Big Peeps Need Mobility Too

It is imperative to make the tall athlete mobile and strong. They need to train to move like their more modest-sized teammates; they need to be physically competent and well-rounded in their movement skills/patterns. It is a shame when tall kids get pigeon-holed into certain positions early in their career. They are capable of doing much, much more if given a process-oriented training plan and time to work with their bodies.

BTW, The Thin Man is literally busting out of his school pants and shorts these days. We don't focus on buns, not guns! Chris is up to 207 lbs and giving his older brother, Sean (Notre Dame sophomore rugby player, 6' 6" 230 lbs), a run for his money in the gym. Sean says he's got more than a little training to do back in South Bend before he can come back at Christmas break and hang with Chris.

USC Trojan men's volleyball coach Bill Ferguson will be in town in a few weeks to watch Chris practice. I think he will see a very different athlete from one he worked with this past July at the USA Volleyball camp in Florida.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Amen to that. Process oriented approach - seems like such a novel idea these days. Thanks for keeping us posted. Thanks as well for the Hex bar. I can't say enough good things about it. I just came back from the facility tonight after working with a high school sophomore soccer goalie. We've been able to get her right into the proper motion and mechanics from day one. Just a fantastic tool. Tim Clark
4:32 PM
AngieDSimplyMe said…
This is a great post. Thanks for addressing the subject.

Speaking of mobility.

I am currently working on hip flexor stretching using deep lunges and hamstring stretches. In your opinion, what stretches should be done every day, and what stretches should be done fairly often? And how much time should be factored into a workout for just stretching?

Thanks for the great blog.
Hope your kitten is better!
5:12 AM
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