Coach Connor Lyons

At the NHL Combine there is one test that almost always correlates with success at the NHL level, and that test is the vertical jump. Many players and coaches will see this stat and believe that they have to be a better jumper if they want to make it to the highest levels of play. While I can understand the mindset, this stat doesn’t tell the whole story.

It’s not necessarily the jumps that make one a better/faster skater, it’s the adaptations that produce higher verticals that create better/faster skaters. If you’ve ever taken an intro to stats class, then you understand this as “correlation does not mean causation.”

Increased GRF, increased movement elasticity, better torque production in the hips, more efficient arm action, increased speed of movement, and increased strength all play a role in better jumping, and they all play a role in better, more efficient skating.

This isn’t limited to the vertical. Too many private sector coaches will fall into the trap of training their athletes to excel in their preseason tests, instead of preparing them for a long, grueling season or long term development. Don’t do this.

Should your athletes jump and should they be proficient when doing so? 100% and the athletes in my care do almost every time they come into the gym to train. There are TONS of benefits to jumping. But don’t get wrapped up in thinking that better jumping equates to faster skating or sprinting. The jump is just a training modality, not the reason. As jump height goes up, skating and sprinting speeds tend to as well.

This screenshot comes from my book The Dynamic Effort Method for Athletes where I break down the pitfalls of falling into this causative mindset when chasing speed endurance. Go check out the link in my bio to check out the book!

Conditioning adaptations come on relatively quickly, and they stick around for a good while. There’s no need or reason for it to be on the forefront of your training right now, none.

We’re three to four months out for most of you guys, conditioning right now should be a byproduct of the work you’re doing in the gym and on the field to get stronger, bigger, and faster. Save the conditioning for 4-6 weeks out.

Get strong, fast, and big NOW.

This is an episode from almost three years ago that I think is probably more important today than it was three years ago.

Why is it more relevant today? Because now ni****ne pouches seem to be the vice of choice for many athletes. The delivery method doesn't;t matter, the ni****ne is the issue.

Ni****ne is currently being touted as a cognitively beneficial "supplement" and while there's some truth to this, the detrimental effects for athletes FAR outweigh the very short term cognitive benefits. If you've got some time, and you're va**ng or using pouches (or know someone who is), give this one a watch.

Link down there 👇

The NCAA looks nothing like it did five years ago. Lots of rule changes, and tons of money being thrown around. What does all this mean for you as an athlete? Link down there👇

With peptides being in the news more often recently, I’m getting LOTS of questions about them from athletes, and parents. Here are a few things to consider:

1 - We don’t have a ton of long term data on them, and while the overall side effects appear to be fairly negligible for most of the popular ones, we don’t really understand the long term effects. There’s always trade offs, just make sure any potential trade off is worth it for you.
2 - There can be short term side effects as well. Spring Hill native Boston Loyd ended up in Stage 5 kidney failure after using an experimental peptide known for causing weight loss in animals. Understand these potential side effects.
3 - Find a reputable compounding pharmacy, and stop buying them from gym bros on the internet or your local gym. You’ve got NO IDEA what is actually in those vials.
4 - Not all peptides are the same. Some have been studied significantly more than others. If all the data is from studies on humanized mice, probably best to stay away from it for now.
4 - Most peptides are still on the WADA and USADA banned substances list. Understand that and be ready to get suspended/banned if you’re a drug tested athlete.
5 - As with anything, you’re better off working hard to get everything out of your body naturally that you can, before adding in any substances to the mix, period.

Do your research and understand what you’re doing before you decide to go down any path, so you’re completely prepared for any and all outcomes. Informed consent and non-emotional decision making are your friend here.

Saw a study earlier and thought I’d pass along some interesting information.

This study followed 475 soccer players from 12U to 19U (boys) and aimed to answer the question: Do fast players stay fast and slow players stay slow?

The key takeaways were:
❗️Biggest jumps in speed come between 14U and 16U when the athletes are 13-16 years old.
❗️58% of the fastest 25% of players at 12U, fell into the slowest category as they got older. This means the fastest at 12U are more often than not, not the fast kids as they get older.

The fastest players at 12U are often just the first to develop, not the best overall athletes. Once kids catch up physically, they often get left behind. The same thing often happens with strength, and even skill level.

The best kids at 12U are often not the best when it comes time to commit to college. Those 12U and 14U showcases are often a waste of your time. Take that money and time, and spend it developing physically and athletically.

Where you are at 12, is not where you’re destined to be at 18. Get out there and get to work!

There are many sports that are stuck in the past when it comes to overall athletic development, and even physical development towards their own sport. Especially at the youth levels.
Tennis is one of them. And in this article I lay out my case for changing the approach that has long been taken by tennis and physical preparation coaches.

"It doesn't matter how many times you can repeat an effort, if the output isn't high enough to begin with" - Charlie Francis

Link down there 👇

Sprints, bounds, skips and jumps are incredibly important when it comes to athletic development. They should be part of the foundation of every long term athletic development plan.

Here’s the thing tho, you are only going to adapt to the effort that you put into them. We can’t change the intensity by adding weight, bands, tempo, or really anything else. A coach can’t force you to try. It’s like stretching or mobility work, getting better is 100% on you and your care level. Anything less than 100% means you’re wasting your time, and your money.

Little/No effort 🟰 Zero gains

It's the end of the season, and that means sports performance facilities like mine, are about to get an influx of inquiries about training. There are a few things that are important for you as a parent or athlete:

1️⃣ Sport specific training doesn't exist. Unless you have a really high training age (and almost none of you reading this have that), you need increases in base levels of strength, speed, power, resiliency, and mobility. You can excel in an environment training next to a hockey player, a basketball player, a softball player, you get it. You really don't need anything training wise, specific to your sport.
2️⃣ If your off the field/ice/court coach has you conditioning, find a new one. Conditioning adaptations come on VERY QUICKLY, and are fleeting. This should not be a focus until WAY later in the summer.
3️⃣ Unless you're brand new to training, or have time constraints, you'll more than likely do significantly better in a group environment than you will with private training. Save your money.
4️⃣ If you're only someone who trains in the offseason (and not during the season), don't expect miracles. It's going to take a month just to recondition for the gym, then after that you're looking at squatting roughly 8 times, deadlifting 8 times, and bench pressing 8 times before your season starts (once a week for 2 months). It really isn't a ton of time.
5️⃣ If the biggest selling point of your coach is that they played college/pro sports, find a different coach. I can count on one hand the number of former high level athletes who are any good in this field. Most successful strength coaches. played DII/DIII, outside of the power four, or topped out in high school. That doesn't mean they CAN'T be good, but it does mean they probably won't be because they've been able to sell themselves on the fact that THEY played which has zero bearing on their skills as a coach/programmer.
6️⃣ Anything worth doing is worth putting 100% into. When you do find a coach, buy in, get good sleep, eat well, hydrate, limit the partying, and show up on time ready to work every day. You can excel with an average coach/program when everything else is dialed in.
7️⃣ Last but certainly not least, get off the field/court/ice for a little bit. The bulk of your energy should be going towards training physically. Sure, work on your skillset a day or two every week, but you shouldn't be playing organized games during this time.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION IN THIS MATTER

We’ll be adding a 9am to our schedule tomorrow for our Peak Performance group. You can find the times here:
https://www.theldsp.com/sb-group-schedule

Hope everyone had a great Christmas ya this weekend!