Medicine Ball Accelerations

Thought I would share this idea with you for getting over a problem performing Acceleration 2.

One of my female athletes was having trouble rolling forward in order to get back into position to release the med ball. We tried using a length of Velband tied to her with a partner holding the other end standing slightly to one side in front of her. The backward roll provided a stretch on the band and when she moved forward the band gave her enough assistance to gain momentum enough to complete the exercise. After completing the drill a few times with assistance she is now able to perform it without any external help.

Interesting how kinesthetic cues are essential for learning. Now think about how useful hills are for acceleration.

Imagine how confused she would be if someone simply tried to explain it to her by verbal cues, not to mention loss in neural efficiency while she would have tried to pinpoint the correct sequence by continuous conscious reallocation. Good stuff!

PhilG,
what was the problem and she couldn’t do the drill? Thanks!

Once she feels the idea once or twice, you shouldn’t need the bands. If she rocks the ball forward from far enough behind her, she should have enough momentum to get her through

She was doing it correctly up to the point of coming forward. She is a strong young lady but tall at over 6ft, not sure if this was a factor. Hi Charlie, once she did it a few times with the assistance she managed no problem without and continues to do so. I think that people in general find certain things more difficult to do than the next person, this was just one of those things. Normally her skill learning isn’t bad at all.