Functional Path Training

Step by Step

Adaptation to various training stimuli take time. You can’t force adaptation to happen faster than the athlete’s current level of trainability and physical capacity. You must be willing to go step by step Sometimes it is small baby steps forward, sometimes there are steps back and sometimes there are giant leaps forward. Have a system that defines the process, then trust the process and take it step by step.

Systematic Sport Development

Sport systems have always fascinated me, even before I started coaching. When I was in college, we played the great San Diego State Football teams coached by Don Coryell. It was obvious they had a system and played to that system and recruited players for that system. My junior year in college we had a clinic at Fresno State and the defensive line coach at San Diego State, John Madden, was the featured speaker. He gave insights into the system, how he selected players for the positions and what he did to develop them. Needless to say, that confirmed what I had seen on film and on the field, it left a deep impression on me of the need to have a system if you wanted to have sustained excellence.

At the same time, I watched Bud Winter’s great San Jose State track teams. The knock on them was they had talent, so it didn’t matter what they did. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bud Winter took that talent and refined it and developed it through a well-defined system. The lesson here to me as a young coach once again that even if you have talent it is only through a system can you maximize that talent.

My next exposure to a systematic approach to athlete development was the Bowerman system at University of Oregon. I would say that this had the biggest influence on my subsequent coaching regardless of the sport.

In 1969 when I stared coaching, I was interested in developing my own system that was eclectic or if you will a hybrid of the systems that I could study and that I had seen firsthand. The more I studied and observed I could see that consistent performance was a product of some kind of a system. Sometimes very rigid and clearly defined and other times less structured. The proof was always in the pudding. Systems beat chaos. Systems with talent produced repeatable sustained excellence.

52 years later I am still enamored by systems. I have developed and refined my system over the years. It has been a process. A system lends order and structure to enable the coach and athlete to focus on the process. A viable system is not rigid and confining, instead it is organic and liberating. It provides a framework to build on. They system was always designed to fit the athlete, not the other way around. The system revolves around a well-articulated philosophy and clear core beliefs that everyone lives by. If those core beliefs are not well articulated and practiced, you have no system

I urge you to take a look at your system and other systems. What can you learn from others? What are you doing well? What can you do better?

Competency before Capacity

So often when we start a training program, we immediately start on a path to developing capacity, which certainly we should do. Too often though in the search to improve capacity we sacrifice competence, especially sound movement competence. Competence must lead capacity to ensure that the qualities developed have the quality that will transfer to performance. It is not an either proposition, competence and capacity can be developed together, but is a delicate dance.

Focus on the Basics

Do you know the basics? What are the basics? What do you have to do to develop the physical qualities appropriate for the sport or activity you are training for? Everything I do now and have done for the past fifty-one years is grounded in the basics. I learned early on that if I deviated from the basics there was nothing but problems. It is straightforward and simple in concept but complex in application.

The basics start with with walking gait. In walking gait the arms and legs move in opposition along with a counter rotation of the hips and shoulders. Throwing, running, jumping, freestyle swimming is all based on gait. Therefore, when we look at what underpins the basics it is walking gait.

The basics are the building blocks of the foundation! Here are the basic qualities that you must develop and components that must be worked on:

Speed

         Start

                  Stationary

                   Moving

         Acceleration

                  To optimum speed in C of D sports

                  To maximum speed in Athletics

         Maximum Speed

         Speed Maintenance/Speed Endurance

Agility

         Recognition & Reaction

         Starting

         Change of Direction

         Stopping

Strength

         Relative

         Maximum

Strength Endurance

Power (Ballistic/Explosive)

         Plyometrics

                 Jump

Hop

Bound

         Throws

Endurance (Energetics – Anaerobic and Aerobic)

         Capacity

         Power

         Short Term (2 minutes or less)   Medium Term (2 to 5 minutes)  Long Term (5 minutes and longer)

                        (5 minutes and longer)

Flexibility/Mobility

         Static

         Dynamic

Recovery/Regeneration

Sleep

Nutrition

Hydration

Warm-up (Active/Dynamic)

         Appropriate for the activity being trained for.

The Functional Path Training Blog

This is the 15^th anniversary of my blog - https://functionalpathtraining.typepad.com/ I started it in August 2005 after I left the madness of six months with the Nike Oregon Project. Initially I started it to help get me in the routine of writing everyday so that I could finish my book Athletic Development – The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning. I finished the book and it was published in 2007.

I also used the blog to regain my focus on what was good about sport and training after what appeared to be a dream job turned into complete horror show. The Oregon Project experience was one of  the low points of my life. I learned a lot about corporate greed, cheating to beat the system to win medals. The blog has helped me move forward from those dark days. Through the blog I have connected with coaches that are coaching clean and fair and willing to learn. Someday if I ever write a novel it will be about those six months with the Oregon Project. The title will probably be A Dirty Shit Show.

For you loyal readers thanks for following me all these years. I hope I can keep stimulating thought and providing good information to make the best better.

Look for Connections

Always think toe nails to fingernails. I learned this from Wilf Paish, an English coach almost fifty years ago. If in doubt look for and train connections. Ankle to knee and hip to shoulder, shoulder to elbow, and elbow to wrist, the body is a link system. What you do in one link effects all other links. The link system is designed to reduce and produce force harmoniously in all three planes of motion. Sport movements are coordinated actions in pursuit of specific goals – throwing  a ball, propelling through the water, jumping high or far. All are the result of muscle synergies applied to the skill of the sport through directed practice. Get hip the shoulder and you can’t go wrong.

Track & Field Dual Meets - Some Thoughts

The dual meet was the cornerstone of an athlete’s development for years in track & field. For a variety of reasons, the dual meet has all but disappeared in track and field at all levels. I have heard all the arguments for abandoning dual meets and I didn't then or now ever agree with them. At the collegiate level the most prevalent argument is limited scholarships. What about getting walk-on’s? What about running less events instead of a full slate of events. Dual meets if used properly are keys to develop athletes, especially at the high school level. That gangly ninth or tenth grader given the opportunity to compete often turns into a smooth coordinated athlete as a senior. Without the opportunity to compete in dual meets how would you know and what would keep them motivated? At the collegiate level the opportunity to run multiple events or to compete in other events than your specialty is invaluable. Last but not least dual meet s are inexpensive to run. If scheduled properly travel is minimal, overnight stays are not necessary. It is very basic; the dual meet was the cornerstone of American success in Track & Field for many years. Not nostalgia but reality. Given the current reality the dual meet can be the salvation of the sport.

We will devote a future GAINcast to this topic with an emphasis on the developmental aspects of the dual meet. Your ideas and feedback is always appreciated.

Announcing GAIN Master Class Series

GAIN is a community of professionals eager to learn and willing to share ideas and information. This year was to be the thirteenth edition of GAIN at Rice University in June but the Covid 19 pandemic has forced a change in plans. We know we can’t recreate the unique live GAIN experience, instead we have created a whole new learning experience that takes advantage of the connectivity of the internet. I have always believed that adversity is opportunity in disguise. This is an opportunity to get out of our comfort zone and present a unique educational experience in an interactive format – the GAIN Master Class. This will not be another webinar with someone talking over PowerPoint. Instead we will have an interactive format with a featured presenter along with a panel of experts. The goal of each Master Class is to provide the highest quality actionable information, information you can use and apply now. There will be one class a month for twelve months. The topic areas will address the four areas of athletic development - Physical Education, Strength & Conditioning, Athletic Medicine & Sport Science​ - featuring experts who can connect disciplines and ideas across domains.

If you are hungry to learn, to be challenged and be comfortable with being uncomfortable, the GAIN Master Class is for you. As we proceed, we will seek your input, we will adapt, we will change to make it better for you, the learner. We promise we will not have someone reading slides to you for an hour. Each Master Class will have a plenary presentation, an expert panel, discussion groups, and exercise /training demonstrations. GAIN has never been about more exercises, sets, reps and training methods. It is about passionate people who pursue excellence with honesty, integrity and respect to make a difference in the lives of the people we coach and teach.

There will be sixteen master classes. The first class is free, open to all. The cost for a season pass is $499.99 or $55.00 for an individual session. In addition, each moth the attendees will receive a digital packet of information pertaining to that months Master Class. Contact us at [email protected] for group or institutional rates. To learn more about GAIN Master Class go to https://thegainnetwork.com/events/gain2020/ or call 941-378-178. Enroll Now! Don't miss out on this career changing experience.

 

Learn about GAIN

Don’t miss out on GAIN 2020 June 16 to June 20 at Rice University in Houston Texas. GAIN is open to Strength & Conditioning/Athletic Development coaches, Sport Coaches, Physical Therapists, ATC’s, Chiropractors, Doctors and Physical Education teachers. Those who attend are professionals seeking career advancement & renewal through a networking experience and who are interested in getting out of their comfort zone. https://thegainnetwork.com/  Application open January 15. To learn more about GAIN take some time to watch my opening State of GAIN presentation for 2019. https://thegainnetwork.com/video/state-of-gain-2019-gambetta/

Simple Training Rules

Have a Plan, Execute It, and Evaluate It

Build the Complete Athlete

All systems work together

Train all components all the time - Use It or Lose It

Fundamental Movement Skills Before Specific Sport Skills

You Are What You Train to Be

Build the Athlete from the Ground Up

Train Postural Strength & Stability with Core as the Center of the Action

To Be Fast You Must Train Fast

Build an appropriate Work Capacity Base for the Sport

Train Toenails to Fingernails

              Train Movements not Muscles

              Train Multi Joint

              Train Multi Plane Movements

Training is Cumulative - Win the Workout