SSS member Emily Medina guest reviews Dan Pfaff’s recent seminar tour of Australia.   An unexpected benefit of lifting has been my newfound appreciation of physics. When we learn to squat, press and deadlift, we seek movement technique that allows the greatest amount of output from the full exertion we can give. This realization of […]

  When you start a new sport, the coach is responsible to get you up to speed so that you can compete. If you are part of a team, you have a responsibility to your team-mates as much as yourself to get good as fast as possible. With individual sports, your continued involvement in it […]

We dip our toe into the water of understanding the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).   There is a rabbit we could chase down a very deep hole when talking about the Autonomic Nervous System. But the purpose of this post is just to say that the ANS is a real thing, it’s already operating despite […]

I see a lot of emphasis on speed drills, use of special apparatus, programming, and all sorts of exercise coupling. Very little is talked about or developed in terms of the biomechanics. A bigger engine in a car with square wheels is obviously not what you’re looking for.     Analyzing and developing biomechanics has […]

Several weeks ago I brought to light and questioned the Australian Rugby Team training in the gym.   There was nothing surprising about it to me, the revelation that we are still grazing on the low slopes of technical proficiency across the coaching skill landscape has long been plain to see. But it is necessary from […]

Obsidian is a volcanic glass made mostly of silicon dioxide. It has been used by early civilizations as a spear point material and now it is used as a material for scalpels for surgery. Obsidian blade can reach molecular thinness, down to 3 nanometers across. It is the sharpest blade that can be made.   […]

Its a rare treat for your Coach to get away from the gym at Shire Speed and Strength and go on holidays.   Last year, the two weeks off was the first holiday taken in over 6 years; this time, thankfully, the wait was only 12 months.   It was off to Texas again to […]

Two roads diverge in a wood, and I, I took the path less traveled by, And that has made all the difference. Robert Frost’s poem, ‘The Road Not Taken.’, was probably ruined for you in school. I know it was for me.  I vividly remember talking in class about some idea where I’d drive a […]

*repost of an article from the old site.   William Blake’s painting ‘The Great Red Dragon and the Woman Clothed in Sun’ is the subject reference in Thomas Harris’ book Red Dragon, and the subsequent movie adaptations.     In the book, the character Francis Dolarhyde (played by Tom Noonan in Manhunter and Ralph Fiennes […]

A novice cannot go by ‘feel’, they do not have a ‘feel’ yet. Even a great athlete learning a new skill is still a novice. Being a novice says nothing about your potential, it speaks only about one’s current state. A person with no ‘feel’ has few controls to manipulate. A coach’s progression through drills […]