Author: Get The Edge

The majority of field and court sports and even many individual sports have similar general needs. All rely on speed, strength & power with strength as the foundation. Strength training should be the foundation of athletic development for all high school athletes. Here are three reasons why young athletes should participate in a strength-training program.

1. Strength Training Reduces The Risk of Injury
   Strength training improves an athlete’s durability by strengthening muscles, bones, and connective tissues like tendons and ligaments. Core strength and hip flexibility help reduce groin and hamstring pulls. Stronger athletes are able to land safer and decelerate properly. They are less likely to roll an ankle or sprain ligaments in their knees during a game or practice.
2. Strength Training Enhances Skill Development
   A common problem among high school athletes is their inability to control or move their body through space. They do not possess enough relative strength to properly perform basic movements & sport skills efficiently. Increasing relative body strength enhances skill development by giving athletes increased body awareness and movement capacity. A highly coordinated athlete with a balance of muscle and tendon strength will apply optimal strength & speed in the correct direction within the shortest time!
3. Strength Training Improves Performance
   Here are a few reasons why strength training is important for your sport and how it can enhance performance.

Football – The physicality of football means that athletes, especially young athletes, must be structurally strong and conditioned to compete safely. Upper and lower body strength is extremely important. Developing upper back and neck muscles can decrease neck injuries.

Soccer – Soccer is a contact sport with no pads. Athletes must be able to take hits and hold off opponents. Stronger soccer players will dominate in the box on set pieces. 54% of goals scored in the 2018 World Cup were in the box on set pieces.

Hockey is the fastest game in the world played and has the highest speed collisions in sport. Strength training is essential to ensure reduced injury occurrence and peak performance.

Basketball players with strength training improvement will be able to run faster, jump higher and box out opponents more effectively.

Swimming – Leg strength and leg power enhances starts and turns. One third of the race consists of starts and turns.

Baseball – Strength training creates the ability to control the body, as well as external implements, better. A hitter with more strength and power can now wait a split second longer in determining whether to swing at an incoming pitch.

Lacrosse Shot speed is a combination of technique, hip and torso strength. The more rotational power you can develop through your hips and torso, the faster your shot can be.

At Get The Edge, our strength-training program focuses on mastering body position and fundamental movement patterns first. This enhances mobility, coordination, and increases relative strength. Athletes also see dramatic improvements in speed and power along with developing a strength training knowledge. They have a better understanding of muscle mechanics, tempo and learn how to train with proper technique. After the foundation of has been built, athletes are ready to progress to ground based, multi-joint, and multi-directional strength training exercises that continue to improve relative strength as well as develop maximum strength. Strength training reduces the risk of injury, enhances skill development and improves performance. This is another way we help our athletes “GET THE EDGE.”

The summer is a critical time in a young athletes career. It is the time to train and focus on enhancing physical qualities. As kids age, sport specific skills get harder and harder to improve. However, physical abilities (size, speed and strength) still have a significant window for improvement. The athlete who trains properly and increases his size, speed and strength becomes more powerful. As a result, he is able to maximize his sport skills for the upcoming season. This is the athlete who performs at a higher level than his competition, recovers faster and remains healthy throughout the season.

Dear Student-Athlete,

As an All American Linebacker at Boston College and 3 time pro-bowl linebacker for the Detroit Lions, I had the awesome opportunity to play, train and learn from great athletes, coaches and trainers.

At BC, future Hall of Fame and two time Super Bowl Champion Coach Tom Coughlin talked about preparation and earning the right to win. “Earning the right to win means you’ve dealt with your fear of failure. The fear that you might not succeed—sometimes even before you begin—almost guarantees that you’ll fail. Proper preparation will enable you to overcome that fear.” – Tom Coughlin  

Legendary NFL linebacker Chris Spielman, told me in my rookie year, “In the NFL you need to out prepare the competition and “get the edge.” Either you get it or you give it to your opponent.”

– Chris Spielman

I never forgot those words and that is the inspiration that led me to create the Stephen Boyd Get the Edge Strength & Conditioning Program. An athletic enhancement program for male high school athletes ages 14 – 18 devoted to teaching young men how to prepare mentally and physically for their upcoming athletic season.

Our Summer 2019 strength & conditioning camp features a Special Early Registration Discount and will include 2 unique programs!

Each is designed specifically to maximize your success and allow you to build a solid athletic foundation while staying focused on your individual goals. Programs are conducted at Chaminade H.S. in Mineola, NY from July 9th to August 16th.

The High School Program (for male athletes entering grades 10-12) concentrates on improving all components of athleticism including flexibility, balance, coordination, strength, speed, power, endurance, durability, nutrition, mental toughness and self-confidence. (Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, 6:45pm – 8:45pm)

The Middle School Program (specially designed for male athletes entering grades 8-9) is a concentrated version of the High School Program. This unique program includes injury reduction exercises, movement & strength training fundamentals to give each athlete “the edge.” (Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, 6:00pm – 7:15pm)

Our 2018 program included athletes from the following sports: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming, and Wrestling.

I am so proud to offer my summer camp for the 8th consecutive year and look forward to helping you Get the Edge!

Best, Stephen Boyd #57

As the school year comes to an end many young athletes are planning to attend sport specific exposure camps and club team tournaments. With hopes of being recognized by high school & college coaches, many athletes are led to believe that this alone will properly prepare them for the upcoming Fall season. Unfortunately, this is not the truth. Today we see more injuries in middle and high school athletes than ever before. The problem is over competing and under training.

The summer has become an additional sport season that consists of weekend tournaments and club leagues. A large percentage of athletes are convinced to play more games rather than train to get bigger, faster and stronger. They play games during the week for one team and then travel during the weekend to play in tournaments for another team. Ironically, this is not the sport they will play in the Fall for their school. They enter the season without the proper mental, physical and motor development. The result is usually injury and poor performance due to fatigue.

Summer Is The Time To Train

Young athletes and their parents must understand that you do not prepare by playing more; you prepare by training properly. A common mistake made by parents and young athletes is not taking a season off. The summer is a critical time in a young athletes career. It is the time to take a break from sport specific movements and train to enhance physical qualities. The athlete who trains properly and increases his size, speed and strength becomes more powerful. As a result, he is able to maximize his sport skills for the upcoming season. This is the athlete who performs at a higher level than his competition, recovers faster and remains healthy throughout the season.

Training Objectives

The two main objectives in any training program should be to enhance injury reduction and increase athletic performance. At Get The Edge we begin by teaching our athletes how to train. We breakdown complex movements into learnable segments and teach strength training fundamentals. We then focus on improving movement, strength, speed, power, and conditioning. This is done through a sequence of exercises using logical progressions. Complimenting this, we incorporate regeneration strategies that help facilitate recovery and increase the body’s ability to mentally and physically reboot. All athletes are closely supervised with attention always paid to proper technique and safety. We take pride in delivering the best experience possible while staying focused on each athlete’s individual’s goals. In order to do this, we limit the enrollment.

In April I had the privilege of coaching 20 of the best high school linebackers in Texas and Louisiana. This was a very talented group of athletes. Whether it was dropping into zone coverage to defend a pass play or cover a running back man to man, they all exhibited a high level of multidirectional speed.

Coaching Insight #1 – The number one quality in athletics is movement. Competing at any level of athletics is impossible without the ability to move in multiple directions at high speeds. This includes physical and decision making competence.

Multidirectional Speed

Reactive agility & change of direction movement are the two components of multi-directional speed. They are often used interchangeably when in fact they are different. Change of direction movement is when an athlete is asked to run in a single pattern or multi-directional pattern sequence. The athlete has an understanding of the drill demands, as there is no reactive component. A linebacker reacting to a running back in a man-to-man coverage drill is a reactive agility-based speed movement. It requires the defender to move through a pattern sequence and make a reactive decision based on the running backs spontaneous movement. This is what I call “Game Speed”.

Coaching Insight #2 – In order to improve multi-directional speed, athletes must learn and practice a balance of fundamental movements, change of direction and reactive agility drills. Here is a sequence of drills performed daily in our program.

Stance

We teach an athletic stance that’s allows athletes to move forward, backward, laterally and rotationally. This base position helps athletes position the feet and load the hips so they can move forward, backward, laterally and rotationally. This is the position they will land in and/or transition into before moving in other directions. Every successful movement begins with great body position.

Movement Skills

We perform fundamental drills to improve deceleration, acceleration and transitioning. We focus on the correcting the position of the torso, hips, inside and outside leg.

Change of Direction Drills

We combine movement skills into multi-directional patterns. An example would be asking an athlete to shuffle for a short distance, crossover and sprint. This is similar to a base runner trying to steal second base. Here the athlete accelerates laterally, transitions rotationally and accelerates forward.

Reactive Agility Drills

These drills require both efficiency in movement and decision making abilities. Sport can be organized chaos at times. Athletes can strain the motor system when making a decision on the field, which can slow down reaction time. This is why we include reactive agility drills in our program. The more often an athlete has the opportunity to make decisions the easier it becomes.

Summary

Athleticism becomes apparent when an athlete has to move in space to evade or defend an opponent. In our summer program we break down complex movements into learnable segments. Athletes become faster, move more efficiently and reduce potential for injury.

If you want to unlock your athletic potential, this camp is for you! Our program is designed to enhance all components of athleticism. Athletes that are explosive, fast and healthy have a huge competitive advantage over those who simply focus on sport skills. It’s simple, the stronger, faster athletes win.

The summer is a critical time for young athletes. It is the time to prepare for the upcoming season. However, instead of preparation, they are convinced to choose exposure. They travel all over the country to attend camps with hopes to be seen by college coaches. As a result they are not physically prepared. This leads to injury and/or below average performance.

Today’s young athletes and parents must understand that you do not beat your opponent by playing more; you beat your opponent by out preparing and training smarter.

Our mission is to teach young men how to prepare both mentally and physically for their upcoming athletic season. Our program concentrates on enhancing the components of athleticism. This includes flexibility, balance, coordination, strength, speed, power, endurance, durability and self-confidence. By doing so we enhance injury reduction and instill a work ethic that will give each athlete “the edge” during and after their athletic career.

Last year our program included student-athletes from the following sports: Basketball, Baseball, Football, Hockey, Lacrosse, Soccer, Swimming, and Wrestling. Its simple, either you get the edge or you give it away.

The Workout

Every workout follows a specific sequence that optimizes performance while avoiding over training.

Warm-Up – enhance performance while decreasing risk of injury during training.

Explosive Power – jumping, hopping, throwing, landing and deceleration techniques.

Linear & Lateral Speed – increase first step, ten yard quickness & top speed. Agility – improve the ability to accelerate, decelerate, stop and re-accelerate at high speeds.

Reaction – optimize the ability to react to a visual que or movement by an opponent. Strength – increase strength and power by performing ground based, multi-joint, and multi-directional exercises.

Conditioning – sport specific that will enhance your ability to maintain high levels of effort for longer periods of time during competition.

Its simple, either you get the edge or you give it away.

In my last coaching insight, I spoke to you about how I assess athleticism. This included body position, movement, strength, speed, & agility. In the next series of training insights I am going to break down each component and explain the importance of each and how our program will help you improve each one.

Body Position

When watching a lacrosse, basketball or baseball game everyone tends to watch the ball. The next time you watch one of these events try to focus on the postures of the athletes. Observe the lacrosse player who changes direction the quickest or the basketball player who jumps the highest. Watch a short stop field a ground ball. If you pause the video at the exact moment before the athletes executes one of these skills, you will notice similarities in their stances. Although the sport is different, the lower and upper bodies resemble one another.

Lower Body

This is the power-producing part of the body. The lower body is flexed at the ankles, knees and hips. The feet are aligned hip to shoulder width with adequate knee bend. The hips are pushed back.

Upper Body

The trunk will move forward but not completely parallel to the ground. Look at their uniform and you will be able to see most or at least the top half of the number(s) on the jersey. The back is flat and the shoulders up. The head is in a neutral position. The athlete is now in control and has increased his chances at beating his opponent to the goal, grabbing a rebound or fielding a ground ball.

At Get The Edge we emphasize the importance of posture as it relates to the movement being performed. Our goal is to improve the athlete’s ability to maintain proper body position in flexed, extended and rotated positions that involve multidirectional and linear movements. Every successful movement begins with great body position. This is another way we help our athlete’s “Get The Edge.”