Get Out of Your Comfort-Zone - speed

Hello Everyone!

Here at AGSP we make athletes faster, and one of the cues our athletes hear often is "get out of your comfort-zone."

I like to explain it the following way, "If the fastest you've ever run is 15mph and today we get you to hit 16mph is that going to feel comfortable or a little crazy?"

The answer is "A little crazy."

So when we have athletes wipeout, like Shamarko Thomas did during his 40 yard dash time, I celebrate because they've just introduced themselves to being faster than they ever have before!

It helps to experience the "little crazies" around Speed Experts who can provide feedback on what you did right and how you can now harness that speed on a regular bases without the wipeout.

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Season Change - spring sports

Hello Everyone,

Seasons change. As we go from winter to spring we will see less snow and more green, but that also means here at AGSP we will see less of our Baseball, Softball and other Spring Sport Athletes and more of those athletes out on the diamond showing off their speed, strength, and power results.

I have to say, I'm going to miss these great spring sport athletes that have been so dedicated and hard-working.

On the other hand, I am excited to see them doing what they do best - more homeruns, stolen bases, and making athletic plays to help their teams win, largely because of their off-season training at AGSP.

Keep Training! (like these fine athletes have!)
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Athlete Spotlight #63) Connor Regan

Hello Everyone!


Our next athlete spotlight has been training hard at AGSP to improve his speed and power. His focus translates to better, more result-oriented training sessions. When people ask how he got so much quicker and stronger he can say it was through consistent, tough training. It is time to meet...

Athlete Name: Connor Regan
Sport(s): Baseball and basketball
Position(s): Catcher, 3rd, RHP and guard
School: Walsh Jesuit High School
Graduation Year: 2015
AGSP Athlete Since: July 2012

Favorite Professional Sports Team: New York Yankees
Favorite Professional Athlete: Bryce Harper and Rajon Rondo
Favorite Lift: Hang Cleans
Favorite Movement Skill: Acceleration
When I am not training at AGSP, I am: at baseball or doing homework.

What are your short-term goals? To win a state title and to play baseball in the SEC or ACC.

What are your long-term goals? To play catcher in the bigs.

How has AGSP impacted your performance as an athlete? It has created more speed and power for me. It has opened up new opportunities for the future.

CHECK OUT SOME VIDEO OF CONNOR TRAINING AT AGSP!

(we've put them all into one video!)

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Cleveland Basketball School - experts and skills

Hello Everyone!

Recently I attended a Sunday afternoon training session at The Cleveland Basketball School. CBS is a great program that teaches basketball players better basketball skills.

Coach Paul and Coach Robbie have their athletes practice better basketball skills at an intensity that mimics that of a basketball game. This is crucial - getting athletes to train at game speeds. This is also a big part of why CBS gets results.

As the guest coach I applied, as we always do at AGSP, the concept of learning speed mechanics at game speed. The focus of my session was acceleration (first-step quickness) and I used similar coaching cues that they use at CBS - "pound the ground", "lowest player wins" - to get the athletes moving faster.

Coach Robbie, Coach Amanda, and Coach Paul

The combination of having basketball experts (CBS) and speed experts (AGSP) teaching better skills at game speeds is powerful!

Are you working with experts that challenge your skills at game intensity?

If not, maximize your potential and get with some quality experts asap!

To learn more about CBS click here.

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

Conditioning - It has to be sport-specific

Hello Everyone!

As a Speed, Strength, and Conditioning coach, AKA a Sports Performance Coach, nothing gets my blood going like hearing one of our athletes talk about some brutal conditioning session at their school that is both dangerous AND going to destroy some of their hard-earned speed and strength progress!

Sport-specific refers to the speeds, distances, and movements of a specific sport.

Conditioning refers to being in-shape enough to play the sport.

Sport-specific Conditioning refers to being in-shape to compete at your highest level in the speeds, distances, and movements of your specific sport.

 Sport-Specific Conditioning does not mean having your baseball/softball athletes run 2 miles. They will only get more in-shape at 2 mile running! Not in-shape to explosively round 3rd as they are running at maximum speed to score the game winning run.

Take a step back from your conditioning program. Is it really going to get you in-shape for the rigors of your sport? Or is it just some cardio program that will wear your joints down, slow your muscles down, and will only get you in better shape at something that does not make you better at your specific sport?

Examples of beneficial sport-specific conditioning:
Baseball/Softball: 10 reps of 30 yard sprints with 30 seconds of rest in-between
Basketball: 20 seconds of squat jumps with 10 seconds of rest for 4-8 sets
Soccer: 45 seconds of sprinting with 45 seconds of walking for 4-8 sets

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance 

Why Test?

Hello Everyone!

We've spent the past couple of days testing our athletes' performance values. We do this once a month by administering the following tests:

• vertical jump (straight up jumping) 

• long jump (forward explosion) 

• 10 yard sprint (first step speed) 

• pro-agility 5-10-5 (agility, quickness side to side) 

We also measure height, weight and check flexibility and mobility during our testing days.

 

Why test? 

We test to insure our athletes are getting the results they want. By monitoring their performance numbers we have real, tangible data that the athletes can use for evaluation.

This evaluation can be motivating on many levels and can fuel our athletes as they enter a new month of training. They only get one February 2013, how well they train determines how their March performance numbers improve.

Highlights from this month's testing include: 

• 2 inch vertical jump increase 
• 0.15 decrease in 10 yard sprint time 
• 5 inch long jump increase 
• 0.3 decrease in pro-agility time 

Keep Training!
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance

AGSP partners with Green High School

Hello Everyone!

Exciting news! Akron General Sports Performance has partnered with Green High School to provide world-class sports performance training to all the athletes of Green! Check out these great articles published by the Athletic Director of Green, Mr. Bruce Johnson!

We will keep everyone posted as the program continues to grow!
Keep Training! 
Coach Amanda Kephart and Akron General Sports Performance