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The Mean Green Way: North Texas' Multi-Year System of Trainingby: Frank WintrichDirector of Football Performance University of North Texas © More from this issue “As to methods there may be a million and thensome, but principles are few. The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” Develop your own system of training based on what works best for your kids, your team, your situation, your style of play and your coaching style. This takes a great deal more time and effort, but your athletes will be grateful and in the long run your results will speak volumes about your ability and character as a coach. Here are the principles that guide the Football Performance Staff at the University of North Texas, specifically those principles that led to developing the multi-year system of training we refer to as the Progressive Athlete Development System (P.A.D.S.) Throughout the multi-year training process, we keep in mind that while everything works, nothing will work forever. All our training programs by their very nature are flawed and incomplete. It is therefore necessary for us to ensure that we apply the optimal means of training at the appropriate time. We can all agree that many training means are effective but it is essential for us to use sound judgment. Before programming any activity we ask ourselves: Is this safe? Is this structurally (orthopedically) sound? What are we accomplishing by doing this (what is the training effect?) Do we understand what the training means and what its residual effects are and most importantly, can we coach it? To this end, we begin our training at all levels with a focus on fundamentals. Basic movement fundamentals lead to improved and more consistent performance. By teaching, emphasizing and demanding proper movement patterns, our athletes become more technically proficient, mobile and most importantly, healthy throughout training and competition. During this program, we introduce our athletes to the concept of the “Mean Green Warrior Mindset”, commit to memory our core values and core beliefs, and indoctrinate the athletes into the North Texas training process. At the conclusion of the six-week program, athletes re-take the Mean Green Physical Readiness Test. Those who pass with a score of 90% or better graduate to the White Developmental group. Those who do not pass the test repeat the Pre-Developmental training program for another six weeks. Our subsequent training blocks then focus on the development of maximal strength and power, respectively. The Green Developmental program will cover the span of one training year and include a performance test to evaluate a 5 RM in the back squat and bench press along with the field testing battery. The overall training volume throughout this phase is high. Athletes who achieve a qualifying relative strength ratio for his position group, along with technical proficiency in the barbell movements, will graduate to the Delta group. The Delta program is designed utilizing a concurrent approach where multiple training traits are developed simultaneously. With a solid muscular foundation built throughout the “developmental” training phases, our emphasis now changes to the development of absolute strength, strength-speed, and speed-strength. This is achieved through the use of the Max Effort Method and the Dynamic Effort Method that was developed by Lou Simmons of Westside Barbell. Dynamic effort movements are performed utilizing accommodating resistance in the form of chains. During this time, volume training is still implemented as the athletes continue developing and maintaining a sound muscular foundation, but this is no longer the emphasis of the training regimen. The overall training volume throughout the course of this phase is moderate. The Delta program covers the span of one training year and includes a Performance Evaluation of a 3 RM in the back squat and bench press, along with the Field Testing Battery. Athletes who achieve qualifying relative strength scores and demonstrate outstanding technical proficiency in the barbell movements will have the privilege of graduating to the Elite group. Members of the Elite program represent our most powerful athletes and our most sound technicians in the weight room. They have spent a minimum of two years in the program and qualified for advancement by demonstrating outstanding relative strength. Their training preparedness represents a need for an advanced means of development. Once athletes reach the Elite program, the quest for absolute strength maximums comes to an end. As an example, we have a 185 lb defensive back who is capable of back squatting 530 lbs. That represents the ability for him to move more than two times his body weight. The risk associated with trying to get him to a 535 or 540 squat is not worth the minimal reward this would net. Instead, we utilize more intensive means including advanced techniques such as dynamic effort movements with chains, bands, the shock method and the contrast method. Due to the small and selective nature of this group, we are also able to more finely tune the individual training programs of each athlete. This is essential because as the athlete reaches a higher training age in his program, changes to his training variables must become that much more precise. We do this by allowing the athlete preparedness to dictate his training load. Variations in volume and loading that fit the day’s desired training effect are presented to the athlete during the training session. As the session progresses, the coach and athlete communicate as to when the appropriate work load has been attained for that day. We have created a definition and a list of guiding principles for our football performance program. These guidelines help us demonstrate a multi-year system of training our players. Similar models can be adapted for any level, with the different programs being adjusted to fit the individual needs of the team. With great thought, and great planning, training for your athletes will be optimized and outstanding results will be realized. |
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