Functional Path Training

The Planning Process - Steps in Designing a Training Program

I am not saying this is the only way, but it is a method that works for me in my system. It is definitely more qualitative than qualitative. We won the regional championship and finished fourth in the state championship.

 

Steps in Designing a Training Program

Venice VB Training Program for 2009

 

I thought this would be helpful to you if I shared the process I use to begin designing a new training program. It is blend of art and science with heavy dose of experience thrown in. It is important to remember that this is the beginning of the third year of working with this team. The rising seniors and a couple of the juniors are at a relatively advanced training age and have an excellent work capacity. This will enable me to do some advanced work with them. This will be the first year we will have access to the weight room, the past two years we trained in the parking lot. I have mixed feeling about this. The parking lot made us tougher, we had to improvise and endure the elements. I am concerned about distractions in the weight room. I will evaluate this immediately and adjust accordingly.

 

Step #1 - Meet with head coach

Review last season

Competition results and schedule

Review Training

Evaluate individual players (Subjective)

Go over potential position changes in 09

Determine goals (Training emphasis for 09)

         Individualize more

         Significantly improve jumping (Both approach & block)

         Improve hitting power (Arm speed)

         Emphasize Quick Speed (Court Coverage)

         More explosive power

Determine Athletic Development Themes

         One step at a time or Faster, Higher, Stronger

         We will discuss with the team and get their input.

I will develop a performance Handbook that each player will          receive in the spring. It will detail goals and workouts.

 

 

Step #2 - Review sport demands and any rule changes that could affect style of play.

This may seem obvious but I never take anything for granted. If nothing else this keeps me on target.

 

Step #3 - Review sports science and training literature for anything new.

I want to make sure that any techniques we are teaching reflect the most current research.

 

Step # 4 - Look at club and school schedule for 09

This is still being finalized but I know when districts and state playoff are so that I can plan back from there.

 

Step #5 - Classify Competitions

         Developmental

         Important

         Crucial

This will not be done until the summer or when the school schedule is completed

 

Step #6 - Determine Key Dates

Spring break (Two training days – One with me & one with captains)

Mid Terms  & Finals (Back off significantly here)

Auburn Team Camp

 

Step # 7 - Evaluate last year’s training

Number of days – Essentially this went as planned, really nailed it in-season

Content – Needs improvement. Need to do better job of grouping the players.

In January we will train Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. In February will add another session on Wednesday. In the spring club workouts are Sunday afternoon, Tuesday and Wednesday night.

 

Step # 8- Determine testing and need for testing

I will not do the amount of testing that I would like. This is simply due to the fact that I cannot be there all the time and I have no one to help me. Therefore, I have to use training as testing. We do some sort of balance single leg squat work daily in warm-up so that is daily diagnostic. I use their progress in single leg squat and their ability to handle the progression as feedback as to their training progress. I want to video more and use Dartfish, but once again it is a matter of time.

 

Step # 9  - The Plan

Block One – Foundation (January 12 – February 28)

Theme: Reestablish the Base and Routine of Training

 

Block Two – Basic I (March 2 – April 10)

Theme: Get Strong

 

Block Three – Basic II (April 13 – May 15)

Theme: Get Fast

 

Block Four – Build-up I (May 18 – June 26)

Theme: Power Up

 

Block Five – Build-up II (June 29 –July 18)

Theme: Tune Up

 

Block Six - Pre Competition (July 20 – August 7)

Theme: Get Functionally Fit

 

Block Seven – Pre-season (August 10 – August 30)

Theme: Get Specific

 

Block Eight – Early Competition (August 31 – October 11)

Theme: Sharpen and Focus

 

Block Nine – Late Competition (October 12 – November 1)

Theme: Recharge the Battery & Fine Tune

 

Block Ten – Peak competition (November 2 – November 21)

Theme: Go For the Gold!

Getting Strong - Step by Step

Getting strong is relatively easy, but preparing to get strong is hard. This is not to demean or disparage anyone's ideas, rather it is reaction to what I have seen throughout my career. It is easy to get someone on a strength training program and load them up and make very significant measurable strength gains on traditional exercises in relatively short periods of time. There is nothing wrong with traditional exercises, we need them and they have a place. What I have seen though is a lack of an investment in preparation to get strong. This previously came from traditional physical education which included a myriad of movement skills that emphasized the ability to handle body weight in many different positions and angles. To prepare to get strong demands starting with the ability to handle bodyweight exercises and building across a continuum progressing the heavy external loading appropriate for the sport or activity you are training for. It is a process, slow and methodical in most cases. With post pubertal boys who have a huge anabolic advantage the temptation is to load them quickly. Even though they respond quickly, this is a mistake. Taking a year or longer to carefully and methodically progress and learn and master correct technique will result in significantly greater strength gains in the long term. In addition it will serve to protect the athlete from injury. I like to think of it as an investment in long-term strength gain. Build structural strength, great joint integrity, and sound technique but also be sure to develop other athletic qualities in parallel to the strength development. This is not revolutionary, it is common sense give a little at the beginning and get a lot at the end.

Ultimately we have to get them strong and to do that you need external resistance. If the sport demands that you move another person or propel a heavy object then those demands are different than if you are preparing to hit a golf ball. The girls on my volleyball that have gone through the progression were all able to squat 11/2 their bodyweight. Is that necessary to be a great volleyball player, I am not sure, but one thing I do know is that their ability to handle jumping loads has increased significantly. In some cases it took three years to get to that level, in another one year. It really depends on the adaptability and trainability of the athlete. In summary to get them strong invest in the preparation necessary to get them strong.

 

The Challenge

I woke up this morning reflecting on the workouts this week with the Venice Volleyball girls. It was perhaps the most impressive week of workouts they have done in the four years I have been working them. They are getting very strong. (All can squat 1.5 times bodyweight) Yet this is the time of the training year when I get uneasy. Why? Simply, because as I have said many times it is relatively easy to get strong, but more difficult transferring that strength to the game. That is our challenge going forward. I am thinking of many different ways that I can accomplish this with this group. I am going to use Myotest more to emphasize bar speed and power production on jumping (The problem is we only have Myotest). We have two more weeks of this phase where I will put the final touches on max power and begin transitioning to more specific movements. I am working on an individual player improvement plan where each girl will get specific homework to address individual needs. In the next phase we will have our biggest emphasis on jumping and on quick speed (court coverage). This is the only window of time when they are not practicing volleyball, so this offers the opportunity to work on jumping mechanics. I guess this is where the art and science get balanced out.

Using Time

Geno Auriemma certainly makes it clear that he thinks stretching is a complete waste of time. How about taking a minute and look at other time wasters that have crept into our training methodology? How about foam rolling before workout as part of warm-up? A complete waste of time, in my book it is very similar to static stretching before workout, a calming not an activating effect. Think about it this way. If you roll for five minutes a day with your team as part of warm-up and you train five days a weeks, that is 25 minutes a week. 25 minutes that could be devoted to improving some significant aspect of their athletic development. Take it a little further. That is 100 minutes a month. If you train ten months a year that is 1,000 minutes! Think of all the ways you could better use that 1,000 minutes. Look at your workouts and do a through analysis of what you are doing, and why you are doing it. If you have one hour to train, like I do with my volleyball team, I want 60 minutes of total involvement, no fluff, no rolling on the floor doing mindless movements. Each of those 60 minutes should be another step toward greatness. Each step must have a purpose.

Venice Volleyball Pre-match Warm-up

Somehow I may have stumbled into the 21st century. This is my first attempt at posting video. (I was born twenty years to early to mater this on the first try) The following video clips show the stages of our pre-match warm-up. Warm-up begins with coordination, followed by lunge and reach series, lateral slide and block jumps at the net and then short burst sprints. Specific warm-up with the coaches follows, it focuses on volleyball skills. The elements of this warm-up are included in the daily pre-practice warm-up. the content of the warm-up varies with the goal of practice. This is a warm-up routine that I have been using for at least thirty five years at all levels of sport and with various sports.

What a Day! Venice Wins in Three – Regional Champions!

What a tremendous team effort, we defeated Clearwater in three games to advance to state championship Final Four Wednesday night in Lakeland. We will play Leon High School of Tallahassee, a team that we split with during the regular season. We came out of the blocks in the first game smoking, it was the best game I have seen the team play in my three years working with the team. Warm-up carried right into the game (more on that in a later post). I feel fortunate to be part of this program. Brain Wheatley the head coach gave me the opportunity three years ago to begin working with his program. Frankly this group of coaches and kids reignited my passion for coaching. I just hope that all of you sometime in your careers get the opportunity to work with a group of kids as focused and dedicated as this group. Now to refocus on the goal , the state championship, I compare it to a high hurdle race (each hurdle is a match), we have cleared the eighth hurdle, we can see the finish, but we have to execute a great three steps (win three games) to set up clearance of the ninth hurdle. We are almost there.

Venice Volleyball – Another Giant Step Forward

Last night Venice defeated Naples Gulf coast in three games to advance to the regional finals on Saturday afternoon at home. That put us three matches from our of a state championship. This group of your ladies has dedicated themselves for three years to reach this goal. Jillian Allen, the young lady squatting in the picture epitomizes our team, she is focused, dedicated and intelligent, a leader on the team and in school. I preach that what you in April pays dividends in November. Last night Jill had two tremendous blocks in the middle that directly reflected some jumping mechanics we worked on last spring.

The First Step

Last night Venice Girls volleyball won their eighth straight district volleyball championship. This is the first step toward the state championship. We have had November 19 circled on our calendar for a year. This year these young ladies will not be denied. It was so cool just to be able to sit and watch as they clinically dismantled the other team in 55 minutes. It was really neat to see the speed and quickness that we had worked so hard to develop back in April come together now. In so many ways I am in awe of these young ladies focus and dedication. Everyone works hard, but they have worked with a focus and a direction for three years. For me it was all summed in one play where our setter, Taylor Capaso, all 5’21/2” of her went up and just killed the ball right between two girls who were both 6”1”. They were three to four inches taller than us across the front line, yet we consistently hit through and over them as well as consistently blocked their shots. Our girls can jump!First game of playoff is Tuesday - onward and upward.

SpikeKey Beach Annual

If you have any interest in beach Volleyball or for that matter volleyball in general download the 2009 SpikeKey Beach Annual at http://tinyurl.com/spikekey09 Megan Wallin one of the players that I work with did a tremendous job putting this together from getting sponsors, to layout, to content – it is excellent.

Venice VB Update

We  just started our third block of the 09 off - season training program. The progress these young ladies have made has been nothing short of spectacular. This is really a special group.They attack their training with gusto,but most importantly with concentration and fierce intensity. They have build a tremendous foundation to move forward. This is the third year in the program for our core group of rising seniors. The progress of this group affirms that training is cumulative. We have been able to incorporate some fairly sophisticated training because they have such a good foundation. I have incorporated the concepts pioneered by French sport scientist Giles Cometti,arrticulated in his book La Pliometrie. Explosive power has significantly increased and will continue to increase. We are just strating on the "Get Fast" theme so we will have to incorporate more intra workout recovery to insure the quality. Another big factor in the step up in the training is the move from training in the parking lot to an actual weight room. I love weight rooms without walls,but a real weight room affords capabilities way beyond what were
able to do outside. These girls are on a mission, it is fun  to be along for the ride. The highpoint of my day and week is when I get to work with this group. They remind of a group I had at Santa Barabara Hi gh school in the mid 19 70's.