By Martin Ross
Individualized training, solid coaching, and parental support can mean the difference between a seat on the bench and a shot at the majors. One wrong move can end a career before it begins or even permanently bench a young athlete.
That’s why Nate Henry, director of sports performance with Bloomington’s Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center (OSEC), focuses not only on building individual strength and stamina but also on “maximizing movement” for maximum safety on the field, the court, the track, or the beam. OSEC functions as “team physician” for local sports programs; Henry oversees training for professional, collegiate, high school, junior high, and elementary school athletes.
“Dynamic stability” — the ability to regain steady movement following an abrupt shift or impact — is key to keeping players in play. Witness Minnesota Vikings quarterback Terry Bridgewater’s traumatic knee dislocation/ACL injury during a non-contact play in late August practice. One “odd, bad movement” benched the 2014 Pepsi NEXT NFL Rookie of the Year for the 2016 season, Henry notes.
While even “the best training, the best coaching” doesn’t eliminate the possibility of injuries, Henry argues “you can reduce their incidence with the right training and coaching.” Because each athlete brings their own dynamics to the game, performance coaching “must not be a cookie-cutter program.”
“Most of our coaching/training in the beginning involves a lot of GPP, or general physical preparation — teaching running mechanics, deceleration technique in terms of reducing injuries during a change of direction or other maneuvers,” the Illinois State University grad and certified strength and conditioning specialist relates.
“You’re doing two things. You’re maximizing ability by clearing up individual movement patterns. That makes them more agile. You’re also reducing injury, because they’re recruiting the right muscles and protecting themselves from those catastrophic non-contact injuries.”
Rather than sports-specific training, Henry believes “holistic” cross-training helps any player maximize performance, and if young athletes choose to specialize in a single sport, he invites them to “let us be your other sport.”
Programs can be tailored to address specific issues, such as a faulty gait in a junior high runner or poor movement patterns in a high school gymnast or university quarterback. In developing a program regimen, parents must consider their son or daughter’s “metabolic load,” or physical capacity to fit intensive supplemental training into a schedule that may also include school, homework, team practice, and other activities. An “off-season” program thus is preferable, and Henry maintains a minimum eight to 10 weeks’ coaching is needed to shape optimal performance.
He advises prospective clients and parents to tour OSEC’s East Empire Street facility before considering a two to three-day-per-week, 90-minute-per-session, month-to-month or extended program. Following an initial 10 to 12 week program, many athletes return in successive off-seasons to stay fit, healthy, and to continue their development, Henry reports.
“The thing I try to highlight to the coaches under me is the relationship we build with the kids,” Henry says. “It’s not ‘Mackenzie, who goes to the Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center — she’s one of the kids I’m coaching today.’ It’s ‘Mackenzie — she plays softball for her community; she likes to do this on the weekends.’ It’s about getting to know the kids and earning their trust. You’re going to have a lot more fun as a coach and they’re going to have more fun as an athlete if you do that.”
The Orthopedic and Sports Enhancement Center, 2406 East Empire Street, specializes in orthopedic surgery, sports medicine, sports biomechanics, physical therapy, athletic training, and sport physiology. For a consultation or visit, call 309-663-9300 and visit sportsenhancement.net.