Thanks to those of you who supported my message on the welfare of our youth. There are so many people who have done much more than I will ever do to help kids lead better lives. My frustration comes from the lack of respect fitness receives from parents, school systems and other youth organizations. Please don’t get the impression I don’t think education is important. I agree it is so important. I just want people to realize how good health trumps good academics every time. If you don’t think so, talk to someone with a disease that is taking their life. Thanks again!

The Double Move

What do I mean by the double move? Have you ever seen an athlete fake one way and go another? Of course you have. But, how often do you program double move training or what I like to call multiple cutting or fake cutting. The reason a double move needs to be trained is because of the potential body control mistakes which can occur.

When an athlete makes a double move (jab to the right and cut back to the left) there are a few things that you need to look for.

  1. Is the jab step plant wide enough and is the foot and ankle loaded (dorsiflexed)? If not, the athlete will have a “sluggish” or delayed looking cut… no explosiveness.
  2. Does the upper body quickly get back into the direction of the primary direction? When the first fake is made the athlete might use the head and shoulder fake to pull the defender off balance. But, if the shoulders are outside the plant foot, then it is difficult to pull it back quickly. It can be done, but often not. The key to a great fake is the subtlety of the movement and the commitment of the head and eyes. Look like you are going that way.
  3. Is the athlete in that load to explode stance? When an athlete is too tall in the stance, they are not able to use proper angles to load the legs and hips correctly. Not to mention balance issues. I don’t believe the athlete needs to be really low to make quick cuts they just have to be in a position to allow for great balance, proper angles and the ability of the muscles to load and quickly explode (concentric to eccentric)

It might be difficult to identify these three areas during full speed cutting. If you know what should occur and it doesn’t, then that will give you a clue something is wrong. The next time the athlete performs the skill you can be looking for faulty foot patterns, poor balance and lack of loading to explode.