Sport Specific Training

Sport specific training receives the most attention through television, magazine and internet advertising. Sport specific training is important but can lead to injuries if your body is not ready for the intensity. Foundational strength and stability should come before sport specific training!

You should do a major part of your sport specific training during the offseason when you have more time to devote to improving your athletic skills, strength, power and speed.

Offseason training also gives you time to recover from the full speed, intense exercises. YOU MUST TRAIN FAST TO GET FASTER AND MORE EXPLOSIVE.....IT IS HIGH RISK, HIGH REWARD!

During sport specific training, the exercises mimic the actions made in your sport and strength is developed in the same range of motion used in your sport.

Running exercises also duplicate what you need to compete. For instance, football players would need starting speed, acceleration speed, speed endurance and power. Both training volume and intensity is high during this phase.

Plyometric exercises are also a big part of sport specific training. This is a critical phase for the elite athlete. See this post for common plyometric exercises.

Here are examples of sport specific exercises of different sports:

Basketball - Crossover Lunge



Soccer - Lateral Footwork Drills



Football - Shuffles



Baseball, Softball, Hockey, Lacrosse (just about all sports require rotational power) Medicine Ball Rotational Throw



Start taking steps now to improve your athletic success on the field or court!

Mark Dilworth, BA, PES
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