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.
I am still amazed at the number of people that coach and teach not allowing the knee go beyond the toes. Look at movement, watch games, if you do not progressively prepare the knee to go beyond the toes with CONTROL you are actually setting the athlete up to be hurt! Where does the knee go? It goes where it has to go – as long as it goes there with CONTROL!
posted by Vern Gambetta @ 8/22/2006 09:11:00 AM
4 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.
4 Comments:
Logic = GOOD!
Amen, Brother Vern! The history and magnitude of this myth is absolutely fascinating. All hail soleus flexibility--ankle dorsiflexion with the foot on the ground and the knee flexed. We are now in the midst of a whole generation of Americans (athletes and general public) who are terrified of "letting the knee go past the toe."
Sincerely,
Tracy Fober
Charter Member, The Knee Can Go Over the Toe Society
I had the same conversation w/ a fellow trainer, she just did'nt want to see what I was trying to say. I spent 28yrs playing a sport with my knee over my toe! No knee problems, great case study.
Nice post Vern, I agree...but I think most of the instruction comes from trying to remove poor back posture in the squat. Instead of using the glutes and quads, most first timers want to use the low back and move straight down instead of down and back. Thoughts?
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