Strength and Conditioning Knowledge Center

What is a key performance indicator (KPI)? Image taken from Jonathan Chng (Unsplash) A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that shows how effectively an athlete’s specific objectives are being met. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs from now on) are useful to evaluate the success of the objectives set for each athlete. Every athlete …

In the last decade, the importance of physical exercise for health and sports performance has gained great relevance among the population. So much so that in the last 30 years, more scientific studies related to physical exercise and performance have been published than in the previous 80 years. This is because sports science has been …

Injuries are known to be the worst nightmare to everyone (athletes, people who work out or who don’t train at all…). Having an injury means to suffer a change in your movements. This means that the person will become dependent during the time of the injury and their daily life will not develop as always. …

Motivation is something very important to know how to manage any high-performance athlete and “amateur” sport. Many times, we coaches think that athletes become machines because they reproduce and reproduce workouts practically every day of their sporting life. However, it is very important that athletes do not stagnate and that they have clear goals and …

A team is formed from the qualities, abilities/skills and characteristics of each athlete. Each athlete’s characteristic is visualized in the team as a whole so that all together they form a competitive and efficient team. Selecting the people who will share the field during the competition is not an easy task. For example, during the …

In previous blog articles we have seen what characteristics athletes must have for them to be recruited for a team. In this post we are going to focus on how we should carry out this recruitment process, what are the main variables to take into account and what we should focus on. Recruiting athletes is …

Neuromuscular strength is a physical capacity that has gained great relevance in the world of training in recent years. Where today strength training takes place 40 or 50 years ago, endurance training took place. Strength has gained so much weight in the training industry because it has been shown that other physical capabilities stem to …

What is speed and how is it trained in young athletes? Speed is a physical ability that determines, on many occasions, the triumph of sports performance. Speed is crucial for a large number of sports, from the well-known football to tennis and even athletics. Speed often determines a performance result. In swimming, for example, swimming …

Why is velocity training important for the boxer? The main objective of boxing is to land a clean blow to the opponent without receiving any in return. The greater the impact against the opponent’s head or torso, the greater the likelihood of success in achieving a knockdown or knockout, as well as to get a …

What is an encoder?  What is a motion velocity analyzer? An encoder is a motion sensor that generates digital signals in response to motion (1). Encoders can provide users with information on the position, velocity and/or direction of all types of machinery (2).  Encoders are generally used to measure one or more specific parameters about …

What is Bat Exit Velocity and Why is it So Important in Baseball and Softball? Image taken from Chris Chow (Unsplash) Bat velocity is the speed with which the ball leaves the bat just after the impact  (Nicholls, Elliott, Miller, & Koh, 2003). Exit velocity is one of the main metrics taken into account in …

Specific Training Needs of The Baseball Pitcher to Gain Velocity Pitching velocity is one of the most highly valued performance metrics in baseball. Since the radar gun was introduced in baseball in the 1960s, pitching velocity has become a major part of evaluating pitching talent (Erickson et al., 2020). That is the reason why many …