Sports Performance
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Mission and Philosophy:
To prepare the athletic department's student athletes both physically and mentally and to develop the total athlete by focusing on three areas.
1. Increase an athlete's performance and preparedness for their respective sport. To be Stronger, Faster and more Explosive.
2. Reduce the risk of or severity of an athletic related injury.
3. Increase both Physical and Mental toughness.
The Sports Performance Coach has the greatest potential to change the culture of the athletics department both physically and mentally due to the amount of time they spend with a student athlete throughout the year. The program develops athletes both physically and mentally for practice and competition using commitment, accountability and strong work ethic. Student-athletes are provided with training programs to match the demands of each sport and no two programs are the same and focuses on many different components: strength, aerobic and anaerobic endurance, flexibility, coordination, speed, agility, and power.
Training Methodologies
Each athlete will be evaluated and a sport specific strength and conditioning program will be prescribed. Programs are developed around the following principles: specificity, overload, variation and progression. These principles are applied to each athlete's program to enhance his/her ability to perform during competition and to decrease the risk of injury.
Training sessions begin by preparing for activity, correcting any mobility or stability deficiencies they may have during a specific warm-up. Using mobility exercises and dynamic flexibility prior to a training session with help correct their bodies and prepare them for optimal movement during training sessions, practices and competition.
Teaching athletes how to use free weights and Olympic lifts requires mental focus and coordination, thus developing those characteristics when carried over to a given playing surface. They encompass multiple sets, ground-based, multi-joint, free weight exercises. Student-athletes who train in this manner have the best opportunity to develop the components of athleticism. Showing them how to move better through proper speed, agility and plyometric exercises will have an immediate impact on competing in a faster, stronger and more explosive manner while reducing the risk for injury.
Training and conditioning with learned exercises prepares one to endure practices and competitions so that fatigue is not a distraction or limiting factor when competing at the highest level. Physical and mental toughness is developed when an athlete begins to doubt the ability to finish activities due to fatigue. Making the choice to push through and persevere at this time results in the same ability to push through and prevail in similar practice or game situations.
In order for student athletes to compete at a championship level, the staff works to develop programs that integrate both the sports medicine and nutrition staffs. This cohesive relationship between the staffs ensures that student-athletes have every opportunity to maximize their performance potential.
Great Effort & Attitude expected at every training session in order to train and compete at the highest level. This sets the tone for a successful training environment and is essential for building team chemistry. A positive attitude is just as contagious as a negative one and can provide the spark for a successful team building environment and the ability to Finish Strong.
