Sometimes athletes (and their coaches) fail to realize they’re making mistakes that are costing them deeply in terms of performance.
Unfortunately, it all happens because of misinformation and a lack of understanding what athletes really need to become their very best.
Here are three costly, yet common, mistakes your athlete may be making (that eat away at their speed and performance!)
#1 – Not Strength Training
For some reason, many athletes and coaches are afraid of strength training.
There’s this misconception that being “too strong” can slow you down.
Except for an elite few (powerlifters, strongmen, etc.), getting stronger won’t get in the way of getting faster. In fact, stronger muscles actually increase one’s potential for speed and power.
Once an athlete is stronger, he will see greater increases in speed and power after spending time working on developing it using certain exercises (e.g., sprinting and acceleration drills). This is because strength is the base for speed and power.
Get strong, then get fast.
#2 – Not Eating Enough
Under-eating is a sure way to ruin one’s athletic performance, especially speed.
Eating wholesome, hearty food gives us the nutrients to recover from grueling training sessions, practices, and games.
By not eating enough, you’re not recovering properly. And if you don’t recover properly, you won’t improve. Depending on how badly you under-eat, you may actually be regressing and becoming slower.
A tell-tale sign of under-eating is low bodyweight.
Feed your body!
#3 – You Have Poor Agility and Technique
If you had the choice between a sprinting-style that was slower and one that was faster, what would you go with? The faster style, of course.
Running, shuffling, throwing, hitting, passing, etc. all have very specific techniques that maximize efficiency and speed.
Here’s the thing – many athletes fail to realize that their technique may not be top-notch, costing them a ton of speed that could translate to winning games.
Work with experts who can identify poor technique and teach proper technique, and your speed will only increase.
These kinds of mistakes, although sometimes hard to realize, can cost you or your child much needed speed, explosiveness, and performance.
If you’re looking for expert coaching that can prevent and correct issues like these for your young athlete, clicks the links below to see how GameChanger can help you.
Middle School Athletes → Click Here
High School Athletes → Click Here
