The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement.
This is a concept coaches have preached for years. The ability to bend your knees and play low is crucial to success in so many sports. Kelvin Giles got me thinking about this in his presentation at English Institute of Sports. I have now included as a subset of my agility work. That is why we do Jim Radcliffe’s
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 8/20/2006 12:58:00 PM
3 comments
Vern is currently is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several teams in Major League Soccer as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men’s World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets. Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. He is a popular speaker and writer on conditioning topics having lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. Vern's coaching experience spans 36 years at all levels of competition. Vern has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He received his BA from Fresno State University and his teaching credential with a coaching minor from University of California Santa Barbara. Vern obtained his MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.
3 Comments:
This is a great topic Vern, I'm surprised there aren't more comments. Most athletes can't get into this position without getting into a Sumo stance, and we wonder why we get patellofemoral problems. Not to mention low back syndromes.
I have found that Chlorox and detergent jugs work just as effectively with a little sand or water in them as the pretty cones when doing these drills.
Mark Day D.C., CSCS, DACBSP
As a physical therapist treating a variety of athletic injuries over the past twenty years, I continue to see a large percentage of younger athletes not able to assume a low/athletic posture primarily due to extreme restrictive ankle mobility--- prime culprit is the gastroc/soleus complex. No achilles tendon flexibility......
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