Sport General or Sport Specific: What is the research and practice telling us about working with Athletes?

With all of the information and “research” (albeit real or pseudo) it is difficult for parents, kids, and sometime even professional and elite level athletes to know how to best approach training for Sport Performance. While the research is pretty solid and difficult to disagree with, the fact that training (strength training, power training, core training, etc.) is beneficial and valuable for athletes, how to approach that training and what systems approach is most likely to create the best environment for long term success is a bit elusive and confusing.

In a recent seminar at Optima (the National Academy of Sports Medicine’s National Conference) I addressed and explored this issue. To sum it up: here is this quote from Mike Boyle:

“Sport-specific programming is one of the greatest misconceptions in athletics today. The notion that each sport needs its own individual program is fundamentally flawed. The majority of team sports and even many individual sports have similar general needs. All rely on speed and power, with strength as the underlying base. The development of speed, strength, and power does not and should not vary greatly from sport to sport.”

Sport General or Sport Specific: Refining Your Approach