The administration and measurement of youth power development has become more available and familiar with the advances of technology. This excerpt introduces varieties of testing and administration practices to assess power in the youth population.
Personal trainersCoachesProgram designTesting and Evaluation
In order to ensure consistent and accurate results, coaches must take certain steps to ensure proper data collection. It is also important to establish sound protocols prior to testing.
CoachesOrganization and AdministrationTesting and Evaluation
It is important for coaches to understand the relationship between commonly measured variables (e.g., displacement, velocity, and force) and their relationship to the derived variable of power.
This article in NSCA Coach discusses how machine-based testing can be used to gather data and improve training. Visit NSCA online to learn more on sports science and exercise research.
CoachesExercise ScienceProgram designOrganization and AdministrationTesting and EvaluationClient Consultation|AssessmentProfessional Development
Considering that the term "power" typically evokes the perception of high-speed movement, many people are inclined to take the tenets of specificity to literally mean “train fast, be fast.” However, to create the most strategic methods of training and adaptation, it is vital to compartmentalize power into the primary testable and trainable elements.
This article discusses the importance of upper body power training for protective security personnel and its potential for an occupational performance marker.
TSAC FacilitatorsProgram designTesting and Evaluation
This article seeks to provide insight on a training method based around prescribing small amounts of training to achieve a large amount of physical improvements.
This article discusses the influence of lower-body power on soccer performance in collegiate female soccer players. It also covers testing for muscular power qualities, different training modalities to use, and sample training programs as examples.
Multidirectional ground reaction forces (GRFs) and jump tests within baseball pitchers provide insight into athletic ability and coordination to produce lower-body force and power. Lower-body power is a biomechanical feature that denotes physiological capacity through dynamic and passive tissue stretch-shortening in transferring energy from the ground through the kinetic chain. Optimized lower-body power may lessen the magnitude of forces on the upper extremity. Insufficient lower-body power may create a greater risk of upper-body injury. Lower-body power and its relationship to ball velocity have been minimally investigated, yet some research points to a correlation between jumping ability and fastball velocity. Because pitching is unilateral, practitioners should consider unilateral jumps to determine the extent of bilateral asymmetry or stride to drive leg differences that can guide training to remediate deficiencies. The purposes of this brief review are to (a) examine factors that influence vertical jump performance among baseball players, (b) examine research on pitching multidirectional
GRFs, and (c) examine literature concerning jump performances to baseball pitching performance. Collectively, this review can assist coaches and practitioners in lower-body power testing and training for baseball pitchers.