March | 2012 | CoachRich8

I subscribe to a service that provides Speed and Agilty Workouts for Instructors. Lee Taft is a great resource.

Quickness vs. Quick Reactions…posted on Sports Speed, Etc.

One of the roles of a coach is to develop the skills that are going to position his or her athletes the best. For example, sports like baseball, softball and football have athletes playing certain position that do not require tremendous quickness, however do require tremendous quick reactions. What is the difference? Quickness is the ability to move in one direction and change directions with “Quickness” (body control, agility, balance…). Quick reactions are the ability to instantaneously make a change in the current position and accelerate toward the play. This could be the reactions of the arms moving to catch a line drive or hit a curve ball. It could be a quick foot reaction of an offensive lineman to an inside move from a defensive end rushing the quarterback.

Athletic ability can be outlined globally or it can be specific. Training a hockey goalie to be fast at skating and changing directions will help develop athleticism. However, teaching the goalie to have reactive hands and legs to defend the goal is specifically important to being a goalie.

A coach needs to know when to devote greater time to one or the other. It makes sense for professional athlete to spend most of their time on the specific skills needed to play the sport or position. If global foundational skills are not challenged, then there is a loss of athleticism and this can in turn hinder the specific nature of their sport. If we are dealing with youth athletes, then the higher percentage needs to be global foundational quickness to develop overall athleticism. We would then move on to specific quickness when needed.

Love to hear you thoughts,

Yours in Speed, Lee

P.S. – Sports Speed Etc. has devoted two decades to teaching the proper way to improve quickness. Go to www.SportsSpeedEtc.com to grab information on training for quickness. Keep learning, keep growing and keep being great!

The Soft Drink industry, and in particular, Sports Drinks Market is a Booming Industry, Multi-Billion Dollars in Fact. With so many choices among so many categories, how do you know what is right for your child? Here is a hint …H2O, that is right water, when in doubt, water is still the most important beverage any person can consume. The next time you find your self rushing between activities at a convenience store, think about all the bright colors and consider for a second, a clear bottle with clear liquid as water is often the best choice.

Now back to the Sports Drinks. There are several categories of Sports Drinks including but not limited to, Sports Drinks, Energy Drinks, Recovery Drinks, etc. The most popular among kids and parents are Energy Drinks and Sports Drinks.

Energy Drinks often contain vitamins and other supplements offering a boost in performance, there are several on the market that actually warn against using with young children. Sports Drinks offer hydration and electrolyte replacement and offer extended performance, quick recovery and protection against dehydration, further, they now come in lower calorie varieties as well. Many contain sugar, caffeine and artificial coloring…which are considered by many nutritionists to be Toxic!

As a competitive Athlete and Marathon Runner, I have read and experienced over the years that water is still the best choice and that electrolyte replacement is important when your activity is longer that 1 hour in duration. I have personally used lots of Sports Drinks and Energy Drinks over the years and still do to when exercise exceeds and hour but my primary staple continues to be water.

As a parent, you have a lot of choices and there is a lot of in your face marketing. As a coach my recommendation is that moderation is key. Is a sports drink bad? Not necessarily. If your child is going from one sporting event to another and it is a hot day with lots of perspiration, a sports drink may not be a bad choice, but with a well-balanced diet, water is a great choice too because a healthy diet will provide the electrolytes and nutrients necessary to fuel your young athlete. Mixing in a sports drink throughout the day among lots of water is what I would consider moderation. Sending your child to the sideline with a 32 ounce high sugar sports drink for a 40 minute game with plenty of subs in my opinion is not the best choice. Besides, if your skip the sports drink during, you wont have to feel as guilty about the post game ice cream.

Here are a few articles that you may find to be helpful should you be interested in learning more about what the expert’s say…

*****I have no affiliation with any of the references but have found the articles to be useful, thanks for visiting my blog.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/nutrition_center/healthy_eating/power_drinks.html#

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/sports-drinks-choice-kids/story?id=13704953

http://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20030502/sports-drinks-best-for-active-kids