https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q Ben McCarthy en-us 2019-12-01 22:07:47 UTC 2025-10-11 13:08:40 UTC hello@padlet.com bmccarthy41 https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418222277 One of my biggest interests is the movement aspect of Strength and Conditioning. The greatest "test" that can observe multiple movements put together is the 40 yard dash. From the start, exploding off the line, to gradually building up speed, reaching the fastest speed you can run within that 40 yards. This movement is also a great example for both the features of Generalized Motor Program (GMP). The 40 yard dash represents every aspect of the invariant features. The order of events of the 40 also happens in the exact same order, first you have the start, then the transition phase, from 10-20 yards, then the top speed phase from around 20-40 yards. With each part of the 40 yard dash, the athlete will spend the same relative time with each stride, whether they run a 4.72 on their first attempt and then a 4.23 on their second attempt. The percentage of time spent on the drive leg, to the recovery leg will be the same in both these attempts. The athlete will always spend the same relative amount of time on each stride, in any attempt. The final invariant feature is relative force. Taking the same example between the two attempts, for the athlete to get to those two times, their relative force will be the same. It is important to note that it is relative not absolute because in the faster time, the absolute amount of force will be greater than the slower time. Invariant features was a difficult topic to understand for me personally, but once we dove into superficial features I was able to use that to tie in and understand all of GMP. The overall duration, force, and muscle selection will differ for the same movement depending on the goal. Muscle selection is very important in an explosive movement such as the 40 yard dash. The speed and efficiency of the motor units recruited will cause a big difference in times for this movement. If the wrong fibers are selected then the movement will not be completed at the speed that is desired. The overall force and duration go hand and hand in the 40. There is a common phrase in the field right now that "Force is King". This statement goes to say the force you produce, the faster you will run, higher you will jump, etc. A greater amount of force will allow the athlete to project their body further off the line, creating a smaller distance they have to cover. This forceful project carries their body into the next two phases to allow the athlete to run a faster time. ]]> 2019-12-01 22:09:05 UTC https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418222277 bmccarthy41 https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418227594 Life is full other differences, age, height, weight, gender, skin color. Within the sports performance realm, individual differences are what make up sports, and the record books. Many times the record books are full of those blessed with amazing genetics, or those who have an amazing work ethic that allowed them to come out on top. A key aspect in all individual differences is age. We develop our first 18 years,, gaining strength, height, weight and many superficial features. But as we age it's important to note the information processing view. Our memory, attention, and information mechanism is better at an older age than it is at a younger age. This difference is why a lot of young rookies in sports look up to those who are older and are thriving in their sport. Those who are older are more knowledgable on the sport, and understand what to look at and how to respond. Taking basketball as an example, someone like LeBron James take process more of the movements of other athletes on the court and know how those will flow together to allow him to take a shot, over a rookie like Ja Morant who doesn't know the best ways to look at movements of other players like James does. Gender is a difference that brings quite astonishing aspects to sports. 
Looking at the picture below of one of the best NBA players of all time, LeBron James, with one of the greatest gymnasts of all time, Simone Biles. If James tried to attempt double back handsprings, or try to perform a routine on the balance beam, it would not be as elegant and spectacular as when Biles would perform it. The same thing goes for Biles attempting a dunk. Both are not built for the other sport While men do outperform females in most motor tasks, I think sports brings these individual differences to light and show how in some aspects females are more dominant than males, and in other aspects males are more dominant than females. Females are better at fine motor tasks, and rapid manipulation, but most females are built better for sports like gymnasts than males. ]]> 2019-12-01 22:48:13 UTC https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418227594 bmccarthy41 https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418232823 Is the example of Happy Gilmore positive or negative transfer? He can drive the ball very far, but can't putt to save the life of him. Looking at only the aspect of his drive, playing hockey resulted in a positive transfer to driving in golf (although he couldn't hit it in the right direction sometimes). Happy played hockey all of his life, practicing his slap shot in each practice and game. These two tasks fall under the Identical elements theory. They have very similar follow throughs as well as the second half of the approach to the ball. I do see that theory as quite a stretch, there is definite positive transfer. Happy is able to drive the ball farther than anyone can imagine. This result shows positive transfer because if you look at his set up he takes a "gathering step" before his actual swing into the golf ball, almost mimicking how he would take a slap shot. Happy's approach to a slap shot gave him the similar motor program to hit the golf ball this way. He is able to take that motor program of the slap shot, modify it only with the ball he is hitting and the golf club he is using. 
It isn't often that you get a good example of both positive and negative transfer, but this is a special case, for a special movie. Happy's time playing hockey led to a negative transfer for his putt game. Early in the movie he attempts to putt just like he would shoot a hockey puck, but quite frankly sucked at it. His motor program for always putting power into his shots and not having to put the puck in a small hole led to him performing worse than he should have. As Happy worked with Chubbs to get his game better, he eventually got only decent at putting. But because of Happy shooting a puck over and over again it led to him performing worse on putting. He eventually makes an amazing putt at the end of the movie for a phenomenal win, but still even that putt wasn't the greatest. Happy experienced both positive and negative transfer from playing hockey, which led to a great movie.   ]]> 2019-12-01 23:28:50 UTC https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418232823 bmccarthy41 https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418245655 Coaching is the best aspect of the strength and conditioning field because it allows you to interact and connect with all different types of athletes. The hardest part is being able to explain how to perform a movement in ways they not only can understand at the time, but remember days, weeks, months and years down the road. From kids all the way up to older individuals, as a coach you need to find a common ground with them to connect. 

One of my favorite movements is the Acceleration march into a bound. This movement is used for many different reasons, but it is important for the acceleration component to running. Body position, foot placement, leg drive, and posture are the key components to this movement. So it is important to use key words and different tricks for the athletes to remember how to perform this drill. 

First we start out with posture. It is important that the head, shoulders and legs are in a line that will benefit them the most. The athlete is often told to feel like Michael Jackson because of his famous near 45 degree lean he had while doing performances. The next part would be the leg drive, the goal is to drive their knee up and trying to "break a plane of glass" that is between the two posts, while keeping a flat back. The final aspect is the foot placement. We don't want the athlete to reach and not be able to produce any force, resulting in them not being able to push the sled. We want to picture themselves placing their foot back underneath their body. This will give them the angles they need to drive out from each drive to create more  and more force.

Each step just mentioned would be broken down more than I explained, but when correcting the movement you always correct from the ground up, first being the posture. These cues allows the athlete to actually understand the movement more without drowning them in technical terms. It is a different kind of teaching and learning in this environment. We aren't necessarily teaching them why they should move this way but more of how. ]]> 2019-12-02 00:41:02 UTC https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418245655 bmccarthy41 https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418250643 The difference between being fast and being accurate. Which one is better? If we get there fast then we might win, but if we ignore trying to be accurate we could end up 100 yards away from our target. Fitts' long time study proved that we slow down to be more accurate, but there are many examples of individuals trying to do things fast and become known for these "fails". 

Justin Verlander, pictured below just wanted to make a great play. He would be on Sports Center Top 10, and be the man for making an amazing play. In this scenario the batter bunted the ball down the third base line. Verlander, stumbling off the mound, tripped and fell to the ground. Even though making this throw from his back to get the batter out would be nearly impossible he tried it anyway. He was only focusing on the speed of his movement, knowing he didn't have much time until the batter reached first base. So he just whipped his arm not knowing where the rest of his body was in space and ended up hitting his own leg, not even coming close to first base. Due to this play Verlander actually made it on Sports Center NOT Top 10 plays. Since Verlander didn't take the time to set up and actually look at his target, but just went for speed, he didn't even come close to his target.

Verlander did everything opposite of what Fitts' would expect. Although this is more of an open skill, and he had to react to the ball getting hit down the third base line, Verlander still did not take the time be accurate. In almost all baseball scenarios, the athletes will set their feet, look at the target, then throw the baseball. Although this takes longer, it results in them being more accurate, insuring they get the batter out. While some argue fast is better, there are thousands of examples for those who take their time, have a better outcome. ]]> 2019-12-02 01:09:07 UTC https://padlet.com/bmccarthy41/1z6awsbdmr1q/wish/418250643