Tag Archive: nfl combine

1. Good enough is big enough

   24th March 2016 11:54 am Leave a Comment

   Does size matter in sport?

   

   Ready to fight

   Two of the athletes I train have recently had selection issues because of their height with new coaches discriminating against them, in 2 different sports. Both athletes are strong, but need to develop more power and quickness. That isn’t the reason they are having difficulty. Both are very bright, with good game sense and are tough.

   Those things are difficult to coach. They are also qualities that are difficult to gauge on first meeting.

   Height is an obvious factor when you first start to coach someone. So the coaches have made snap judgements on an obvious factor, without really analysing the athletes strengths and weaknesses in a game. They can then build judgements to reinforce their own first impression “not strong enough in the tackle” , “needs to work on controlling the middle” are  euphemisms related to lack of height.

   I have seen enough taller players who have been pushed into playing positions, or are the next great white hope who have no game sense, and more importantly no desire.

   

   Michael Jordan

   Michael Jordan once said “Individuals win matches, teams win championships.”

   I would put the two athletes I train into any team I was coaching (although one is female, one male so a bit difficult in practice) because when the pressure was on, I know I could rely on them.

   The NFL combine is an example of fitness testing becoming a game in itself where unrelated activities are measured and players rated accordingly. Better to look at  a player’s tapes in high pressure games against tough opponents.

   Better still, speak to their coaches about their influence on people around them.

   As a coach it is important to continually analyse your players performance objectively, don’t label the athletes early on, and then continue to select based on that. Instead, look with fresh eyes, and see what is actually happening on the field from a neutral perspective.

   Its not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog.

2. NFL Draft and the combine

   10th December 2014 9:18 am Leave a Comment

   Does the NFL combine predict future playing performance?

   The NFL draft happens later this month- for geeks like me it is quite exciting to see who the Green Bay Packers recruit.

   As a coach it is amazing to see how much emphasis is put on the combine results and the fitness scores that happen there.

   The furore around the NFL combine bench press record is an example. Physical tools can be trained and developed, Players who are winners and make great plays under pressure at college level are harder to find. I know who I would rather have in my team.

   There is a lot of money to be made from camps and workshops to help improve combine scores – this is the physical equivalent of “cramming for the test“.

   What is worrying is how many of these draft choices become “busts” despite a massive amount of research going into their background, video tape analysis and interviews. Remember these are 20-22 year olds with an extensive playing background, and it is still difficult to predict who is going to make it.

   Now, try telling me that as a regional coach you can safely say that the 14 year old in your squad is, or is not ever going to make it.

   I doubt if Brett Favre has ever scored highly on any fitness tests, but it does give the S&C coaches something to do and to justify their position within an organisation.

3. What does Jack Wilshere have in common with a Dinosaur?

   4th December 2014 3:13 pm 4 Comments

   They both suffer from stress fractures!

   Poor old Jack Wilshere will be watching the Champion’s League Final from the comfort of his own home this week.

   Could he have helped Arsenal get to the final if he hadn’t suffered from a stress fracture in training?

   Physiotherapist Sarah Marshall looks at what we know about stress fractures and how to prevent them.

   The human problem

   Stress fractures in the human population were first reported in military recruits in the 19^th century. A stress fracture is an incomplete fracture and caused by a repeated overload to a focal point of bone.

   These injuries can occur in virtually any bone in the body but they are more commonly seen in weight bearing bones amongst runners and footballers e.g. tibia and metatarsals.

   There are many predisposing factors which can contribute to a stress fracture such as:

   • poor mechanics
   • muscle weakness / imbalance
   • training errors
   • poor footwear / training environment
   • inadequate nutrition (Vitamin D deficiency)

   Getting the diagnosis

   Stress fractures are often difficult to diagnose. Many athletes will have continued with their sport for many months before seeking medical attention. Some key things to consider are:

   • Pain will be localised to the fracture site and specifically tender on palpation.
   • Pain will be aggravated by the precipitating activity, becoming severe towards the end.
   • Swelling or bruising is not commonly seen.
   • An x-ray appearance is often normal although signs of repair can be seen at times.
   • MRI and CT scans are the investigation of choice.

   5 things to consider in management of a stress fracture

   1. Relative rest is the initial treatment of all stress fractures. If the stress fracture occurs in a weight bearing bone complete rest and / or a cast or walking boot may be prescribed for up to 8 weeks (or longer in more severe cases).
   2. The amount of recovery time and degree of rest will vary on the location, severity and healing response of the individual.
   3. Return to sport and activity must be a gradual process to enable the bone to adapt to an increased load again.
   4. Further use of investigations are not useful during this rehabilitative phase as they can be deceptive i.e. the fracture site can still be visible even when the bone itself has fully healed.
   5. Healing is best assessed clinically by the absence of tenderness on palpation and a pain free precipitating activity.

   What have Dinosaurs got to do with it?

   A study was published by Bruce Rothschild and other palaeontologists back in 2001 which studied and confirmed the presence of stress fractures in Theropod dinosaurs.

   They were able to conclude that Theropods probably sustained these overuse injuries in the lower end of their third metatarsals whilst holding struggling prey with its feet.

   Don’t train like a Dinosaur (Or Jack): Follow a correct training programme (see here)

   Always seek medical advice before commencing a running regime if you suffer from an illness or have a musculo-skeletal disorder or injury.

    Sarah Marshall 

4. Stuck in a training rut? 3 ways to get out.

   3rd October 2012 11:17 am Leave a Comment

   Practice Variability

   We all get stuck in rut sometimes: as coaches or athletes. All it takes is a tweak to get out. You can vary your training in 3 different areas:

   1. variability in the environment (surface, situation, location, equipment)
   2. task variability (change complex to simple, mirror image, backwards)
   3. variability in the body

   You don’t have to rewrite your programme, but a little variety will keep you fresh and adaptable.

5. Rest is rest.

   13th May 2010 1:52 pm 1 Comment

   There is a common theme amongst athletes: They don’t work hard enough when they are supposed to and they don’t rest properly when they are supposed to.

   You get a lot of “slogging”, instead of short, sharp hard, focussed sessions, followed by adequate rest and recovery.  This is a key cause of overtraining:long, slow monotonous training, with insufficient adaptation. Worse still, none of this actually helps improve sporting performance.

   As a Coach it is impossible to control what your athletes do out of your sessions, instead you have to try and influence.  A recent study on NCAA II athletes shows that 50% of them suffered from exhaustion at any one time! 

   This is ridiculous, and your first thought may be that the Coaches work them too hard. There are strict rules in the US colleges to prevent this from happening. But, looking at the report,  the athletes did an additional 3.78\ 4.43 hours of leisure\physical activity each week. This encroaches on their rest time and will of course lead them to being fatigued.

   Getting the athletes to work harder and more specifically is a first step to improving performance, equally important is getting them to manage their recovery properly.