Sports Fitness From the “Ground-Up”
by Sarah “Charly” Scott

Build from a Strong Foundation

Many coaches and trainers still believe the best way to build a foundation of
strength is to start with complex, multi-joint exercises like heavy squatting, bench pressing, deadlifting and Olympic lifting.
While there are no bad exercises, there are inappropriate
times for complex exercises to be added to an athlete’s training plan.
Basketball, volleyball, football, and soccer have a high incidence of injury to the ankles, knees, and lower back.

Junior High, High School and Collegiate athletes typically get hurt because they train and play before establishing a base of functional strength in the “core” and “power center” muscles.
An athlete can develop additional sport-specific skills and strength through complex multi-joint exercises only after he or she has first developed structural integrity.

Structural Integrity is a Joint Effort

Athletes must start with strength and conditioning routines that develop
joint stability (support), body balance (control), and
mobility (movement), which all together create “structural integrity.”
Structural integrity development programs allow athletes to better control
playing postures to accomplish skills such as free-
throw shooting, rebounding, setting, blocking, and passing, while staying on-balance.

Furthermore, athletes that have developed structural integrity will have the strength
to absorb repeated landings, quick changes of direction and stopping forces.

Working your Way Up - Start with Stance

The key to sports strength and conditioning programs
is to first build dynamic “whole-body” functional strength,
that will allow athletes to maintain playing stances throughout the entire game and season.

For example, holding a proper defensive stance requires more strength than most athletes or coaches realize. Defensive postures are difficult to maintain because they
require a widened base of support (feet), a lowered center of gravity (hips) and constant
recruitment of “core” and “hip matrix” muscles needed for structural integrity.

Build Functional Strength from the Ground-Up

Athletes who lack the functional strength necessary for body control are a danger to themselves and others on the court or playing field.
Since all movement begins when the feet contact the ground, a “ground-up framework” is
essential to improving sports performance and preventing sidelining injuries.
As long as gravity exists, sports training and conditioning plans should
be designed “from the ground up.”

Sarah “Charly” Scott - www.WAthleticClub.com - 512.847.0353

Principal & Founder of The W Athletic Club in Wimberley, Texas and IronSmith – The Fitness Doctors, Inc in Austin, Texas. Sarah has earned a national reputation for creating the trademarked PlayStrong sports training programs. Clients have been athletes, coaches and teams from the Junior high to the professional level, including athletes, coaches and teams from: The University of Texas, Harvard, Yale, Boston College, Dartmouth, University of Minnesota, Texas A&M, Bentley, Stonehill, Trinity University, St. Edwards University, Southwestern, and Bethel College. In addition, Sarah has authored numerous articles on functional sports conditioning and was a contributor to The Little Abs Workout Book by Erika Dillman.