft tissue structures.  In many movements it's important to note that it's not the largest rom but the optimal.  In many sporting situations, having their feet close to the ground to react quickly and apply force is better than having them far away.

Linear

Sprinting is a pretty straight forward mode of transit, and breaking it down into acceleration mechanics and maximum velocity mechanics is understandable.  The mechanics of each phase is different and the need for each depends the sport and position. 

Acceleration

Overall the frequency of acceleration mechanics is much greater across many sports and positions.  If you have to move farther than one step you need to use some degree of acceleration mechanics. 

We will train this with basic mechanics drills that build specific strength, kinesthetic awareness and range of motion.  Wall drills, skips and harness work make up the bulk of this.

Then we have drills to elicit a specific training effect.  Sleds, hills, bounds, and plyometrics all can accomplish this by adding resistance or disrupting the current motor attractor landscape.  We also need to create applied situation where the athlete can apply these parameters and develop the best movement solution for themselves.

Max Velocity
There are clearly cases where an athlete need to maintain higher sprinting speeds.  These max velocity mechanics apply when the athlete has linear momentum and they differ from acceleration.

Much like acceleration we will utilise diferent max v mechanics drills.  Not so much to create an exacting stereotype of movement, but to develop specific strength, local energy systems, kinesthetic awareness and range of motion.  We may use fast leg drills, step over runs, in/outs, and butt kick  to help the athlete develop new motor parameters.

For a neuromuscular training effect we will look to bounding, sleds, weight vests, slight inclines, and slight declines to acheive the desired effect.  many of these are used in contrast with unloaded efforts to not just have a training effect, but to enhance motor control as well.

In some cases moving fast for the field sport athlete is more tactically effective with a higher stride frequency.  A long stride length requires the feet are further from the ground for longer.  When in a sporting situation where an athlete may have to react to stimuli of opponents, objects, or changing environment, having their feet off the ground is bad.  If they can move close to the same speed but at a higher frequency and maybe lower amplitude, it may be advantageous.  This is one of the biggest differences between track speed and field speed.

In this case we will work on developing that from multiple standpoints.  First we will try to use various plyometrics drills that focus on developing reactive strength.  This will be required to be effective with a high turnover.  Then we will use high frequency based drills to emphasize turn-over.  Drills like stepover runs in the ladder, running into a ladder or spacing and maintaining speed, and 2-inch runs are a few examples.  Then we applying it.  Using live drills in which the athlete needs to react while moving fast wil help them find the best movement solution.

Backpedal
Somehow people always forget backwards when talking about linear speed.  We need to consider how athletes move backward.  There are usually two basic approaches; backward running and sliding.  Backpedal is a true "linear" movement relative to the hips and center of gravity.  Most backward sliding movements are actually more of a "lateral" movement because the hips have been turned even if the head and shoulders haven't.





The purpose again is to have a way of looking at the demands on the athlete so we can determine their training needs.  Next article we will cover the lateral categories of transit movements,

Multi-Directional Movements: Base Positions

As I have been outlining my Hierarchy of Coaching Success, we have started with the big picture and keep delving deeper.  As we got to outlining the strategy, I categorized multi-directional movements.

The "base" category really isn't movement, it's the exact opposite. It's important however because athletes are moving into and out of this position .  Many movements are initaited from a static or quasi-static base position.

Many coaches use the term athletic base to describe the common, closed stance, hip/knee bent, "ready" position.  You can see it through-out many different sports.  In this position we find that the athlete is standing with the feet, hips and shoulder in-line, and they are generally facing the action.  They usually have obtuse angles at the knee and hip with the shoulder slighty anterior to the knee depending on sport and relative body segment lengths.  Their weight is distributed to the ball of the foot and they are in a balanced position to react in any direction.

This isn't the only "athletic base" position however.  In many cases, setting up in an "open" or "split" position is advantageous to that sport or the next action needed.

The split athletic base is often used defensively when the athlete either wants to direct the movement and/or is likely to move in a certain direction.  Its also common as seen in the photos above as a position thats moved into to execute a sporting action.

So from a training perspecive this means a couple of things when I have analyzed a sport and know we need this.

Train to be in the position.  This means the athlete needs the range of motion, joint stability, and muscle strength to be the proper position for efficeint movement.  Mobility and strength work come into play.  Exercises like squats and lunges have a place in developing this.

Train to get into this position.  If the athlete is moving and has to get into a base position, there is the deceleration load on the body.  Training for the eccentric strength and stability demands can have a big impact on an athlete's performance.  We will do this through progressively demanding drills that use speed, assistance, reaction, and external loads.

Train to get out of this position.  Athlete's also need to get to the next demand and usually want to do it quickly.  Here we need to make sure they can generate a high rate of force development from the position with weight training, medicine balls, plypmetrics.  We also want movement efficiecny, so I will execute movement drills from these positions and may use; resistance, weight vests, and reactive conditions if appropriate.

Base positions don't seem exciting or sexy to train, but it's critical.  Many one on one battles are won and lost when an athlete can get into or out of a base position faster than another.  What base positions are your athletes in?  How do they get into and out of them?  Are they still doing it well near the end of the game?  These questions, and addressing the training needs will help your athlete.

Hierarchy of Success - STRATEGY

You have the overall attitude you bring to the table, you've developed a series of beliefs for your overall apporach to development, so now its time to talk about STRATEGY.  What do you want to work on?

1.Attitude
2.Approach
3.Strategy
4.Tactics
5.Execution

It's important here to differentiate strategy from tactics.  Strategy is WHAT you want to accomplish, tactics are HOW you are going to do that.  Using a sporting example, the overall goal is to win the game against the next opponent.  The strategy for that game then might be to stretch the field with longer passes because this team is strong against the run.  A specific tactic used in this strategy may be plays from a 4 wide receiver set with the tight end and running block having blocking assignments.  Strategy is the what, tactics are the how.

Talking in terms of coaching athletic movement, we need to define what we are going to try and do.  In developing the APPROACH, I talked about training movement, and using a  "guided discovery" approach.  In addition to training movement, I also want to develop the appropriate physical qualities.  The question now on both of those areas is; FOR WHAT?

To answer that I need to break down how athletes move.  In the broad picture, I'm going to focus on a universal approach for sports.

1. Analyze GROUND BASED sports

2. This does not apply to;

• Acrobatic
• Riding (cycling, snowboarding, etc...)
• Aquatic
• Combat Sports

Looking at most team sports as well as some individual sports we see more commonalities than differences in movement strategies.  Yes, there are specifics that depend on the sport, but there are only so many ways of moving the human body with our feet on the ground.

These are my categorizations of movement strategies.  This is what is going to drive how we train an athlete.  We look at the athlete, sports and position.  Consider the demands in these categories.  Then determine what it is that we should work on. 

We've developed this system over the years and were driven by by training athletes in a group setting.  Having a mix of athletes in a group, as well trying to follow some systemic approach to programing, made it essential to be able to work on categories as a whole, but differentiate aspects for specific athletes once they have basic proficiency.  Bottomline, its a system that allows us to train athletes with some degree of specificity when appropriate, in a group setting.

In upcoming posts, I will detail each category and go over examples.