Michael Volkmar - The High School Athlete: Football: The Complete Program for Strength and Conditioning--For Players and Coaches

F or this foreword, Coach Volk asked me to write a letter to my 17-year-old self. And as I started to write this letter, I found myself reminiscing about my time spent at Peddie School, my progression through college and now the NFL. Given the opportunity to speak to myself at 17, I would encourage him to fall in love with the process. Success will be built on failure along your football journey; there will be days when you question the clich Hard work beats talent when talent doesnt work hard, but youll see it proven right again and again.

Id also give him a bit of advice: that to make the journey more fluid and enjoyable, it is critical to hone the principles at the heart of this book: The best ability is durability; the best durability is mobility and strength. Stop what you are doingdo some ankle mobility work, now! Even now, I believe that the ankle, hip, and shoulder mobility exercises in this book are imperative to work into your daily routine if you want to make it to the next level.

Finally, Id offer some encouragement. Sacrifice who you are for what you want to become. Nobody can get to where they want to be with the same mindset they had at 17. Above all, attack every day with a winners mentality and continue to chop wood, carry water.

HAKEEM VALLES, NFL player and professional speaker

Arizona Cardinals (20162017)

Detroit Lions (20172018)

New York Giants (2018)

T his book is more than simply 100 football-specific killer workouts. This book is a compilation of workouts, based on an age- appropriate and holistic development model of training, motivation and nutrition , based on multiple methodologies of athlete development. It is intended for use by football coaches, football players, and strength and conditioning coaches at or nearing the high school level.

The current generation of players is different than the ones who played 20 years ago. This book dives into the mindset of the successful player. While some kids still need a kick in the pants, others are motivated by ego, or held back by fear. How do you know what motivates each of your players? How do you deal with different personalities?

Motivation is no longer blindly yelling at your players, thinking that will get them all hype. Instead, well be examining the different development stages players experience, to further our understanding of how to motivate them effectively.

Remember: the best training program in the world means nothing if you cant get players to buy in.

Nutrition is the newest frontier in high school level athletics. Athletes eat and trainthey do not diet and exercise. Sports nutrition has officially made its way down from the professional and collegiate ranks, and high school athletes are learning the importance of nutrition. And, in doing so, they are getting overwhelmed.

Without a qualified coach to teach proper nutrition, correcting the barrage of information provided by unfiltered internet searches about fad diets and supplements, kids are more confused than ever. This book provides a simplified, food first approach that can help all players. Weve also provided a list of online resources to help provide access to easy-to-understand information; see the Resources section at the end.

This book builds up your freshman and sophomore players, using exercises that put them into a position of success. We recognize that training can be so much more than an endless repetition of Squats, Benches, and Cleans. Using a slow burn, 4-year plan in regard to training, this book programs specifically for each season, with progressions and advancements for every player.

T his section focuses on what well refer to as the art of strength and conditioning and is presented with both athletes and coaches in mind. The information provided applies equally to both aspects of football trainingcoaching technique and athletic performancebut athletes and coaches should be approaching the training from the mindset that best suits their respective positions.

At the end of the day, coaching in its purest form is the act of recognizing and adapting to situations in order to optimize your athletes performanceboth on the field and in the weight room. The best coaches in the world are the ones who can adapt and customize their programming to fit the specific needs (be it injury history, emotional and physical needs, level of commitment) of the individual athlete, rather than sticking to one set program that every athlete must fit into or bust.

But what about those aspects of training that dont directly relate to an athletes physical condition on any given day? An athletes motivation, their drive to push themselves and succeed, living up to your expectations, is directly related to their mental, emotional, social, and cognitive developmentand how a coach navigates those factors during training directly determines how well they perform.

Generally speaking, people are a combination of human emotion at any one time. Its our job as coaches to find out what makes them tick and push those buttons. This allows you to gain their trust and increase their level of effort, which will only help your training programs become more effective.

Being more mindful of the impact of different individuals personality types, attitudes, behaviors, and drivers can help you to mold your coaching to the individual and the individual situation.

Athletes: what motivates you? Your drive to not just succeed, but to excel, is going to come down to your internal and external motivations staying balanced, working in tandem to push you to new heights. Your love of the game (your internal motivation) should pair with dreams of potential awards, scholarships or publicity (external motivations). While striving for that Player of the Year distinction or headlines in the local paper are fantastic motivators, your pure enjoyment and satisfaction from playing the great game of football should be paramount. Decide now whether youre willing to focus on the processpractices, time in the weight room, film studyrather than just the outcome, win or lose. As a player, you will find you have increased confidence in your abilities if you focus on the process and use external motivators as a bonus.