I’m a coach of physical preparation at Victory Sports Medicine and Skaneateles High School, both of which are located in central New York state. In September 2010, Troy Green, the starting quarterback for our varsity team, suffered a fracture of the epicondyle in his right elbow. Going into his junior season, Troy, at six feet and 169 lbs, was able to bench press 185 lbs for one repetition and squat 245 lbs for three repetitions. He ran a hand timed 4.78-second 40-yard sprint and could throw a football 45 yards.
Troy underwent surgery in September and was unable to perform any type of physical activity until November. In November, his physical preparation was limited to lower body lifts, core work, and various jumps. After about five months of rehabilitation and rest, Troy was able to start a modified throwing and upper body lifting program in February.
At this point, I decided to contact Yosef Johnson, the owner of Ultimate Athlete Concepts, seeking Dr. Yessis’ help in evaluating Troy’s running, cutting and throwing biomechanics. Fortunately, Dr. Yessis agreed to work with us. This past week I accompanied Troy and our quarterbacks' coach to California to visit him.
Just prior to our trip, Troy weighed 198 lbs. He bench pressed 125 lbs for 20 repetitions, squatted 235 lbs for eight repetitions, and ran a hand timed 40-yard sprint in 4.7 seconds.
Initial visit
With my background in physical preparation, I was confident and excited to meet Dr. Yessis and learn from him firsthand. By contrast. Troy was a bit apprehensive because he didn’t know much about Dr. Yessis other than that he isn't a quarterbacks' coach at the collegiate or professional level. Dr. Yessis was kind enough to invite us to his house where he explained what was going to happen over the next two days. He said it would be a slow process, at least initially, in terms of breaking Troy’s many bad habits and changing his mechanics.
Dr. Yessis then explained some of what he’d seen of Troy on film, specifically what he was doing wrong mechanically with his throwing hand and how it helped lead to his injury. He then demonstrated how to fix the problem and told us what exercises Troy would be using to improve his throwing action. If you can understand technically what Dr. Yessis is saying, he has a very effective way of explaining things. At this point, I think Troy realized that Dr. Yessis knew his stuff and that he was going to be different from any other coach he’d ever met.
We then went down to an open park where Dr. Yessis filmed Troy throwing a football as well as sprinting and making cuts. For the next three hours, Dr. Yessis went through detailed descriptions of exercises and technique analysis with Troy. I stood by Dr. Yessis as Troy performed various exercises, and I thought I knew what I was seeing. However, once Troy was finished with whatever exercise he was doing, Dr. Yessis pointed out many little things I never would have thought to look for. After over 60 years of experience, it's as if his eyes have become 4000 shutter speed lenses that allow him to view things in slow motion and pick out the tiniest flaws imaginable.
Here are some highlights:
Afterward, we went back to Dr. Yessis' house where he showed Troy various exercises on the glute ham developer— which he invented by the way—as well as other assorted moves.
We came back the next day before our return flight to New York and reviewed many of the techniques and exercises we’d learned. Troy’s homework now is to review this every day when he’s mentally fresh. He needs to take his time while reviewing the moves, and if for some reason he comes to a point where he isn't getting the technique, he has to take a break and review it at a later time. Troy isn't permitted to throw a football or sprint for the next month. He’s only allowed to work on all the new exercises and techniques that Dr. Yessis taught him.
My experience thus far with this project has been amazing. I'm extremely blessed to be learning firsthand from Dr. Yessis. I’m excited to be part of this process, and I can’t wait to see Troy’s end results.