Velocity Sports Performance Official Website

Have you ever told yourself that you’re going to write something down to remind yourself to do it only to find out later that you not only forgot to write it down but you can’t even remember what it was that you were supposed to do?  

Having a training partner always makes a training session seem better.  It helps bring the intensity up and forces you to work harder when someone is always pushing you.  Our January Athletes of the Month they have that competitive training partner not only at Velocity but also at home.  For their hard work and consistent training we would like to announce that Daniel and Ryan Nicks have been chosen as our Athletes of the month. 

There’s no way around it; your environment influences your behavior.  Make things easier and you’re more likely to do them.  Take away temptations and you’re less likely to be enticed.  To increase the likelihood of reaching your goals, create an environment for success.    Start by stocking your kitchen with the foods you want to be eating for success.  Whether you plan on doing all or very little of your food prep here, you need to remove those opportunities for unhealthy eating.  If it’s in your home, you will eat it eventually.    

I am sure if you asked any coach they would put agility at or close to the top of the list of athletic qualities they want to see in their soccer players.  The ability to decelerate, stop, and change direction is important to every position on the field and will greatly improve your chances of becoming a better player.  Unfortunately the wrong approach is taken way too often to improve a player’s agility.  What happens most of the time is that the coach will lay down some ladders, hurdles, or cones and have the athletes perform pre-set movement patterns for a few reps each and then move to the next drill.  This can be great for teaching movement skills and patterns, but will only play a limited role in improving agility for competition.  A soccer player does not move in pre-programmed patterns on the field.  They must react to the movements of the ball and opposition and put themselves in the proper position to score or defend.  The best way to improve agility for on field performance is to add some applied or reactive components to the drill after the athlete has had a chance to practice the movements in a more controlled environment.

Brit-West Soccer and Velocity Sports Performance have joined together to bring TINY-PROS Soccer! TINY-PROS offers soccer skills, child development and lots of FUN.  Our curriculum is divided into age appropriate phases.

Football Skills & Drills Saturdays, starting March 13th Grades 5 - 7   9:00am - 10:15am Grades 8 - 12   10:30am - NOON   NFL Veteran Bucky Brooks along with some of Santa Clarita's top High School Football Coaches, as well as college and former NFL players, will be coaching skills and technique in small group settings.  You don't want to miss out!

Improve First Step Quickness Increase Lateral Speed Improve Top Speed Reduce Likelihood of Injury  

John Sullivan of the Minnesota Vikings starts & snaps to Brett Favre Clay Matthews of the Green Bay Packers makes Pro Bowl as a Rookie Mark Sanchez leads the NY Jets to the AFC Championship game Donald Brown of the Indianapolis Colts goes to Super Bowl XLIV

  Once again some of the Nation’s top college football recruits are training with Velocity Sports Performance – Santa Clarita in preparation for the NFL Combine in February! 

Colt McCoy has been training with Velocity Sports Performance for the past 10 weeks in preparation for the NFL Draft. He is out to prove that his hard work has paid off rehabbing his shoulder injury. Watch his journey to the draft!

For the month of December the Velocity Sports Performance staff has chosen Robert Waterman as the Athlete of the Month.  This is Robert’s second nomination for Athlete of the Month since he started training at Velocity in January.   Robert finished his senior season of football at West Ranch High School in the fall of 2008 where he starred on the offensive line.  Robert was offered a scholarship at UNLV and reports to campus on January 6th in time for the spring semester to begin after having gray-shirted during this past season.

Over the last couple of years I have noticed a pretty disturbing trend among the athletes we train.  In more and more cases athletes come to us who are specializing in only one sport at such an early age.  Now, I know what some people may be thinking.  The longer they play one sport or position the better they will be at it down the road.  Unfortunately more often than not this is not the case.  Athletes who play only one sport at an early age tend to under-train and over-compete.  With practices numerous days a week and tournaments all weekend long it is no wonder why so many athletes burn-out before they reach their athletic potential. 

The Circuit of Devastation is a plate and bodyweight circuit that challenges the mind and body. It is one of the many tools that Velocity coaches use to develop different energy systems. Your body uses three major energy systems in order to perform: the ATP -phosphocreatine (ATP-PCr) system, anaerobic glycolysis, and aerobic glycolysis.

Even though you will have the most control over your nutrient intake if you do the cooking, there are many times that you will be out at a restaurant. Restaurants not only provide convenience, but they play an integral part in social interaction and social situations. Many times we gather with friends at a restaurant, or go out for a treat instead of laboring in the kitchen. It is important to take these times and enjoy going out to eat, not only physically but mentally.

For the month of June the Velocity Sports Performance staff has chosen Robert Waterman as the Athlete of the Month.  Robert started training at Velocity in January after finishing his senior season of football at West Ranch High School where he starred on the offensive line

At Velocity Sports Performance we pride ourselves in educating athletes on how to improve their overall athletic performance and reach their athletic potential. A lot of our program is based on the science of sports performance. We teach athletes about the biomechanics of running technique, the exercise physiology of conditioning, and also the psychology of thriving under pressure. All of these sciences are implemented in the drills, weightlifting and conditioning that is the foundation of our program. This article is going to address another scientific aspect of sports performance – nutrition.  

Velocity Sports Performance would like to congratulate Jayden Gibson on being named Athlete of the Month for November.  Jayden started training with us in July of this year and quickly obtained a reputation for being the Ironman of his age group by training on an almost daily basis at our center.  Jayden plays baseball and splits time between 3rd base and pitcher.  When Jayden first started training at Velocity Sports Performance he set goals of increasing his arm strength, improving his speed, and increasing his explosiveness.  

As I watch my children play sports I often end up laughing at some of the other parents and coaches.  They get way to excited over outcomes in the game; win or lose, one on one battles, was the call by the ref correct, how hard some hit, etc…   To watch these parents you would think this was the Olympics or the Stanley Cup.  It’s not.  I’ve coached athletes at high levels here in the US and abroad, so the perspective is different. It’s funny to, because to reach the very goal of sports success, most of these parents are worried about the entirely wrong things.  They can’t see the big picture of kids getting turned off by unwarranted pressure.  They can’t see that what helps you win today at 9 may actually hurt the players development if its emphasized or rewarded. I received this in an email a few months ago.  It speaks strongly about what we should value in youth sports.  All too often, I encounter adults who have lost perspective of what youth is about. I know Dan Bylsma, Jay's son, who is currently the Head Coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team that won the Stanley Cup last season. Dan had a hockey career in the NHL, and I coached him when he was with the Long Beach Ice Dogs and the Los Angeles Kings. He's a great, stand-up guy. This will help you understand why.

Exercise of the Month: The Push-up   Ever heard of the “Perfect Push-up”? Well there’s no need to spend any money on exercise machines when you can get the same results by using just your body weight and proper technique. Sometimes athletes forget about the value of the basic movements because of the influence media has on us with marketing propaganda about the newest exercise machine or most innovative training equipment that’s “guaranteed to make you stronger.”  The Push-up is a basic fundamental exercise we use at Velocity Sports Performance with all ages and levels of athletes.  There are many variations to increase or decrease the difficulty of the Push-up as well as target different muscle groups.  The primary muscle groups working are the Chest, Shoulders and Triceps but these are not the only muscles doing the work.  The assisting muscles include your abdominals, back and glutes to help stabilize your body as well as your fingertips and forearms.   

Purchasing the correct food from the grocery store is one of the best ways to maintain consistency in your diet and curb binging. By taking control of what you eat by creating meals and buying fresh food, you will make maximal changes in a shorter period of time. This article provides some helpful tips for the next time you go shopping at the grocery store.

Although only 24, young for starting catcher in MLB, Nick Hundley has made great strides.  He came back from the disabled list this season and finished September batting .338 and slugging .406.  Nick trains hard at Velocity to improve his speed and power.

                Along with another of our Velocity Sports Performance coaches, I spent a few weeks recently as the Performance Coach for the US Womens National Team.  As we evaluated the players, and talked with them about their training, one of the glaring needs was increased strength and stability on a single leg.  This is something we also see in younger developing players.  The good news is that any player can improve it.   One element of our Velocity training programs is to develop all aspects of single leg strength and stability.  Optimal performance on the soccer field requires development of a number of different qualities including; Stabilizer strength in the legs , hips and core Explosive strength Eccentric strength – the ability to absorb forces Reactive strength  

In light of the recent weight room accident that occurred at USC involving running back Stafon Johnson I have had many conversations with parents, athletes, coaches and other strength and conditioning professionals as to what actually happened, how it could have been prevented, who’s to blame, and why did it happen in the first place.  The answer is that unless you were there you don’t know all the circumstances surrounding the accident and any attempt to explain what happened or if anyone is to blame is going to be purely speculation.  As a strength and conditioning professional I was relieved to hear that this young man is going to make a full recovery and live to play his chosen sport again.  

The overhead (OH) squat is a challenging, versatile, and sometimes over looked exercise. Here at Velocity Sports Performance we use the OH squat in many different ways. First, all new athletes to the program perform an OH squat as part of their Testing Assessment and Program Planning. We use the OH squat to determine if and where an athlete may have a lack of flexibility, mobility or strength.

Skipping isn’t one of the first things you see when you watch a soccer game.  Yet, we highly recommend all kinds of skipping for soccer players.  So if training is supposed to improve your performance, why do it?  Doesn’t training need to be specific to soccer?

  Congratulations to Alana Shaw, Velocity’s Athlete of the Month for September! Alana plays soccer with Santa Clarita United and is an 8th grader at Rio Norte Junior High School . Alana began training at Velocity at the beginning of 2009, recovering from a broken leg and determined to return to her previous levels of performance.  During her time at Velocity, Alana has made great strides in all areas of sports performance. Her vertical jump has increased almost 50% and her 40 yard sprint and 5-10-5 pro agility test have both improved more than 10%.

For the past few months, the nutrition tips have covered a variety of topics such as the importance of breakfast, having healthy snacks, and including all of the macronutrients in the diet. All of the tips thus far have worked on developing overall healthy habits and creating a sound nutrition foundation to build upon. If you are still struggling maintaining a consistent healthy routine, continue working on the previous tips. If you are doing well overall and now want to take your nutrition to the next level, now it’s time to start maximizing your workouts with performance nutrition.

When was the last time you switched up what you were doing with your training?  Still doing the good ol Back and Biceps two days a week and then Chest and Triceps another 2 days a week.  How about weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday then Cardio on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturdays.  Those are just a couple of the old school training splits that a lot of gym goers still adhere to this day.  While they might get the job done when done for a certain amount of time, any training routine done for extended periods of time can become stale and lead to stagnation.  When talking about switching up training I always start to think about a scene from one of my favorite movies, Dodgeball!  I love the scene when Gordon is talking to Peter La Fleur about how he was going to “shock the biceps” and “keep his body guessing” as he was running around with the latest edition of OSQ in his yellow spandex suit.  While Gordon’s gym going fashion sense could be in question he isn’t too far off on his “keep the body guessing” philosophy.