Sport

The phase of the season, the match and the personnel. My role, typically, is to maintain stability, so the tone is typically calm and action oriented. Player development is high on the list of coaching responsibilities. Hours are spent crafting practice plans that help athletes improve. But coaches must remember that their own skill development […]

Close races, comebacks, back and forth relays. These types of things make the race itself compelling. Uncertainty about the outcome throughout makes a race exciting. Last Friday, SwimSwam published our Swammy Awards Top 10 Swims of the Year. The number one race was the men’s medley relay at the Asian Games. In a year when so […]

Just buckle down, get after it and remember every expert was once a beginner. But it’s only the dedicated beginners who become an expert. One of the most intimidating things we can do as human beings is start something new. Especially when that something has been around for a while like, say, fastpitch softball. We […]

To challenge and therefore grow processing and decision-making skills, coaches often need to stretch the athletes. The three most common and easiest to use stressors are: space, time and numbers. I have been writing a good bit about how sporting actions are preceded by a movement or skill choice. In the article “The vision-decision-action cycle […]

Fortunately there are a number of therapeutic techniques (foam rolling, trigger point therapy, massage, etc.), dynamic warmups and static stretching exercises that players can use help prevent and/or alleviate this problem. Tight hip flexors can cause a number of problems for baseball players. Among these are changes in joint alignments and potential pain in the […]

“To inspire swimmers and test limits successfully, you have to create a group culture looking for certain goals.” Inspiration and motivation to complete a task in swimming, indeed life, can come from many different sources. It can come from within, a family member, coach, teammates or some other external source. Once swimmers are inspired to […]

If you want a big way to improve this season, you should think more about how to make more accurate shots. Are you hoping to score more goals this soccer season? If you want to be ready to get back to the game and show off some new skills, you need to know how you […]

The awards recognize student-athletes who have distinguished themselves through demonstrated acts of sportsmanship and ethical behavior. Parker Nork’s legacy lives on. His family has made sure of it – and with good reason. “He made everybody smile and loved everyone he knew and met,” said Parker’s mother, Kim, who on March 11, 2017, had to […]