The Nature-Nurture Debate in Sports: Are Athletes Born or Built?

/ Volt HQ/

 What does it take to be a great athlete? Some say that “DNA is destiny” or “it’s all in the genes.”

Other people will vehemently answer this question with “it just takes a big heart: (figuratively, not literally) or “hard work, just good old-fashioned hard work.” This latter response falls in line with the thinking of the “10,000 hour rule”—which was misconstrued in Malcom Gladwell’s book Outliers. This thinking also aligns with Daniel Coyle’s book The Talent Code about how greatness isn’t born, it’s a matter of how it’s nurtured.

This, of course, brings us to the age-old nature-nurture debate. Despite articles and opinions on both sides, I’m here to tell you that it is not a debate—because, athleticism requires both nature and nurture. 

Read More

Nutrition and Recovery: Tips from the Dallas Cowboys Director of Sports Performance

/ Volt HQ/
Nutrition and Recovery: Tips from the Dallas Cowboys Director of Sports Performance

Volt’s Dr. Joe Eisenmann sat down Scott Sehnert, the Director of Sports Performance for the Dallas Cowboys. The two talked about nutrition and recovery for the high school athlete, including Sehnert’s top three tips for fueling properly.

Read More

Volt and Big Data “In the Wild”: The World’s Largest Strength Training Study

/ Volt HQ/

Since the new Volt app was launched in 2018, there have been over 1 million users (and growing!) who input data on sets, repetitions, and load on a daily or weekly basis into the Volt Database. For a moment, just stop and think of the total number of data points! Indeed, this is the era of Big Data. Big Data is now a term used in many sectors including business, health care, banking, government, manufacturing, retail, education…and also sports, as first popularized by the book and movie Moneyball. And, just as professional sports teams are data mining and using predictive analytics to improve performance, so are the software development, data science, and sports science teams at Volt.

Read More

Dear Parents and Coaches, Kids Should Strength Train.

/ Volt HQ/
Dear Parents and Coaches, Kids Should Strength Train.

I see and hear it all the time: “Is it ok for my (healthy) son or daughter or my team to lift weights?” or “I heard that kids shouldn’t lift weights before they’re done growing.”

Where does this view come from? There are a few fallacies that parents and coaches often subscribe. I’ve addressed these comments and questions countless times, and have developed a downloadable PDF handout that is a helpful resource for coaches to share with parents, or for parents to share with other parents (and sometimes coaches).

Read More

What is Athleticism and How is it Tested? Are We Re-inventing the Wheel?

/ Volt HQ/

It’s that time of year again, late February. The Super Bowl is a few weeks behind us and it’s time to start thinking about “next year.”  For NFL organizations and football fans, this means settling in to watch the feats of strength and athleticism during the NFL Combine. And for sport scientists, this garners a lot of talk, debate and discussion about testing. Inside, you’ll learn about the history of athleticism, as well as the Volt Strength Score and more…

Read More

Fool’s Gold and Diamonds in the Rough: The Adolescent Growth Spurt in Boys

/ Volt HQ/

An athlete’s potential is typically predicted from a young age, many times based on their size. In tryouts, coaches tend to home in on the big kids first, and forget the smaller boys. Coaches note how hard the big kid throws and hits the ball — irrespective of his technique or coachability. On the other hand, the smaller, weaker boy — who possesses a good understanding of the game and great footwork and hands in the infield (yet struggles to throw it hard) — gets discarded because “well, he’s too small.” Has this coach selected the Fool’s Gold at the top of the pile? And didn’t dig deep enough for the Diamond in the Rough?

Read More

See Jack Zig and Zag: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

/ Volt HQ/

An athlete’s success on the field or court can be defined by their speed and ability to change directions. But too often, fundamental movement skills like running, backpedaling, shuffling, decelerating, and changing directions are not taught and coached in young athletes. In Part 4 of his series on Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD), Joe Eisenmann, PhD, shares how to teach athletes how to efficiently move their body from point A to point B—and why it’s so important.

Read More

See Jane Jump: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

/ Volt HQ/
See Jane Jump: Teaching Fundamental Movement Skills

Watch any sport and you’ll see a variety of non-sport-specific movement skills at play: running, jumping, skipping, shuffling, decelerating, cutting, and more. And like technique-based sport-specific skills—swinging a bat, shooting a free-throw, and so on—these fundamental movements should be taught, coached, and trained. In Part 3 of his series of long-term athlete development (LTAD), Volt’s Head of Sport Science, Joe Eisenmann, PhD, provides practical coaching cues and sequences to help coaches teach athletes how to excel at these fundamental movements: athletic stance, bodyweight squat, hip hinge, jumping, and landing.

Read More

Saving Our National Pastime

/ Volt HQ/
Saving Our National Pastime

Somewhere across America, an early-maturing 12U All-Star is pitching in his third game in two days for his second team. Elsewhere, in an operating room, an orthopedic surgeon performs Tommy John surgery on a 16-year-old. Our national pastime is facing some challenges — but luckily, USA Baseball is implementing a Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) plan to combat them. Volt’s Head of Sport Science, Joe Eisenmann, PhD, takes us through USA Baseball’s model for developing athletes and discusses potential solutions to the challenges facing America’s game.

Read More

Life in the NBA: Damaged Goods and Youth Training Habits

/ Volt HQ/
Life in the NBA: Damaged Goods and Youth Training Habits

Life in the NBA is a grind. And with athletes playing for 9 to 10 months straight—or even longer, if they make the Playoffs—it’s not surprising that the NBA is plagued by an injury epidemic. A $350-million-per-year epidemic. Volt’s Head of Sports Science, Joe Eisenmann, PhD, addresses the underlying causes behind this influx of injuries and asks: What if it’s related to how youth basketball is structured in the U.S.? Read on to learn more about the state of youth basketball in America, and how several organizations are working diligently to turn it around.

Read More