Thomas Stringwell

The ability to perform rapid speed and agility maneuvers within an ever-changing chaotic environment are great in sport. Such movement skills place large biomechanical and neuromuscular demands upon the body, all of which can be enhanced via the implementation of effective speed and agility training. Therefore, the aim of this short course is provide performance coaches with a greater understanding of the biomechanical and neuromuscular demands of acceleration, maximal running velocity, deceleration and change of direction performance, and how each of these vital performance qualities can be improved using an evidence-based multi-disciplinary approach.

The ability to produce large power outputs and rapid rate of force development is paramount in sport. Plyometric training is an effective form of power-based training, improving an athlete’s ability to rapidly store and recoil elastic energy within the musculotendinous unit, perform explosive movements and run with greater running economy. However, several factors need to be considered when implementing plyometric training including exercise selection, plyometric pre-requisites, plyometric progressions, and ensuring the biomechanical demands of the sport are replicated. Therefore, the aim of this short bite-sized course is to provide coaches with a greater level of clarity on the correct periodisation and programming of plyometric training. Over four modules, the concepts of plyometric exercise selection, plyometric training categories including concentric dominant, tendon compliance and tendon stiffness plyometrics, a meso-cycle design, micro-cycle design, the periodisation of plyometrics using a linear and undulating model are all explained, with working examples provided in real world coaching practice. Plyometric training to improve horizontal, vertical, multi-directional and throwing / striking performance are all explored.

The squat exercise is a fundamental lift within strength and conditioning and performance training, improving an athlete's ability to generate greater ground reaction forces and to produce higher torque magnitudes at the ankle, knee and hip, all of which contribute significantly to acceleration, maximal sprint, vertical jump performance and more. However, the performance of a squat and all its variants requires optimal ankle, knee and hip mobility, trunk stabilisation and strength, lumbopelvic control, and potential technique modifications depending on individual biomechanics. Therefore, the aim of this short course is provide performance coaches with a greater understanding of the squat mechanics, including potential mobility restrictions and stability limitations, individual anthropometrics which may affect squat performance, and training strategies which can be implemented to squat movement quality. Furthermore, squat periodisation and how to improve squat strength performance is also explored, providing detail on linear vs undulating squat periodisation, block periodisation, accentuated eccentric training, cluster training, squat variants, squat assistance exercises and overall program structure.

Olympic weightlifting performance requires many physical performance qualities, including extension strength within the ankle, knee and hip extensors, positional strength within the spinal extensors and torso muscularity, explosive rate of force development and power outputs, mobility, flexibility, and the ability to rapidly stabilise the body. All of which have a significant transfer to sports performance. Such a positive performance transfer make the Olympic lifts and their different variations a valuable training method within a strength and conditioning coaches performance training tool box. However, the technical and performance demands of Olympic weightlifting require a large commitment on behalf of the athlete and the coach, along with a sound knowledge of how to effectively progress an athletes Olympic weightlifting ability. Therefore, the aim of this short course is to educate performance coaches on the effective programming of Olympic weightlifting, both within the field of strength and conditioning, and within the sport of Olympic weightlifting itself, providing clarity on how to improve an athletes Olympic weightlifting performance.

Maximal Aerobic Speed (MAS) based intervals is a unique metabolic conditioning training methodology, allowing programmed intervals to be pre-set to a percentage of an athletes vVO2max or MAS. Like all forms of interval training, MAS allows an athlete to train at higher intensities by performing repeated high intensity efforts intermitted with short recovery periods, allowing for a greater total volume of work to be performed at high intensities. MAS training is an extension of traditional interval training methods, as the metabolic demands of MAS training are specific to an individual’s aerobic capacity. The quantification of the metabolic demands when implementing MAS training allows an athlete to train at higher intensities with greater precision, therefore providing a means of measured progress.

The need to produce large ground reaction forces and muscular torque is vital within sports performance, directly effecting an athletes ability to accelerate (McBride et al, 2009), jump (Nuzzo et al, 2008), change direction (Spiteri et al, 2014), strike an object or opponent (Kibler, 2009), with stand collisions (Baker and Nance, 1999), and perform within endurance sports (Ronald et al, 1997). Furthermore, explosive power performance is laid on a foundation of strength, enhances the neuromuscular systems ability to produce large power outputs. To improve an athletes force/torque generation capability, coaches need to ensure strength training is correctly periodised within the overall performance programs. Therefore, the aim of this short course to provide coaches with a guide to designing effective strength programs within athletic performance and general populations alike.

Motor learning is the process of learning a new skill or ‘skill acquisition’. This occurs at a psychological and physiological level and is vital within athletic development and sports performance. The process of learning a new skill is of great interest to cognitive psychologists, as the acquisition of a new skill involves the processing of information. Physiologically, the performance of a skill involves a synergist collaboration between the neuro-muscular- skeletal bodily systems, with movement quality improving as the synchronisation of motor unit recruitment, rate coding and muscle contraction timing becomes more efficient. At this point movement becomes autonomous or subconscious, allowing athletes to perform optimal movement at a subconscious level. Therefore, this short course aims to explore the fascinating field of motor learning, combining the science of neurology, physiology and psychology to improve our understanding of how we learn new skills, and ultimately, our overall coaching practice.

In recent times, scientists and coaches have shown an increasing interest in the long – term development of young athletes. It is now widely accepted that children and adolescents require an independent and alternative approach to adults, when attempting to enhance physical abilities. Research has previously documented the importance of not treating children like “miniature adults” due to their varying maturation rates and hormonal profiles. The aims of this webinar series is to educate practitioners on the key concepts of long-term athletic development, providing coaches with a greater understanding of how to properly train and progress youth athletes into adulthood. The series will explore the significance of physical literacy and fundamental movement skills, address the controversy of resistance training within youth populations and, outline a model for long term development based on current scientific literature.

It is important as practitioners that we appreciate that injuries will occur in sport, regardless of what measures are put in place. The reason for this inherent injury risk is biomechanical and physiological demands that sport places upon the body, often for prolonged time periods under fatigue conditions. Furthermore, sport is very chaotic in nature, with many in-control variables that can increase the risk of injury including collisions, unplanned directional changes in reaction to a competitive stimulus, ambient temperatures, defensive manoeuvres, attacking manoeuvres, etc. It is also important that strength and conditioning practitioners understand that an increase in athlete performance by default prevents injuries in athletes by creating a robustness to injury. A stronger athlete is able to absorb landing forces more efficiently by a co-contraction of the local joint muscularity, therefore distributing the mechanical load across the musculotendinous tissue (Holmes and Delahunt, 2009) . An athlete with an adequate concentric quadriceps to eccentric hamstring ratio will be able to effectively reduce shearing forces at the patella tendon upon landing by creating a posterior force upon the knee via an eccentric co-contraction at the hamstrings, etc. (Myer et al, 2008). Therefore, the aim of this short course is to provide coaches with a greater understanding of the epidemiology of many common sport injuries, and what we can do as coaches to help prevent such injuries.