Sport Specificity

                In the last ten or so years, we have noted a steady increase in the term "Sport Specific Training" with regards to strength and conditioning.  The concept is pretty simple; train movements, energy systems, loads and volume specific to whichever sport you may be training for.   This term most likely was coined when strength and conditioning coaches realized you can't train a sprinter the same way you would a marathon runner or a soccer player like a body builder.  With this term, we have unfortunately been subjected to the marketing ploys of numerous gimmicks that are somehow specific to sport and have given rise to the idea that for performance to increase you must only do sport specific movement(s).  Too often coaches and athletes get caught up in a particular exercise before worrying about the process that must lead up to it.  Sport specificity is not just about training certain movement patterns because they look like something you do in sport; it should be about progressing as your ability increases.  Once you have the appropriate strength, power and conditioning base, progress as you see fit.   I like to use the bakers analogy-you must combine all ingredients first, bake the cake, then shape it before you get to thinking about putting a specific type of icing on.

                I don't want this term to have a negative connotation, but at the end of the day; shouldn't everyone's training be specific?   From the position of strength and conditioning coaches, before we worry about specificity we must ensure that athlete has the ability to do basic movements and do them well before we worry about a sport specific movement.  Both; strengths, weakness', and past, present and potential injuries must be assessed before worrying about specific movements that are geared toward a particular sport.   Quite often this term gets over used and has a propensity to lead strength and conditioning coaches to over think training programs.  We all want the best for our athletes, but sometimes this means taking a step back and asking yourself which is more important; doing a movement that you deem sport specific or correcting dysfunctions and building a base for a few weeks then progressing.  I see this mistake made at the development age all the way up to the professional level.  As an example, I have seen athletes that compete in high impact sports doing loaded squats on a wobble board or bosu ball (which isn't really sport specific in my opinion anyway) but they don't even have the ability or have never done a traditional squat properly.  The same goes for trying to force plyometric or Olympic lifting routines.  If your body is not ready for it, start at the first progressions and advance to more specific from there.  Don't be fooled that there is a specific movement or device that will make you a great athlete. If there was, we wouldn't have any mediocre athletes!   It will always boil down to the progressions you take!  If I deem a hang clean or hang snatch as an important movement for developing power, but the athlete does not have the strength or power base to do so, we will try to strengthen the torso and lower body, and then start on dumbbell and lower level plyometric and strengthening progressions first.  The time it takes for the athlete to progress becomes dependant on the individual's ability not a predetermined time frame.  Some athletes will take days, some may take months!

Although this term is correct and we should be specifying programs to tailor each athlete differently, it shouldn't be considered as said athlete needs to do said movement.  Perhaps the worst scenario is when developmental athletes seeing professional athletes doing a particular movement and feel that if it works for the pros, then why wouldn't work for me? 

                The thought process behind sport specificity is not rocket surgery (or rocket science for that matter), it is common sense.  Address the athlete's goals, needs, ability, strength and weakness in order to decrease the chance of injury and most importantly; increase performance.  No two athletes are alike and they must be treated as such.  Some will show progress immediately and some may take up to a few months.  Either way, progressions should be put in place with the end result being able to execute movement's specific to your sport.    

                All of our athletes need to be mobile, flexible, strong, powerful, fast, agile and conditioned.  The fact is, it doesn't really matter what sport they are in, if they are not all of the above you have to be careful on your exercise selections and decide which is more important first and foremost.  Build a base, or try to mimic movements seen in the field of play.  At the end of the day, power is power and strength is strength and if you don't have the ability to transfer both to better you in sport the exercise selection you choose doesn't really matter anyways.  Build a base and progress, then repeat and you will see what sport specificity is about as opposed to choosing a movement and hoping it will increase performance. 

Yours in Strength,

Joe McCullum

Director of High Performance Training

Level 10 Fitness Inc.