Atletic Movement Skills

Athletic
Movement Skills
Training for Sports Performance
Clive Brewer
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Brewer, Clive, author.
Title: Athletic movement skills : training for sports performance / Clive
Brewer.
Description: Champaign, IL : Human Kinetics, [2017] | Includes
bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016026947 (print) | LCCN 2016058398 (ebook) | ISBN
9781450424127 (print) | ISBN 9781492543954 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Athletes--Training of. | Physical education and training. |
Movement, Aesthetics of. | Sports--Physiological aspects. | Physical
fitness--Physiological aspects.
Classification: LCC GV711.5 .B76 2017 (print) | LCC GV711.5 (ebook) | DDC
613.7/1--dc23
LC record available at https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https3A__lccn.loc.gov_ 2016026947&d=DwI-
FAg&c=R1lkIB1gpi-haQptoL4D6CEfNLBiDeRQp4faUYSM_Mw&r=bKaWuPKK1p-n8iw5JTnyQg3bBvzZDcn3NwGG9DP-
MAaA&m=pxmNN_pkCefMvrulyB5ym47YyiBZjAHXwZxGJomTB3w&s=s150MUqM2afrIWxRHvckLezDog4IOw9ik3-By-
FpjusI&e=
ISBN: 978-1-4504-2412-7 (print)
Copyright © 2017 by Coaching & Performance Development Ltd.
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E5649 iii
Contents
Foreword v
Preface ix
Chapter 1 Movement Skill Development 1
Chapter 2 Understanding Biomotor Abilities 17
Chapter 3 Patterns of Motor System Development 33
Chapter 4 Eff iciently Controlling Forces:
Mechanical Functions of Movement 59
Chapter 5 Importance of Posture in Athletic Movement 83
Chapter 6 Evaluating Posture 109
Chapter 7 Designing a Progressive Curriculum:
Considerations for Movement Skill Learning
and Physio-Mechanical Training 139
Chapter 8 Developing Running Speed and Agility Skills 167
Chapter 9 Developing Jumping and Plyometric Skills 229
Chapter 10 Developing Functional Strength Progressions 281
Chapter 11 Applying Principles in Practice 341
References 391
Index 397
About the Author 403
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v
Foreword
Throughout my coaching career of over 40
years, I have motivated myself to pursue an
improved understanding of and continual
engagement with all aspects of athletic per-
formance. Being able to understand the why
when it comes to helping athletes reach their
ultimate athletic potential, regardless of the
sport, has enabled me to push athletes to new
levels of performance. To that end, through my
educational pursuits and applied work, I have
developed a philosophy whereby I encourage
coaches and athletes to strive for an improved
understanding and mastery of all aspects of
athletic development.
This philosophy has led me to coaching not
only athletes but also coaches, teams, interna-
tional federations and Olympic committees in
a multitude of sports. From my early days as
a high school coach at my alma mater, Mad-
ison East, I leveraged the leadership of my
professors and coaches to influence athletes
in ice hockey and girls’ track and field, which
resulted in state championship performances.
This approach of doing my best to understand
everything to do with sport performance
moved me to the collegiate ranks at the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin, University of Tennessee and
Louisiana State University. At LSU, I was fortu-
nate to lead an extraordinary group of coaches
and athletes to five NCAA team championships
as head women’s track and field coach in a
programme that produced 140 All-American
female athletes. These principles helped ath-
letes like Dawn Sowell (10.78 and 22.03) and
Sheila Echols (10.83 and 6.94 metres [22 feet,
9 1/4 inches]) garner accolades and achieve
medal-winning performances.
During this period I was sometime criticized
by other coaches for speaking with my athletes
in terms that were too scientific. One day I con-
fronted one of these coaches. I called an athlete
over and asked her to explain a performance
concept in biomechanics. To the surprise of
the now-confounded coach, the athlete replied
with a correct, eloquent and succinct expla-
nation. One of my proudest accomplishments
as a coach is seeing many of the athletes with
whom I worked choose to pursue a career
or avocation in coaching and watching them
apply principles they had learned.
In 1989 I ‘turned pro’ and stepped away
from the collegiate environment to work in
the arena of the professional athlete. Names in
track and field include Gwen Torrence, double
silver medallist in the 100 and 200 metres in
the 1991 IAAF World Championships. More
recently, athletes in all three disciplines—the
sprints, hurdles and jumps—have had great
success. Donovan Bailey, Dwight Phillips,
Angelo Taylor, LaShawn Merritt and Tianna
Bartoletta eagerly learned while achieving
stellar performances and picking up hardware.
I am proud that Dwight Phillips has joined our
coaching staff at IMG Academy.
Team-sport athletes will equally benefit from
the knowledge you will gain and put into prac-
tice after pouring over Clive Brewer’s newest
publication. I was able to help the Atlanta Fal-
cons when I joined their staff as a speed and
performance consultant in 1989, long before
many teams had this position. That year the
Falcons went to the Super Bowl, partly because
they had the fewest number of games missed
by starters and the greatest point differential in
the fourth quarter. They were fitter, faster and
healthier. I have spent time consulting with
the Chicago Bulls, Detroit Lions, Jacksonville
Jaguars and players such as Hershel Walker,
Dorsey Levens, Marco Coleman and Glenn ‘Big
Baby’ Davis, just to mention a few.
Athletic Movement Skills: Training for Sports Per-
formance by Clive Brewer, a world-recognized
vi  Foreword
expert in high-performance sport conditioning
and applied sport science, presents readers
with a comprehensive guide to such applied
knowledge. I believe that coaches should
have the widest possible database to draw
on for the eventualities that may come their
way. Coaches should be knowledgeable in all
fields relevant to performance enhancement,
whilst actively seeking new and innovative
advancements. This book provides just that
type of applied information—material that will
engage, educate and inspire readers to prior-
itize the development of athletic movement
skills for widespread success.
I have always believed that the first role
of any athletic development practitioner is to
be a movement coach. Athletes must be able
to get their joints in the right position, at the
right time, so that the muscles can work in an
optimal manner. Poor movement mechanics
lead not only to inefficient actions, but also to
injury because muscles, ligaments and joints
are subjected to high force or repetitive actions
that they are not designed to withstand. After
all, what sport doesn’t require athletes to
move well? Competent movement techniques
therefore form the basis not only for condi-
tioning work but also for physical education
programmes and sport-specific coaching.
Movement techniques are at the heart of a
sound performance development programme.
Throughout this pursuit for knowledge and
experience in the field of performance coach-
ing across the developmental spectrum, I have
worked with colleagues who share the same
passion. We have shared our experiences and
expertise to aid our collective understanding of
the why behind the what and the how. Through-
out my career, I have attempted to do the same
for coaches and scientists who have the same
thirst for learning so that they can help others
achieve more than they thought possible as
independent learners. Athletic Movement Skills
provides just that learning opportunity.
Clive Brewer and I have been friends and
colleagues for more than a decade. Our first
meeting in Dublin, Ireland, where I was pre-
senting at the European Athletics Coaches
Association Symposium, was memorable. I
immediately recognized Clive’s keen interest
in and understanding of some of the most
complex aspects of strength and power devel-
opment, especially as it related to speed and
movement. Clive’s path has blended the
practical with the scientific, a combination I
believe is vital when expressing and justifying
what works from an evidence-based and field
application perspective. Clive has published
numerous articles and peer-reviewed papers
on wide and varied subject matter in the areas
of human performance that have significantly
contributed to the body of knowledge. I have
consistently relied on Clive to assist me in
the vetting of new ideas and to lend ideas
for crafting presentations. Most recently in
Birmingham, England, we collaborated again
on the stage in a presentation on strength
and power as they relate to speed across the
athlete’s career from youth and novice levels
to the elite international level. This past year
Clive has worked with me in Florida, providing
strength and conditioning to the national team
track athletes I was coaching as they prepared
for the Rio Olympics.
Athletic Movement Skills sees Clive take his
work to a new level. He shares content on how
the body optimally functions and explores the
importance of physical literacy and a finely
tuned movement vocabulary in chapter 1.
This book shows in detail how different sports
have commonalities and can draw from a body
of evidence and expertise through the use of
movement skills to solve a variety of challenges
posed. The book delves into how the neuromo-
tor system works and, even more important,
how the athlete’s systems change through the
stages of age-related development in chapters
2 and 3, respectively.
Chapter 4 focuses on the mechanical func-
tions of athletic movement skills and the effect
that forces have on successful execution.
Understanding these concepts will aid readers
as they guide athletes through a developmental
journey towards movement mastery.
An in-depth view on posture and its impor-
tance and effect on movement efficiency in
chapter 5 is followed by a comprehensive
discussion of how to analyse such physical
alignment from a static and dynamic point of
view. Chapter 6 emphasizes the evaluation and
Foreword  vii
monitoring of movement skill development, in
particular when seeking to correct commonly
seen challenges along a development pathway.
Armed with this foundational information,
readers learn in chapter 7 how to construct
an applied and progressive curriculum that
generates a designed and personalized stage
rather than an age-appropriate progression.
This chapter incorporates fundamentals in
the areas of speed and agility development
and reactive strength that encompass effective
take-off and landing movements. Chapters 8,
9 and 10 show how functional strength can
be seamlessly integrated into a programme.
Readers will benefit from an array of exercises
and technique-specific guidance that allow
progression towards more advanced drills and
exercises that build functional movement skill
mastery.
No book would be complete without real-
world examples from a variety of sporting
disciplines that readers can relate to and learn
from. Athletic Movement Skills presents several
case studies in chapter 11 that give readers
practical insight into the process of identifying
what is needed to solve the challenges through
a comprehensive, tailored movement educa-
tion programme. Links to the foundational
principles that the book sets out are recalled to
help readers comprehend and fine-tune their
delivery of support.
Working with Clive first hand enabled me
to experience personally how the content and
philosophy advocated by Athletic Movement
Skills plays out in coaching sessions. In keeping
with my personal philosophy of sharing con-
cepts, ideas and practice, I commend Clive on
sharing his expertise so that we as a community
can grow together and support the athletes and
clients we work with.
By reading Athletic Movement Skills, you will
gain further insight on how to help your ath-
letes and clients reach their potential in any of
their physical endeavours.
Loren Seagrave
Director of speed and movement and
Director of track and field and cross country
IMG Academy, Bradenton, Florida
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ix
Preface
When I discuss my role with the Toronto Blue
Jays of Major League Baseball, I am often asked
when I stopped thinking of myself as a coach
and began to think of myself as a scientist. The
answer is that this transformation has never
happened. Coaching is a people business, a
problem-solving opportunity to enable athletes
to get the best out of themselves. I am first a
coach, but I am a coach who practises science.
Most people who work with athletes do so
because their fundamental desire is to make
the athlete better. I wanted to write a book
inspired by my passion to help others by pro-
viding the why and what of how to coach core
movement skills to athletes of different ages
and standards. You will find this book useful
for identifying where the athlete is in his or
her movement development and what he or
she might need to do to progress. I have incor-
porated a practical blend of the what, how and,
most important, the why of movement skill
development.
This book can be used at any stage of
the training programme design. Chapters 1
through 5 provide a practical understanding
of how the body works and how it can be
improved. Chapters 6 and 7 pull this infor-
mation into progressive programmes based
on observations. Chapters 8 through 10 are
full of technical guidance for developing mul-
tidirectional speed and power with athletes
in any context. The book concludes with a
series of examples of integrated programmes
in chapter 11.
If you are a coach who wants practical ideas
but also wants to understand why these meth-
ods are important, or an athletic trainer who
understands how the body works but is looking
for ways to progress and challenge clients, this
book has something for you. Similarly, if you
are a student who is looking for examples of
how to engage with science and bring it to life
in a meaningful way, this book is an invaluable
resource. It provides a shared language that
will build bridges between the knowledge of
various professionals.
Science is based on organizing and restruc-
turing principles and knowledge to explain,
predict or influence certain phenomenon.
In my professional life, that phenomenon is
movement. Movement is the common theme
that underpins every successful sporting per-
formance. It is the basis for the quality we
know as athleticism, because athletes use
movements to solve problems posed to them
in sporting situations. We can identify many
forms of movement, and we should study all of
them, but when I was the national programme
manager for athlete development in Scotland,
almost all the sports I worked with required
fundamental qualities relating to the ability
to run (acceleration, deceleration, change of
direction), jump and exert forces rapidly. This
understanding has formed the basis of my work
with international performers in soccer, Amer-
ican football, rugby, track and field, tennis and
baseball ever since. I have worked not just at
the elite level; I have delivered coaching pro-
grammes for academies such as the IMG Acad-
emy in Florida and sport-specific children’s
programmes in the United Kingdom to develop
movement vocabularies and physical literacy.
Many people collaborate to develop an ath-
lete to his or her potential, and they need to
share a common language and principles to
support the athlete. One thing that guides my
philosophy every day is that the athlete needs
to be at the centre of any coaching process.
The support professional (scientist, strength
and conditioning coach, athletic trainer) or
sport coach must not put his or her body of
knowledge above the needs of the athlete.
Everyone working with the athlete should be
able to access and understand basic principles
of how the body works, responds and learns
(training always equates to learning) and apply
these to the practices we design. This book will
empower you to evaluate your current athletic
development techniques and methods and
consider how you can further personalize the
design and delivery of your training sessions.
The body is a complex interaction of dif-
ferent yet interrelated systems, and training
must take into account how the motor control
system works. This basic principle guides the
early chapters of the book. I identify the basic
principles of how the body works in sport, how
a child grows and develops into adulthood
and how the athlete manages forces in three
dimensions (front to back, side to side, up and
down). We need to be able to communicate
this knowledge. Scientists are notorious for
writing in a way that is understood only by
other scientists. Therefore, the knowledge
remains inaccessible to many. My goal is to
engage coaches, students, parents, teachers
and medical professionals and empower their
understanding without dumbing down the
science or misrepresenting it in any way.
When we understand why something should
be done, we are better able to determine how
to improve required responses in the athlete.
Similarly, if we understand the developmen-
tal process an athlete has gone through (or is
going through), we are better informed about
how we can optimize the athlete’s progression.
I bring concepts to life and illustrate them
with real-life examples and case studies across
a wide spectrum of sports. This method is an
important part of coaching education. A coach
who understands that impulse (chapter 4) is
the key physical quality to teach his or her
athletes also understands the need to optimize
strength and power training to cause adaptive
change in various body systems (chapter 2).
Armed with this understanding, the coach can
critically evaluate training methods and ask
whether they will develop the desired quali-
ties. If they will not, why should the athlete
use th...