Just Fly Performance Podcast

NBA performance coach Andrew Paul discusses the differences between muscular and elastic movers in basketball, individualized training based on athlete archetypes, connective tissue health, foot training, and more. He shares insights on propulsive and absorption exercises, range of motion concepts, and tailoring training programs to meet the needs of NBA athletes.

Tim Anderson, co-founder of Original Strength, discusses the importance of fluidity in movement, body tension, and utilizing a variety of speeds in training. He emphasizes the benefits of slow movements and how they can enhance higher velocity motions. Tim's message focuses on feeling good and being strong throughout life, challenging the notion of starting with clients feeling broken. He highlights the power of embracing movement limitations for strength improvement and the significance of body awareness and self-perception in training.

Today's podcast features coach Bobby Whyte. Bobby is an athletic performance and basketball skill enhancement trainer in northern New Jersey. He trains players from multiple sides of the athletic equation (strength, speed, skill, general physical development) and has been known for the "good drill" ideology and training system. In the world of modern sports performance, coach Bobby Whyte's approach stands out for its comprehensive nature. It's not just about 'speed' or 'skill ', but a balanced integration of all aspects of athleticism. This approach reassures athletes that their training is not one-dimensional, but a wide-spanning pyramid of development. In today's episode, Bobby speaks on his process to help take basketball players to the edge of their ability, speaking from his perspective as both a basketball skills coach and athletic development coach. This show hits on filling the right bucket an athlete needs, at the right time, taking an integrated view on transference to the game itself, versus a more compartmentalized view. He also keys into the 7 first principles he uses, and refers to, to help push athletes to the overall edge of their ability. Also discussed are the importance of unstructured play, creativity and fun in the development process. I love these conversations because they help to push the envelope of how the entire athlete training process unfolds, not only on a singular skill or strength side of things. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr, the Plyomat, and LILA Exogen. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off of any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer head to Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at teambuildr.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 2:36- Biomechanical and Mental Focus in Athletics 8:22- Exploring Athletes' Mental Edge in Sports 13:15- Skill Progression and Creative Athletic Training Approach 14:59- Game-Specific Skill Development in Athletic Training 16:52- Dynamic Drills for Creative Basketball Training 25:55- Enhancing Basketball Performance through Comprehensive Strength Training 32:00- Unstructured Play for Skill Development in Sports 42:25- Ball Handling Impact on Basketball Speed 46:35- Enhancing Basketball Skills Through Dunking Drills 52:17- Creative Skill Development Through Low Rim Dunking 53:42- Fun Training Activities Boost Skill Development Naturally 1:04:20- Optimizing Player Development through Training Principles 1:13:27- Mastery through Obsession: Training Hunting Dogs & Basketball Bobby Whyte Quotes (8:40) "The top performing athletes are willing to go into the unknown, right? They don't have fear of the unknown." - Bobby Whyte" (12:33) "The more I'm willing to step into this kind of experimental role of guidance with these athletes, I start to see it doesn't matter as much about what I'm doing, but the intention behind what I'm doing. And that's bringing them to the edge of their ability in the direct line of what their goals and dreams are." - Bobby Whyte (35:03) "Kids that couldn't do something, now they can do something. All right, now they can do that. Let's raise the bar a little bit higher. Let's make it a little bit more complex. What else can they do? What else can they do? What else can they do? And that's what I'm. That's it." - Bobby Whyte (44:00) “My guess would be that the best athletes, right, their time (sprinting while dribbling) a ball is a lot closer to their time without a ball than, than the lesser basketball players” - Bobby Whyte (46:39) "That is normal. That is right now what happens everywhere, because all of the training. It removes all of that stuff, whether it's a person or a chair of this." - Bobby Whyte (47:40) "Sometimes I go, you know, for this game, it's three on three, but dunks only, right? And now you are forced to kind of step into that unknown, step into that fear that you've been avoiding." - Bobby Whyte (54:01) “They're on low rims now. That's how they learn new dunks. Pro dunkers now are on low rims. It's like the same mindset, honestly, of taking the thought of the finish away, right? You removed a barrier. Right? You removed a fear." - Bobby Whyte (56:36) "Here's things to do. And no one talks about observing anything. For me, just watching Kids play, watching Kids play before practice, all that stuff. That's a huge, like, source of inspiration for how we learn and move and then the dynamic pieces as well." - Joel Smith (1:19:47) "I lived so much of my life not taking that step, not being anywhere close to the edge, believing, having a vision that I was capable. I was just never willing to take that step." - Bobby Whyte Transcript  About Bobby Whyte Bobby Whyte is an Athletic Performance and Basketball Skill Enhancement Trainer operating out of Northern New Jersey. Focusing on developing the complete player athlete, Bobby practices the “Evaluate – Educate -Empower” program he experienced first hand growing up training with now world renowned trainers and specialists. His personal journey, beginning with a 12” vertical jump at age 15 to playing and coaching basketball internationally provide him understanding and the confidence needed to tailor programs which maximize individual development. With a quick wit, Bobby makes tough, challenging sessions entertaining. Bobby is a certified NASM Personal Trainer and FMS Movement Specialist. He’s also certified with I’m Possible Training, the world’s largest basketball training company. He’s worked with athletes ranging from beginner to NBA/NFL/Overseas Professionals. Most recently, he spent 6 months working in China as the Head Strength Coach for the Guangxi Rhinos. Bobby has the ability and knowledge to develop skill and performance programs to deliver complete, healthy athletes. He believes growth takes place at the edge of ability and it his passion to bring athletes to that edge.

Today's podcast features sprint coach Jack Edwards. Jack is the coach and company co-founder with Track Speed Development and is experienced in club and high school track coaching. He runs the "Metamorphosis Track Project" page on social media, is the creator of the "Acceleration Monster" training manual, and can often be found at the Bankstown athletics track in Sydney. Jack works closely with individuals from diverse backgrounds and age groups, ranging from national-level competitors to newcomers in track and field. Jack's coaching approach underscores the significance of individual observation, athlete identity, and tailored strategies to optimize each athlete's s movement and performance. It is easy in sprint training (or general athletic performance) to focus on the "micro" or isolated aspects of athletic performance training. It is easy to treat all athletes the same in programming and cueing. Although a general structure must exist in training groups, it must also be understood what drives each athlete's performance engine, their ideal cues and communication strategies, and related training constraints and exercises. In today's episode, we delve into the unique coaching approach of Jack Edwards. He shares insights on painting a comprehensive picture of the athlete, considering the driving mechanisms of their movement, psychological factors, and adaptation in sprint training. Jack also discusses the importance of developing an athlete based on their needs, their "superpower ", and "identity", bringing the power of story into the sprint training equation. We also explore the concept of coaching based on big picture elements, versus a "micro" approach. Tune in to gain a deeper understanding of these topics and more in today's episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr, the Plyomat, and LILA Exogen. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off of any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer head to Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at teambuildr.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 2:20- Jack’s Take on “Classical Ab Training” for Sprinting and Athletics 13:02- Natural Movement Evaluation for Optimal Coaching Success 20:51- Athletic Identity Development through Varied Training Programs 22:19- Optimizing Speed Coaching Strategies for Individual Athletes 29:05- Training with Imaginative Superheroes: Inspiring Athletes 39:20- Enhancing Sprint Performance through Strategic Training Approaches 44:29- Enhancing Performance Through Sensation and Awareness 54:49- A Holistic Viewpoint of Speed Training Jack Edwards Quotes "I would have just probably reading some old Charlie Francis stuff, and I just started banging out just classic crunches and leg raises for time push-ups, all those sort of body weight calisthenic exercises on off days, and I don't think it was useless whatsoever. I think that the demands of sprinting and lifting weights and, and getting jacked is such a stressor on the posterior chain, and as someone who has some anterior hip issues historically, I almost felt like the ab circuits were my postural restoration, as silly as that sounds- Jack Edwards "I think that my goal when I first start working with someone, I guess, is to try and paint a picture as to who the athlete is." - Jack Edwards "I think that there are probably common factors which need to be included in the program and the sort of movement styles that athletes probably need to move towards to become faster runners."  - Jack Edwards "I was working with at a all boys school, and we're coaching a variety of different athletes. And, like, the one thing I really wanted them to get out of the training experience is sort of like, to be proud of their strengths and to understand them as well, and to not be, to not have shame about what they don't have, so that they continue to push forward in their athletic endeavors.- Jack Edwards “Explosive like a firebender. Or if a rugby player, like a prop who's going to be like a bigger boned kid is next to like a little greyhound, I guess it's comforting for the earthbender child to understand that in a rugby scrum, this airbender has got absolutely no chance against him, even if he's going to lose in this 20 meters run. And so, yeah, I really buy into athlete identity because I think it paints a path for success. And we all have a very different” - Jack Edwards “Fire would be like Christian Coleman, you know, Air would be like Andre de Grasse, perhaps. And Water would be like Alison Felix, where there's sort of like the metabolic component, perhaps"- Jack Edwards "So, because it's sometimes the temptation for the athlete and the coach to try and look for answers in places that they don't exist, like sometimes athletes, and I see it often, where athletes who have stagnated in their ability to produce more power and more force will try and like, change their block setting, or they will try to do something differently with their hands, or they'll try to adopt a movement signature of a famous athlete when in reality, like their counter movement jump just might not be good enough to get effective block clearance." - Jack Edwards “We can't do something worth measuring every single session because what's the point of measuring something sub maximal? Like we're not going to do 20 meters fly runs every session. We're not going to be maxing out the gym, whatever it is. So organically, within the training program, there are opportunities for athletes to explore, like, I guess some of the more subjective things, like around how your foot feels hitting the ground when doing some intensive tempo running” Jack Edwards "Sometimes it could be really tempting to look at a rate limiting factor, improve on it, come back to the sport or performance, whatever it may be, and sometimes even see negative transfer of the intervention. And I guess it's because the improvement of that variable is based upon the assumption that in isolation, reinserting it into a complex system will reap improvement and that everything almost remains untouched and uninfluenced. But it's just not, it's not the case typically” Jack Edwards "There's an accompanied psychological stress which can only be challenged through racing against a complete random who's probably faster than you” Jack Edwards Transcript  About Jack Edwards Jack Edwards is the coach and company co-founder with Track Speed Development. Former He is a high School English Teacher by day, and also a High School track coach. Jack is an admitted meathead, has a strong appreciation for the arts of bro-science, and is an “Earth-Bender”, turned “Fire-Bender” in his personal masters track and field performances.

Today's podcast features Kevin Mulcahy. Kevin is an experienced sports and S&C coach and owner-operator of the Design the Game Project. He has worked with various sports teams, athletes, professionals, and clubs across three continents, for over 30 years. Kevin takes a multi-lateral focus on human movement, skill development, and S&C, led by a deep interest in ecological dynamics and the constraints led approach to coaching and motor learning. Sport and the process of athlete development has undergone a major shift in the last 3-4 decades. Where free play used to be a hallmark of young athletes, the majority of athletic development now happens in the realm of supervised, cognitively overloaded, and hyper-accelerated practices and games. This aspect of sport (and sports performance) does get talked about, but the nuances of how things should actually change from both a developmental aspect are rarely discussed. On today’s show, Kevin gives his perspective on ideal athlete development from an ecological and environmental point of view. He lays out the difference between the dominant “cognitive” approach to coaching and training, relative to an ecological approach. Kevin also gets into skill development, game-play and the importance of motor learning, and an overall athlete-centered, approach to training. Kevin’s experience crosses many of the traditional lines drawn in athletics, and as such, helps us to form new connections and understand the athlete development process on a deeper level. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr, the Plyomat, and LILA Exogen. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off of any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer head to Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at teambuildr.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 3:44- Kevin’s Evolution of Movement and Strength Coaching 10:32- Gaelic Football's Impact on Soccer Development 13:45- Nurturing Creativity in Gaelic Games Athletes 29:45- Balanced Development Through a Free Play Approach 33:16- Small-Sided Games for Tactical Coaching Success 47:10- Athletic Success: The Genetic Advantage Perspective 54:02- Optimizing Training Schedules for Performance Enhancement 59:21- Irish Sports Clubs: Community Support and Culture 1:02:46- Enhancing Sports Performance Through Soft Coaching 1:07:29- Tactical Deficit-Focused Conditioning in Team Sports 1:12:06- Enhancing Sports Performance Through Motor Learning Principles 1:18:23- Engaging Sports Coaching and Skill Development Initiative Kevin Mulcahy Quotes "I'm not sure we all know how deep the science of sports goes yet." - Kevin Mulcahy “How do we learn skills? How are they connected to skill as we see it? Because we see the action of a player throwing a basket, pulling a dummy solo, dribbling through a player in soccer, whatever and we see that as a fixed skill and that's something they did and they must practice that a thousand times. But versus the more ecological way looking at it like, you know, they saw an opportunity to act, they saw a gap, they saw space, they got free at the corner for a three point shot, whatever it is. And they just took it” - Kevin Mulcahy “But traditionally, I would have struggled to get soccer and basketball players to engage in strength and conditioning more than any other sport, right. I don't know if that related to the street element where they have so much exposure, they have so much play, they feel good from it, they look good. I don't need (S&C). Why would I need that? You know, I'm well built. - Kevin Mulcahy "I believe it was Steffan Jones, the cricket fast bowling coach, who had said something about, like the death of a natural athlete, like that athlete who grows up on free play. And there's this, like, exceptional artistry that comes out of that" - Joel Smith "And that ecological psychology suggests that direct perception is what happening? And it's nonlinear learning, right?" - Kevin Mulcahy "My perception has evolved. Now I'm perceiving the play to come towards me in a very similar manner to what happened three minutes earlier. So I can't play it the same way." - Kevin Mulcahy ” The cognitive feeling that they have the information to give it, whereas the ecological belief is that the information is in the game. Right. So let's give them the opportunity to learn about the game. In the game. - Kevin Mulcahy "Absolutely, I think strength and conditioning has to move more towards a better and deeper learning of motor learning, right? And that soft coaching side of it." - Kevin Mulcahy" "The change always has to start somewhere." - Joel Smith About Kevin Mulcahy Kevin is an experienced sports and S&C coach who has worked with various sports teams, athletes, professionals, and clubs across three continents for over 30 years. He is the owner-operator coach of the Design the Game Project, a platform that shares coaching insights and research to a progressive and learning-led audience. Design the Game promotes a Constraints Led Approach to Motor Learning and coaching. Kevin has studied on and off the field how humans learn to move and learn skills for well over 20 years. Through the DTG Brand has ran several Mini Online Course around Motor Learning, Decision Making in Sport and Practice Design. Kevin also runs TMC Performance, a bespoke S&C/PT business that caters to the overall health and lifestyle of his clients from athletes to Busy Professionals through a “strength & Conditioning for life & Sport” mindset and programming approach. Kevin has carried out Sports Coaching in Club roles coaching in Field & Court Sports as well as Boxing. Full-Time & Part-Time Professional roles across amateur, Semi-Professional & Professional Sport. Kevin has a strong educational background in coaching science, with a BSc in Strength and Conditioning from Setanta College, a certificate in Nutritional Science and Coaching from Precision Nutrition, and a certificate in The Neuroscience of Decision Making from Barcelona FC. Kevin takes an ecological approach to coaching and life in general and has a deep interest in Ecological Dynamics and the Constraints Led Approach to coaching and Motor learning. Kevin as a Sports and S&C Coach (either/or or hybrid roles) has in recent times been lucky enough to be part of coaching teams that won Regional and National (All Ireland) Titles with Cork Camogie, National Superleague Basketball Title with Ballincollig Basketball and Cork Senior A Gaelic Football Championship with Newcestown. Design the Game is unveiling online and in person workshops on Decision Making in sport to clubs and coaches around the world.

Today's podcast features Cameron Josse, Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach at Auburn University. With experience at Indiana University Football and DeFranco’s Training Systems, Cameron has worked with athletes from various levels and sports like NFL, NHL, UFC, and WWE. A former football player at the University of Rhode Island and current PhD candidate at Jean Monnet University, Cameron's approach to performance training is both practical and comprehensive. As we move forward in sports performance training, there is more data around speed training for athletes than ever, as well as corresponding logistics and systems. We are understanding that physical preparation is not a one-sized fits all approach, not only between sports, as well as within positions in a single sport. By better understanding key aspects of speed development on an individual level, as well as in knowing the evolving role of strength training over time, we can better serve the needs of the individual athlete. On today’s episode, Cameron will cover the process of optimizing resisted sprint protocols in college football athletes, as well as important individual differences he sees between positions and maximal speed ability. We will cover strength training in light of long term athlete speed and power development, sprint biomechanics and injury prevention, as well as concepts of integration between strength and sport skill staffs. Cameron is a brilliant coach with an expansive view of the training process. This conversation is a valuable addition for anyone interested in long term development of speed and athleticism. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr, the Plyomat, and LILA Exogen. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off of any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer head to Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 4:08- Optimizing Power Output Through Velocity Variation 11:27- Position-Specific Biomechanics in American Football Players 19:31- Position-Specific Force-Velocity Profiles in Sprint Performance 27:50- Enhancing Sprint Training in Team Sport 31:08- Neural Efficiency in Skill Player Performance 36:20- Neural Processes in Sports Performance Optimization 42:30- Optimal Pelvic Alignment for Efficient Running 47:53- Enhancing Movement Quality Through Motor Techniques 57:47- Optimizing Performance by Removing Physical Constraints 1:07:06- Optimizing Training Programs for Athlete Profiles 1:15:02- Explosive Velocity Training for Muscle Hypertrophy 1:17:14- Optimizing Athlete Performance through Strategic Training 1:20:52- Sprinting’s Impact on Weight Room Training Integration 1:25:49- Collaborative Communication for Athletic Development Success Cameron Josse Quotes "It's like you're not going to get a ton of return on it if you just keep chasing (gym strength) forever and ever and ever. It seems like there's a certain point where enough is enough, right?" - Cameron Josse" What we're finding is that the, like, the step velocity itself, like how fast the leg moves through the push phase, is really, really important for the bigs. It seems like it. There's a big correlation to performance for those guys, but it's not really. It doesn't seem to be as big of an important factor for the skill guys. Cameron Josse The bigs are so big, they have less opportunity to compensate to a certain degree. Yeah, like, they. It's like, I got to get this big body moving, and, like, we all kind of need to self organize to do this better or else we're not going to move, you know. Cameron Josse As soon as you go from, like, a 50% (velocity decrement) to a 20% (velocity decrement), and now they're operating at 80% of their relative maximum speed, they. Those fast guys are blowing everybody else out of the water. I'm talking by, like. Like miles per hour, plural. Right? Like, it's. It's off the charts different. And so it's. It's pretty interesting how you're right, like, those who are more elastic, more reactive, faster in general, have better, more efficient nervous systems. "When we watch a skill guy in American football, everybody's enamored with the 40-yard dash, and, like, how fast is this dude? Or when he's got the ball in his hands, can he just take the top off or make everybody look silly around him? And so all of those factors that we're enamored with are indicative of a very high functioning, efficient nervous system, to me, very elastic, very reactive." - Cameron Josse" "If we don't understand things in context or even try to understand things in context, then we're probably doing more harm than good." - Cameron Josse" "I just use it as an example of, you know, can we potentially over fatigue the hamstring? And how does that then affect the neural recruitment pattern and all that?" "Each type of stimulus, be it eccentric, isometric, normal electro stim plyometrics. It's like, okay, here's what this does for you. And then here is the drawbacks." - Joel Smith "The biggest performance indicator of your entire system is going to be communication." - Cameron Josse Transcript  About Cameron Josse Cameron Josse is currently an Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach for football at Auburn University. Before joining the Auburn Tigers, Cameron served as an Athletic Performance Coach for football at Indiana University. His journey in sports performance began with a 7-year stint at DeFranco’s Training Systems, where he held the position of Director of Sports Performance from 2014-2020. Throughout his career, Cameron has collaborated with a diverse range of athletes, from high school and collegiate players to professionals in the NFL, NHL, UFC, and WWE. A former football player at the University of Rhode Island, Cameron holds a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology and a master’s degree in exercise science from William Paterson University. Cameron is currently a PhD candidate at Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, France.

Today’s podcast features Rafe Kelley, owner of Evolve Move Play. Rafe has studied and taught a multitude of movement practices spanning gymnastics, parkour, martial arts, weightlifting, and more for over 20 years. His passion is to help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable, and most resilient version of themselves in movement and life. Rafe has had a profound impact on my coaching and training philosophy and has helped me expand my views on the totality of the bio-psycho-social model of movement and human performance. Much of modern training is overly prescriptive, reliant on drills, and overemphasizes winning. This leads to practices with a reduced learning potential, a downplay of creativity, and a lowered ceiling of movement and skill potential. It also leads to less engaging practices in general. In today’s episode, Rafe delves into his unique methods and teachings that foster creative and adaptable athletic movement. He explores the interplay of constraints and play in sport and skill training, underscores the significance of creativity and improvisation in movement (and how to cultivate it), and shares insights on the role of joy in movement. Rafe also touches upon collaborative movement training, rough-housing, dance, and movement improvisation, and how these elements can shape better learners and movers in their respective sports or movement practices. By gaining a deeper understanding of play, exploration, and constraints, we can unlock the full potential of human performance. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr, the Plyomat, and LILA Exogen. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off of any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer head to Lilateam.com TeamBuildr is an online software for coaches and trainers. Use the code “JUSTFLY” for a free 30 day trial of the TeamBuildr software at https://teambuildr.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 2:30- The balance between constraints and free play in coaching, as well as children’s skill development 15:30- Training based off of “following one’s joy”, versus more set skill rehearsal 25:30- Creativity and improvisation in human movement and sport performance 32:30- Athleticism, dance, and individual dancing versus dancing with others, in context of sport 41:00- Roughhousing and links to team sport movement and problem solving 48:00- Forms of play that are both done for winning, as well as learning, exploration and mutual growth 57:30- Scaling and continuums of effort in individual and team sports, for improved learning 1:07:00- The use of roughhousing, and contact improv oriented work, on facilitating play states, and opening up movement options in a donor sport format Rafe Kelley Quotes “Soccer works because there is a set of constraints; there are structures that allow the game to exist, but there are infinite degrees of freedom once the constraints are in place” “Usually I’ll have 3 areas I’m working in, and then one core skill” “At the end of the session, I’ll ask them “What was your rose, your bud and your thorn”. They get to reflect on what they want to hold going forward” “Sweet, we are playing tag. How do we add a little more speed demand to that tag. How do we play a version of tag that looks like this, and gives you the thing you are looking for?” “Creativity is the ability to create a solution to a movement problem, in a sport situation” “What made Barry Sanders special wasn’t that he did set plays better than anybody else” “A gymnast doing a high bar routine, is actually adjusting constantly to try to achieve the goal; they are not doing the exact same thing… but that’s far less chaotic then adding another player” “We tend to fall in love with expressions of Type 1 athleticism (sprinting, jumping, explosive power)” “(Jokic) is able to attune to everyone else on the team incredibly well; so he conducts his team on an extraordinary level; I do think that in some sense, that’s the type of thing that is cultivated in dance” “A human being is a super-predator because of our capacity to do what quarterbacks do” “I found you could break down (10 human core capacities) into locomotion, manipulation, and combat” “The reason we enjoy football is because it allows us to experience (locomotion, cooperation, combat)” “One of the things we discovered with contact improv, is that removing the competitive intent, or creating a creative intent allows to you explore spaces you would avoid, if you were having a competitive interaction’ “What we are going to play with is a coach/athlete dynamic, the coach’s role is to provide the environment that the athlete becomes skillful within” “Once you have reached a certain level of skill, you shouldn’t be giving yourself the option of using all of your skills, you should limit yourself in some way to give yourself the bandwidth you need to work on” “Where are you feeding the athlete a safe, scalable exposure to all of the different ways that their structure can end up interacting with another athlete, and that’s something where contact improve, martial arts, or roughhousing can be extremely valuable” “Sometimes (roughhousing) is the most neurally potent way of inviting a play-state in” “We get a lot of social stimulus constantly, with very low value as far as intimacy” “A warmup should be as much social and psychological as much as it is physical” Show Notes Evolve Move Play invites you on a journey to rediscover this primal joy through our Roughhousing programs. Each tailored to meet different needs, these programs offer a unique blend of physical skill-building, emotional bonding, and pure, uninhibited fun. Check out these programs and more at evolvemoveplay.com/courses/ About Rafe Kelley Rafe Kelley is the owner of Evolve, Move, Play, a business designed to use movement practice to develop more resilient and embodied humans. Raised by two yoga instructors, he was a basketball player and gymnast (and gymnastics coach) in his teens. Rafe started in the martial arts at 6 years old, studying Tang Soo Do, Aikido, Kung Fu, Kick Boxing, Brazilian Ju Jitsu and Muay Thai. Rafe also has experience in modern training disciplines such as sprinting, gymnastics, crossfit, FRC, modern dance and many others. His primary specialization is in parkour, the practice of navigating obstacles by jumping, running, flipping or swinging over them, a skill set he primarily taught himself by watching videos and training deep in the woods. Rafe co-founded Parkour visions at age 23, and eventually left to form Evolve, Move, Play. His students have included world-class parkour athletes and MMA fighters, as well as untrained grandmothers. His passion to is help people build the physical practice that will help make them the strongest, most adaptable and resilient version of themselves in movement and in life.

Former D3 All-American football player Austin Jochum discusses athlete-centered training prioritizing joy, play, and long-term growth. Topics include the balance of technique and play, emotional aspects of training, building confidence through play, and the importance of creativity and adaptability in coaching.

Scott Leech, URI's head S&C coach, shares insights on agility training beyond traditional methods, emphasizing task-based stimuli. He discusses the importance of on-field perception tasks, jump training, and strength work for athletes. The podcast delves into optimizing athlete performance with structured training, varied drills for speed and agility, and contact preparation techniques for football players.

Today’s podcast features Nicolai Morris. Nicolai is the Head of Performance for AFLW at Collingwood AFL club. She is also the strength and conditioning coach for World Champion and Olympic medalist high jumper Nicola Olyslagers (formerly McDermott). Previously, she worked as the Head of Physical Preparation of the Australian Women’s Hockey Team, NSWIS, and HPSNZ, working with NZ Rowing and leading NZ women’s hockey. She is an elite level 3 ASCA coach with a master’s in strength and conditioning and over 17 years of experience. Strength is far more expansive than what is gained from lifting barbells. It encapsulates a large number of qualities and abilities. When it comes to helping high-level athletes break through a performance barrier, what is needed is not simply “more barbell strength” but improving one’s total strength and movement package. Many forms of movement and strength can be employed to do this. This week’s podcast guest, Nicolai Morris, uses many strength and movement methods in her training. One of Nicolai’s athletes, Nicola Olyslagers, recently set the Oceanic high jump record at 2.03 meters (6’8”), and in today’s episode, Nicolai goes through the various strength and movement methods that helped set Olyslagers up for success on the high jump apron. Our discussion also deals with pole vault, swimming, and athlete autonomy. This episode was an expansive discussion on the role of strength and coordination in high jump training and beyond. Today’s episode is brought to you by Lost Empire Herbs and the Plyomat For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to lostempireherbs.com/justfly. To try Pine Pollen for free (just pay for shipping), head to: justflypinepollen.com. The Plyomat is a functional, intuitive, and affordable contact mat for jump and plyometric training and testing.  Check out the Plyomat at www.plyomat.net View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 1:27- Personalized Cues for High Jump and Pole Vaulting 17:39- Enhancing Coaching through Diverse Skill Training 25:52- Surface Variety for Enhanced Athletic Performance 35:48- Cushioned Surfaces for Plyometric Training 38:06- Enhanced Foot Strength Through Sand Training 42:19- Dynamic Training Strategies for Athlete Development 44:40- Optimizing Performance: Balancing Creativity and Structure 55:45- Athletic Success through Joyful Training Mindset 59:07- Targeted Training for Optimal Athletic Performance 1:04:34- Optimizing Movement Quality Through Single Leg Training Quotes “I have to relax. And even in drilling, I do better when I relax rather than tensing up and trying so hard. So it's a really fascinating one. And yeah, in swimming, when you try hard, it destroys you in an event in a 200” “But we've been doing a lot of work on her weaknesses. For her, that's often single leg strength, stability and hinging, hip extension type work and cross chain work are kind of key elements that have come across the whole way through that” “So we added in a bit of an obstacle course where she'd land on different soft, hard, interesting, big surfaces. And I told her to be creative, and she's a creative person, and went, all right, just chuck a bunch of things down on the ground. Make it fun, make it challenging, but make sure you are landing on different surfaces, hard and soft” “But our traditional model will help. We don't really have access to a gymnastics facility over the next four, five weeks. Coming into world indoors, let's go backwards. And we went back to our traditional way of doing things and you could see the position wasn't there. And immediately after the competition, it was. Yet we're going back to gymnastics” “She's got a beach right near her and her initial training, no matter when she comes back, will always start on sand and grass rather than going straight on track, which isn't uncommon. But the sand, she's always done blocks of sand her entire life. So being able to have that intrinsic foot strength, I think has been a big benefit into keeping her injury free” About Nicolai Morris Nicolai is the Head of Performance for AFLW at Collingwood AFL club. She is also the strength and conditioning coach for World Champion and Olympic medallist high jumper Nicola Olyslagers (McDermott). Previously, she worked as the Head of Physical Preparation of the Australian Women’s Hockey Team (The Hockeyroos), NSWIS, and HPSNZ working with NZ Rowing and lead of NZ women’s hockey. She is an elite level 3 ASCA coach with a masters in strength and conditioning with over 17 years’ experience.