By: Mike Gough, BS, CSCS, CFC

With the Basketball season around the corner it is time to start preparing the athlete for a successful season. The basketball player must be the complete athlete: strong, agile, explosive while exhibiting fine motor skills when shooting and dribbling. The athlete must be conditioned to the demands of the sport, their position, and their limitations.

From my experience as a Strength and Conditioning Coach in the NBA, each player must be assessed individually, as point guards have different physical demands than a center; a shooting guard has different set of physical demands than a power forward. This is critical when developing a conditioning program for an athlete.
 

In-Season Conditioning Program for Hockey Players

Mike Gough BSc. CSCS, CFC

Every year hockey players are following hockey specific conditioning programs in the off-season to enhance the on-ice play and athletic development. These athletes push themselves to come into training camp with improved fitness levels from one year to the next. As a strength and conditioning professional, my objective is to ensure that an athlete’s physical development should improve from one year to the next, increasing their levels of strength, speed agility and power while decreasing the possibility of injury. By following a in-season conditioning program this can be accomplished.

In-season conditioning is often overlooked and as the season progresses as the focus is not on development but winning. As the playoffs begin, players are fatigued and their conditioning levels are far from what they were at the beginning of the season. Many athletes come back to me each summer and elicit the same testing scores that they had at the start of the previous summer. In short, we are not making any progress in their development as athletes. What can be done?
 

Preparing the Athlete for the NHL Combine

Mike Gough BSc, CSCS

Every year the NHL conducts its annual combine prior to the NHL Entry Draft is here that prospective NHL Entry Draft Candidates are tested physically under the watchful eye of NHL General Managers, Strength and Conditioning Coaches and Athletic Therapists. The tests that the national accredited high performance athlete testing laboratory uses are protocols that are a compilation of the core fitness tests currently employed by a number of NHL teams.

Fitness profiles for each player are provided to teams so that they can assess an athlete’s potential, current weaknesses, current and/or past injuries and see how they compare to other draft eligible players. The impact of the testing results can either enhance or diminish a players draft stock. If the athlete performs well, he may be selected higher than originally ranked and thus may receive greater financial rewards.

The preparation of the athlete is crucial to their performance on the testing day. The athlete has to be well prepared both physically and mentally to “shine” on testing day. The Strength and Conditioning Coach must plan, prepare and teach the athlete in a short time period. Time is of the essence due to the length of the athlete’s playing season. Often players who achieve great successes on the ice have little time to prepare physically for the upcoming draft combine. With the OPS Program players follow an intense 4 week program that fully prepares them for the combine.

Each athlete that follows the NHL Combine Program is informed of the tests that will be administered on testing day and trained to increase their performance in each individual test.
 

Off-season Conditioning for Elite Hockey Performance

With the hockey season fast approaching, it is that time of the year to prepare the hockey player for the rigors of the upcoming season. Today, players of all ages are looking for an edge they can get on the competition. By preparing physically, athletes can gain a real headstart on the season and their competitors. No longer is hockey an eight-month sport, players today are conditioning themselves year round to be "the complete player".
 

Water Conditioning for Sports Performance

Mike Gough BSc, CSCS

The use of pool exercises is often overlooked as an alternative to mainstream exercise interventions. By exercising in the water, the athlete is trained in a less stressed environment, free of the stresses of common exercise modalities performed on land such as running, walking, aerobics, and various other training methods. The pool can provide a complete workout for the athlete, utilizing aerobic, anaerobic, strength and plyometric components of complete conditioning.
 

Developing the Elite Golfer