Lately, my posts have focused on injury recovery and injury prevention. Time to switch gears a bit and share some of my philosophies on youth training for sport. I have worked with athletes of all ages (from 8 years old to professional soccer players). No two athletes are exactly alike. However, I often see similar technical and bio motor flaws in their movements.

One of the keys to making BIG impacts on their performance and movement capacity is teaching them simple drills to do repetitively at home. It is easy to overwhelm them with fancy drills and equipment (trainers can fall into this trap quickly). Admittedly, I did too early on when I first started in the industry. The real victory comes when you assess an athlete and identify 2-3 major things he/she can work to improve right away.

So, in my next 3 blog posts, I will share basic drills I use with all of my athletes that have made a significant impact on their form, speed and agility. The best part is that they can do these simple drills at home with minimal equipment too. The first video drill today is of a wall run.  See below:

The key in this particular drill is to maintain the proper forward lean and hip, knee and foot angles to maximize triple extension and facilitate motor learning so the athlete learns to synchronize arm and leg movement.  This drill can be done slow at first or even broken down into segments such as right, left, right (hold) and so on.  Personally, I have seen this single drill dramatically improve acceleration posture and running form in all of my younger kids.  Add it to your training arsenal if you do not use it now.  In the next post, I will reveal a lateral mobility drill that is my personal favorite for maximizing side to side foot speed.