It is not uncommon to hear about training programs or exercises that are “specific” to a particular sport. The term “specific” however, usually has different meanings. For example, some authors state that specialized exercises involve the same muscles that are used in the execution of the sports skill. This is far from what specificity of training should mean if improvement of skill is the primary focus.
The push-up exercise can be used to illustrate. It is a common exercise done by athletes and fitness buffs in which the arms are held alongside the body. However, hitting in golf, tennis (groundstrokes) and baseball and in most throwing actions, the arms move in a diagonal pattern in relation to the trunk. Thus, the push-up may be a good exercise for strengthening the anterior shoulder and upper arm muscles, but it is not directly related to most throwing and hitting movements. It does however, involve the same shoulder muscles.
If you have weak shoulders, this exercise can improve your strength capabilities, which may indirectly help your game. But it is not as effective as an exercise in which the arm movement duplicates the same pathway seen in the sports skill. This is known as a specialized exercise. An example is pulling your arm across the body in the same pathway as in the swing or throw with the Total Athlete System™ supplying the resistance.
In order for the training exercise to be truly specific, it must fulfill one or more criteria:
1. The exercise must duplicate a portion of the entire competitive skill. In other words, the movement in the training exercise must duplicate the neuromuscular pathway of the movement involved in execution of the particular skill. For example, if it is an exercise to strengthen the shoulder muscles that move the arm as it is used in the sports skill, then the movement in the strength exercise must duplicate the same movement of the arm in execution of the skill.
2. The training exercise must involve the same range of motion as in the competitive skill. This means that the muscles must be strengthened in the same range of motion as they are used in the competitive skill. A general exercise may develop strength through the full range of motion or through a range of motion that is not used in the competitive skill. But a specialized exercise develops strength in the same range of motion in which strength is displayed in the competitive skill
For example, for quick movement on the court or on the field when taking two or more steps or when running to the ball, the rear leg is brought forward as quickly as possible from a behind-the-body position. Thus, the strength or explosive exercise must begin with the leg behind the body when it is brought forward. When the leg gets in front of the body, it is usually moving on momentum and strength is no longer needed to bring the thigh up to about the 45º-90º position.
Most general strength exercises that involve the hip flexors (muscles responsible for driving the swing leg forward) usually begin with the leg directly under the body and
. the thigh then raised straight up to a 90º angle. This strengthens the hip flexors but not as they are used in fast leg movement or in a running stride. For the exercise to be specific to such moves, it must begin with the leg behind the body.
To duplicate this position it is necessary to do exercises with non-conventional equipment as for example, the Total Athlete System™ or a cable pulley arrangement. Conventional equipment such as dumbbells and barbells do not allow you to duplicate range of motion needed for the specific muscle training.
3. The exercise must involve the same type of muscular contraction that is used in the execution of the competitive skill. To illustrate, we can use the squat exercise. The squat is usually done at a moderate rate of speed. When a very heavy weight is used the movement is slow. However, in jumping, the muscles undergo an explosive contraction to get the body off the ground or must develop sufficient force to propel the body upward quickly. Understand that force is determined by how fast the body or moving limbs can be accelerated. The faster the joint actions, the more explosive the movement.
The squat exercise for strength does not duplicate the explosive contraction involved. To develop the ability of the muscles to contract explosively, you must do exercises such as squat jumps, and jumps out-of-the-squat. In essence, plyometric jumps that duplicate the exact muscular involvement.
For beginners, developing strength of the quadriceps (or other muscle groups) will show great improvement in not only speed of movement but also the force that can be applied to various skills. For more advanced players, additional strengthening without explosive training can lead to greater slowness. This occurs because the heavier weights that must be used for strength lead to slow movements during execution. This in turn teaches the nervous system slowness rather than quickness and explosiveness.
Most sports are becoming faster, quicker, and more explosive each year. To be of most benefit, the training exercises must duplicate what the player is required to perform in game play. Merely playing the game is great for strategy, tactics and consistency, but it does not improve quickness or forcefulness of a hit. For this, it is necessary to do supplementary training specific to the exact skills involved (neuromuscular pathway and muscle function).
In addition, the training programs must be individualized to each player. To do this, it is necessary to know exactly what each player does in execution of the game skills and then to determine the physical and technical aspects that are lagging or should be enhanced. Determination of the technical and physical abilities is done through a biomechanical analyses of skill execution. Such analyses bring out the actions that are performed by the athlete and how well the athlete is capable of executing these actions in relation to his or her abilities.
Do not rely on your eyes to see what happens. For example, a typical video tape catches the action anywhere from 35-50 “frames” per second. When you play the tape back, frame by frame, you can see more than what the eyes can see, which are only capable of “recording” up to 10 frames per second. At 10 frames per second, you can see the beginning and follow-through movements. You cannot see the power-phase actions which are the key to how successfully the skill is executed! The key actions happen in less time than it takes for the preparatory or follow-through phases to occur.
Because of this, video taping and stop action analyses are needed to see exactly what takes place. Once determined, it is possible to isolate the exact movements, which muscles are involved and how they are involved. Based on this information, specific strength and explosive exercises can then be prescribed to not only modify the technique to make it more effective, but also to enhance effective technique. This will bring about an immediate effect in relation to the players ability.
The Eastern Bloc countries (especially Russia) are much more advanced in the area of training specificity. They launch their annual periodization plan with a general training base and then move into a specialized training period in which the exercises duplicate what occurs in the game skills. However, for the specialized exercises to be most successful, they are preceded by a general training (fitness) base to prepare the body for the more intense training involved.
For the high-level athlete the general training is comparably short, lasting no more than 2-4 weeks. The low level athlete however, may stay on the general training program for up to six months. The reason for this is simple; the low level athlete needs more time to physically prepare his body for the greater intensity seen in specialized training. The high-level athlete who stays in good physical condition throughout the year, does not need any extra time to prepare his body for the greater intensity.
Specialized exercises show the greatest improvement in the least amount of time. Because of the almost year-round playing done by many players, especially in the professional leagues, there is not much time for supplementary training. But when the exercises duplicate what occurs in the execution of the skills, not only does it take less time but there is greater improvement. Specificity is the key to improvement.
For more information in this area read Build a Better Athlete and Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness and Training. For more sports specific books that deal with individual sports see Explosive Running, Explosive Basketball Training, Explosive Golf, Women’s Soccer (which is also applicable to men) and back issues of the Fitness and Sports Review International (formerly the Soviet Sports Review).