KISS Principle in Sports Performance
In this day in age, where you can scroll social media to see the latest and greatest exercises, gadgets, and training philosophies that may go against the grain, it can be easy to fall into the trap of finding a place to fit it in your program or even abandon your program altogether.
In my young coaching career, I have fallen victim to trying to place a square peg in a round hole only to quickly find it does not fit, it does not work, and it is not needed.
At the end of the day, it always comes back to implementing and mastering the basics. Utilize the KISS Principle (Keep It Simple, Stupid), and do not overthink it. Most systems work best if they are kept simple rather than made complicated and that is no different in sports performance.
For Performance Course, that means we will LIFT, SPRINT, JUMP, and THROW to meet the demands placed on our athletes in practice and sport.
Coach it well, train it well, and attack it consistently.
Small investments to pay off big down the road!
LIFT
In the weight room, we are going to train movements instead of muscles and train the body as a whole instead of upper or lower. The quality of movement will dictate the weight not the other way around. We will lift heavy things, and we will also lift lighter things with speed. We will Squat, Hinge, Push, Pull, Lunge, and Carry nearly every session. This will include both bilateral and unilateral exercises and all planes of motion. Our core will be addressed through the bracing and resistance of movement in our compound lifts. We will lift with intent, and we will compete.
As far as Olympic lifting is concerned, if you can coach it well there are great benefits to its implementation. If you cannot, there are other avenues to achieve those adaptations which I will cover below. Take it or leave it, but do not over think it.
SPRINT
Sprint work can be broken down into a few different categories, starting with sprint mechanics. We implement sprint mechanic exercises into our ‘warm up’ for the speed work that day. From there we attack our emphasis for the day.
Acceleration: We work acceleration angles by sprinting 5–20 yards from a variety of starting positions — supine, prone, kneeling, half kneeling, quadruped, UAP, lateral, reverse, etc. We will also add resistance at times with bands or chains.
Deceleration: We can have fast athletes, but they also need great brakes. For decel work we will start with programmed and progress to reactive from a variety of cues both audible and visual.
Change of Direction: Here we put acceleration and deceleration together which is what most sports consist of and place a heavy emphasis on competition.
Max Velocity: How fast can we possibly run? Flying 10–20s, Wickets, etc. Time it, compete, and give adequate rest so we are able to attack each repetition.
JUMP & THROW
This is an area where we can chase adaptations with or without the implementation of Olympic Lifting. Jump with intent in all directions — horizontal, vertical, lateral, and transverse. Start basic and progress when needed. Progressions can be repetitive jumps, bilateral to unilateral, skips to bounds, combinations, etc.; but do not progress just for the sake of progressing. The athletes are much better off executing the same basic jumps intentionally and consistently than progressing when the step before still looks sloppy.
Utilize the same approach with throws. Medicine balls are a great tool to have that gives feedback to the athlete. Throw it as high as you can, far as you can, and hard as you can into a wall. Shot put, scoop toss, and rotate — use your imagination and compete. You can even utilize MBs into acceleration work with chest pass to sprints to help load and create better angles.
At the end of the day, programming for your athletes can be overwhelming, but it certainly does not have to be. Always think back to the KISS Principle and keep things simple — LIFT, SPRINT, JUMP, and THROW!
Program what you are competent and comfortable coaching, and then attack it consistently with the right intent. Your athletes will be better for it!
