A recent article in the New York Times identified anterior cruciate ligament tears as a rising problem for young athletes. Titled Big-Time Injury Strikes Little Players, the piece told a story of better diagnostics leading doctors, parents and young athletes down a path of difficult decisions, with the most difficult decision being whether or not to operate on a young athlete’s knee.

Steve Swanson, Athletic Republic’s Chief Officer of Science and Technology, offers his perspective on the story:

The article does a nice job of bringing awareness to a very serious issue in youth athletics. Female athletes are especially at risk. They are 2-8 times more likely to incur a non-contact ACL injury than their male counterparts. Over the last decade, a number of research studies have worked on the underlying mechanisms of these injuries. The latest “consensus” (scientists never really reach one) revolves around maintaining dynamic stability during athletic movements–such as landing from a jump or making a cut. If the athlete cannot maintain a stable, athletic position, the alignment of their legs tends to get into a “knock-kneed” position. If they get into this position with their leg fairly straight (bent at about 30 degrees to straight), the geometry of the knee is such that it doesn’t take much of a rotation or pivot to stress the ACL—resulting in an ACL sprain or tear.

There are several factors that may explain how an athlete has difficulty maintaining stability and getting in these positions. Several scientific papers have pointed to various reasons—the majority of them pointing to inadequate strength of key muscles of the hip, trunk and even the hamstrings. No matter the exact muscle group, the key thing to remember is that the body is a complex system, so strengthening one muscle does not result in a magic fix of a problem. The key is that the system as a whole becomes more stable and able to resist getting into these bad positions during dynamic movements—thus the term “dynamic stability”.

The good news is that several researchers have shown that the type of training we do at Athletic Republic can reduce the incidence of these injuries by over 60%. Learning better movement skills is the key to improving dynamic stability and reducing the likelihood of getting into these uncompromising positions. Learning how to properly stabilize when landing from a jump and staying in proper alignment when making a cut are part of mastering fundamental movement skills. As these skills are mastered, performance naturally improves and provides a rock-solid foundation to make real performance gains in conditioning and overall athleticism. A well-conditioned athlete who moves well drastically improves their dynamic stability, performance and, most importantly, decreases the likelihood of incurring an ACL injury.

At Athletic Republic, we have spent years developing testing tools and training programs to keep athletes healthy and performing at their best by continually monitoring what works best for athletes in many different sports in order to deliver the best possible programs to all our athletes.

Hi Everyone ,

As you can see from the photo above, it’s not all work and no play here at All-Star Sports Camps. Sure we’ve been working out a lot (see my typical day post), but we do have fun too.

Last Thursday, after an early morning workout, we visited the Daytona International Speedway and got to see what goes on behind the scenes in the build-up to the Daytona 500. In the photo above, I’m on Pit Row during driver introductions for the Gatorade Duels.

We had seats on Pit Row and also had the opportunity to tour the pits before the race began. It was a great experience for all the guys that went, because none of us have ever had the opportunity to be on Pit Row during a race.

We’re all back in Paisley now, working hard. But we sure enjoyed the chance to relax and let our bodies recover a bit.

Thanks for reading!

Hi Everyone,

My trainer at All-Star Sports Camps, Todd Robinett, has been busy taking pictures of the many drills I do. Here are three of my favorites with an explanation of what I’m working on:

This is an exercise called “underwalks” which increases strength in my hips as I move laterally. It also helps me work on balance by keeping my body over my hips, and not getting out of my center of gravity.

This time I’m doing “overwalks” which increase hip flexor strength as I drive my knees up as if I were stepping over a hurdle. When doing this exercise I move laterally and my feet should never cross. I’m also focusing on proper arm drive technique as I’m doing the drill.

Here I’m working out on the Four Square Plyometric board, an Athletic Republic tool. Both the dynamic and static Stretch Reflex is being trained to improve power; specifically the speed component of power in the lower leg. Plyometrics also work on body control and balance while I move in multiple directions (forward, backwards, lateral, and at 45 degree angles) on both legs and just one leg.

That’s all for now. Thanks for reading. And thanks for the comments to past posts!

Eric

Hi Everyone,

I’m Todd Robinett, Director of Sports Performance at All-Star Sports Camps, and I’m pleased to be working with Eric Brock as he prepares for his big test — Pro Day at Auburn University in just five weeks.

My goal with this post is to give you a little insight into what we’re trying to accomplish and how.

In the photo above, Eric is running on Athletic Republic’s Super Treadmill with SprintCords attached to his legs. In the picture, I’m manually applying load to the elastic tube while Eric continues to focus on proper running mechanics. The resistance applied during SprintCord Training improves strength in the hip flexors and “core.”

In general, Eric’s training program has been designed to improve his running technique by increasing his stride length and stride frequency. Running on the SuperTreadmill with SprintCords, and adjusting the inclines and speed of the treadmill addresses both of these objectives.

The photo Eric posted on January 31st depicts another big focus of his training: acceleration, deceleration and a quick change of direction — all essential skills for a defensive back. And, two critical Pro Day tests for Eric — the Short Shuttle and L-Drill — require great technique, so we work on acceleration, deceleration and changing direction quickly a lot. In this particular picture we were working on the technique of breaking Eric’s body down and changing direction with good balance. From my experience I’ve found this part of the drill to be the most difficult for athletes, because they take so much speed into the cut and they have to be able to maintain good balance and control while stopping and changing direction so quickly.

One other area that we practice everyday is Eric’s start position and the acceleration phase of his 40-yard dash.

All the speed and agility drills are videotaped each week, so we can analyze Eric’s technique with our Dartfish software. This gives me the opportunity to sit down with Eric and point out key areas of each drill that need improvement.

That’s all for now. If you’ve got any questions about Eric’s training, be sure to post a comment below and I’ll try to answer your question as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading.

Hi Everyone.

Now that I’m into the routine of daily training here at All-Star Sports Camp, I thought I would bring you up to date on what I’ve been doing the past few weeks.

As you may know, everything I do is intended to improve my performance in standard football combine tests like the standing long jump, vertical jump, 225-pound bench press, 40-yard dash and shuttle run. In addition I’ll be performing position specific drills for the NFL scouts at Auburn’s Pro Day on March 10th.

The first thing I did when I got here was to go through a round of tests to establish benchmarks for my trainer, Todd Robinett, to work from. In addition to videotaping me running on one of Athletic Republic’s Super Treadmills, Todd timed me running 10, 20 and 40-yard dashes, the Short Shuttle and L-Drill, and measured my vertical jump and broad jump. Todd also had me bench press 225 pounds as many times as I could. (If you’re looking for specific numbers for all these tests, you’ll have to wait until Pro Day.)

With those benchmark tests behind me, I’ve settled into a routine that goes something like this:

9 am — breakfast
10-11:15 am — speed training on the Super Treadmill and Multi-Hip machine, or working on agility and technique training for Pro Day drills
11:30 am — eat a small snack
1 pm — lunch
2-3 pm — weight training (Monday, Wednesday and Thursday), or technique training for Pro Day drills
3 pm — drink protein shake after weights
3-3:30 pm — watch/analyze film to see what I can improve
3:30-5:30 pm — recovery
5:30 pm — dinner

Over the course of a week, I’ll spend 3 hours lifting weights, 4 hours on speed training, 4 hours on agility training, about 5 hours on watching film and working on specific technique for each of the Pro Day drills, and spend another 3 hours on position specific drills.

That’s about it for now. Next time I’ll have Todd write about some of the things he has me working on.

Thanks for reading. Eric.