Why Sport-Specific Training is Beneficial to Athletes

When training for an upcoming sports season, not every athlete should be going through the same routine. Training for football should be different than training for baseball, training for basketball should be different than training for wrestling, and so on and so forth.  Sport-specific training is becoming more and more important for developed athletes, specifically those competing at the high school level and higher. At Warren Academy, we offer sport specific training programs to help athletes prepare for their upcoming season. Our coaches understand why training for a specific sport is important, and are here to push athletes to be their best. Below, we go over some of the benefits of sports-specific training for athletes.  Helps prevent injuries Each sport uses different muscle groups, and constantly playing or practicing can lead to overuse in these muscles. In our sports specific training programs, we focus on building strength in the muscles our athletes use most in order to prevent injuries from happening in the future. We do this by training your body to perform movements that are similar to your sport, which also increases muscle memory in our athletes.  Creates muscle memory Sport specific training programs help athletes visualize why they are doing these drills and create muscle memory. They are able to connect these drills to practices and games, making them much more understanding as to why they need to practice and improve these specific skills. In a way, sport specific training can help athletes connect their offseason strength, speed, and agility training in season fundamentals!  Improves strength and agility  Strength, speed and agility exercises are a vital part of sport-specific training since they provide power improvements in a way that is specific to the required sport and technique. Some of the exercises that develop these skills include sprints, plyometrics, and weight lifting that mimic the same movements made in the desired sport. These exercises help in improving speed and agility for acceleration and being able to stop and change direction quickly. For example, sprint training exercises such as cone drills help in developing explosive speed. Improves conditioning Lastly, training for a specific sport helps improve an athlete’s conditioning for that sport.  An example of this would be footwork drills for football defensive backs. Quick feet and change of direction are essential for DBs to make plays on the field, which is why we work on this during our sport specific training programs. However, baseball players generally don’t utilize backpedaling as much, in which we would focus on other areas such as gaining speed out of the batter’s box. This helps athletes understand the energy levels needed to perform in-game and in-practice techniques.  As athletes grow older and become more developed in the sports they play, transitioning to sport-specific training routines will help them practice and ultimately improve their performance on the field of court. If you are interested in joining our sports performance programs, be sure to give us a call today!