Pacey Performance Podcast

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Ryan Grubbs, Applied Biomechanics Coordinator at the Houston Texans in the NFL. Now with the Texans after leaving Liberty University, Ryan is truly a part of the speed training ‘boom’.

He's here to talk about athlete profiling, including why coaches need to profile their athletes and how to do it for speed training. This includes the trade-off between the technical and physical information available, and the technology coaches have at their disposal in order to gain insight into their athletes’ strengths and weaknesses.

In particular, Ryan talks about load velocity programming, and how reliable video technology is for analysing an athlete in order to build their profile. Finally, Ryan gives us his advice for strength-based assessments to guide a program, including force plate testing, RSI testing and isometric work. For all this insight from a top NFL coach who’s done it all at Power Five universities, hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• What it’s like being a part of the ‘speed boom’

Ed featured on episode #350 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• What tests should we be using to measure hip and groin strength?

Check out the full episode with Ed here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/reducing-and-rehabilitating-hip-and-groin-injuries-monitoring-readiness-in-team-sports-isometric-training/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Joe Kenn, Vice President of Performance Education at Dynamic Fitness and Strength. Joe has 32 years’ experience in strength and conditioning coaching, including 19 years’ college experience, 16 years of head coaching experience at four major universities (University of Louisville, Arizona State, Wake Forest and University of Utah), and 9 years’ experience in the NHL as Head Strength and Conditioning Coach with the Carolina Panthers. As a result, there’s not a lot that Joe hasn’t seen or done.

He's here to talk about the changes he’s seen in strength and conditioning coaching over the past 3 decades, and where he thinks things are going. This includes how Joe started his college career as an Olympic sports strength coach before moving into football and subsequently the NFL. He explains what’s changed since then, as well a few things that have always remained the same. This includes the rise of specialised nutrition and mental health coaches, and advances in technology and sports science. There’s some insight too into how the ’hustle’ has changed for new coaches getting into the industry.

Joe also talks about his own programming style, and what he considers to be the basics of strength and conditioning coaching. He gives his opinion on the boom in speed training, and whether it’s come to detract from a more traditional coaching style. There’s also discussion into where loaded jumps fit into Joe’s programme, and how he prioritises certain exercises for individuals. For these insights and much more from someone who has personally coached in 10 sports throughout his career - and developed a programming model used in over 20 - hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• How Joe started out as a coach and what’s changed since then

Dave featured on episode #282 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• What happened when Dave "over cooked" an athlete going into competition

Check out the full episode with Dave here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-282-dave-hamilton/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week’s Pacey Performance Podcast guest is Cam Josse - Athletic Performance Coach for football at Indiana University. Cam spent 7 years prior in the private sector with DeFranco's Training Systems, operating as Director of Sports Performance from 2014-2020. He has worked with a multitude of athletes in high school and collegiate sports as well as professional athletes in the NFL, NHL, UFC, and WWE. 

He's on the podcast to primarily talk about speed training, starting with how working in the private sector can help a coach transition into the collegiate setting. This includes becoming more familiar with coaching larger groups and being able to tailor a speed training program for several athletes in the same team. Staying on the subject of speed training, Cam discusses what team sports can learn from track and field in this regard, and how to find a middle ground that works for athletes that aren’t primarily top sprinters.

There’s also insight into non-verbal cues for athletes in order to prevent micromanagement, and how to balance programming for athletes of various body types in American football. Cam also shares how to integrate sprint training from an upright start, as opposed to the crouch start found in track. Finally, he talks about sprint profiling methods and how they integrate within a program, and the non-sprint-based profiling Cam uses too. For all this top-level insight into speed training and much more, hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• Cam’s recommendations for coaches working with large groups

Dan featured on episode #234 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• What are force vectors?

Check out the full episode with Dan here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-234-dan-cleather/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Alex Natera. Alex has been a Strength and Conditioning coach in elite sport for the past 23 years. Over this time, he has held a number of positions across a range of professional football codes and Olympic sports in Europe, the Middle East and Australia. Alex has predominantly worked with track and field sprinters and was previously the Head of Strength & Power for GWS Giants in the AFL followed by his role as Head of S&C for the New South Wales Institute of Sport. Since 2021, he is currently their Manager of Performance Support.

Alex has become known as the “isometric training guy”, and that’s exactly what he’s here to talk about in the run-up to the release of his and Rob’s upcoming isometric training course. Starting from the beginning, Alex talks about his early influences in isometrics and how he developed his own theories. Moving on, he discusses isometric assessments and how they set the foundations of a training program. There’s also details into assessments for the hip, knee and ankle.

Alex and Rob also preview their upcoming isometrics course, including how isometric programs should be developed, especially regarding young athletes. There’s also insight into isometrics and rehabilitation, plus where isometrics fit alongside traditional strength training. We also get to hear what will be included in the course, including how to put programs together, periodised plans, weekly layouts, and how to start an isometric program from scratch. For all this, hit play now.

This week’s topics:

• Alex’s early influences in isometrics

Jeremy and Dana featured on episode #373 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where they discussed -

• What to consider when programming plyometric exercises

Check out the full episode with Jeremy and Dana here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/creating-a-framework-to-maximise-jumping-and-landing-training-with-athletes/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Research Manager at Lululemon, Sian Allen. Before starting her current position, Sian received her PhD in Statistical Modelling of Sports Performance and worked with both the New Zealand and British swimming teams. She has also played football in the Women’s Premier League, before starting her academic career studying Sports Science and gaining a master’s in Physiology. She is now at Lululemon - an athletic apparel company that designs, distributes, and retails athletic apparel and accessories.

Sian is here to talk about wearable tech; she recently published a popular article comparing Whoop and Oura devices on Sportsmith and has Tweeted extensively on the subject. She tells us about the origins of that article, and the overall benefits of using wearable tech as a coach. What’s more, Sian also tells us the major differences between the rival brands, the data and metrics they both produce, and the one she would choose herself.

Going further into how wearable tech can influence and benefit coaches and athletes, Sian discusses the leading metrics that can flag up potential injuries and illness for coaches, and how wearable tech can help track the menstrual cycle in female athletes. There’s also insight into what coaches need to be careful of when using tech, and the common trade-off between accuracy and ease of use. Sian wraps up by discussing the future of wearable tech, and how practitioners can stay ahead of the game. For all this and more, hit play now.

This week’s topics:

• The benefits of comparing wearable tech

Ben featured on episode #296 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed -

• The ASH test and what it tells us about shoulder health

Check out the full episode with Ben here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-296-ben-ashworth/

This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.