Back in the day, we didn't play 'one sport' all year long - those real good athletes were easy to find, they were the shortstop, the quarterback, the track star, etc... In todays 'year round' world of travel ball (in every sport), it is still pretty easy to spot those great athletes (look to the skill positions). Recently we sat with USC baseball coach Dan Hubbs, when asked how he recruits, he said unequivocally that he 'recruits ATHLETES' ... and pitchers
.. He thinks his program can take the rough edges off of a more 'raw' skill player with unusually good 'athletic' skills and get them up to game speed by the time they need to make a contribution. The other Division 1 coaches we talk to in softball, football and basketball echo that sentiment.
Now to get to the question, What does it mean to be ... athletic. Sometimes known as the 'IT' factor, in our opinion, athleticism is primarily made up of skills that can be acquired - or at the very least, improvements in athleticism. Explosiveness, Range, Power, Strength, Quickness, Speed, Efficiency .. as far as raw 'athleticism', these are some of the factors recruiters, coaches and decision makers are paying attention to. There are some factors that are more natural, or intuitive - like getting a quick jump on a fly ball right off the bat, or having a feel for the game, in which case a coach needs to witness live game reps.
HOW CAN YOU FIND OUT WHERE YOU STAND ATHLETICALLY? PERFORMANCE TESTING
At a recent PGF Softball Combine, we (EM Speed and Power) tested athletes in 5 separate areas of athleticism and 5 areas that were sports specific, giving college coaches an athletic and skill specific 'profile' that gave them the information that would help them with recruiting. I mention this because it solidifies the premise that college coaches use 'athleticism' as a main consideration for recruiting a top level athlete. You can get a profile similar to this and discuss your potential with a qualified coach at
http://www.emspeedtraining.comHOW CAN YOU GET MORE ATHLETIC?This sounds like a commercial, but .. For the past 10 years, EM has trained upwards of 40,000 athletes with the philosophy that 'a better athlete, does everything better'. As we prepare a Softball Athlete for college and beyond, athleticism and injury prevention are two main focuses that will take an athlete a long way toward their goals. As stated before, the main factors in athleticism can be acquired with the proper training program and supervision. The proper training program, developed by a qualified coach, would include all of the goals not only specific to the sport, but since a softball athlete plays year round, we must train 'seldom used' areas to shore up the demands on an athletes weaker links - which will keep everything firing better and more efficiently, not to mention keep the athlete injury resistant. To find out more call 909-483-9000 or visit
http://www.emspeedtraining.comWHAT SOFTBALL ATHLETES HAS EM TRAINED RECENTLY?If you look at the current National teams - we have 7 athletes on that list
PGF 18U Premier Champions - every athlete
PGF 16U Premier Champions - every athlete
Big10 Player of the Year
6 of the top 10 HS Seniors in the Nation
... more of a list is available at
http://www.emspeedtraining.com
