While writing this, on the day after the NCAA National Championship Game, I tweeted: It really seems like last night was a tipping point. And it truly feels like something happened, where things will never be the same again. 66 320 pound offensive tackle Alex Leatherwood threw the shot put 493 in high school. This approach makes a lot of sense. Everyone recruits track athletes. On Tuesday, Nick Saban officially announced David Ballou and Matt Rhea as the newest additions to the Crimson Tide coaching staff. Watch Dr. Rhea inspire his student-athletes to go FAST during speed training sessions that apply the 1080 Sprint in this dynamic, two-minute video available here on Youtube. Its refreshing to know I dont need to shave my head, wear a shirt thats too small, wave a towel and pull the head coach back from the field to the sideline to be considered a quality S&C coach. Basketball- 34% As for sprinting, is there any correlation between the 100m dash and the ability of an offensive lineman to hold off the charge of a defensive lineman? Athlete performing a resisted lunge, with Rhea using resisted and assisted lunges as part of his return to play process. The athlete is doing the lunge, but its accentuating the stability on the land. He is not afraid to step. In football, we know contact off the line of scrimmage happens in .45 seconds, said David Ballou, talking at IUs 2018 Media Day. My son went to Tennessee and remains a Vols fan. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); 1080 Motion is a Swedish company serving clients worldwide. I live in SoCal and I can echo the article most of the top players in this state all run track or play another sport. Among the offensive tackles attending the NFL Combine, straight line speed will punch their ticket to the first round, not the three cone drill. Did you know that the Iowa Hawkeyes are one [], Like every year, the NFL Combine and its main event the 40 yard dash brought excitement, amazement and [], The NFL Combine. The biggest reason why juniors dont play in our program is a lack of strength, not speed!. With everyone beating the bushes to find the fastest high school football players, the difference will become the training of those athletes at the college level. How do analysts ensure the data they collect will be beneficial to coaches and players? Matt Rhea, PhD Education and Training Dr. Rhea completed a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education (Southern Utah, 1998), a Master of Science in Exercise Science (Arizona State, 2001), a Doctorate of Philosophy in Exercise and Wellness (Arizona State, 2004), and a Master of Science in Sports Management (American Public University, 2016). Maximize your sports performance with advice from todays top coaches and elite athletes. and has, Chasing Watts and Shaving 40 Times at the RIG Academy, Matt Rhea, Robert L. Hunter, & Tony Hunter, David Ballou, talking at IUs 2018 Media Day, One of the lead things that transfers to the football field at the highest level is single-leg movements in the weight room. Say what you want, but 96 of every 100 NCAA football players did NOT wrestle. Matt Rhea was quoted in a Stack article, How a Unique Speed Training Program Flipped the Fortunes of Indiana Football, saying what makes him revolutionary: "The old adage you can't teach speed or you can't develop speed in guys at this level is just highly inaccurate." One week of poking, prodding, and testing potential talent from head to toe not just figuratively [], This site uses cookies small text files that are placed on your machine to help the site provide a better user experience. Filthy rich. Image 1. As they lunge forward, the machine is pulling them forward and they have to resist and stabilize with each step. The majority of track coaches in our country are not football people, they are from the cross country world. He advanced to a full professor of kinesiology at A.T. In addition, track specifically *improves* these traits. Thanks for reading, Dan. Dr. Rhea, Raheel Manji, Ethan Rhea, Kelen Rhea, Indiana University, 2019. Tyler Leising at Tracking Football provided me with some of Tracking Footballs data showing the multi-sport connection to Alabama recruiting: Since 2010, Alabama has sent 143 players to the NFL. This July, the number swelled to 32. Thats an average of 14.3 per year, meaning that on any given Alabama roster, theres probably 57 future NFL players. In order to justify the time and effort involved in collecting and tracking data, that data should have the capacity to support and inform decision-making; that being said, applying data to make the right decisions requires patience and perspective. The goal was to help football coaches to understand and prioritize speed and power. As I said in the article, I cant speak for all track coaches. Table 2. Rhea's research has also found a pure sprinting program with little-to-no resistance training isn't the best way to get faster, either. Click Here to experience a Free Performance Evaluation Session. As a sprint-based track coach (not a run-them-to-death track coach), I see my typical track athlete improve by 1.0 mph in any given block of training. It sounds simple enough, but almost every athlete exhibits some sort of significant flaw in their ability to do so. And even for athletes who cannot squat 1.7 times their body weight, their lack of strength is not the biggest deadweight on their speed. Classes range from 60 - 90 minutes. Center Chris Owens threw the shot 4610 in high school. Your email address will not be published. (All photos by David Rosenblum/Icon Sportswire.) Unlike the NFL, where the worst teams are awarded the top draft picks, the best college programs get multiple first round picks every year. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data. He provided direction to his clients in areas. @SuperstarWhop locked and loaded for a big comeback year. He has established a superb record of helping sports teams reduce injury rates and enhance performance through strength, power, and speed development. 65 320 and run the 40 in 5.45 = undrafted free agent. We utilize a velocity-based training approach focusing on light to moderate training loads at moderate to fast training speeds. The University of Illinois just replaced their S&C coach. Those 16 words could inspire a 5000-word article. Dr. Rhea has worked as a strength and conditioning coach at all levels including 8 years in high school, 4 years in college and 2 in the NFL. In some situations, athletes gain an edge with prescribed use of safe supplements. Only 44% of those athletes ran track. I would never discourage any high school sport. When @MattRheaPhD and @UA_CoachBallou went to Alabama, I told people that Alabama may never lose another game, says @pntrack. One of the advantages I have of working in a large team setting is being able to get 100 or more athletes on [a new technology] to accumulate data quickly. Velocity and Ground Contact for Cricket Bowlers with Steffan Jones, From a performance standpoint, I think most athletes really enjoy seeing performance data. Squat depth has been debated for years, and as the research and practice evolves, so does the strategy to better program and plan exercises. By collecting data on his athletes at the outset of training, Rhea then has comparative baselines to guide return-to-play protocols in the event of an injury. Another advantage that basketball and wrestling have over track is the pressure of going head-to-head with an opponent. Prior to Indiana, he was the head of sport science at IMG Academy, which is where he first collaborated with Ballou. But this begs the question, If strength isnt important for speed, why do so many elite sprinters continue to get caught for taking steroids? (And consider that some sprinters have taken steroids but avoided getting caught. The conventional resistance training group performed full-body resistance training 2 days per week, including the following exercises: Back squat, lunges, step ups, cleans, chest press,. Tony retired from teaching chemistry after 38 years in the classroom and has 39 years of coaching experience (football, basketball, and track). It is interesting to me that many refuse to raise the issue concerning the track v football debate! The new Illini S&C guy goes by the name of Tank. Tank got married in a college weight room. I can test a vertical jump and compare left leg and right leg single-leg vertical jumps to look at those kinds of ratios, Rhea says. So were seeing good speed improvement.. Within and between athlete va, Ola Eriksrud is not only an Associate Professor at, Resistance training, overspeed, change of directio, Training athletes with accurate, customized and re, Stu McMillan is co-owner and CEO of Altis. Or, more likely you dontthe record-setting hurdler ran the deep fly and not much else during the couple seasons he spent with the San Francisco 49ers before being replaced by a more dexterous and powerful route-runner (some kid named Jerry Rice). One of Dr. Matt Rhea's areas of expertise is speed training, and Alabama's new director of sports science has tweeted about the topics several times since joining the staff. Chain squat, Start at your current 5rm. Still University where he has taught courses in sport conditioning and exercise prescription for nearly 20 years. I went to the high school who has put the most players in the NFL and all through H.S. The light force production makes it laughable as speed developer. So you can focus on showing up, putting in the work, and basking in the glory of gains and PR's. Tap the button below to begin your journey today. We offer a variety of classes to meet the diverse needs of our athletes. For those athletes who are not so good on one foot, the obvious way to proceed is to give them more single-leg activities. What happens when speed becomes the priority and the weight room becomes a part of the plan, not the plan? Its estimated that 70 percent of all ankle, Achilles, knee, and hamstring injuries are non-contact. Table 1. Just as an example, if an athlete does a medicine ball throw and their power output is okay but it needs to be improved, then we might move to a lighter and faster and more explosive medicine ball throw.. Really fast athletes actually have a pretty good ratio during running of how much the quads are working and how much the hamstrings are working, says Rhea. Our science driven programs are challenging, efficient, and effective. Individualized training for greater speed development Sep 13, 2019 Rhea launched a consulting company in 2001 and helped NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL teams, International Olympic programs and college athletic departments. Or maybe have them do the high jump or throw the javelin, two wonderful sports but sports that have little transfer to football. I definitely think it helps from a confidence standpoint, and feeling comfortable getting back into regular training, and getting comfortable pushing themselves at a level that college football requires. Intermountain St. George Acceleration hosted Dr. Matt Rhea as he presented a FREE seminar, "Advanced Concepts in Speed Development: The Difference Between Fa. Maybe the guy has incredible insights on sprinting. Every football coach I know was a hard-working grinder as an athlete. More importantly, if you train them properly, you can make fast players faster. Never let today ruin tomorrow. Rhea Performance Systems was established in 2022 as a launching point for various sports performance and athlete development activities directed by Dr. Matt Rhea. Ballou identifies the ability to apply force into the ground with a single leg as the key to a majority of game-specific movements, further stating that One of the lead things that transfers to the football field at the highest level is single-leg movements in the weight room.. I know of college and pro football teams who have hired martial artists to help their linemen with techniques to improve their ability to block or break through blocks. Once we identify that, then thatdrives the training method.. Development (Ages 7-10) 4:30p - 5:30p & 5:30p - 6:30p. The slogan "Trust the Process" is a favorite of many coaches and trainers who want their athletes to buy into their methods or program. While increasing their max beyond that could certainly have a positive impact on other factors of athletic performance, it doesnt appear to independently contribute to further increases in speed. Training consultations and program design services are available. In general, cookies are used to retain user preferences, store information for things like shopping carts, and provide anonymised tracking data to third party applications like Google Analytics. Rather, it's a combination of resistance training,. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Please contact the developer of this form processor to improve this message. Train for wrestling with workouts that provide the explosive strength and power you need to take down an opponent. And, stop doing shit that makes players slow! It may not be prioritized to the liking of muscled-up football coaches, but sprinters are strong and get stronger. Well done article. By contrast, other athletes on the squad show strong numbers in the first ten yards of a sprint, but then after fifteen or twenty yards lack the max speed characteristic of their position group. Will NCAA college football teams continue to recruit speedthen neglect it? But if an athletes focus is football, especially for linemen, there may be better options than track. I get challenged daily by people who dont. Hi Kim. For example, I would never debate RDLs vs Bulgarian Split Squats because my weight room background is not that of an expert. Your take on the track-football connection flies in the face of NCAA recruiting and the NFL Draft. Thats literally what were trying to develop, is the ability of the muscles to contract and relax in a pattern that transfers to sprinting, says Rhea. Alabama will continue to recruit the best athletes in the country. His research focus and professional specialty is performance enhancement and injury prevention among athletes. Ive timed 210,000 max speed sprints in 21 years. By clicking submit below, you consent to allow 1080 Motion, Inc. to store and process the personal information submitted above to provide you the content requested. Connect you with world class coaches. Only about 30% of our training volume over an entire. This years Heisman Trophy winner, DeVonta Smith, was a track athlete and played high school basketball. Owners of private gyms in our area constantly tell kids that track reveals speed and does not improve speed. Football is generally a curvilinear speed sport, so very rarely are you sprinting in a straight line, Rhea says But, there are what I call wiring components on how the brain coordinates speed, and whether its applied in a linear fashion or curved running or field-based pursuit or evasion, a lot of those wiring elements are the same. Why? Some difference exists one month later but the asymmetry is becoming less and less noticeable. Our Performance Running adult athlete program is specially designed by our team to help improve stamina, strength, mobility, address and prevent both chronic and acute injuries, and dial in bio-mechanics. At STACK, youll not only get football-specific conditioning workouts, youll also find strength and power workouts from pros. (As strength coaches are fond of saying, Seven days without weight training makes one weak!) Translated, your promising sophomore fullback on the JV team who was used for blocking and short-yardage situations will be, after track season, at the same bodyweight going into his junior year on the varsity team facing much larger defensive players. S&C coaches and ball coaches with no experience in track and field are certain that track and field simply *reveals* athleticism. Learn More{{/message}}, {{#message}}{{{message}}}{{/message}}{{^message}}It appears your submission was successful. I agree with the value of encouraging high school athletes to play multiple sports, and certainly many successful college football players ran track in high school. Ive had kids improve by 6.0 mph in four years. When you look at the combined rosters of Alabama and Ohio State, 88% of the DBs, 83% of the WRs, and 75% of the RBs ran track. (The #1 best sport for building athleticism! And that dominance isnt always optimal for sports performance.. speed training, injury prevention and performance optimization to clients in the NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, International Olympic programs and top collegiate athletic departments. Just because you want it to be true, doesnt make it true. Every sprint coach I know values strength and values the weight room. Comparing left to right ratios in single-leg movements is also something that I see as a great value of the 1080 Sprint. So Ill watch how stable they are on their repaired leg versus the healthy leg, watch how they move, and I just use the machine to provide the stress of that anterior shift that the ACL is trying to prevent.. The athletic recruiting process is a lot like dating, with college coaches/scouts and high-school student-athletes sizing each other up and searching for the right match. Tipping point? Well-rounded programs also include Sports Psychology training. Although it remains in the Combine, the Bench Press is rated 24th among standing combat exercises, according to Dr. Matt Rhea, whose research entails program development and transfer. When Coach Mike Sullivan began working with younger athletes, he realized that force couldnt be a differentiating factor in their speed development. But what happens when you train those future NFL players the right way? Also, is a track coach going to put all the football players in the 100m sprint, or will they have them in slower running events such as the 400m or longer distances to earn more team points? Are they good football players because they are good athletes or are they good athletes because they play football. I absolutely love this article. Allow the weight room to be a *part* of the process, not *the process*. As a rule, cookies will make your browsing experience better. Like the guy in the article (an actual football coach in Chicago suburbs), I dont subscribe to the adage that track makes you faster, if thats why you go out. Having already previewed his speed curriculum in Speed 101, Rhea recently joined us to discuss a topic for which velocity is just one of multiple components: Peak Power. The server responded with {{status_text}} (code {{status_code}}). Whether you want to become a better infielder, develop your bunt technique or increase pitching power, youll find videos, articles and interviews with some of the games top minds to help you become a better player. Different muscle coordination flaws require different fixes, and Rheas continually refining a toolbox of specialized resistance, plyometric and running exercises tailored to address each. For an athlete who is below average or on the lower end of that power production scale, we might give him more resisted running, more heavy resisted running, more resisted running out of a football stance where they have to generate that power very, very quickly as though theyre in a football game, Rhea says, describing athletes that need improvement in the acceleration phase of a sprint. Obviously, the next progression from there is some single-leg jumps that we then monitor and measure as they are able to do a more ballistic movement. Need I say anymore. We will not spam you or share contact information with any 3rd party. Contact us for more information. He has published nearly 100 studies and presented in 7 countries around the world. If you compare force or power in a double-leg movement to a single-leg movement, like a squat to a split jump or a squat to a step up, or a vertical jump compared to a single-leg vertical jump, you can start to see ratios that tell you whether an athlete is good on one foot or not so good on one foot. The gains have continued into 2019, as Rhea reports Indianas team speeda single figure based off each starters average in-game speedis more than a mile per hour faster this season than it was last year. The number Im actually working off of now is 1.7 times your body weight. My 40yd after one year of track in JC 4.4.