Combine Prep: 3-point Start Part 1

The NFL Combine, a national invitational camp designed for scouting college athletes for the NFL, has presently overhauled one of the nations biggest realms of business in the Sports Performance Industry. Business’ such as the IMG Academy, Parisi Speed School, Bommarito Performance, Velocity Sports Performance, Athlete's Performance, are all spending countless man-hours assessing movements, designing programs, coaching athletes, lifting, moving, etc. in preparation for the NFL Combine. Athletes have dedicated themselves to excellence both on the gridiron and through a pre-season series of strength, power, and speed assessments in order to solidify their future and worth on the NFL level. Today, we raise the bar again with the birth of the “High School Combine” era. This era is a booming production with combines in our area such as the, National Underclassmen Combine, Under Armour Combine, Nike SPARQ Combine, etc. in which young athletes aspiring to become NFL players are displaying their talents for what is next: a college scholarship.

How can you rise to the challenge?

           

Speed is “measured time” in which most sprint races come down to tenths and even hundredths of a second. A good NFL scout will adamantly explain the difference between what two-tenths of a second could mean. It could be the difference between a first or second round draft pick and multiple millions of dollars during contract negotiations. The saying, “Speed Kills”, is absolutely true; it can be lethal to a scouting report and recruiter opinion or kill a draft stock.

So let’s talk about speed:

            Loren Seagrave is a renowned Speed and Conditioning coach, whom I have had the pleasure to hear in lecture and work with in practical application. Loren proposed four important and interdependent categories that relate to all components of Speed Training.

1.      First, and generally most emphasized is the “Big Force” component. This component stresses the ability to apply as much force in the ground as possible. In terms of Sports Performance, I always preach that the more force you are able to put into the ground, the stronger you need to be to stop that force eccentrically.

2.      The next component to be highlighted is “Short Time”. The ability to generate a large force is only half the battle. As discussed earlier, speed is always measured in the element of time so it needs to be done over a relatively short period of time.

3.       The third component discussed is “Proper Direction”. Forces should be forward/backward and not lateral. This component is part of my inspiration in creating CoachingSpeed.com Proper Direction and Short time are the reasons that maximum performance barriers are reached in athletes.

4.      The fourth and final component is “Optimal Range of Motion”. Limbs achieve certain heights and distance and no higher.

When all of these components are learned and organized in the correct manner, movement performance potential is maximized.

When coaching speed, we always teach technique first and then utilize these techniques in a practical application.

The 3-Point Start

Today, the topic is the 3 pt. Start and first I will explain the stance:

The most common error and hardest concept to understand is, “Where do my feet go”? In the athletes I have trained in the past, there is one common set up point, the “Front Foot”. First, we need to decide which is the dominate ‘Front Foot’?? Two rules of thumb I use is:

1.      Ask your athletes to cross their arms. The arm that gets to the body faster and is underneath represents their “Quick Side”.

2.      Ask your athlete to stand tall and close their eyes. With their back facing me, I will give a little push and watch to see which foot they use to step in front and recover their balance.

Now that we have established their ‘front foot’, let’s talk about foot placement:

            The Front Foot should be set up one sneaker-length from the line where the hand is going to be placed. That back foot will require a little trial-and-error, but I try to set my athlete’s up based on the study done by Harrison & Comyns at the University of Limerick, Ireland.  I ask my athletes to place their knee somewhere between mid-foot and toe of their strong side/lead leg. (Most people would refer to this as a Medium Stance). The rest of the secrets and analysis to the 3 Pt. stance can be explained in person.

Do you want to enhance your 3-point stance and your 40-yard dash?

Check out my facility, Velocity Sports Performance in Mahwah, New Jersey or Contact me using the ‘Contact Tab’ on the side for more information.

Work Hard, Work Smart, and keep Coaching Speed.

-Adam