martin
Martin Rooney. I have a question about speed testing and young athletes. Over the last few years I have seen these event like showcases become more prominent and more training for young athletes has happened as a result. My question is do you think that testing of younger athletes is important and valid? Thank you, L. Van Saders
Pictured are a few young athletes in our program getting the chance to not only test their performance, but have the tests actually run by our 2007 NFL Combine athletes! (Pictured are Cliff Ryan, Mario Henderson and Dan Bazuin helping out with the 40).
L.,
Thanks for writing in and thanks for taking an interest in our program and the current state of performance testing in the industry. I too have seen tremendous change in terms of the level of performance evaluation for athletes in the last decade.
For instance, 8 years ago, myself and others from this organization helped to run major "speed camps" across the country for elite high school football players at some of the top D 1 Universities. These events were an opportunity to get college coaches and these athletes together to test performance and technical skill. At the time, these were the only such events I knew of. Now, almost a decade later, there are literally hundreds and hundreds of these events for all sports. Unfortunately, I have often heard athletes returning from many of these only to be disappointed in either the facts that no coaches were present, they were poorly run, or that they then felt that the event would not impact their future as they originally thought.
What I am trying to hint at is that I do believe that performance testing for athletes at any age are important. Just like height and weight, I think that an athlete must also always have a gauge on their speed and strength. Not only that, but by measuring these variables, the athlete then has a starting point and now can work to improve areas of apparent weakness and know when they are actually making progress. So, my answer is that testing is important, but understanding where that testing will take place and what you are trying to determine from the test will determine its validity.
My advice would be for every athlete out there to constantly be seeking to improve their physical conditioning and performance. That, unlike what college may like you, is solely under your control. I would also advise that the testing that they perform be run under the same conditions so that they can accurately see progress. For instance, it would be great to get a higher vertical, but if that is because of testing differently instead of real gains, the test result is not valid and a false sense of performance.
In the end, nothing will replace hard work and numbers. As I promise all the athletes I work with, improve your performance and someone is going to notice. Become one of the fastest kids in the country and you will be impossible to ignore.
I hope this helps.
Martin Rooney
Comments Closed
Martin, Your NFL Combine group this year looks good as usual. What is your opinion of what is more important, the actual performance tests or the sport specific drills that they run in Indy? Michael Huegarin
Pictured is Josh Wilson CB of Maryland working on his cornerback drills before he left for the Senior Bowl. Although both the physical and sport specific tests are ways to evaluate athleticism, you still can forget actual career play of the athletes too!
Michael,
Thanks for writing in and great question. Every year, some form of this question surfaces when it comes to the Combine. Often it is worded more like do I think that test like the 40 or vertical mean anything, but I will cover this topic to let everyone know what I think.
Every year, athletes are evaluated physically and mentally and the results of these tests do have an impact on their draft status. What I want everyone to understand is that if you are an athlete going to an All Star game or the NFL Combine, there is already a consensus that you are one of the top players in college football. Since everyone already knows that these athletes can play, I believe that the tests are a great way to separate one athlete from another, not just in terms of flat out speed, but power, strength,mental toughness and other areas people may think less about like body fat % which to me is often a big clue in on overall discipline.
Imagine for a moment that you are now the coach or GM that has to make a multi-million dollar decision on which athlete to select. The more information you have at your disposal, the better able you are to make a choice. So, if you have two athletes with similar career numbers against similar level teams, you may be inclined to select the faster, stronger, leaner athlete.
So I guess my take on the situation is that all of the tests are important from the speed, to the football drills to the interviews. Everyone of them has influence on an athlete's future, so they better be focused and do their best. Overall, I dont think anything can replace a great football career though. There is nothing more famous than a pure athlete that may not be as good at the sport as a pure player, but what we are trying to create here is that athlete that has both.
Here is a shot below of Mario Henderson working his OT technique to be the best that he can be.
I hope this helps.
Martin Rooney
Martin. I am very interested in finding out more about your Combine program. Do you follow the 4 day split that you use with your fighters for these athletes? How much lifting do you do with the athletes that you have there? Who do you think out of this class is the biggest star? Thanks Milt R.
Pictured is Dan Bazuin of Central Michigan going through DE drills under the watchful eye of 16 year NFL veteran Dave Butz.
Milt,
Thanks for writing in and having an interest in the combine program. Every year, so many people write in and call about the program. It is always a very exciting and challenging time for us to prepare our athletes as best as possible. Over the last number of years, we have had very small groups of athletes, yet have produced leaders in many of the events at every position including the fastest man 4 of the last 6 years. I hope this year will add to the growing legacy.
As for the training, since our time is short with the athletes (sometimes as little as 6 weeks) the training is much more intensified and focused than the fighter's splits. We train two times a day, six days per week here in the program with Sundays off (unless of course we are doing position work or extra credit on Sundays). These sessions are running, lifting, football specific, plyometric and rehab sessions. In addition to these, the athletes are meeting with our nutritionist, massage therapist, ART practitioner, physical therapists and specialists that we bring in for interviews and their extra position work.
I am not going to lie, it is a tough time of the year, but I love it. There is something about the pressure that we thrive on here at the school and in the end we want what is best for these kids. Overall, we are not just giving them skills to get ready for the next bunch of weeks, but hopefully concepts that will continue to help them throughout their NFL careers.
This year, we have a very deep class in terms of talent. For me to pick a clear cut Star of the group would be hard and unfair to the other athletes. Keep tuning in to the Q&A and over the next few weeks I will keep the stats updated so that you can pick him out for yourself!
Pictured below is a shot of Dan, Mario Henderson of Florida State and Jay Moore of Nebraska working with 30 year veteran NFL coach Chuck Banker
Martin Rooney
Martin Rooney. I am a exercise science student proposing to do a study on the effects of foam rolling on sprint times. Have you noticed in your experience that the foam roll has contributed to performance enhancement particularly in terms of speed? Thank you for all your information. I hope to someday run a Parisi facility of my own. Rebecca Dougherty
Pictured are two members of the 2007 NFL Combine Class, Michael Coe of Alabama State and Germaine Race of Pittsburg State (over 6,000 yards rushing in college) working out the kinks with the foam rolls before a training session last week.
Rebecca,
Great to hear from you and thanks for writing in. I am glad that our company is helping to inspire you and I will let you know that we are always looking for great people in our organization. Now that we are up to 15 franchises plus 5 stores in New Jersey, I am sure we will eventually be in a location near you and needing your help.
I was exposed to the foam roll a number of years ago, but interestingly it was more for the therapeutic arena and not yet in performance. Now, it is not a rarity to see many facilities and programs using the foam roll either pre/post workout or in the training room for rehab.
As I understand it, the theory I was taught for the foam roll was to decrease the density of certain areas of certain muscles by directly working on trigger points. This was used to “loosen” up the athletes for workouts and potentially decrease the chance of injury by addressing chronically injured areas of the body like the hamstrings and hip flexors. We use the foam roll to help athletes identify sore spots and work them out before we do our warmup. For many athletes this is an uncomfortable experience, so teaching proper technique, having the right density of a roller and getting the athlete to understand what muscles to work are all musts for successfully adding this tool to any program.
In my experience, I would not say that the foam roll can be identified as an enhancer of speed. What I mean by this is just rolling is now not going to make you faster, it is the better range of motion and speed of movement that you might be able to attain with proper training that is critical. So, I will say it is a tool that can indirectly affect speed, but still it is one tool in the toolbox. I will be interested to see what you find out from your study and how it is designed. If you need any athletes, let us know. We have a laboratory setting that researchers can take advantage of for sure.
Martin Rooney
Martin Rooney. Thank you for the information on this q and a. I always get something new weekly to improve. I am a sprinter and training now to get ready for the season (I know all year is important). What are some good recovery methods to help me in my own training. John L.
Pictured is Kim Conk, the lead massage therapist for our 2007 NFL Combine Program. Kim has been involved with the program for the last three years and has been an integral part of our rehab and recovery offering. (The athlete on the table, Michael Coe of Alabama State has some big shoes to fill this year. The last 3 years the first athlete in has been a first rounder! D'Qwell Jackson, Matt Jones, Dunta Robinson)
John,
Great to hear from you and I am so glad that the info on this site is helping to help you reach your potential. As I always say, your journey in training is ultimately about doing this and learning about yourself. I am also glad to hear that you are as interested in movement as you are muscle. This focus of speed work all year is really going to make an impact this season.
With any form of training, it is not the training per se that make you better, but the recovery from the training that results in improvement. The actual adaptation from the stimulus of training is what we are looking for in training and that is why proper recovery is so important.
In our program, we offer a number of different recovery modalities, but there are a few that you are actively involved in. What I mean here is that yes we offer massage, active release technique, stretching, and therapeutic modalities like e-stim, ultrasound, and infared, but those are passive uses. That means that you just sit back and allow them to happen. Active measures that you must take are also making sure that your diet is perfect, that you are getting enough sleep, are properly hydrated and that you are actually taking the time to recover. When you mix both of these active and passive measures, now you are going to be ahead of the curve.
My advice is to remember that less is more. Dont think a day of rest is doing nothing, you are doing the most important thing, you are adapting and recovering for the next training session. I recommend getting involved with some of the recovery methods above and finding out which ones work for you.
I hope this helps and best of luck.
Martin Rooney