Vernon Davis

cushing also gained like 30 pounds didn’t he?

However, i still think he’d be better off at his college weight without those extra pounds… so your argument is valid to me.

Where’s the comments section for that article?

Once again, guys like Joe D. are trying too hard to create controversy to stand out.

It’s another exercise, no big deal.

Where’s the comments section for that article?

Once again, guys like Joe D. are trying too hard to create controversy to stand out.

It’s another exercise, no big deal.

Maybe the problems arise when he crams 6’6" guys up on the line who don’t have the specific strength and power to fire out of the hole!

The problem with the private training industry, particularly the facilities that work with collegiate and pro athletes, is that they often look to generate the strongest adaptive response in their clients because they have such limited time to prove their worth.

This often leads to the use of novel training aids.

While this may be impressive to the client and who ever is paying for the service it is actually to the detriment of the athlete, in the long term, because of the residual implications of such sudden changes in exercise form, load intensity, and volume.

The very doctrine of most private facilities (the biggest results in the shortest amounts of time) exists in stark contrast to what Charlie stressed over the years with respect to the importance of ensuring the smoothest possible transitions between training phases over the course of the year.

James whats funny is that about 3 weeks before my nfl interview i sat and talked to several prominent collegiate and nfl strength & conditioning coaches (we were at a clinic). They all pointed out the plus’s and minus’s about private training for elite athletes (regardless of sport). Lets just say they were not exactly fans of them. I talked to speedcoach and ESTI (both who interviewed to go pro) and they all were on the same page with there concerns. I wont name names but they called out some the industries biggest names in private training.

when an athlete is training for a tryout, there is no other choice. You have to take that injury risk- otherwise your time isn’t maximized. Basically you have 2 options:

  1. Get as good as you can be, but risk injury in the process. OR
  2. train hard yet hold back to prevent injury.

Guess which option will get you drafted? Guess which option will harm you in the long run…

But there is only one option. Its either option 1 or bust

I didn’t mean for my post to indicate that injury risk isn’t part of high performance training.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that holding back and training optimally are synonyms.

My point is that the often gimmicky and certainly over intensified and volumized approach that is taken by many private camps is unnecessary and potentially costly down the road.

By example, if I were to list what we have our guys do in their combine/pro day preparation it would appear rather mundane compared to what is publicized by many private camps.

However, our guys routinely perform better and at a lesser cost than our guys who are sent elsewhere by their naive agents and always return detrained. Thus the guys who went elsewhere and were over and misguidedly worked were the true busts.

In actuality, since 2007 we’ve only had 2 players who went elsewhere to train and increased their numbers at their combine/pro day.

The most favorable option is that the athlete is trained optimally throughout their collegiate career then continues their smooth transition up to combine/pro day.

The question, then, is are the players trained optimally at their respective collegiate program and what does their post-collegiate training consist of.

i didn’t mean to jump down your throat. I’d trust a collegiate coach any day over “self proclaimed expert out of his own warehouse”…

but then again, you still get guys like jeremy maclin who trained with his collegiate coach specifically for the 40 yard dash for 4 months or so… but then ran terrible at the combine. We both saw that video someone posted on here… a bunch of “new technology!” BS that doesnt work.

Best to stick to a training method like charlie’s and worry about peaking at the right time rather than crazy crash training trying to take .2 off your 40 in 4 months.

There’s a lot of BS that goes on in some of these combine prep camps in terms of altering the results…
I witnessed one coach initially tests his guys’ (most of which are only days out of a bowl game/full season so they won’t be 100% anyway) 40’s on a notoriously slow track behind the facility to get their initial time, which was also the LAST time they would ever be timed on that track. They would do drills and power speed type stuff on that track but all of the remaining times were done on a fast(er) track that they had to travel too. There were a few other BS tricks like this that the players were unaware (actually 1 player did say something once he returned from the combine with his much lower than expected results)

Side note: The facility’s owner was also good friends with one of the biggest agents in the NFL… The supply of players was endless… Interesting how that stuff works

the more one upsets the long term developmental path, it usually comes at a price. Ian King taught me a long time ago that if someone comes to you with a background far different than what you do, don’t just jam them into your program, massage the fit into your over time. Many of these athletes are forced by their agents to go to said gurus. I like some of Joe D’s stuff. I don’t agree with all of it, but at least he has a philosophy and sticks to it. That can’t be said for many so called experts whose training style changes like the wind. One of my athletes who plays WR in NFL trained with his college S&C coach for proday and he did very well. 4.35 forty, 40 inch vert, 17 reps. He could have come back to me, but he wisely stayed, even though his coach and I program very similar.

There is actually a list of the so-called BEST OF THE BEST training facilities for comebine prep training camps, clinics, etc. I wont name names but I can post it if everyone is interested in it. Some of the names on the list would shock you.

I’d like to see who is considered the best of the best. I have worked alongside some prep specialist I would consider 2nd tier in terms of talent they get, however they use methods I would consider excellent.

Here’s the list. I’ll reserve my opinion on some of them til later. Honestly some I like, some are just dumb!
http://draftdaddy.com/features/speed.htm#SpeedRank

I think MJ gets a lot of help from Nike. Obviously they have a partnership.

Also, I did not see Bo Jackson’s facility listed, his place is huge and he also has a partnership with Nike.


Once in a speed camp, the athletes benefit not only from the modern advances in speed training (which are significant), but from the variety of other instructions and experiences they receive throughout the process.

^^ Modern advances in speed training? They must be talking about the one legged dead lifts standing on a bosu ball.

http://bojacksonselitesports.com/about_overview.html

Why wait.

Looking at that list I remember seeing some weird ideas from Tom Shaw. Watching that Bolt video that was essentially an MJ self promotion, it looked like a bunch of expensive equipment and bells and whistles, wonder about results.

^ Yes, it’s amazing. I’m not a coach, nor have I made it pro, but I really think all the huge facilities and fancy equipment is unnecessary.

All you have to do is go look at what Charlie did, or look at what the Jamaicans are currently doing.

As far as improvements these players say they get from attending these camps, they say it themselves that they get more individual training and better diet guideline apposed to collage so that in itself can cause improvement.

(double post)

Ok some of the places have a great staff but still do some dumb things like athletes performance. I like some of the stuff they do but they did do some things I dont agree with. I was told by some of my athletes that i said some of the same things that michael johnson and athletes performance said. Not sure if I should be flattered or just ho hum about it.
D1 performance is really just based on peyton manning aka his name.
Parisi is not all that good.
Ive heard different opinions about tom shaw.

not trying to be funny but are your friends sending athletes across to him. :confused: