Athletic Development: The Right Way

What is meant by the word "Development"? What is it to "develop" something? We can develop idea's, we can develop products, we can develop human resources.

But whatever the context it is used in, the word "develop" has one component of it that is always true: Development takes TIME. If you have ever heard the phrase "research & development" it is a long, arduous task that can take decades in some cases.

Athletic development is no different. It doesn't occur overnight. Although some parents, coaches and players want development to occur at the blink of an eye.

At Pair & Marotta Peak Performance, there have been quite a few young athletes come through. Many come for a summer and then go on their way, upset that their vertical didn't improve by at least 12" or that their bench press didn't improve by 80 lbs.

However, there have been a handful of kids (and parents) that have seen the light and understood the concept of athletic development. They have understood that it takes time, that lasting progress is a slower process.

I had the pleasure of watching one of these young athletes this last Friday. His name is Matt Packer. Matt first came in during our Summer Speed, Strength & Power Camp 2007. Matt was smaller than other guys his age, and in fact smaller than some guys 2 or 3 years younger than him. But Matt and his dad Dave realized that long term success wasn't going to hinge on whether Matt was hitting home runs during his sophomore year in high school, or having a vertical jump of 36" by the end of summer.

Instead they took that long term approach. Since June of 2007 Matt has been coming in faithfully 3 times per week during the baseball off-season and usually once or twice per week during the season. He was seeing a hitting coach once a week and just keeping his sights set on the long term goal of just getting better.

This year Matt has started each game at 2nd base. He's been hitting the ball hard on a line as well as the occasional double off the wall. His work has paid off with a very consistent season. Then it was Friday against Centennial that Matt's YEARS of hard work were got the ovation he deserves.

Matt hit an opposite field 3-run home-run in the 2nd inning of Stockdale's 16-4 win at Centennial. Matt had a stellar day going 2 for 3 with four RBI's and a walk.He's one of the rare kids who always shows up with ready to work. And it's paid off. Matt will be playing baseball in college.

So to the parents and coaches of young athletes, remember that you are developing athletes. You are not training professionals. Take the Development route and long-term success is guaranteed.

But short cut the development process and all bets are off.

Congratulations to Matt on his first high school home run and a spectacular outing against a top team and top pitcher!

To enroll in our Summer Peak Performance Camp, send me an email and get your Athletic Development started!

More nutrition information

I know most of you parents are very busy.

But if you get some free time this weekend, try to watch this video by Jeff Cavaliere. He is a well known, and well respected strength coach and physical therapist in the sports fitness world.

He is very nutrition oriented (As am I!!) and he knows a lot about how to fuel a young athletes movement and performance. And I can honestly tell you that if you think sports nutrition is something that isn't that important you can expect a short career.

Your body is constantly cycling through building (anabolic) and breakdown (catabolic) stages. When your body rebuilds, it has to have something to rebuild with!

You can rebuild with quality materials (vegetables, fruit, lean meats, etc.) or you can rebuild with poor quality materials (fast food, junk food, soda, etc). The choice is yours.

So here is the video from Jeff Cavaliere. Again, it is quite long so if you need to, watch it in 5-minute clips.

Also, remember that Pair & Marotta Peak Performance will be hosting their Summer Speed, Strength and Power Camps. If you are interested, email me at Aaron@pairmarotta.com. You can bet that everybody in the group learns not only how to improve performance, but also how to change their eating habits to become a better athlete!!

The "bully" Parent

This is upsetting. I just got word from a player that her friends dad was making her play. She was in pain, and he would not let her come out.

I've tried sending emails and talking to parents. But many parents won't listen. 

they think I'm trying to tell you how to parent. 

They think I'm calling you out on your ability to parent.

They think I'm just some guy who doesn't know how to "groom" a young athlete to be a professional athlete.

Guess what? I am on their side, I am for them, I care about their kids and I care about their health.That is why I am going to be blunt. And I realize this may run some of them off from having their kids train with me. But this is where the rubber meets the road.

When your kids say they are hurt, LISTEN TO THEM!!

Don't call them a wimp. Don't call them lazy and sure as heck DON'T LEAVE THEM IN THE GAME!

Why would a parent possibly want their kids to play through pain? I wish someone would explain it to me. Because the reasons i've heard are nothing but parents enforcing their lost hopes and dreams onto their kids.

"It builds mental toughness," "It promotes a good work ethic" "They need to get ready for college," "They're just faking it to get out of playing."

Mental toughness can be developed in other ways than playing through an injury, a good work ethic can be developed by completing homework and school projects, and they don't need to get ready for college until they are a sophomore or junior in high school, and even then if they were, an injury is a serious thing. 

If it turns out they are faking it, then do you really think they've got the drive to play in college? Maybe they SHOULDN'T play in college if they don't want to play in high school?!

Here's my point. Parents care for their kids when it comes to their feelings, when it comes to them being sick, they care for them when it comes to their mental health. But for some reason, they insist on implementing their own goals for them regardless of the roadblocks.

Listen to these young athlete. If they say they are hurt, pull them out and don't let them play for 2 weeks!! But they say a "scout" is there?? At that point I ask, which is more important, your kids health or impressing a "scout"?

Your kids are smart enough to know when they are hurt. Give them the benefit of the doubt. Don't make them play through pain and don't work them so hard that they suffer a career ending injury!


We all want our kids to be the best. but at some point parents have to stop being fans, and start being parents who are looking out for the well being of their kids.

If you really want them to get better at their sport, register them for our Peak Performance Summer Camp. Starting June 7th, the Peak Performance Camp will have 3 different groups meeting.

1. Junior Peak Performance 1-2:30pm M,T,Th,F
2. High School Women's peak Performance: 3-5pm M,T,Th,F
3. High School Men's Peak Performance: 3-5pm M,T,Th,F

For more information shoot me an email at aaron@pairmarotta.com

The "Bully" Coach

The other day I was speaking with a parent whose son runs track. She was telling me about his ankle injury and how he had gone to see the doctor, who said it was just a sprain and that he should just take it easy. This doctor visit was back in January. Doc said he didn't see anything, however swelling was obvious along with some discoloration. A true sign of a ligament sprain.

So this kid finishes soccer season, ankle still causing pain, and starts running track. He's pretty fast so the coach puts him on a relay team. This poor kid wants to run, likes to run, but has an ENORMOUS amount of pain in his ankle following any prolonged running.

The parent calls and says that they finally got the doctor to prescribe physical therapy with us. The parent calls to schedule the initial evaluation and I tell them that the best time is going to be in the early afternoon, between 3-5pm. What does this parent say?

My son is afraid to miss practice because his coach said if he can't practice then he might as well not show up for the meet this weekend. So what happens?

This young athlete has to make a choice between his own health or submitting to the will of his coach. This parent tells me that every time this young athlete runs, his ankle is absolutely killing him after practice, to the point to where he can't walk.

Three things that should be blatantly obvious here:

1. This kid is hurt. Why the heck is he STILL participating?? Not only should he not practice, despite his coach's threats, but he shouldn't run the coming weekend!!!! Common sense would tell you this kid should not be running if he is hurt!! 
2. Why has this parent taken so long to finally "force" their child into rehabilitating this injury? They are the parent, not the kid!! They should not be caving to the wishes of the coach either! Take care of your kid. 
3. This coach has done an excellent job of demonstrating that his own desire to win is more important than the health of his athletes. Great job man, way to keep your priorities straight. Any parent who has their child playing for a coach like this should immediately pull their child off that team. That is no way to treat a 7th grade athlete.

Contrary to popular belief, playing through an injury is not manly, masculine or heroic. It's foolish. This isn't war where if you lose you die. This is youth sports, where if you lose you still get a sno-cone.

Coaches, DON'T BE THAT COACH. Don't be the coach who places winning above the well-being of your athletes.

Parents: DON'T BE THAT PARENT. Don't be the parent who caves to the demands of overbearing coaches.

Do you want your child to play well? Make sure they are healthy. Don't let them try to play through an injury. If something is obviously wrong with the way they throw, run, jump or swing, get them out of the game and get them to a physical therapist or athletic trainer to evaluate the injury.


The ultimate way to decrease the chances of an injury is to prepare your child for the sport. Enroll them in our Summer Peak Performance Camp. The camp is 4 days per week, and is 6 weeks long. Enroll before the end of May and get a free T-shirt as well as a free Peak Preparation warm up manual. Give them every chance to succeed. 


Because the best athlete is a healthy athlete.

Preventing Injuries...through common observation

There are many strategies for preventing injuries. Many training facilities will offer a "pre-hab" or specific injury prevention program. These programs are - hopefully - research based on the specific contributing factors of common injuries in the specific sport. These injury prevention programs are very good at getting parents and athletes very excited about the program.

But here is the kicker - Any good program, will be an "injury prevention" program. That is what a good training program is supposed to do!! What is the alternative? An injury causation program??The first goal of any and every program should be to prevent injury. If a training program results in you jumping 3" higher, but it changes your mechanics to a more injury prone movement pattern, then are those 3" really worth it??

So here are the basics of "designing" an "injury prevention" program.

1. Look at the sport being played and look at the fundamental movements. Remove any implement, such as a ball, bat or stick, and just look at how the body moves and then simply emphasize balance and train these movements for strength, balance and stability.
2. Look at factors related to injury in that sport. If injuries in the sport often occur during a "plant and cut" maneuver, then slow the motion down and train that motion for strength. For planting and cutting, a perfect exercise would be single leg squats, single leg lateral hopping, and lateral shuffle then sprint.
3. Assess the athlete. Some athletes are more prone to injury than others. This can be a result of biomechanical differences, previous injuries or simply poor technique. But understand that not every athlete will have the same needs. Actually, most athletes will not have the same needs. Instead each athlete will probably have a different priority during strength training.
   
4. Warm-up properly. Failure to adequately warm-up is a very common cause of injury. Why? The warm-up prepares the body and its systems for what is about to occur. Warm-up is the time to perform these "pre-hab" drills, which are really simply calisthenics such as pushups, squats, hopping, shuffling, etc. You can get a great warm-up program by sending me an email with Warm-Up Manual in the subject line. --> aaron@pairmarotta.com

Overall, injury prevention is simply good coaching, good training, and good preparation!!

Pair & Marotta Peak Performance will be having their Summer Speed, Strength and Power (SSP) Camp starting on June 7th!! Sign up before May 31st and get the Warm-Up Manual and a Peak Performance T-Shirt!!

Your kids are eating themselves to death

Last night I got the privilege to watch a TV show featuring a famous British chef. His name is Jamie Oliver.

The show is called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and it was amazing. I was hooked!! The premise is that Jamie is trying to change the way that American's, more specifically American kids, eat. So he started in the town of Huntington, West Virginia.

Why there?

Huntington has the highest mortality rate, the highest rate of obesity and the highest childhood obesity rates. So last night I watched the first episode and it was amazing.

• It was AMAZING how RESISTANT people are to changing the way they eat.
  
• It was AMAZING that kids in the elementary school were eating pizza for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch and the chicken nuggets again for dinner!!
• It was AMAZING how the school cooks did not want to change the way they made things.
• It was AMAZING how the USDA food nutritional standards were met by day old frozen pizza, but not by brown rice!!!
• It was AMAZING how the family whose house he invaded were eating golden fried food every night for dinner.

So what I want you guys to do either tonight or tomorrow night is to watch this first episode of Jame Oliver's Food Revolution on your computer, preferably with your kids. (Click on the link to go to the video.)

Yes, that's right...I want you to WATCH TV!!! You need to see what the government thinks is healthy food!! I'm not trying to bad mouth the government, but when you watch this video, you too will instantly think, "WE CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!!"

Have a Hugely HEALTHY day!!

Easy Nutrition Facts from the Trainer to the Pro's

Hey guys, it's been a while since i've posted.

There has been a lot going on. As many of you know we at Pair & Marotta Peak Performance have been training many of the CSUB teams and some have had, or are in the middle of the best season's ever!!

• Women's Basketball earned their first Division I post-season invite, and as the #7 seed out of 8 teams, almost knocked off the #2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in overtime...
• Men's swim finished 3rd in their conference championships and earned a top 10 National Ranking of mid-major schools (9th)...
• CSUB Baseball got off to a hot start sweeping Air Force in a 4 game series...
  
• All teams had good years considering they are in only their 3rd year of D-1 play. Next year all teams will be post-season eligible

However, most of you and your teams don't play college baseball or any other college sport. But one thing we have tried to instill in the athletes at CSUB is the concept of quality nutrition = quality performance.

Quality nutrition allows the body to recover faster, perform at a higher intensity longer as well as reduce the likelihood of injury, dehydration and other effects of poor nutrition.

Many of you have emailed me with questions about nutrition in the past. I have suggested a few different options, such as Dr. Chris Mohr's "Fuel Like a Champion" DVD and have also sent out my own recommendations for optimal nutrition.

However, there is a new resource I would like to introduce you to. His name is Jeff Cavaliere. Jeff was a strength and conditioning specialist for the New York Mets 2 years ago and now runs a very successful youth performance facility.

He has also recently gotten BIG into youth nutrition. Why? Because he knows how important it is. Just take a look at his free report, "14 Surprising Facts About Sports Nutrition." It's loaded with great tips on how to prepare your child for the demands of school AND sports. He knows what it's like to eat "hot lunch" in the cafeteria, and he knows what happens when you ditch your usual lunch of soda and frito boats for good, high quality REAL food!

So again, check out his free report and then dig into what he has to say. I promise it will help your young athlete more than you would ever believe!!