So, when was the last time you took a major road trip without doing any planning first? My guess is that you would say never! After all, who wants to waste valuable time getting lost or taking the long route.

First you would define your destination. You would figure out exactly where it is that you are going to go. In the olden days, you would then get your map out and locate your destination. You would find your starting point and map out the most effect route. Now you plug your variables into Mapquest and let it do the work for you.

Regardless, you still have to know where you are going and where you are starting to make it work.

This is not to say that you could not make the trip without first mapping it out. However, you are more than likely not going to make the trip in the most effective manner possible. Ultimately, it will take much longer, and will exhaust much more of your resources.

In my opinion, training athletes is just like taking a trip. You have to have a plan or you will surely get lost or take the long route to your goals. An athlete can lose months of valuable training, which can be detrimental to their success

When I design strength training programs I utilize a priceless concept I call the Hierarchy of Success. You can use the Hierarchy of Success to insure that you accurately and effectively address the true requirements for success of every athlete you train.

Step 1: Defining your Destination.

The most important factor in guaranteeing your athletes success is to identify what is really required for them to be successful at their sport. Most of us are not qualified to teach the actual sport specific skills an athlete must possess to be successful, so leave that to their position coaches.

Moreover, I am talking about the development of the types of strength necessary to mature and shape their athleticism.

We know that sport is:

1. 1. Multiplaner - the majority of loading occurs in multiple planes *outside* the vertical plane.
2. 2. Highly integrated – performance is based off a highly integrated interaction between multiple motor skills.
3. 3. Dynamic- athletes experience a constantly changing playing environment.

Most sports are a continuously shifting blend of jumping, landing, starting, stopping, cutting, pushing pulling, hearing, seeing, feeling, and reacting.

As such…so should your strength training.

So…how do we identify the unique requirements for success? We study the athlete as they play their sport!

We look for:

1. 1. Type and frequency of deceleration and acceleration (vertical, horizontal, lateral, linear)
2. 2. Primary “vehicle” of force expression: i.e. through their body, an implement, another person
3. 3. In what planes does this expression take place? 3. Are their general body movements primarily linear, lateral, multidirectional, rotational, or a mixture
4. 4. What types of postures are necessary for their sport and position
5. 5. Types of strength used-static, explosive, yielding, etc

This information provides us with the most essential element to optimized program design…a destination!

Without knowing their “destination”, you will have no way of knowing exactly what it will take for your athlete to be successful. Without a destination, you have no way of accurately quantifying or qualifying your athletes deficiencies as they truly relate to their requirements for success.

Without a destination, you are presumptively training!

Until next time…

Stay strong

Tony

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