The Yessis System Of Improving Athletic Performance

What Is the best way to improve athletic performance? This is a frequently discussed question that does not have only one answer. The most prevalent consensus is that you must play more in your respective sport. The more you play, the better you’ll become. This is why it is not uncommon to see many athletes, especially youngsters playing the same sport on a year round basis.

In addition to more playing many athletes incorporate other methods of training to improve performance. They see some playing improvement from doing weight training (bodybuilding), plyometric training, high-intensity training, high-repetition training, power training, speed training, and so on. Each of these methods, and others, have merit, but how they are put together and when they are used and for how long they are used and for whom they are most beneficial have not been fully answered. As a result, we find very eclectic approaches to the training of athletes. Another reason for this is that every athlete is unique and must be trained individually in accordance with his or her physiological and neuromotor capabilities.

In general, most coaches rely on teaching strategy and tactics to make a better player. This is one reason why only playing a sport is so popular among coaches. The strategy must be seen in actual game play. As a result they spend very little time developing specific physical abilities or working on technique. The athletes must have the ability to execute what is needed to play. If not, he is off the team. For example, in youth leagues there is usually only two to three weeks available prior to the beginning of the season. This leaves insufficient time for skill development or even development of the players physical abilities. As a result, coaches spend more time working with the youngsters in regard to which position they will play, what they should do in that position and how they should integrate with their teammates. Thus by doing strategy and tactical work the player can become better in his or her performance in a particular sport. .

Many coaches and trainers believe their methods are the best because they happen to work with a high-profile athlete (but not necessarily developed by them) or they have a winning team. But these are weak criteria. The true test of any program is to see progress in the player’s abilities regardless of their present level of performance. In other words, how much improvement is the training able to bring about in the athlete? It should not be merely how well the athlete is doing. It should relate to how much better the athlete is doing. This is true on all levels of ability but especially true of high-level athletes.

We hear of some great trainers, but is it because of the training that they did with the athlete, or was it because the athlete already had the ability? It is necessary to look closely at how much improvement there is, as for example, in jump height, quickness, speed, or a combination of factors. Only then can we truly assess the effectiveness of any training program. It should not be based solely on how much strength, flexibility, or other physical quality was gained.

A training program can be effective at certain times of the year in regard to the competitive schedule and for particular athletes who have different levels of ability. For example, if you have never weight trained or have not been weight training for the last year or two, then any type of strength training program that increases your strength will improve your performance. Since strength is related to almost all physical qualities by increasing your strength you will also be improving your performance, especially if it relies on strength. The type of strength training program, when first starting to weight train, is immaterial as the training effect will be the same at the beginning of the training cycle. Only when you have been weight training for a period of time and have developed sufficient levels of strength, will the type of strength training program make a true difference in the results that you get.

Weight training is a catch-22 situation. When you have an optimal amount of strength the more strength you gain, the more speed decreases and the slower you become. If you are involved in a sport such as powerlifting, speed of execution is not important. But, for most athletes, speed is more important than strength, even though the two are interrelated. Thus all advanced strength training should be focused on maintaining speed of execution. Any gains in strength must be matched with training for speed and explosiveness in order to increase speed.

General strength training is most important for young athletes and those first getting started in their sport. At this time it has the greatest impact on performance. However, for high-level performers, speed, quickness, and explosiveness become more important than only developing greater levels of strength. Keep in mind that success in almost all sports is determined by speed. This includes how fast you run, how fast you swing a club or bat, how fast you can throw or hit and how fast you can change directions while in motion.

For maximum effectiveness, the training program should have prerequisites. For example, to get the greatest improvement in your speed and explosiveness when undertaking an explosive-type training program which includes plyometrics, you must first have a strong strength base. If you undertake a plyometric program without first developing greater levels of strength, you may get more explosive and quicker but not to the extent that you would if you had first increased your levels of strength.

The same holds true when working on technique. Strength plays an important role in regard to your coordination and how well you can execute certain movements. Thus, the greater your strength levels (up to an optimal amount), the better can be your technique execution. But, again, the strength level should only be to a point where the increased strength will not interfere with technique execution. When you begin developing excessive amounts of strength, your range of motion, and speed of execution is decreased and coordination usually deteriorates. Thus, it becomes increasingly important to keep all of these factors well balanced.

Even work on flexibility must be adjusted to age levels and how much flexibility is needed in the sport. Too often we find athletes doing stretches for greater flexibility when it is not needed. Understand that stretching can be used for preparation of a muscle for activity or for increased range of motion. These are two distinct entities and the type of stretching and the amount of stretching should vary depending upon the objective. In general, the higher the level of performance, the less the need for greater flexibility unless there are particular problems. Most of the flexibility needed in a particular sport is usually developed in the early years of participation. Active stretching for warm-up, however, is done on all levels, only the type of exercises and the amount of exercise change in relation to the competition or workout coming up.

Thus, there are many variables that must be taken into consideration when attempting to improve athletic performance. Too often, however, we find training programs that involve training for only one or two physical qualities that are needed for improved performance. This may bring about some improvement, but it is usually limited in relation to the amount of improvement that could be achieved if there were greater integration of different trainings for improved performance.

The Yessis System of Improving Performance is multi-faceted and based on what is uncovered in the analysis of the competitive performance. Evaluation of the athlete is extremely important as it is needed to uncover the strong and weak points of the athletes performance including any deficiencies in technique, strength, speed, explosiveness and so on. Steps are then taken to improve these qualities in an orderly progression beginning with those that are prerequisite to other factors. Many athletes who are on a program that involves improvement of only one physical ability, most often they see limited improvement.

In the initial phase of training in the Yessis System much greater improvement can be seen because of the scope of the factors being worked on. An athlete will be doing his best after training through an integrated system for even one year. Working on all the different aspects of performance, especially technique and the physical qualities related to technique brings about continuous improvement from year to year resulting in your very best performance. There is always room for more improvement. You can continue the process of improving the various physical qualities until you reach the optimal level. At this time, you will be doing the best you can and you will have developed your full genetic potential.

More specifically, the Yessis System of Improving Performance entails the following progression of analysis and training:

• Videotape of the athlete in execution of his sports skill(s) (i.e., running, throwing, kicking jumping, etc.). A high shutter speed digital video camera is used so that all movements are clear and so that fast movements can be captured, as for example, when the clubhead makes contact on the ball in golf or the baseball bat makes contact with ball.
• The videotape is viewed frame-by-frame to determine exactly what occurs in each of the key joint actions.
• Strong and weak points in technique are then identified.
• Corrections in technique are made and the athlete is taken through all of the changes so that he knows exactly what to do and how to do it. (NOTE: Most biomechanical analyses done by technicians, trainers and instructors merely tell an individual what they think is wrong, not how it is corrected.)
• Specialized strength and flexibility exercises are prescribed to develop the physical abilities needed to make the technique corrections.
• Specialized strength and flexibility exercises are also prescribed to further strengthen weak or strong areas that are needed in the particular sport.
• A program specific to the individual is then developed for learning and correcting technique and for improving ones physical abilities which includes the number of days per week, sets, reps, resistance used and workout progression. This program is used for 3-12 weeks, depending upon the athletes level of mastery and physical ability after which the next evaluation takes place.
• Changes in the program are made continuously so that there is steady progress in athletic performance.