Over the next 3 days we're going to cover deceleration progressions in all 3 cardinal planes. When beginning the transition to plyometrics, I always want to make sure my athletes can first control regressed movements, positions of instability, and deceleration in all three planes in a SLOW AND CONTROLLED MANNER. This is an absolute prerequisite before I ask them to generate power (speed component) and change directions (agility component), especially in reaction to an external stimulus (ie an opposing player or ball). Assessing and training deceleration control in all three planes is absolutely vital for the athlete, as no sport is truly one dimensional. . Below is a step by step progression I like to incorporate with my athletes. It's not black and white and there are many other exercises that can be implemented as well, however, each progression does follow the following guidelines: . Develop control of movement and deceleration first in a double leg staggered position like a lunge. There is inherently more stability derived in the lunge position because you're on two legs. The benefit of this position compared to a squat position is that we can bias more weight onto the lead leg, challenging the leg with decelerate a higher percentage of the force . Load the lead leg with an external load. To further bias the lead leg, you can use an external load (i.e. a medicine ball) in the plane of movement you wish to control. An external load not only adds more weight onto the lead leg, but it further challenges the body to control MOMEMTUM. Controlling the momentum of the external load while keeping ideal lower extremity alignment is key during these exercises. . Control speed. Slamballs are a great way to add a speed component to our progression, in which the athlete must learn to eccentrically control the weight of the body and ball loading with speed onto the leg. In addition, the athlete must learn to dissociation movement of the upper extremity and the lower extremity, maintaining good lower extremity alignment while trying to develop power in the upper extremities. . Today's episode focuses on the sagittal plane. Shown is just a snippet on ways to progressively load the athlete with more deceleration tasks. Notice the decrease in base of support as the tasks progress in addition to the increase in lever arm or speed. Furthermore, on the deceleration tasks at the end, notice how I LOWER MY CENTER OF MASS as I slow down in addition to using my arms as a counterbalance
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