Strength Training Program

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Mar 23, 2011
492
18
Noblseville, IN
IMO the single biggest thing that any athlete's parent or coach could do for them is to determine if they are or are not quad dominant. Quad dominant kids' sports futures will always die a long slow death... Pretty much by 16u the condition is terminal. However I believe if caught early enough, a targeted training program can be developed to correct or minimize the long term effects.

If the kid is not quad dominant and has good functioning glutes, ballistic workouts that target glutes and explosive movements will offer the biggest gains as the benefits go directly toward speed and first step performance. This relates to pitching in that by 14/16U, drive mechanics and explosiveness on the mound become the biggest power sources for pitchers (where as at 14u and before, geometrical attributes like tall/long arms can be more dominant). Improving thrust from the middle will result in big gains in pitching speed. It will also improve drive efficiency which means that kids can back off the throttle slightly and reign in control.

Working the glutes is not about developing big derrieres at all... Strength is not the key, the goal is to improve the entire posterior drive linkage which extends all the way down to the feet. Explosive exercises that load the legs down to the balls of the feet can produce big gains. I'm a fan of depth jumps using plyo boxes, but it's important to target optimal starting heights as too little/too much will slow progress.
 
Apr 28, 2014
2,316
113
IMO the single biggest thing that any athlete's parent or coach could do for them is to determine if they are or are not quad dominant. Quad dominant kids' sports futures will always die a long slow death... Pretty much by 16u the condition is terminal. However I believe if caught early enough, a targeted training program can be developed to correct or minimize the long term effects.

If the kid is not quad dominant and has good functioning glutes, ballistic workouts that target glutes and explosive movements will offer the biggest gains as the benefits go directly toward speed and first step performance. This relates to pitching in that by 14/16U, drive mechanics and explosiveness on the mound become the biggest power sources for pitchers (where as at 14u and before, geometrical attributes like tall/long arms can be more dominant). Improving thrust from the middle will result in big gains in pitching speed. It will also improve drive efficiency which means that kids can back off the throttle slightly and reign in control.

Working the glutes is not about developing big derrieres at all... Strength is not the key, the goal is to improve the entire posterior drive linkage which extends all the way down to the feet. Explosive exercises that load the legs down to the balls of the feet can produce big gains. I'm a fan of depth jumps using plyo boxes, but it's important to target optimal starting heights as too little/too much will slow progress.


This is an excellent post.. DD was going to a gym for the past year working on a program to build speed and strength. We were happy with her gains but it always seemed like there could be more in the tank. We took her to a new trainer who specializes in working with HS and College girls. She performed an assessment and shared that DD is very Quad Dominate and that we needed to fix this quickly (she's 15) to help avoid injury and improve her performance. It's been 2 months with the new trainer and I can already see a difference. What you posted makes perfect sense.
 

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