Scenarios that provide a stimulus relevant to the sporting environment may help athletes develop better anticipation skills through the refinement of search strategies, response speed and accuracy, pattern recognition, and decision-making abilities.

This excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness aims to provide a snapshot of programming volleyball-specific agility and quickness sessions.

As Director of Sport Science at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), Heather Farmer spearheads comprehensive integration efforts. This includes ensuring every stakeholder, from sport performance staff to academic advisors, has a seat at the table. Farmer also outlines developing an internship and graduate assistantship program to meet staffing needs and offer opportunities for practical experience. She recounts how leveraging relationships — not data — has been her key to scalability. Additionally, Farmer recognizes that to make an impact, she must meet athletes and sport coaches where they are, which she uncovers through “highlights” and “hurdles.” She suggests that sport scientists with strength and conditioning backgrounds, like herself, are uniquely equipped to excel due to their communication skills. Farmer and McMahon also discuss avoiding “analysis paralysis” and how to incorporate data to elevate the student-athlete experience — an unignorable factor as athletes bring an element of “self” in the age of name, image and likeness (NIL). Reach out to Heather by email at: heather.farmer@unlv.edu | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs

This article provides a narrative of the effects of a five-week strength and conditioning program on collegiate female volleyball athletes and shows the potential benefits that may occur in lower-body performance.

This article provides a narrative of the effects of a five-week strength and conditioning program on collegiate female volleyball athletes and shows the potential benefits that may occur in lower-body performance.

This article discusses the effects of instability on force and velocity throughout the body.

The “five Ss” of trainability and performance are critical periods of development that all youth strength and conditioning coaches should consider when creating a training program. Coaches should take advantage of each window to maximize a youth athlete’s potential and help ensure a long athletic career.

This excerpt from NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science describes strength as a velocity-dependent concept.

Strength and conditioning coaches can help bridge the gap between research and anecdotal experiences by reporting subjective and objective information obtained while carrying out everyday responsibilities.

The NSCA is a nonprofit association dedicated to advancing strength, conditioning, & related sport science professions.