Take a deep dive into force plate research and trends with “Force Plate Coach”, Dr. John McMahon from the University of Salford in England. In this episode, John discusses his path from Royal Marine Commando into strength and conditioning and biomechanics teaching and research. Listen in as John connects with NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, on the past, present, and future of force plates in sport and the ways we can improve our testing and evaluation of athletes. This episode mentions the following paper from NSCA’s Strength and Conditioning Journal: McMahon, JJ, Suchomel, TJ; Lake, JP, and Comfort, P. Understanding the Key Phases of the Countermovement Jump Force-Time Curve, Strength and Conditioning Journal 40(4): 96-106, 2018 Find John on Instagram: @forceplatecoach, on Twitter: @ForcePlateCoach, and on YouTube: @ForcePlateCoach| Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

This career series article focuses on the calling of the tactical strength and conditioning facilitator. It touches on the drive, commitment, and dedication necessary to work with tactical populations.

This article discusses the importance of a creative and open mind in strength and conditioning coaches, as well as tips to develop it.

Coaches can also benefit from understanding the concepts of positive and negative reinforcement and positive and negative punishment as they relate to motivation. Although coaches use a mixture of both reward and punishment, using rewards and a positive approach is arguably the best approach because it focuses on what athletes should do and what they did right.

Strength and conditioning coaches that temper their posterior chain exercises with some threshold training and specific trunk exercises designed to break the extension/compression stabilization strategy (ECSS) to restore proper stabilizing strategies may find their athletes will move better, get injured less, and actually perform better.

The article discusses the talent crisis that is currently plaguing United States first responders, public safety agencies, and military organizations, and concludes with highlights of select successful programs.

Law enforcement and correctional officers have the potential to be in a physically demanding situation at any time. This article is an overview of a conditioning program that can be used in physical training for recruits in the academy.

Discovery Canyon High School’s Sam Melendrez explains how experts in his profession are having a profound impact on youth in sports.

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

This article demonstrates how strength and conditioning coaches can coach power through non-traditional weightlifting exercises that can be taught quickly, to large groups, with less extensive technique correction.