Before Paul Fortunato even entered the sports training business, he saw the lack of preparation that it takes to be a great athlete.
Paul started out playing tennis and coaching junior players on both the ATP and WTA tours. “During this time, as I was watching these kids mature from the ages of 10 or 12 to the age of 18 and college bound players, I noticed there was a lack of preparation,” Paul said. “I took a lot of things for granted in terms of athleticism.”
He would see overuse injuries and plateaus in improvement due to the lack of flexibility and strength. These of course translated into a lot of lost training time, sometimes losing anywhere from 6 months to a year. “I thought there had to be a better way in trying to help these kids improve,” Paul added.
With 20 years of experience, Paul now works with athletes from various sports. He is certified by United States Professional Tennis Association, and holds certifications in NSCA/CSCS, SPARQ training, IYCA Speed and Agility, and IYCA Nutrition. Utilizing education and certifications from many resources, Paul has developed his own systems.
Paul discovered Gray Cook’s, Functional Movement Screen. “This is one of the tools I use to assess the athlete’s strength and weaknesses,” Paul said. In addition, Paul’s tie with Nike also adds the SPARQ testing as a resource.
After the assessment, Paul places kids into one of three categories:
1. He generally builds in the following components into a training session: balance and ankle mobility, core strength, and flexibility.
2. He introduces strength training. Using primarily bands, trx, and some dumbbells.
3. He has broken into two parts.
A. begin using weight training.
B. upon demonstrating a level of competency he moves into teaching the hang clean and then power clean. He does this in addition to the second
category, just increases level of difficulty.
Paul runs his program similar to a karate program, setting certain standards that must be passed in order to move onto the next level. Upon passing a test, a T-shirt of a certain color is handed out. The athletes know the criteria they need in order to pass the exam. Paul likes to test on the last Saturday of the month and has found this motivates the kid to work hard to get to the next level. In return, they receive a t-shirt as a reward.
“I enjoy being a speed insider and I am interested in Lee’s DVDs because he teaches you how to teach,” Paul said. “I have read plenty of books on linear sprinting, gait cycle, etc., but I have never had the knowhow of breaking it into a progression. What he talks about reinforces the movement patterns of sport and gives you the confidence, at least for me, that you are doing the right things.”
In addition, Paul earned an associate degree in computer engineering from Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston Mass., a bachelor of arts in business administration at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla. As well as and some post graduate work in accounting Georgia State University in Atlanta.
