Line drills can be an excellent way for athletes to improve their footwork, speed, and coordination. This article contains examples of several easy-to-implement line drills.

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.

Maria Mountain demonstrates of an off-ice agility cone drill to help hockey players work on multidirectional transitions using forward, backward, and lateral crossover patterns.

All fitness components depend on body composition to some extent, and the demands of many sports require that athletes maintain standard levels of body composition.

Typically, a coach may follow a process in which they first identify the key performance indicators of their sport, determine the physical attributes that map back to them, and then distribute the development of those capacities over the allocated timeframe. Furthermore, effective training plans are based on a theoretical or biological basis for how we move and adapt to exercise stimuli, coupled with an understanding of how these are best sequenced, such that one stimulus and subsequent adaptation can potentiate the next. Thus, reverse or backward engineering, when appropriately converged with the plans of those devised around nutrition, conditioning, technical, and tactical training, for example, likely gives athletes the best chance of attaining their performance goals. The aim of this article is to describe the application of reverse engineering, exampling it within the context of developing an athlete who can demonstrate a high level of agility.

Access the video collection for the 2018 Hockey Strength and Conditioning Clinic held June 8-9, 2018 in Colorado springs. Give your athletes a competitive edge on the ice by developing speed, agility, and quickness inside the weight room. Master off-season training, skill development drills, and performance-based nutrition strategies from NHL and collegiate level coaches with years of experience in the rink. Learn the latest training methods backed by science to help your players dominate the competition.

How does a small-town boy from Mid Wales become the next NSCA President? Follow Ian Jeffreys’ inspiring journey, beginning with his introduction to the NSCA in 1989 as a professional rugby player hungry for knowledge to perform better. Listen as he recounts the thrill of his first conference and why NSCA events are so much more valuable than just what is presented on the main stage. Then, dive into Ian’s career-defining contributions to speed and agility, sparked by his reverse-engineering approach that leverages movement patterns and strong positioning to elevate game speed. Reflect on decades of evolution in our profession, including increased career paths plus the rise of technology and AI — and why they can never replace the true human heart of coaching. Lastly, learn Ian’s vision for the NSCA’s future, which involves both listening and leading to maintain the NSCA’s position as the worldwide authority in strength and conditioning. Connect with Ian by email at ian.jeffreys@nsca.com | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or LinkedIn: @ericmcmahoncscs Join Ian’s inauguration at NSCACon 2024 in Baltimore, MD, July 10-13! Register at NSCA.com/NSCACon

The Pull-Up

In this lecture from the NSCA's 2014 Coaches Conference, Mike Robertson talks about corrective exercise and its application. Invoking Gray Cook, Mike defines corrective exercise as "a holistic approach where an assessment is used to determine specific weaknesses and/or limitations of the athlete" - be it aerobic, strength, or agility.

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