Are your athletes getting better and how would you know?

I gave a talk at a local strength and conditioning facility, the Alpha Project, which is hosting the North American Global Hamstring Project. The coaches at Alpha are doing some great things, and it’s great to join their efforts to bring more strength and conditioning and sport science to the California Central Coast. Below, you can find the slides and the accompanying spreadsheet for the talk I’m giving on effective test selection and some useful … Read more

New Research: Why you should do the isometric mid thigh pull in an upright position

I’ve been using the isometric mid-thigh pull extensively since I was first exposed to it as a master’s student. It is a useful test for evaluating strength and rate of force characteristics in athletes. Most of the variables obtained from the test are reliable, both within a session and between multiple sessions, and the majority relate well to a variety of dynamic (i.e. not isometric) skills, such as the countermovement jump and change of direction. … Read more

Training recommendations for developing a golfer

In Fall 2015, when I started here at CSUMB, I started working with the new Women’s Golf Coach, James Earle, to develop and run their strength and conditioning programming. Since then, the team has trained religiously in the weight room 2-3 times per week. We have had growing success, which has led to a few folks wondering what we are up to. After one tournament, another coach remarked that they were one of the most … Read more

How to Choose a Training Method

Clipboard and Pen

Ultimately, there are going to be thousands of ways and thousands of methods that you could possibly choose to use with your athletes. If you narrow the potential methods and combinations of methods that work, we are probably down to the hundreds, and if you narrow the methods down to those that work, that are appropriate for your athlete, and the ones that are truly feasible for your situation, then you’re probably down to tens … Read more

Cohen’s d and Hedges’ g Excel Calculator

I needed to put together a simple little Excel calculator for the Cohen’s d and Hedges’s g effect sizes. While there are many different online calculators out there, I like the idea that I can go in and verify the calculations if necessary, and add things to it (I would eventually like to add in confidence intervals for both effect sizes, if I can figure it out). I have this sheet calculating both Cohen’s d … Read more

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