Tag: LTAD

A second sport? The case for S&C

At the development end of the sporting spectrum, strength and conditioning should comprise of exposing the athlete to a wide range of movements…

It’s pretty widely agreed that multiple sport participation is beneficial for children. Whether you term it “sampling” or “multi-sport athlete”, doesn’t really matter. Most discussions on the optimal development of athletes cite the benefits of multi-sport participation for reducing injury risk, improving hand eye coordination, increasing decision making development, improving physical capacities and the list goes on.

The problem is – if you do any coaching in sport, you’re probably aware that what is “recommended” isn’t what happens in the real world…
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Athletic 8: Lateral Lunge

How do you introduce cutting and change of direction mechanics? Check out this simple exercise as a starting point…

In this video, we continue with the single leg work, this time looking at lateral movement, balance and stability.

Athletic 8: The Press Up

We introduce upper body training into the Athletic 8 series…

In this latest installment of the Athletic 8 series, we introduce upper body pushing to our youth athletes, along with some useful tips and cues for coaches to utilise!

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Ask the Expert – Dr Paul Read (St Mary’s University)

Paul is a senior lecturer and researcher at St Mary’s University. He is also an S&C coach working with a range of Professional MMA Fighters, Academy football players and Elite Youth Golfers. His current research is primarily focused around injury prevention strategies for youth soccer players and S&C provision for golfers and MMA fighters.

  1. Give us a bit of background on yourself (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience)

I started out as an apprentice and then professional football player at Fulham FC. Unfortunately due to a number of injuries my career was relatively short so I then pursued an undergraduate degree in sports science whilst playing semi-professional football. Following graduation, I undertook a number of industry based roles in both coaching and academic related settings. This included work as a personal trainer, fitness and conditioning coach and lecturer where I also developed and managed the athletic performance department for the academy and BUSA sports at Guildford College of Further and Higher education.
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Ask the Expert – Andy Woodward (Barnard Castle School)

Andy is the Strength and Conditioning Coach at Barnard Castle School and PEP Sports weeks performance sports camps, as well as the Throws and Speed Coach at Darlington Harriers Athletics Club.

Give us a bit of background on yourself… (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience).

Main sports were Track and Field, Rugby Union and Volleyball.  Represented Royal Air Force on the track in both the 100m and 200m in the 1990’s.  I hold a BA(Hons) in Sports Studies and PE from York St John Uni and an MSc in S&C from Teesside Uni.  I am a UK Atheltics Level 3 Performance Coach in Throws and Level 2 Speed and Jumps.
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Ask the Expert: Johnny Harris-Wright (Bristol Rugby)

  1. Give us a bit of background on yourself… (sporting career, qualifications, coaching experience)

I have played rugby most of my life and was lucky enough to play representative rugby in New Zealand and in Ireland at school boy and college level for my home province of Leinster. My most relevant qualifications would be my Undergraduate Degree in Strength and Conditioning and I am about to complete a Masters Degree in Sport Rehabilitation. I also have other qualifications such as diplomas in Sports Nutrition and Sports Therapy.
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Ask the Expert – Tom Smale (Leaf Academy)

Would you mind giving us a bit of background about yourself?

I studied at University of Stirling getting a BA (Hons) in Sports Studies and MSc in Sports Coaching. Whilst doing my MSc got the opportunity to shadow S&C sessions run by the University and Sportscotland Institute of Sport and realised this would be a pretty cool way to make a living. Eventually I started getting paid to coach and things progressed from there. Went to the US to do a 3 month unpaid internship with the US Ski Team at the end of which was offered a role travelling with their Men’s Alpine Speed Team for a season. When this finished I returned to the UK and got my current role at LeAF Studio. I’m leaving here in July to take up a position with West Highlands College UHI in Fort William.
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