Weekly Letter Part Two of a Four Part Series The CAP Athleticism Development Program (Levels Program) Defined The developmental curriculum used to advance our athletes in the CAP program seems to be a misunderstood aspect of our training. Athletes ask every day, “What level am I in, and how do I move up?” This 4 part series of weekly articles will walk you through the levels process by introducing you to the standards and expectations that we have for the athletes within each level. Hopefully this will clarify some of our procedures and expose the steps we are taking to redefine modern athletics! Level 2 – Defined Once the Level 1 program as been successfully mastered, the athlete will move to the Level 2 classes. The Level 2 classes are where we start to develop strength . By strength I am not just referring to muscle hypertrophy or “body building”, but rather a confidence and control through movement . The term “Functional Strength” has become somewhat of a cliché, but what we are referring to is having enough strength to confidently control the deceleration phases of athletic movement . By athletic movement we are referring to landing, cutting, throwing, hitting, etc. So to sum up the focus of Level 2 classes: The athlete will develop enough strength to confidently control the deceleration phases of athletic movement. How do we do this? How do we control something so chaotic and fast? It all starts at the joint level. By perfecting the movements and stabilizing the joints, as we did in Level 1, we can now focus on strengthening the movements of the joints. Take landing for instance. When you grab a rebound in a basketball game and are on the way down with the ball. How fast you overcome the forces acting on your body will determine how fast you can get back off the ground to score. If you land with your knees shooting forward (Incorrect positioning discussed in Level 1) you are not efficiently controlling that force, and are now out of position to create enough vertical power to get back off the ground quickly. If you are strong in the hips, core, and upper legs, and have the confidence to use your hips (through drill and strength repetition) you will land, absorb the force quickly and be in position to get back off the ground with no wasted time, energy or effort. Core strength and stability dominate the Level 2 classes. Every exercise we do we are emphasizing the core's involvement in the movement. Squatting (landing strength) for instance can be a great core strengthener, but if done incorrectly, can be a damaging exercise to both the knees and back. We teach squatting with dumbbells and barbells as a core strengthening exercise, by emphasizing the increased abdominal pressure, and abductor activation to stabilize the lower back. Lunging mechanics mimic the squat and are closely related to both the landing movements as well as the cutting movements. We position the athletes over the front leg so that the “loading” of the deceleration movement is felt and reinforced. This not only puts a greater emphasis on strengthening the hamstrings and glutes, but unloads the rear leg and knee and allows it to be used as an accelerator when we begin cutting drills. We want the athletes to gain confidence in this level. We want them to feel comfortable with the dumbbells and the bar. We want them to jump, land, and cut aggressively by loading the hips and not the knees. We want them to feel strong going into a cut, down into a squat or in a defensive stance on the court. But Level 2 is not just about strength, it is also a preparatory Level. We need to prepare the body to use this strength explosively (Level 3). We set this up by incorporating the foundations of Olympic lifting. We don't teach the Olympic lifts directly in this level, instead we set a foundation for them by teaching the triple extension (ankle, knee and hip) movements of high pulls, muscle snatch and jump squat. We want them to have an “understanding” of power and velocity. We are not loading down these movements, but more accurately we are perfecting these movements from a neuromuscular level. For an athlete to become powerful (Level 3), he or she needs to develop efficiency in the recruitment and coordination of the muscles and the movement patterns they control. A strong athlete is just strong, but a powerful athlete can be dominating. To move into Level 3 the athlete must demonstrate knowledge and a confidence of the program. They must be an active part of their own development through communication and progression. Athletes must know that it is more accurately the EFFORT and not the EXERCISES that will produce results. Level 3 CAP athletes don't just go through the motions; they control the motions and dictate the outcome. Scott Moody |
||
| © 2006 Centers for Athletic Performance | ||