They are already doing too much, adding more doesn’t fix the recipe.
“Sport specific training is a term people still rave about.
It has another term that been around forever.
It’s just not as flashy:
Sport Practice.
IN a world where ‘specific’ sport volumes are at an all time high, I can assure you more sport specificity isn’t the answer.”
-Ray Zingler on X
It’s something I and many physical preparation coaches will never understand.
But what I’ve learned is that in the world of sport, it’s not about what I or other performance coaches know, it is about what consumers perceive.
I live in the stuff every single day. It’s my world. For most it is one of many other things on the calendar each week.
This why I try to simplify as much as I possibly can and challenge people to think not even critically, but sensibly about all this stuff.
We have “Premier” and “Elite” Travel Ball organizations selling family’s year-round sport at 7-years-old.
12 months a year at 7 and an “elite” organization is still having to sell them ADDITIONAL skills lesson on the side.
If you’re playing a sport 12 months a year for 5 years, that is 60 months of participation. SIXTY. If you need more help grasping the fundamentals after 60 months within an elite organization, is it really elite? Is the coaching really that spectacular?
Or maybe, just maybe the lack of desired performance is stemming from somewhere else?
Of course it is.
It’s stemming from the lack of a general base that is REQUIRED to support specific outputs.
This is why we don’t do “sport specific training” at Zingler Strength.
Of course, our programming is designed to help our kids reach higher levels of qualities that translate TO sport, but to feed them more of what they are already doing too much of is not only counterproductive, it is irresponsible. Matter of fact, a strong argument could be made for “dangerous” when you factor in the overuse componentry.
If you’re only going to play one sport, that is fine. But rest assured because of the specific nature of that sport, you must and I mean must build general athletic qualities in a different realm (this is why S&C is essential).
The reason isn’t to become a world champion back squatter.
It’s to offset the specific nature of your sport so that you cannot only become a more well-rounded athlete, but contribute to your overall robustness.
Practice well.
Play hard.
But train in environments that DON’T look like your sport and you’ll see payoffs in your sport you didn’t think were possible.
S&C is the sauce.
