Why the A-Skip Progression Should be a Pillar of Your Speed Program (Pt 3)

As an athlete builds movement efficiency and strength, the advanced segments of the ASP should be picked up with relative ease. However, if an athlete has a slow rate of force development (RFD), whether it is due to a lack of strength or speed, they will struggle. Simply practicing the movement will only go so far if they do not have a solid foundation of strength to operate on. As I have taught this progression to athletes of every level, from novice to elite, I have observed that the athletes that have prior training/playing experience will be able advance through this progression quickly. 

After “A-Skip Continuous” mastery, we can now expose the athlete to the “Power Skip.” The rhythm of the movement and the amount of ground contact during the movement both change, and it can be awkward at first. This is the first time in the progression that the athlete will have to demonstrate similar force development rates to that of sprinting. In every level prior to power, the athlete will either have one foot on the ground or two. In the power progression, there is never a moment in time where the athlete will be supported by both legs. This is why it can be difficult for athletes who may not have a strength base to perform the movement; they simply lack the ability to support their body weight on one limb in a dynamic fashion. When introducing the power rhythm, I will give them an “Alternate Single Leg Pogo” drill. This gets the athlete familiar with the new movement, and gives the coach an opportunity to see if the athlete is truly prepared for the power skip. Both legs remain “locked” (with slight flexion of the ground knee) and they begin to hop forward. Every 3 hops they switch legs, always landing on one leg, never two. Then we will introduce the A-position by flexing the hip when alternating between hops, “Individual Power Skip.” Finally, every hop will require a rapid flexion/extension of each leg, as they power skip for the prescribed distance. 

The final progression of the ASP is “Linear Bound.” This progression demands the most from the athlete, as they are now bounding off one leg onto the next. We are looking for the repeated horizontal and vertical force displacement as they bound for the prescribed distance. As I have mentioned previously, athletes must be efficient when redirecting ground forces for this movement. If they are not, the bound will be relatively small, and they will not be able to repeat the movement with any sort of coordination or speed. 

Now that the ASP is mastered… There is a whole other can of worms with the Frans Bosch reflex drills that are pretty similar to the first few levels of the ASP, but they require higher levels of movement coordination. I do not know other coaches who use the ASP to prepare for the Bosch reflex, and there is no literature to say that an athlete who cannot complete the ASP shouldn’t use the Bosch reflex progression. But, I have noticed that an athlete that struggles with the later phases of the ASP usually struggles with the Bosch reflex. 

Next week I will begin to go into the who, what, when, where, why, and how behind the ASP. I will also introduce the Bosch reflex, and the differences between the two drills. 

Thank you for your time!

Coach Nate Garcia 

nate@tpstrength.com

tim@tpstrength.com

scott@tpstrength.com 

914-486-7678

Instagram: tp_strength

The Importance of Skill Levels

This may seem like an obvious title, of course skill level matters in anything we do in life. Do you expect the same work output from a seasoned professional compared to the wide-eyed intern? The world in the weightroom is no different. As I scroll through social media, an obvious title considering skill level is often neglected when training people. Too often are people thrown in the fire and expected to perform without a negative consequence, and if the individual happens to fail they are often labeled weak, and/or lazy. This is not the case for most situations, and the actual cause for failure is a poorly executed program that failed to be modified to the individuals needs. 

I want to exclude military/special forces training right now. I do not have any experience working with armed forces, and the purpose of their training is to weed out people in order to find the elite of the elite individuals. In my line of work, I am not trying to weed anyone out of the program. The goal for the population I most often work with is to get them to a baseline of performance in order to better prepare them for the rigors of their sport, and future training. With that being said, the population I most commonly work with is the novice population, whether they are young athletes, or general population groups that haven’t spent a lot of time training. 

The phrase “baseline of performance” can be generic, but I believe every coach should attain to get their clients to their baseline before creating a more specific program can be implemented. For example, if an athlete struggles control their landing from a jump I am not going to demand them to land a jump and immediately perform second jump. They do not yet possess the ability to efficiently absorb force from the ground, which means they would not be able to redistribute that force in any controlled manner. There are certain thresholds that individuals must cross before reaching that next level of training. Once they check these boxes, I can confidently increase intensity, variability, etc. 

In the beginning, adaptation is almost guaranteed. Taking someone from 0, and performing any training, you will see great improvements almost immediately across all areas of ability. After a few years of consistent training, those big jumps of improvements have disappeared and one must be particular with their variables in order to accomplish their goals. Accumulating 10+ years of training and so on, the improvements become dependent on a person's ability to plan their variables appropriately to peak for performance, and continually push past their current ceiling. The focus shifts from generic capabilities to emphasizing exactly what the client needs in order to get the best possible performance. 

Be careful scarrowing the internet, looking for new methods of training for you or your clients to perform. One, you don’t know the context of the content unless you communicate with the creator of the content; only then can you pass judgement of the content. Two, know how to dissect what you are looking at in order to decide whether or not you should include the modality, or some variation of it in your training. Three, know the current status of the client being trained! No one should get hurt when training, so when creating a program for anyone, take into consideration these three principles and disaster will be avoided. 

Thank you for your time! If you have any questions, please reach out to us!

Instagram: tp_strength

train@tpstrength.com (Coach Nate)

scott@tpstrength.com

tim@tpstrength.com

Phone: 914-486-7678