VALD Performance

We are excited to welcome Gavin Pratt, Senior Director of Strength & Conditioning at the UFC Performance Institute, to our Practitioner's Summit in collaboration with NSCA.

Gavin will present on “Neck Coupling Strength: Profiling and Intervention Process,” sharing applied insights into assessment and intervention in elite performance environments.

He will be joining a star-studded lineup alongside Dr. Matt Jordan, Lance Yancy, Dr. Jacob Goodin and Nick Seme.

📅 Saturday, May 9, 2026
📍 NSCA Headquarters – Colorado Springs, CO

👉 Spaces are limited — secure your spot: https://eventbrite.pulse.ly/vbdbtzzzju

📢 Introducing the DynaMo Rack Attachment.

Create a secure, fixed testing point for reliable tension and compression assessments with DynaMo Max and DynaMo Plus.
✔ Quick to install
✔ Improves testing reliability and repeatability
✔ Universal joint for a wide range of testing angles

Less variability. Less practitioner dependency. More confidence in every test.

Find it on the VALD Store today ➡️ https://valdstore.pulse.ly/4emnrwmqf5

Maximal lower-body strength underpins performance, resilience and long-term development — yet traditional assessments do not always offer an efficient or valid measure of true force capacity.

The isometric belt squat allows athletes to express higher and more representative force outputs. Real the full article to learn more ➡️https://valdperformance.pulse.ly/xr3fun21in

Outgrown your current performance technology?

Trade in legacy or siloed performance tech — like force plates, timing gates, handheld dynamometers and more — from other providers and receive credit toward starting or expanding your VALD ecosystem.

One platform. One login. Fully integrated solutions designed to scale with you, with unlimited software upgrades, transparent pricing and world‑class support included.

👉 Submit a trade‑in inquiry today: https://vald.pulse.ly/y82uih6bhk

🏒Our 2024/25 NHL Report is now available to all users on VALD Hub.

Built from aggregated data spanning five seasons and more than 2,300 NHL and European league athletes, this report delivers population‑level insights to help you benchmark performance, understand testing trends and make smarter, data‑informed decisions in elite ice hockey.

Swipe through for a preview — in the full report, you’ll find:
🔸 Testing behavior and seasonal trends across NHL and European leagues
🔸 League‑ and position‑specific normative values
🔸 Insights into the most‑used strength, jump and sprint assessments
🔸 Expert‑selected metrics to support performance, health and return‑to‑play decisions — and more...

📥 To access: Head to VALD Hub > Dashboards > Normative Data Reports and download your copy.

Hamstring strength is not static.🦵

Using NordBord, this study tested hamstring force of soccer players across different knee flexion positions, showing how strength outputs shift with angles.

Read the full article reviewed by Hugh Fullagar ➡️ https://valdperformance.pulse.ly/lsf46eskcw

Research by Jonathan Taylor, Hermes Pallotta, Philip Smith, Will Short, Wright, Matthew Wright and Paul Chesterton.

👉 👉 Swipe for some snippets from our recent My Dashboard feature with Alex Natera, focusing on sprint performance and how testing data is used to assess force‑time qualities, reactive strength and tissue capacity across the different phases of sprinting.

From global neuromuscular output to joint‑ and tissue‑specific checks, this dashboard supports informed performance decisions while helping manage risk in high‑speed, high‑intensity environments. ⚡

Read the full article to explore Alex’s complete dashboard and the rationale behind each test and metric.
🔗 https://valdperformance.pulse.ly/mbsm419opn

NEW RESEARCH ALERT 💡

This new study by McCarthy et al. investigated which physical qualities best distinguish high and low performers on a continuous fire‑and‑movement assessment. Combat maneuverability is fundamental to soldier survivability, particularly during rapid movements between cover positions under load.

The findings revealed four distinct physical components that collectively explained 81.46% of the variance in performance outcomes:

For more info on the study ➡️ https://valdperformance.pulse.ly/1mkn08ymn8