“In the end, it's extra effort that separates a winner from second place. But winning takes a lot more than that, too. It starts with complete command of the fundamentals.

"Then it takes desire, determination, discipline and self-sacrifice. And finally, it takes a great deal of love, fairness and respect for your fellow man.

"Put all these together, and even if you don't win, how can you lose?”

JESSE OWENS, QUADRUPLE GOLD MEDAL OLYMPIAN
(1913-1980)

Fitness training

The foundation elements of the Athletic Intelligence programme are listed below. Coaches will need to understand form, alignment and key training pointers, and develop the ability to demonstrate each of the elements.

Dynamic warm-up Progressive skipping drills Sun-salutation cool-down

Our footwork and movement training involves the following elements.

  • foot dynamics
  • body alignment
  • ground force
  • change of direction
  • weight transfer
  • balance management
  • understanding core dynamics
  • upper/lower body co-ordination
  • leg alignment
  • leg drive
  • plyo/jab step
  • foot speed
  • rooting

Our drills are generic, covering the principles relevant to movement in all sports. Depending on age and ability, the drills will gradually become more closely aligned with the athletes’ sport. This will involve utilising the specific movement patterns found and repeated within each sport.

For example, when working with tennis, our drills include the following movements and concepts.

  • set/ready position
  • first move
  • split step
  • side step
  • crossover
  • recovery
  • step and glide
  • power step
  • step-out-step-
    through
  • two-foot and back-foot pivot
  • kick-back
  • step-back hop
  • mogul
  • inside out
  • running drive

The foundation elements of the Athletic Intelligence programme are listed below. Coaches will need to understand form, alignment and key training pointers, and develop the ability to demonstrate each of the elements.

Dynamic warm-up Progressive skipping drills Sun-salutation cool-down

Our footwork and movement training involves the following elements.

foot dynamics body alignment ground force
change of direction weight transfer balance management
understanding core dynamics leg alignment upper/lower body co-ordination
leg drive plyo/jab step foot speed
rooting

Our drills are generic, following the principles of sport-agnostic training. They cover the principles relevant to movement in all sports. Depending on age and ability, the drills will gradually become more closely aligned with the athletes’ sport. This will involve utilising the specific movement patterns found and repeated within each sport.

For example, when working with tennis, our drills include the following movements and concepts.

set/ready position first move split step
side step crossover recovery
step and glide power step step-out-step-through
two-foot and back-foot pivot kick-back step-back hop
mogul inside out running drive

Once a month, video capture will be used to record the progress in the elements trained, and a subjective score recorded (1-5). These scores will be added to the fitness test results.