Jared Saavedra

For many youth athletes and their families, the dream of playing sports at the collegiate level is not only about the thrill of competition but also the possibility of securing an athletic scholarship.

These scholarships can significantly ease the financial burden of higher education and they represent a unique opportunity to pursue academic goals while continuing to engage in high-level sports. The financial aspect is often overlooked by potential candidates, both students and athletes alike. Securing an athletic scholarship by getting school paid for cannot only start your educational path in the right direction but can also change your financial trajectory without accruing so much student debt.

In this article, we will dive into the realities of achieving an athletic scholarship, the steps to increase the chances of earning a scholarship and what it can do from social, physical and financial standpoint. We will also give our best pieces of advice on how to navigate the recruiting process, which can be tough.

Understanding Athletic Scholarships

Unlike academic scholarships, which primarily consider academic achievements, athletic scholarships focus on an athlete’s ability and how it might benefit the school’s sports programs. These scholarships can range from partial, covering only a portion of tuition costs, to full-ride scholarships that cover tuition, room, board, and sometimes even books. NCAA Division I teams offer over $3.6 billion in athletic scholarships annually, with an average scholarship around $18,000 per year.

Organizations like the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics), and NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association) play pivotal roles in the realm of college athletics, including the governance of scholarship distributions. Each organization has its own set of rules and regulations which determine eligibility, recruitment, and the extent of scholarship provisions.

The NCAA is the largest and most recognized body, overseeing sports programs at many large universities across three divisions (I, II, and III). Division I and II schools can offer athletic scholarships, but the number and amount are regulated by the NCAA. Division II schools offer about $600 million in athletic scholarships each year, while Division III schools do not offer athletic scholarships but can provide other forms of financial aid. Approximately 177,559 athletic scholarships are awarded across all divisions annually, with over 180,000 student-athletes receiving some form of scholarship each year.

The NAIA governs smaller four-year colleges and universities and is known for being more flexible with eligibility requirements compared to the NCAA. The NAIA provides over $600 million in scholarships annually across its member schools. This organization allows schools to set their own scholarship limits, and thus the opportunities for scholarships can vary more widely from school to school within the NAIA than in the NCAA.

NJCAA oversees community colleges and two-year institutions. It offers athletic scholarships, including full and partial tuition, fees, room and board, but like the NAIA, the availability and amount can vary widely. NJCAA schools can be a stepping stone for athletes looking to transfer to four-year institutions after completing two years.

Unpacking the Statistics of Athletic Scholarships

Navigating the world of athletic scholarships can be daunting given the competition and limited availability. Across various sports, thousands of scholarships are offered each year, but the distribution is not uniform either by sport or gender.

Data indicates that only a small percentage of high school athletes—about 2%—will go on to compete at the collegiate level with an athletic scholarship.

The likelihood of securing a scholarship varies significantly by sport. For example, male athletes in sports like football and basketball have higher probabilities due to the greater number of scholarships available. In contrast, female athletes may find more opportunities in sports like volleyball or soccer, which are better funded at the collegiate level for women’s programs.

It’s important for aspiring collegiate athletes and their families to understand this data and set realistic expectations and plan effectively for their athletic and academic future. It’s always good to have a Plan A, B, C, and D.

Eligibility and Requirements

Achieving and maintaining eligibility for an athletic scholarship involves meeting specific academic and athletic criteria set by the governing bodies.

The NCAA requires prospective student-athletes to complete a core curriculum of high school courses, maintain a minimum GPA in these courses, and achieve a corresponding minimum score on the ACT or SAT. The exact requirements can vary depending on whether the student is aiming for Division I or Division II, with Division I standards generally being more stringent. NAIA also has its own set of academic criteria, including a minimum score on the ACT or SAT, and a minimum GPA. The NJCAA is generally more lenient, often requiring only a high school diploma or equivalent for participation.

Athletic requirements vary more significantly by sport and by the level of competition. Coaches and recruiters often look for athletes who have demonstrated significant achievement and potential in their chosen sports. This can be through statistics, level of competition, winning, and recognition such as awards or significant game performances.

Once in college, student-athletes must continue to meet academic progress standards to remain eligible to compete. Division I student-athletes graduate at record rates, with a Graduation Success Rate of 91%.

Understanding and navigating these eligibility requirements is crucial for maximizing the chances of securing an athletic scholarship. Students must plan their high school courses early, strive for academic excellence, and maintain their amateur status if they aim to compete at the collegiate level. Being proactive and informed can make a significant difference in a student-athlete’s ability to secure and keep an athletic scholarship.

Practices of Successful Recruits

Successful recruits often share common practices and strategies that elevate their chances of securing a college athletic scholarship. Understanding and adopting these practices can make a significant difference in the recruitment journey.

1. Early Preparation: Top recruits often begin their preparation years before high school graduation. This includes not only developing their athletic skills but also understanding the academic requirements needed to qualify for scholarships and college programs.
2. Academic Excellence: Successful recruits prioritize their academics to meet NCAA or other governing body eligibility requirements. Maintaining a high GPA and performing well on standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT can distinguish a recruit academically.
3. Skill Development: Continuously improving athletic skills is crucial. Successful recruits often work with private coaches, attend elite training programs, and participate in summer leagues to hone their abilities year-round.
4. Strategic Game Play: They choose high school and club teams that compete at high levels and provide significant exposure to college scouts. Playing against top-tier competition not only challenges the athlete but also provides a stage to showcase their talent.
5. Networking: Building relationships with coaches and scouts is another key factor. Successful recruits often engage in proactive outreach through emails, social media, and personal interactions during games and events.
6. Personal Branding: They manage their public image and brand through social media and other platforms to create a positive and professional impression. This includes posting highlights, workout sessions, and positive interactions within the community.
7. Feedback and Adaptability: Top recruits seek feedback from coaches and scouts and use it to improve their performance and approach. Being adaptable and willing to learn from each experience is crucial.
8. Mental Toughness and Resilience: The ability to handle pressure, overcome setbacks, and stay motivated throughout the long and often stressful recruitment process is a hallmark of successful athletes.

By incorporating these practices, athletes can enhance their visibility, desirability, and readiness for college sports programs, significantly improving their chances of obtaining an athletic scholarship.

Recruitment Process, Timelines, and Milestones:

Navigating the recruitment process for collegiate sports involves understanding specific timelines, key milestones, and strategies for increasing visibility to college scouts and recruiters. For student-athletes and their families, this phase is critical to securing an athletic scholarship.

The recruitment process often begins early in high school, with some athletes starting to attract attention as early as freshman or sophomore year.

Key milestones include:

• Initial Contact: NCAA rules permit coaches to start contacting recruits during their junior year of high school. This contact can include phone calls, texts, and emails.
• Official Visits: Starting senior year, athletes can make official campus visits, which are often funded by the college. These visits are crucial for both the athlete and the coaching staff to assess a mutual fit.
• Signing Period: The National Letter of Intent (NLI) signing periods vary by sport but typically start in the athlete’s senior year of high school. Signing an NLI commits the athlete to the college for at least one academic year.

Improving Visibility to Scouts:

1. Compete at High Levels: Participating in high-level tournaments and championships not only provides exposure but also helps athletes gain crucial experience against some of the best competitors.
2. Attend Camps and Showcases: Many colleges and third-party organizations host camps and showcases that attract college scouts. These events are opportunities for direct interaction with college coaching staffs.
3. Maintain an Athletic Resume: Keeping an up-to-date athletic resume, including statistics, awards, personal bests, and game footage, is essential. Digital platforms and social media can also serve as tools for showcasing talents.
4. Proactive Communication: Athletes should proactively reach out to coaches with their resumes and game footage, expressing their interest in the program and detailing why they would be a good fit both athletically and academically.

The recruitment process is dynamic and varies widely across different sports and divisions. Athletes and their families should research specific recruitment guidelines per sport and division to tailor their approach effectively.

Alternative Paths and Financial Considerations

For many aspiring collegiate athletes, the competition for athletic scholarships can be intense, and not everyone will secure a scholarship. There are alternative paths to consider that can still lead to a fulfilling collegiate athletic experience.

1. Walk-On Opportunities: Many athletes choose to join college teams as walk-ons, where they try out for the team without the promise of a scholarship. This path can sometimes lead to scholarship opportunities later, as coaches evaluate walk-on players’ contributions and potential.
2. Division II and III Schools: While Division I schools are often highlighted for their competitive sports programs and scholarships, Division II and III institutions also offer robust athletic programs. Division III schools, in particular, do not offer athletic scholarships, but they can be a great option for athletes looking to balance sports with academics, often providing a more comprehensive college experience.
3. Financial Planning for College: Beyond athletic scholarships, students should explore other financial aid options available to them. This includes federal and state grants, work-study programs, and academic scholarships. Families should prepare early by understanding their options, including saving plans like 529 college savings plans or exploring loan options.
4. Academic Scholarships and Grants: Athletes should not overlook academic scholarships and grants, which can be combined with athletic participation. Excelling academically can open multiple avenues for funding education.
5. Employment Opportunities: Some student-athletes might also consider part-time work, either during the off-season or within NCAA regulations during the school year, to support their financial needs.

Conclusion

Navigating the world of college athletics and scholarships involves understanding a wide array of options and preparing for various outcomes. While securing an athletic scholarship is a significant achievement, it’s important to recognize and plan for alternative paths that can also provide valuable college experiences and financial support. This proactive approach ensures that regardless of the path chosen, the student-athlete is set up for success both on and off the field.

As you explore the opportunities and challenges of obtaining a college athletic scholarship, further resources can provide invaluable guidance and detailed information.

1. NCAA Eligibility Center: This tool is essential for prospective student-athletes. The Eligibility Center helps you understand and navigate NCAA rules and requirements for participating in college sports at Division I and II levels. It’s crucial for maintaining eligibility from high school through college. Visit the NCAA Eligibility Center.
2. Consult Athletic Directors: High school athletic directors are a treasure trove of information and advice about the recruitment process and can provide personalized guidance based on your specific circumstances and goals.
3. Useful Websites and Books: Websites such as BeRecruited or the NAIA’s official site offer a plethora of information on college sports and scholarships. Books like The Student-Athlete’s College Recruitment Guide offer insights and strategies to stand out in the competitive sports scholarship landscape.
4. Attend Workshops and Seminars: Many high schools and community centers offer workshops on college athletic recruitment. These events are often attended by former college athletes, college coaches, and sports advisors who can provide firsthand advice and answer specific questions.
5. Athlete Ready: Our forte is youth sports and our coaches have years of experience helping athletes with collegiate scholarships. We would love to answer any questions and help in any way we can.

By actively engaging with these resources and seeking advice from knowledgeable individuals, you can better navigate your journey towards college athletics and ensure you are well-prepared for the opportunities and challenges ahead. Be ready!

As we reflect on the past decade, we are filled with immense gratitude and pride. Over the last ten years, Athlete Ready has grown from a small vision into a thriving community dedicated to sport performance, health and longevity. Your continued support, passion, and commitment have been the driving force behind our success. Every small goal achieved along this mission and every athlete transformed is a testament to the incredible resilience and dedication of our community.

Thank you for trusting us with your athletic and performance journey and allowing us to be a part of your growth. Whether you are a seasoned professional, an aspiring youth athlete, or someone striving for personal fitness goals, your achievements inspire us daily.

We would not be here without you, literally. It is your hard work and determination that motivate us to continually innovate and provide the best training, coaching, resources, and support possible.

As we celebrate this remarkable milestone, we are excited about the future and the endless possibilities it holds. We are just getting started, and we look forward to many more years of helping you reach new heights. Together, we will continue to be disrupters, push boundaries, break records, and achieve some cool things. Thank you for being a huge part of the Athlete Ready family.

Jared Saavedra
Founder

The more time passes, the more research is discovering how important it is for athletes to implement recovery/regeneration strategies into their training programs, regardless of sport. In short, these strategies are utilized for athletes to be fully recovered and ready to go for their next bout of training or competition, in the shortest amount of time possible. If there is not a substantial amount of

planned strategies to employ, then adaptations to training can be compromised. Remember, work plus rest equals success!!!

Here are some examples of proper regeneration strategies for athletes:

Sleep: This may be the MOST important factor for proper recovery. It is recommended to get at least 8 hours of sleep per night. The reason why is because there are 5 stages of sleep in which each stage serves a purpose for our mental and physical recovery whether it is an increase in serotonin production, access to the unconscious mind followed by the release of growth hormone. Also, for the avg person who wakes up at 7 am, the best time to take a nap is between 1 and 3pm for approximately 20-30 minutes. Too much sleep can make you even more tired and groggy.

Hydrotherapy: The best way to recover from a rough training session physiologically is NOT the hot tub, but rather an ice cold plunge. You will see a lot of people get into the hot tub directly after a work out, which may be more psychologically relaxing, but has the opposite affect on the recovery process. Hopping into an ice bath that is about 50-60 degrees for at least 5 minutes will help decrease inflammation that may occurred during your work out, lower core body temperature as well as restoring parasympathetic balance. These components allow your body to expedite the process of recovery.

Massage: Self or professional massage is a great way to get blood flow to the sore muscles, help remove bodily toxins, decrease soreness and improve tissue quality. Some examples of these are trigger point, myofascial and active release, and cupping. These sessions can last anywhere between 5 to 90 minutes, depending if these strategies are used in isolation, or as total body sessions and optimal on days OFF from training.

Stretching: After any kind of self or professional massage, it is recommended that you take time to stretch through a full range of motion for blood flow and for the elongation of muscle for improvements in flexibility (improved ROM around joint) and mobility (improved range of motion within a joint). These include various forms of dynamic stretching (forward/backward lunges), active isolated stretching (example: half kneeling quad hip-flexor stretch), and static stretching (holding end ROM for longer periods of time).

Again, these are some general suggestions to help your athletes prepare for the NEXT training session in the shortest amount of time. Using all of these in variety can reap tremendous benefits not only physiologically but psychologically as well. Try to implement some kind of recovery/regeneration strategy into every post-training session. In a perfect world, my ideal regeneration strategies would be implemented as follows:

Post Work Out:

Static Stretch, Ice Plunge

Day “Off”

Active/Self Myofascial Release, Trigger Point Work, Active Isolated Stretching, 15 minutes of light cardio ie: bike (flush) and when possible, a 30 massage after!!! You will see tremendous benefit in the upcoming work outs when you employ these strategies as they fit your training regime.

Jared Saavedra, M.S., CSCS, NASM PES, CPT, USAW-SPC, IYCA Youth Fitness Specialist, IYCA Speed and Agility Specialist

For many years, coaches have used what we call a traditional approach when warming up their athletes for competition and practice. The traditional approach typically consists of static stretching (holding the end range of motion of a muscle) for long periods of time (30 seconds etc.) It was not until the last few years that researchers concluded that static stretching reduces neural activity to the muscles being stretched eliciting
up to a 30% reduction of power and strength within an hour period of time. If you are preparing for a high intense bout of training or competition, save static stretching for AFTER your work out. Saving static stretching for after your work out, while your muscles are warm, can reap great benefits for overall flexibility enhancement.

What does a beneficial warm up for movement and competition consist of?

Well, let’s think of this objectively as possible. A well programmed warm up will aim to increase core body temperature, activate musculature used for the activity, safely elongate major muscle groups, reinforce movement patterns and most importantly, stimulate and “wake up” our central nervous system (brain, spinal chord). For my movement training sessions, I focus on four components:

1) Hip Complex/Glute Activation: The activation of the glutes along with the body’s ability to produce power and strength through hip flexion/extension is critical for optimal performance. A strong hip complex and activated glutes will improve power output along with reducing potential injury. This is important for all levels of athletes, especially youth.

2) Dynamic Flexibility: DF is a plethora of movements that are specific to the movements that will be performed in the upcoming movement session. These movements take the muscle through the optimal range of motion, dynamically, but not holding end range of motion for more than 3 or 4 seconds.

3) Movement Skills: A great coach will understand the crossover between this period of a warm up and the upcoming movements during the session. Performing “high knees” just to do is not the objective, but ask yourself is the athlete keeping their pillar nice and tall, coordinating the opposite hand and knee while keeping their toes up to pre-load and prepare the gastrocnemius and soleus for the upcoming contact phase that will translate later to running? This is the perfect time to get more repetition for movements needed during high speed drills. Repetition is important, especially for youth athletes.

4) Neural Activation: Often referred to as rapid response drills, these drills are to be performed in quick, powerful burst to stimulate the communication between the central nervous system and our muscles. They are not meant to be performed for conditioning purposes, only for neural adaptations to lead into a plyometric block of training.

“Okay Jared, these are all cool, and sound scientific, but where is the application, give us some examples of each!” Here ya go. My sample movement preparation for a session that will be focused on multi-directional movement for athletes of almost ALL sports.”

Foam Roll: if possible

Hip Complex/Glute Activation: (W/ resistance bands), a) body weight squats 2×10 b) In/Outs 2×12 (each knee) while in “ready” position, lateral shuffle, Frankenstein walks

Dynamic Flexibility: World’s Greatest stretch, Knee Hugs, Inverted Hamstring stretch, Lunge with rotation to the knee up side

Movement Skills: March in place, march forward, high knees, carioca (crossover focus), power skips, skip hugs, lateral shuffle w/ arm swing

Neural Activation: Ladders (pick 6 movements), or 4 square foot drills (pick 6 combinations, both double and single leg), or line drills using multiple patterns and progressions *each pattern and combo should only last approx. 5 seconds.)

This sample warm up should take about 12 minutes to complete and hopefully athletes are in a light sweat and ready for the next training block which should most likely be plyometrics!! GOOD LUCK!

Jared Saavedra M.S., CSCS, PES, CPT, USAW-SPC, YSAS, YFS-1

Athletes train completely different than the average person. Not only do they need to train in the weight room for power and strength adaptations etc., but their movement on the field or court is MORE important. An athlete may be able to bench 400 pounds and squat 500, but if they cannot move their weight both in a linear and lateral fashion efficiently, they will not be very successful in their respective sports come competition time.

If you break it down into thirds, the weight room is just a third of what is involved in training athletes while the other thirds are movement and sport specific skill development (which is usually taught by sport coaches). The difference between a personal trainer and a sport performance coach is that the SPC not only can coach in the weight room, but can also coach and teach proper acceleration, deceleration, multi-directional movement patterning along with the crossover and shuffle motions that are utilized in almost all sports.

Growing up, most athletes were never taught the correct way to accelerate (gain speed) and decelerate (slow down) their bodies while participating in what we thought were speed and agility drills. We were always told “run faster!! move quicker!!!” but were never taught the proper cues of lowering our center of mass and widening our base as we decelerated to a cone or opponent. We were not shown from this “break down” position how to change direction by identifying which leg would become our drive leg and which one would be the push leg etc. There is a reason why collegiate and professional coaches hire experts in the area of sport performance.

Nick Saban, the head football coach at the University of Alabama, does not coach his athletes in the weight room or when they are performing speed and agility drills during summer work outs. He has a whole entire strength and conditioning staff for this and he believes these coaches are the catalysts for successful seasons. These coaches typically have certifications and qualifications in the field of Sport Performance, Performance Enhancement, Strength and Conditioning, not personal training. It is important to understand the differences between a coach and a personal trainer. It is cool to see so many people interested in sport performance now, especially for our youth in preparing them for the next level.

Jared Saavedra

M.S., CSCS, PES, USA-W SPC, CPT, YFS, YSAS

The question I get asked the most from athletes, sport coaches and parents is “How do you train athletes of different sports together and still make their program sport-specific? I will usually follow up that question with a question. What does a sport-specific program look like to you? What would you think that consists of? I will get answers such as “well they need to be in shape for soccer, they need to get faster, stronger” but they are unable to explain what that means. However, it may not be their fault.

The term “sport-specific training” is wildly circulating the industry of strength and conditioning but collectively, we are unable to pin point what it means exactly. Let’s look at it. The term is simply defined as training that enhances and improves the specific demands of a sport. This means that every exercise within a program directly improves an outcome of what the sport requires. This is where it gets muddy. There seems to have been a new wave of training where you add resistance to very specific and intricate skills to mimic the actual sport.

Examples would be mimicking a punch with heavy dumbbells, hitting a golf ball with a weighted golf club, shooting a medicine ball that weighs more than a basketball to get those body parts stronger when it can actually do a lot more harm by making the athlete compensate and turn to bad mechanics and technique. Fatigue does that. I have also seen kids run through an obstacle course full of cones, hurdles and other things then catch a football at the end and that is considered sport specific. If you want to get better at your sport, practice your sport. If you want to be a better shooter in hoops, practice shooting. If you want to develop specific skills in a sport, practice those skills (skill development). Do not add weight or resistance to them to the point where the mechanics change. You defeat the purpose.

So if all soccer, football and lacrosse athletes accelerate and sprint in their sport that means we should plan exercises that develop and strengthen those movement patterns. When an athlete jumps in a vertical fashion, they exhibit explosive triple extension (which is the same movement pattern when you are in the acceleration phase of a sprint). Exercises such as dead lifts and squats both strengthen this movement. How about when an athlete changes direction? They must load (eccentrically) on one leg, display proper ankle stability to line up joints correctly to push off the planted leg to optimize muscle recruitment from the glutes, hamstrings and quads extending the knee and hips violently to change direction. A lateral lunge or a split squat provides similar movements. Single leg strength is very important for any sport. It just does not look as sexy when you cannot load nearly as much weight for single leg work but the benefits are ten fold for athletic performance.

As strength coaches we should know better. We should understand the demands and movement qualities of the various sports our athletes participate in but keeping in mind the bigger picture; total athletic development. A few years ago, I began training a youth female soccer athlete. On our second day she asked me “why are we lifting upper body when I play soccer?” I talked to her about the importance of what we call building the armor for our bodies to endure a long season and how the stronger you are the less likely you will be injured. She broke her collarbone the next week. She never asked me that again. I bring up this experience for parents, athletes and sport coaches to look at the bigger when creating a program for an athlete. Just because an athlete may use their upper bodies sparingly through out a competition does not mean that they should not train their upper body. Every athlete should be able to squat, hinge, push, pull, carry things and sprint. Do not confuse skill development and sport specific training and understand their differences. Look at the athlete as a whole for long-term success.

Here are some great tips for those working with young athletes created by Coach Fred Fornicola.

• Implement a safe, efficient, and effective full-body strength program two to three times per week. Have them work on all the major muscle groups and include exercises specific to strengthening the hands, calves, and in particular, the neck. Use a high level of effort with controlled movement. Include 7-10 exercises per workout and have them move quickly between exercises.
• Additional conditioning work is optional when the athlete is strength training intensely a couple times per week and practicing his or her sport. Conditioning, if needed and included, should be broken down properly. Over conditioning an athlete can lead to injuries and burnout very easily.
• Practice, practice, practice, but make sure the athlete is practicing properly. You can practice all day long that 2+2=5, but you’d be wrong every single time. Make sure what your athletes are practicing is correct.
• Have them become a student of the sport. Make sure they watch other athletes on all levels so they can learn more about the game and particular situations, so they can further their understanding of the sport.
• Have your athletes work on their auditory and visual skills as well. Being able to watch plays unfold and communicate will improve their skill set and effectiveness tremendously.

Jared Saavedra, MS, CSCS, PES

The Science Behind Plyometrics: What Are Plyometrics Intended For And Where Is Their Place in Programming?

As an athlete gets stronger in the weight room, it means very little if those “gains” can’t be carried over into their sport. An increase in power output, strength, stability, mobility and force production can all be measured and achieved by a solid strength and conditioning regime. However, when these specific types of qualities improve,

They are typically trained in a controlled environment; the weight room. We all know that sport is anything but controlled and the demands of each sport can vary from play to play, period to period or round to round. These demands require the ability to produce, control and reduce force (Turner and Jeffreys, 2010). When the demands of these forces increase, so can the probability of injury. Therefore, it is important to develop a tolerance or familiarity to a chaotic environment through plyometric training.

The objective of plyometric training is to link speed and strength through basic human movement patterns. These powerful movements are known as plyos. Plyometrics utilize what we refer to as the stretch shortening cycle (SSC). To keep it simple, the SSC is a rapid shortening and lengthening of muscle to produce a powerful movement that aims to harness, transfer and release energy. Plyos are meant to be explosive and often get confused with conditioning modalities with trainers and sport coaches, so it is important to understand that you can over train using plyos and be more susceptible to injuries just like you can when lifting weights. On the contrary, not implementing plyometric training can lead to injuries, especially non-contact in nature, when the body is not accustomed to the force and demands placed on them come competition time. Programming and tracking the amount of contacts per week (volume) with your athletes is crucial as well as planning around their other activities.

Before implementing plyometrics into your program, be sure to assess the readiness of your athletes or yourself first. There are various methods and ways to do this. I have seen formulas where an athlete must be able to back squat at least their body weight or sometimes 1.5 times their body weight. When it comes down to it, the athlete must be able to perform a solid squat and lunge pattern. If the athlete does not squat or lunge properly, it can be risky to add these movements. To get a better idea on a proper screen, google Coach Loren Landow’s presentation on plyometric at the National Strength and Conditioning Association’s Tactical Conference. He will guide you on what to look for during this assessment and the biomechanics involved in jumping and landing. Plyometric training is demanding on the musculoskeletal system but even more so on the central nervous system and a thorough warm up should be performed prior to this type of training.

Often times, when I see trainers and sport coaches implementing plyometric movements within their training program, they usually are unable to explain the reasoning behind why they are performing these movements in the first place. I have seen athletes adding 20 jump squats in between heavy sets of deadlifts (when the intent was to maximize strength) with very little rest in between because well, it’s “hard.” Just doing whatever is hard can also be very counterproductive in your performance goals, especially as an athlete. Understand what you are asking them to do and make sure you can give them the “why” behind your methods.
 
Benefits of Plyometric Training: Speed and Velocity Adaptations

Injury Reduction:

• Allows body to handle fast stretch loads
• Allows body to store energy elastically to decrease energy cost of movement
• Helps body coordinate movements involved in change of change of direction and reactive movements (Myer et al., 2008)

Performance:

• Allows body to generate force quickly because of increased explosive strength
• Increased Reactive Strength
• Minimizing energy leaks by transferring force through joints more efficiently (Aagard at al, 2002, Komi, 2003)

Movement Classifications:

• Hops- Exploding off one leg and landing on the same leg
• Bounds- Exploding off one leg and landing on the opposite leg (think lateral bounds).
• Jumps- Exploding off of two legs and landing on both
• Directions- Vertical (Up and Down), Medial/Lateral (Side to Side) and Horizontal (Forward).

Executions:

Non-Counter movement: beginning in a shortening position—>lengthening (arm swing is initiated from the starting position: there is no counter movement, so there is no full arm swing)

Counter-movement– beginning in a lengthening position—>shortening–>lengthening (vertical jump testing)

Double Contact– beginning in a shortened position, followed by contact on the ground (pre-loading) right into the lengthening movement (triple extension)

Continuous– continuous counter-movement reps (think non-stop jump squats, except you are are spending minimal contact time on the ground; the objective is to produce as much force in the shortest amount of time).

Plyo Training Recommendations: (Athlete’s Performance, 2013)

I have used this guideline numerous times through out my programming and I have found it useful and appropriate for many levels of athletes. I usually program two different movements in each session that are performed in different planes ie: double broad jump with single leg lateral bounds. You can also add or superset with an Olympic lift or any other ballistic movement.

• Training Frequency/Time Per Session: 2-4x per week, 10-15 minutes per session
• Movements Per Session: 2-3
• Sets/Reps Per Session: 5-8 sets/ 3-6 reps per set
• Rest: 1-3 min between sets
• Daily/Weekly Contacts: 25-50 per session/ less than 120 contacts per week

Final Coaching Tip: When possible, make plyos as measurable as possible. Athletes typically do not understand how fatiguing these movements are to their central nervous system unless they see their results in a measurable fashion. When I tell an athlete “okay, you are going to give me 6 vertical jumps, really pushing away from the ground”, they give me a look that says “6? That’s it? I can do 15!” I say “okay, well lets do this; I want you to stand perpendicular to the wall but close enough to where you can touch it. You are going to jump 15 times continuously and you will reach as high as you possibly can and touch the wall on every rep.” As the athlete performs this drill, you will notice their power starting to dramatically diminish around the 6^th rep or so. Why? Because their central nervous system is shot and the movement becomes more and more of a conditioning tool and less of a power/plyometric exercise, which was the original intent.

People waste their time performing hundreds of jump squats when their goal is to add height to their one rep vertical jump because they believe the more jump squats they do, the better that movement will be when there are a lot of other variables involved. If you want to be explosive, you need to train explosively and to train explosively; you need to have adequate rest in between sets so that you can perform with high intensity for every rep. Use cones and other tools to measure and track reps and sets. This is a simple guide so if you have any more questions, you can email me at CoachJared@athleteready.com

Jared Saavedra, M.S., CSCS, PES, USA-W, MMACA