On this week's Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to First Team Strength and Conditioning Coach at PSV Eindhoven, Jermaine McCubbine. Jermaine has worked at PSV for a number of years, progressing from an academy position into a role within the first team. Jermaine's journey and the work he is doing at PSV as an English practitioner is why we wanted to get him on the podcast. He is actually started out as a sports therapist which led this conversation nicely into something Jermaine has spoken about before which is the "hybrid" S&C coach. Being an S&C coach is becoming so much more than coaching athletes in the gym or weightroom. Data analysis and rehabilitation are just two areas that S&C coaches now need to confident in so we chat to Jermaine about how he has gone about upskilling in these two areas. In the first half of the conversation, he also describes how he works with the coaching staff to create conditioning drills that not only tick the physical development box, but also encorporate technical aspects too. And its not just all about small sided games! Given Jermaine's background as a therapist, we also dive into the rehabilitation of football's most common injury, the hamstring. He takes us through a rehab with a hypothetical athlete, detailing his benchmarks, his exercise prescription and how things we change based on the reaction of the injury along the journey. If you're interested in working overseas and want a route to get there, or want to hear want one of Europe's biggest do with their players, check out this episode. Main talking points: Getting a job and working overseas The modern day "hybrid" S&C coach Preparing for an increased influence/expectation on RTP Preparing for an increased demand on data analysis skills Conditioning and reconditioning players at the highest level - Is it all about SSG's? Top-ups - how do you keep non-starters conditioned and fresh? Returning a player from a hamstring injury

Vernon featured on episode #376 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - Why a foundation of movement exploration is worth pursuing How ground-based movements can be used during rehabilitation Mobility vs flexibility Check out the full episode with Vernon here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/gaining-mobility-and-flexibility-for-sports-performance/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast, Head Physio at Essendon Football Club, Nick Kane talks to Rob about how to rehabilitate groin injuries and how to set up an injury prevention system in team sports. Not only is Nick the Head Physio at an AFL club but he runs his own practice and is founder of the Sports Map Network, a resource that educates physios through multiple mediums. With that said, we chat about the gaps in education, not only for physios but for S&C coaches who are expected to rehab players, often without any formal qualifications. The first half of this episode sees Nick take us through how he assesses an athlete who is presenting with persistant hip and groin pain. He details what assessments he takes the athlete through and what he focuses on from a movement quality, and strength and function point of view. The second half of the episode has Nick explain how his injury prevention system at Essendon runs, what screens he uses in pre-season to understand where an athlete needs individual support and what monitoring tools he uses throughout the season to keep a track of how his athlete's are responding. This is a great episode for those wanting to reduce injuries, particularly hip and groin injuries. Main talking points - Groin injury return to play Testing and benchmarking Exercise prescription Common mistakes when rehabbing groin injuries Building an injury prevention system Blending S&C and physio and transitions in rehab Processes around profiling Education in physiotherapy

Loren featured on episode #292 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where he discussed - Why coaching frontal and transverse drills is essential to develop agility and COD Which drills can we use The importance of the foot in these drills and what to look out for Check out the full episode with Loren here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-292-loren-landow/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

This episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast sees Rob speaking to Damian Harper, Mark Jamison and Ted Rath. This episode was recorded in the summer of 2021 as a Live roundtable. But it was that good that we had to release it as a podcast.  Anyone who is interested in deceleration will know the name Damian Harper. And its Damian who kicks off this chat with a detailed dive into what the research says about the importance of deceleration. Mark then gives us his thoughts on how we test it based on some of Damian's work. This area is super interesting as its been so under utilised but with advances in technology it can be a relatively simple process. To conclude part 1, Ted gives us his thoughts on what qualities are needed to enhance deceleration ability and the need for developing eccentric strength. Part 2 is all about gym based and on-field based interventions to improve deceleration ability. Ted takes the gym based interventions whereas Damian and Mark attack the on-field interventions. They answer the crucial questions, "how can we coach our athletes into more effective deceleration positions?" If you're interested in learning more about the growing area of deceleration, check out this episode. Main talking points -  What does the research say about the importance of training deceleration? Testing deceleration ability in the field The acceleration-deceleration ability (ADA) test What physical qualities are needed to decelerate effectively on the field/court Developing eccentric strength to improve deceleration ability Gym based interventions to improve deceleration ability On-field interventions to improve technical deceleration ability

Stu featured on episode #293 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where they discussed - The process of understanding if the metrics you are using are reliable Choosing the right metrics for you Who might be able to help if you want to validate your metrics Check out the full episode with Stu here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/pacey-performance-podcast-293-stu-cormack/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.

On this week's Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to Head of Performance at Rangers FC, Jack Ade, Head of Academy Performance at Arsenal FC, Perry Stewart and Head of Academy Physical Development at Tottenham Hotspur FC, Matt Allen. This episode was recorded as a video roundtable in 2021 when Jack was leading the academy at Liverpool FC. Its an all-star line-up when it comes to physical development in football. In the first half of this episode, Jack talks about planning and periodisation and how he maximises training time when contact time is limited. This will certainly resonate with those out there that have worked in the acadmey environment. We then dive into a discussion about the variation in training focus across the age groups which is where Matt gives some great examples from Tottenham. In the second half we discuss training individualisation and coaching speed at the academy level. Here, Perry gives an insight into how he uses maturation data to inform training and how its impact has changed over time. Then we finish off with some questions from those who were on the live roundtable including how to get a job in academy football. For anyone in or wanting to get into a football academy as a performance specialist, this one is for you. Main talking points - Planning and periodisation Maximising training time when contact is limited Structuring sessions with large groups and few coaches • Training focus variation through the age groups Testing and monitoring Managing periods of rapid growth and maturation What KPI's/performance markers are you assessing regularly Training and individualisation Is individualisation a myth? When should academy S&C coaches be looking to individualise training? Training speed Tips for people wanting to get into academy football

In this episode of the Pacey Performance Podcast, Rob is speaking to Director of Sport Science at the University of Louisville, Ernie Rimer. Ernie joined Rob and JB Morin a few weeks ago for a roundtable on force velocity profiling but because of sprint profiling being such a huge topic, we got him back to go into more details. In the first half of this episode we talk sprint modelling. Ernie gives us a detailed analysis of how we can measure an athlete sprint and then use that data to understand where their weaknesses are and create meaningful interventions to improve them. He uses football (soccer) positions as a great example of how we can use one sprint model to look into different areas of the sprint to create benchmarks and compare player against player. In the second half of the episode we chat about strategic periodisation. This was a topic discussed a long time ago with Sam Robertson after he and David Joyce published a paper on this. How can we work with technical coaches to assess each opponent and manipulate training load in the weeks leading up to and following each match? If we rank an opponent down, are we able to train that bit harder leading up to the game, or can we ease off and give the players extra recovery time? We have a look at the factors which cannot be controlled like the weather, playing surface or game time and marry that up with the factors we can control. This is a fascinating, unique episode with Ernie which listeners will get lots out of. Main talking points - Sprint modelling and ways to assess sprinting From low budget options to larger budget options Decision tree implementation Strategic periodisation - what is it? How to quantifying opponent strength Evaluating strategies against outcomes Fixed factors and dynamics fixed factors

This week's Pacey Performance Podcast sees Rob speaking to Aaron Coutts, Amber Rowell and Mathieu Lacome. This episode was recorded as a Sportsmith Live roundtable in 2021 but as GPS monitoring becomes more mainstream, we needed to get this out as a podcast. We kick off this roundtable with Aaron explaining why its so important to have a clear question as to why you are using GPS in the first place. Without that it becomes difficult to get the full value from any technology. We then dive into the decision making process around which metrics matter and which don't depending on the questions that need answering. Amber and Mathieu give us some incredible insights from an applied perspective of how they have gone through this process in professional football (soccer) in MLS and in Europe. The second half of this episode has Amber and Mathieu chatting about multimechanical modelling as well as how to use GPS to monitor and manage fatigue on an acute and long term basis. We also have an open discussion on how best to present GPS data to coaches and ensure that desicions can be made with all the information available. If you want an all encompassing episode on how to best use GPS to monitor performance and fatigue, this episode is for you. Main talking points - The importance of having a clear question before collecting any data What external load actually is How do we choose the most relevant metrics out of the thousands that are available Using measures that coaches understand What decisions are being made at the higest level using GPS How you can use GPS to plan a one-game week versus a two-game week Different metrics being useful for different sports What is multimechanical modelling and is it useful Using GPS to guide "top ups" with those that haven't played  

Alan and Anthony featured on episode #433 of the Pacey Performance Podcast. This #bitesize episode takes a great clip from that episode where they discussed - The Speedworks philosophy of ACL rehabilitation Focusing on speed development through an ACL rehab A player's view of an ACL rehab process Check out the full episode with Dan here - https://www.sportsmith.co/listen/analysing-england-rugby-player-anthony-watsons-acl-rehab/ This episode is supported by RockDaisy, the only FREE AMS on the market. AMS Lite features reporting capabilities, questionnaires and forms, alerts and communication, data sharing, data visualisation and calendar views.