Play Low Ability – More Thoughts

This is more than bending your knees and more drills. It demands proportional bending of ankle, knee and hip. Many young athletes today are so tight in the gastroc soleus that they make up for it by bending more at the waist. This then sets up a cascade of negative events. They are then off balance (tipped forward). This also puts more stress on the knees. Play Low Ability is the result of a total program that incorporates proper functional stretching, progression in movement skills that stress body awareness and strengthening that emphasizes linkage. For hip mobility we do extensive hurdle work dividing the hurdle work into overs and unders on different days. If they are tight in gastroc sloeus then more three dimensional calve stretching and significantly more backward running. There is no single assessment to determine all of this but a single leg squat on a box will give a lot of good information. (More on this is a latter blog) For more ideas see my Leg,Legs Legs tape and the Preparation and Warm-up tape. (Yes tapes – Old school you know)