Coach Mark

NOTE: see full video breakdowns on Coach Mark’s Instagram (@mark.mancino) Very fortunate to have the opportunity to work several young ball players. Hoping they can salvage some type of season. Either way, we keep forging ahead with our development. Here are a few contrast #speed and #explosiveness drills, (including one from this morning’s workout) to work on over the next week. - A1) DB Suitcase Squat (8-12 lbs. DB’s) x 6 ... A2) Vertical Jump x 3 . . B1) Resisted Sprints: 2 Point Start (5 yds.) x 2 B2) 5 yd. Sprint: 2 Point Start x 2-3 . . C1) Resisted Sprint: *Lateral Start (5 yds.) x 2 C2) 5 yd. Sprint: *Lateral Start x 2-3 . . *Baseball players: note the foot position on the lateral start. Cheat the front (R) back and open slightly. This will allow you to transition quickly off that foot into a forward sprint. We used a purple (medium gauge) resistance band for our resisted sprints. Yet, as per the last video, a towel is equally effective. Irrespective of what implement you use, shift your weight right up (2 point start) or over (lateral start) onto the front foot and drive off explosively. . Feel free to send video if you’d like feedback. ________________________________________________ Let’s steal some based boys and girls! Keep going via whatever means possible! . . #longtermathleticdevelopment #athleticdevelopment #athletictraining #athleticperformance #youngathletes #speedtraining #agilitytraining #speedandagility #baseball #baseballdrills #lacrossetraining #lacrosseplayer #hockeyplayer #lacrossedrills #nextgenathletes #nextgenunstoppable #hockeytraining #multisport #multisportathlete #contrasttraining #sprints #sprintstarts #pap #postactivationpotentiation See more

Back for another rant! First and foremost I want to thank our incredible teachers who have stepped up and knocked it out of the park with the virtual instruction. I bow down as not only are you dealing with distracted children - you now have the helicopter parents hanging over their shoulder to contend with. Sadly even in non-pandemic times our wondrous teachers are limited to specified curriculums and severely handcuffed by the extensive legal implications (ie the simple... act of comforting a child in despair is now a non starter!) This HAS to change. Like any great business model - hire great people and set them free to do what they do. I get there have to be standards - but how hard is it to shift toward a more relativistic view of the situation? To this end, Jake’s teacher who will remain nameless has been incredibly supportive of us taking some time away from online learning to focus our efforts on problem solving. In this particular example we had to double pulley a tree (physics) to bring it down as it had a beeline toward our neighbours roof. So, we taught Jake how to use levers to solve a real world problem. While I know I sound preachy - I just feel we somehow need to incorporate life skills (cooking, survival, local fauna, human movement...) into our curriculum. I don’t have the answers - so it’s easy to stand up on my soap box - but if there is one thing this pandemic has taught me it is that things have to change! Special thanks to all our wondrous educators. Keep doing what you do! Here’s to keeping it real!

Adapt or die! While I was hoping to shed that theme in 2021, it’s not looking promising. So, once again we evolve - we bop and weave! No more social media hiatus - time to dial is as I have SOME REALLY COOL $#!T planned this year! In this post I introduce you guys to my alter ego - The Real Food Guy, and announce my upcoming Why Diets Fail & What We Can Do About It webinar. You do not want to miss this FREE Zoom event!!! ... BONUS: participants will receive a really cool gift - JUST FOR SIGNING UP! Hop over to my bio page to find the link to more details + your free gift. Hope to see you at there! In the meantime- here’s to keeping it real!

Compete drills/games can be an excellent means of learning to translate movement skills into a free motion environment. Here we see the boys employing their fundamental movement skills (I.e. chests held high, setting into and driving with the legs, triple extension...) while simultaneously figuring it out. . . That is, we see different strategies at play here (I.e. distance vs. turnover...). Neither is right or wrong. This is the process of learning movement strategies for... accomplishing a goal. When asked how they would do it differently next time, they all had ideas on how to evolve their strategy. Here we strike the balance between figuring it out and coaching/correction. We coach/correct the fundamental movement skills in the session, and then set them free to explore those skills. _________________________________________________ Music: Free Driving Musician: Reminiscor Site: https://icons8.com/music/ . . #longtermathleticdevelopment #ltad #athleticdevelopment #athletictraining #athleticperformance #youngathletes #agilitytraining #agility #coordination #biomechanics #motorskills #movementmechanics #speedandagility #speedtraining #explosiveness #explosivetraining #explosivepower #nextgenunstoppable #nextgenathletes #multisport #multisporttraining #multisportconditioning #sportconditioning #trainingforsport #hockeytraining #lacrossetraining #lacrosseplayer #hockeyplayer #drylandhockeytraining #drylandtraining See more

Much has been written about the unpredictable nature of sport, yet little mention is ever made of its predictable side. Sport is BOTH predictable and unpredictable. While we cannot foresee the specific actions and reactions that will be required from moment to moment, there are fundamental movement skills inherent to a given sport. Power sport athletes must be able to sprint, dodge, cut, breakdown, backpedal, shuffle, escape, track, jump, land, explode in various directions...... from a variety of positions. These highly coordinated movements take years of repetition to refine. In the early developmental stages, when the nervous system is highly plastic, we need to look for opportunities to teach these skills in predetermined ways that are easily reproduced and corrected. If those patterns are not being coached and corrected, motor learning will be sacrificed. Furthermore whatever faulty loading patterns exist will only be exacerbated in a highly reactive arena. . . So, while free motion/reactivity games and drills certainly have their place, they do not take the place of movement skills training. At this stage we focus on establishing sound movement mechanics PRIOR to introducing reactive conditions as these #youngathletes will get plenty of unpredictable stimuli in the sport training, competition and free play environments. . . Music: Voyage Musician: @iksonmusic . See more

When working with #youngathletes we as Athletic Development coaches strongly emphasize the FUNdamentals particularly in the early developmental stages. Note the emphasis on the word FUN. Above and beyond all else, we endeavour to create a FUN training environment/culture for the kids. By no means however does that mean they should not be putting in focused reps on their fundamental movement patterns. Structured training and FUN are not mutually exclusive concepts at ANY a...ge. . . It is on us as coaches to find fun and creative ways of giving these young athletes what they need. Here we are building on our valgus knee (knees buckling inward) post from last week. Learning to recruit the hip musculature and stabilize the upper leg is FUNdamental to almost any sport not to mention free play. Efficient and pain free running, jumping, bounding, cutting, dodging... all rely heavily on good motor/muscular control. If the child does not know how to decelerate in their sprints or jumps without buckling the knees, repeating these patterns can quickly become problematic. Learning these movement skills at an early age on the other hand _________________________________________________ Following a banded warm up, we move onto a challenging stability drill and finish with a dynamic balance/stability movement. . . A1) Banded Shuffle Step A2) Banded Skater Taps A3) Single Leg Squats (controlled range) A4) Single Leg Hop and Hold ____________________________________________ Here we strike the balance between having fun and putting in focused work -two mutually supportive concepts IF we as coaches can find creative ways of marrying the two. . . Keep going - via whatever means possible! . . Music: July Musician: Jef . . #longtermathleticdevelopment #athleticdevelopment #athletictraining #athleticperformance #agilitytraining #generalstrength #coordination #biomechanics #motorskills #movementmechanics #minibands #movementskills #nextgenunstoppable #hockeytraining #lacrossetraining #multisport #multisporttraining #multisportconditioning #agility #sportconditioning #trainingforsport #lacrosseplayer #hockeyplayer #correctiveexercise #drylandhockeytraining #drylandtraining See more

Transitions, transitions and more transitions!... We’re all about them! Put simply, the ability to react to external stimuli, change direction on a dime, and accelerate out in the other direction is a GAME CHANGER for power sport athletes. Not to mention all the motor learning that is involved with rapid shifts in their centre of mass. . So, while linear speed work certainly has its place..., how often are these athletes opening up before they need to change directions? Put ...another way... how far are they skating/sprinting before being interrupted by a change in play?!? Hence, we focus a lot of attention on transitions - on the hard stop or cut, explosive first step out, quick acceleration/deceleration, change direction... . Keep going- via whatever means possible! _________________________________________________ Music: Golden Musician: Jef . . #longtermathleticdevelopment #athleticdevelopment #athletictraining #athleticperformance #youngathletes #agilitytraining #agility #coordination #biomechanics #motorskills #movementmechanics #speedandagility #speedtraining #plyometrictraining #explosiveness #explosivetraining #explosivepower #nextgenunstoppable #nextgenathletes #hockeytraining #lacrossetraining #multisport #multisporttraining #multisportconditioning #sportconditioning #trainingforsport #lacrosseplayer #hockeyplayer #drylandhockeytraining #drylandtraining See more