What is a Quick Flip?

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From elitefts™ Q&A

Mark,

Thanks for all the information you post for elitefts™ and strength and conditioning in general. As you know, NCAA has many stringent rules regarding time with the Strength and Conditioning Coach. Is there anything you would have done if you were an athlete on your own time during the offseason to make the most out of your training? In terms of nutrition, regenerative, or even “extra workouts.”

Thanks.

Scotty,

That is a great question. Believe me, I understand the battle with NCAA rules. There are a few dilemmas for coaches. The DI and DII strength coaches always fight the battle with the sport coaches about the eight-hour rule.

Eight hours of TEAM training a week, when you think about it, SHOULD be enough to enhance the physical development for any sport. I would always laugh at the DI guys who would complain that they only had eight hours to train their athletes. My full time position at the DI level (I interned at Tulsa and Ohio State) was at West Point, so we were in a different situation (even from the other academies). If you can’t properly train an athlete for success on the field in eight hours, then you are not a very good coach. Sorry.

But, to the the strength coach at a scholarship school, the sport coach can take a huge chunk of that time. Organized shooting, hitting, skill development sessions, etc. can dig into the time you have to train them physically. I am more empathetic.

Open vs. Closed Skills

Remember, the more technical the skill requirements for the sport, the less physical development requirements. Especially for sports with closed skills like free throw shooting, driving a golf ball, swinging a bat, etc. These are skills that need to be replicated consistently. But does the sport coach need to be there? Can the athlete do this on his/her own?

Open skills are more unstructured and would include playing defense (in any sport), pass blocking, fielding ground balls, etc. These skills have other external factor effecting their outcome and are replicated in more small side games, or open gym type activities. Even if the sport coach was allowed to be there, is it necessary? The creative component of unstructured play is the most relative skill acquisition for these activities.

Off-Season

As far as spending time training on my own during the off-season, here are my thoughts:

1. I didn’t know what I know now, but I did what I could with the knowledge I had.

Mostly it was from Powerlifting USA and DeepSqautter.com.

2. I didn’t work as hard as I should have.

Being a former marine and not being as mentally tough as I needed to be, I could have done more. If anyone tells you that mental toughness (if there is such a thing) doesn’t happen through experience they are wrong. I was the biggest offender of getting caught up in the recovery conundrum. I needed to recover in between session and I totally skipped the part about work capacity.

What exactly did I need to recover from? Squatting above parallel for shitty reps? Sprints from 5.0 forty? Benching 225 for 25 reps and thinking I was strong with my big belly and T-Rex arms? Seriously, I didn’t do enough to worry about recovering. I should have drunk less beer and not let the 31 roommates (yes, 31) dictate how I prepared for college football.

3. I was a stubborn MFer.

I was almost offended by linear periodization. If Louie or Dave didn’t write about it then it wasn’t right. The more I learned the more I realized I didn’t know. At the time, I was the typical asshole that was under-educated and over-opinionated. Our off-season cycle was seven workouts over a three and a half week period, four days a week. So we would max out every three and a half weeks after squatting and benching twice per week. Just like every program, it would have worked, for a while, if I would have given it a chance. I was a 23 year old former marine freshman and maybe I didn’t recover as well as the non-walk-ons with some athletic ability. I will never know. Just like all periodization is linear and non-linear. They all process bought characteristics. Meg Ritchie Stone has talked about that many times.

Needs Assessment and Programming

So, here is what I would do. This all depends on your current programming, how it's structured, etc. It is all dependent on three factors:

A. How much rest there is between sessions.

B. What training modalities are not being addressed by the programming.

C. What your individual needs are as an athlete.

Based on needs and assuming these modalities are not being addressed:

Intensive Conditioning

Extensive Conditioning

  • Tempo Runs
  • Sled Drags

Plyometrics and Ballistics

  • Be careful with CNS fatigue and total volume of jumps and throws. Especially if you coaches is already incorporating Olympic lifts in your program.
  • Box Jumps
  • Med Ball Throws
  • Skater Jumps

Speed Work

  • Low incline Hill Sprints
  • Stair Bounds
  • Sled Sprints

Posterior Chain

Abdominals

  • Pull-Down Abs
  • Pallof Press
  • Planks on SB

Triceps

  • Lying DB Extensions
  • Push-Downs

Grip

Shoulder Stability and External Rotation

Recovery

  • Mobility Drills (Thoracic Spine, Ankle, Hip)
  • Foam Rolling
  • Ice Baths
  • Band Stretching

The key thing with extra workouts is that they should enhance your main sessions. Use them to aid with recovery, build work capacity and to address weak points.

Let me know if you need anything else. I hope this helped, Scotty.

 

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