Do you get lazy after you win or do you get back to work knowing that there is always better competition out there ?
Are you slow to go after losing? To you mope, wine and have pitty on yourself? Or do you take the needed time to reflect on your lose, learn from it and then get busy making yourself better?
What do you do when you have accomplished a major goal? Do you celebrate to the point that you are hung over for four days or do you pat yourself on the back and get to work on the next project?
I believe it is important to acknowledge our progress (or lack there of), learn from it and then move on, #ontothenextone.
Check out how I use self talk to remind myself to constantly move forward.
Jay-Z is success. Like Snoop Dogg says "get back, come back thats the part of success." How many times has Jay-Z done that? He continues to build and improve. He is never satisfied, he is always #ontothenextone
Dave Growl will get you fired up to move on to the next one at 2:55 "Done, Done, on to the next one.... Done I'm Done and i'm on to the next KRESHH..."
Put those jams on your #beastmode2012 playlist to remind yourself that you can always be better if you just "move onward, the only the direction, can't be scared to fail, search your perfection" - Jay Z
Remember, stagnation limits potential.
Work (prepare), perform, repeat.
Hope that gets your wheels spinning! Make sure to "like" and share. As for me, time to move #ontothenextone!
“You players can’t guard me, two players can’t guard me, you looking at Jordan” – Lil Wayne
I must say, when Brodie posted this video and wrote “thank you MorrillPerfomance!” it made my day. We spent a ton of time working on jab steps and crossovers. Watch him put down these patterns with precision and swagger.
The right foot is the Jab Step. He is pushing the hip away from the midline (abduction).
With the left foot he pushes the ground underneath (adduction) and gets full hip extension. This is the Crossover pattern.
If you are an Ultimate player and you haven’t spent time mastering the jab step and the crossover steps… well… good.
I say good because you have a ton of untapped athletic potential that you can easily bring out and onto the field if you implement these basic ideas.
Ask yourself: -Can I run a serpentine agility course with symmetrical jab steps? (we find most people can put down good jabs on one side of the course and the other side is not so hot)
-Can I run a 5-10-5 with perfect crossovers?
-Can I run a 10 cut agility with perfect crossovers?
-Can I put these patterns into play on the field?
-Why would I ever do a "track workout" when I haven't answered yes to all these questions?
-If I have these patterns down, am I putting enough force into the ground to be faster and more explosive than the other boys and girls?
How did you answer those questions? Answered no to 1 - 3?
Here is where to start:
First learn the jab step in the ladder:
Next run some serpentine courses
Skinny Serp
Random Serp
Got your jab steps down? Go ahead and set up the Serpentine Agility Test and get some metrics
Next start to work on Crossovers
Work your way towards the 10 Cut Agility for conditioning
Alright! Now you have the patterns down. Now, lets begin to put more force into the ground.
We develop the capacity to put more force into the ground via strength training. Here are a few ideas for strength training.
Single Leg Squat
Trap Bar Dead Lift and the Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat
It will be a great day when the whole Ultimate community can answer yes to all the above questions. Then we can take it to the next level. First, we must become brilliant at the basics.
Jam Hard BUT Jam Smart!
It’s neat how things work out. I met Mike DeNardis at CCC in Atlanta this last November. I was down there running some clinics for USA Ultimate. It’s fun to think about how I got there. If I had never met Will Deaver in Denver in 2009 I never would have been hooked up with USAU and had the opportunity to coach at CCC. And if that never happened I never would have met Mike and I probably wouldn’t be writing this post.
OK, enough with the simple twist of fate tangent...
Mike is the coach of UNC dark side. He and his boys made this happen.
Here is what the schedule looked like.
Saturday
10-1 nc state and duke field work
1-3 all women's clinic (phoniex, ember, unc, etc)
3-6 ring/unc clinic
I got along great with everyone because they wanted to learn, they were open minded, respectful, focused and passionate about movement.
My favorite part of the trip may have been getting the chance to chat with Taylor Pope and Lindsey Hack. Both are amazing players, leaders of their teams (Ring and Phoenix) and they both happen to be physical therapists.
The more I devote my time towards learning about strength, conditioning and movement the more I find myself seeking information from physical therapists, chiropractors and athletic trainers. PT’s have a tremendous understanding for the body and movement. Taylor and Lindsey were no exception. They brought up some great points and I look forward to collaborating and learning more from them in the future. Taylor and I made this video about spinal flexion and why crunches may be a good idea for performance enhancement training.
The biggest challenge of the weekend was the size of the weight room. We only had 4 barbells and not much space. Each group had about 30 – 40 people in it. We made it work though.
At the end of both clinics we had time for open forum and Q & A. The Darkside boys brought up some awesome questions pertinent to how this stuff can be applied to the college Ultimate season. These boys defiantly got my wheels turning and it led to a few tangents.
Did I mention the Phoenix girls were suppper fun and asked the best questions?
Another major (+) of the weekend is that I got to spend time with my boy Bryant Dean. I have known Bryant since 7th grade. We played basketball together in Middle School and High School and he ended up at Salisbury where we played Ultimate together for Buzz. We also spent 3 summers together on Assateague State Park Beach Patrol (ASBP). I love this dude more than anything and he was able to help out so much in so many ways over the weekend. He took care of all logistics with registration, waivers and money. He also did a great job coaching, taking pictures/ videos and demonstrating exercises. I am not sure the weekend would have been nearly as smooth without B. It was also great to see some of him sharing thought and ideas with a lot of the athletes. Bdizzle. This is Bryant and I at Buzz Ultimate practice in 2007.
Here is BDean coaching and demoing this weekend.
During the last clinic my boy Ken Porter finally showed up. KP is a amazing, yet humble athlete. It was great to see him
and finally get another chance to coach him up a bit.
Also attending the clinic was youth Ultimate national champion Terrance "The FUTURE" Mitchell.
I had to get a video with these guys. The Jab progression seemed appropriate.
After all was said in done I sat in the corner in a coma while Bryant and Ken played with discs. I flipped on the camera for a few seconds and this is what came of it. Bryant has got some ups!
Overall, this weekend was awesome! It’s funny because I LOVE North Carolina. I actually lived in Greensboro during elementary school. I have some great memories of hiking in the mountains and going to the outer banks etc. I have a feeling I will be making many more fun memories in North Carolina. Many of them with the folks I met this weekend!
Big shout out to the Ring boys, Phoenix girls, UNC and NCSTATE boys, Mike DeNardis, Adam of UNC and Chris Posser of NCState.
How would I describe Keely Dinse? I would describe her as…. Fire & Passion. Yup. She is Bold, passionate, gritty and determined. That is Keely.
I haven’t known Dinse all that long. I received an e-mail from her back in October. She spoke of her plans to meet up with me at CCC in Atlanta to discuss training in 2012. She said she wanted to be the best female Ultimate player in the world and that she wanted me to help her in the process.
I have heard this notion before. Athletes in the past have made claims like this based on a surge of excitement that was only temporary. Consistency is king in the pursuit of excellence. Needless to say, I approached the situation with a skeptical optimism.
In November we met up in Atlanta, where she attended my Clinic at CCC on Saturday after pool play. This was the first time I got to watch her move. I could tell immediately that she was the kind of athlete that I would work well with. She moved well, but definitely needed to touch up a few things. She was very coachable, open minded and caught on to cues extremely fast.
What stood out more than anything is how full of passion and excitement she was. You guys know that I love passion. Those who let their passion flow are those whom I tend to gravitate towards.
My skepticism concerning her inquiry to be the best in the world vanished. I knew that Keely was serious. She meant business. I could tell immediately that it would be worth my while to walk with her in the pursuit of greatness.
Two days later we met up in a coffee shop in Atlanta where we discussed her goals and ideas concerning reaching maximum potential in 2012. After coffee we headed to Emory campus to do some pre-testing.
Here are a few clips from the tests.
After the test we immediately got to work cleaning up some of her movement patterns. Here are a few great videos she made while fixing up her Jab steps and 180 degree turns.
We also had a little healthy competition in the form of a 10 cut agility race.
Lastly, I had her blast through a chaotic serp. I love this video, she pins it to the wall!
So where do we go from here? Well I live in Boston and she lives in Seattle, so I am consulting with her from a distance.
During the months of November and December I advised Keely to stay away from high intensity exercise. Do things that she isn’t used to doing that will create bodily awareness and inspirational revival. Folks like Keely and I get fired up. But its not healthy to go hard and be fired up 24/7 and 365. We need to spend time relaxing and getting away from such endorphin releasing activity. She has been spending time with her chiropractor, working on her crocodile breath, playing basketball, practicing tai chi, getting to know her body, reading, writing and reflecting.
In January she is starting to get back into loading. She is starting a GPP (general physical preparedness) phase in which she forces her body to adapt to loaded movement once again through moderate volume, low intensity training weight training. Though I do not agree with the crossfit methodology for Ultimate players, I told Keely that during this GPP phase it is a good time to do crossfit style workouts with minimal load. The full body nature of crossfit style workouts will allow her to begin to redevelop her muscular strength and the integrity of her connective tissues. This will be a great way to ease her back into training before we begin to train with a smarter approach that is less general and more specific to our goals (to play EXPLOSIVE Ultimate).
In February I will be heading out to Seattle to spend some time with the Riot girls. We will discuss all of the advances in functional training and how it can be applied to developing a more EXPLOSIVE and injury-free Ultimate player.
In the spring time, Keely will be coming to Boston to spend some time working with the staff @ MBSC.
In the summer & fall Keely and Riot will take on women’s Ultimate with the a national championship in mind.
The story is being written as you read this. It is going to be a fun one to read.
I hope you all will choose to walk with us and find inspiration in Keely's desire, passion, dedication and persistence.
You only live once why not see what you are made of? Why not strive to be the best you can be and pursue your dreams and passions? Keely is taking on the challenge to be the best she can be with vigilance… perhaps you will too?
Go!
“2012 Baby, Who Gon Stop us HYUNGGHH?!” – Keely Dinse 2011
Be sure to check out and support Keely @
-http://www.facebook.com/KeelyDinseUltimate
-http://2012babies.tumblr.com/post/15577800210/the-freedom-to-fail
It is always so much fun for me to get to work with athletes that I have a ton of respect for. I have watched Will Neff the past few years and, how can this guy not impress you. He is a great player. Here are a few picture I took of him in the Finals match vs Revolver in 2010.
As some of you might remember Ironside couldn't pull out the victory in the Finals of that year. Will is looking to get a championship this year. I am here to help.
Anyway, I finally met Willy at a clinic in Amherst with Tiina Booth last month. We hit it off and had a lot of fun chatting and working on movement.
Will is heading to Central America this week and decided to stop by the gym to work on some things before he heads out. Unfortunately he will be gone until June and I will have to wait til then to work with him consistently. Today, I was happy to clean up some of his movements and teach him a few new ideas before he takes off to the sunshine of Central America.
The biggest thing I notice about Will is that he is focused and he quickly utilizes the cues to make his movements better. This tells me that he really is a great athlete. With some training to enhance his strength, power and movement skills ... this guy is going to be unstoppable. Watch out for Ironside 2012.
In January of 2011 I left Iowa to spend a few months in Florida. During this time I worked on finishing my thesis while training a few select athletes. Those athletes included Kevin Klipp (Kebo), Joshua Shepard (Rook), Josh Flemming, Brooke Williams, Mike Koster and Brodie Smith.
What all these guys did for me I cannot explain. It was like a dream come true for me. I had been training D1 athletes in team situation for the past two years. I do love training full teams, but it is not individualized and a lot of movement quality can fall through the cracks. Working with athletes one on one allows you to really dive in to individualized bio-mechanics and begin to understand movement. These guys empowered me, encouraged me and made me better. Their support then and now is a major driver for me.
Last week I went home to Florida for the holidays. The day I arrived I got the crew together for some speed and agility updates. I wanted to train with them, catch up, see how they were moving and give them some updates on some of the things I have learned since I last saw them.
You will Goose in the video. We consider him part of the original crew. When I was living in Florida, Jonathan Helton (Goosey) had just moved from the Jacksonville area to go work and play Ultimate in Chicago. So, he was in the loop of our training via lots of phone calls and watching videos. Inspired by the great results he saw that his buddies Kebo and Rook were getting (6 inch increases in vertical jump in 9 weeks), he did all the leg work and brought me out to Chicago for my first clinic series in June 2011. We saw 120 athletes in 48 hours. It was amazing.
After Christmas I headed down to the Merrill Lynch employee weight room to spend some time with Kebo. All of the training I had done with Kebo this past spring consisted of movement and kettlebell work. Therefore, this was the first time we had spent in a weight room together. We are both pursuing the Jake Pudenz 405 challenge. We pulled some heavy deadlifts. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Jake-Pudenz-Strength-Power/271906812868061
Kebo 365 lbs
Timbo 365 lbs PR!
Deadlifting Workout:
The next day Kebo and I did some light lower body work and some upper body pushing and pulling.
7-Down:
It was great to spend time with the original crew. They always inspire me. Stay tuned for more original crew posts over the next few years.
Original Crew April 2011
Goosey June 2011 in Chicago
Original Crew Dec. 22nd 2011
Dialog between Justin Warren and I. Over the course of about 3 months:
Justin: Hey Tim! Can I have the serp diagram?
Tim: Sure Justin, here it is. Why don’t you make a video of you doing it too?
Justin: Ok, here are some videos of my wife and I running it. What do you think?
Tim: I think you should work on this and that.
Justin: Timbo, thanks for the feeback. Hey, do you want to come to Newfoundland and teach all my people this stuff?
Tim: Yes!
It was really that simple. After a phone call or two I was in Newfoundland. I got in Friday night. On Saturday Justin and I did a lot of exploring.
Saturday night I got to work with a movement session. We had about 35 people come out, we had a ton of space and eager/ attentive athletes. It was a blast.
On Sunday we did two sessions in the weight-room. This was actually my first time consulting abroad with a great weight-room at my disposal. The curriculum I created for the weight-room was completely different than the movement (open gym) curriculum. It was really fun to have so many people come to both the movement session and the weight-room session. There is a ton of overlap between the curriculum's and coming to both is really essential in order to understand most of what is involved in training. For example, in the movement session we talk about putting force into the ground to accelerate. Then, in the weight room we discuss exactly how to develop the capacity to produce force. Having both a weightroom portion and a movement portioned really helped the athletes to see the correlation between on field performance and work in the weight room. Here are a few videos from the weight room portion.
After all the hard work was done, I got to jump in on a team to play some Ultimate and go out for a night on the town.
One of the coolest things about the experience was how receptive the athletes were to learning. They all want to get better, they all want to live up to their potential. The plan is to give them a few months to apply and absorb the content then to make another trip up to work on some more advanced concepts. I can't wait to go back! Big thanks to Justin Warren, Cat Warren, Suzy and NFL Ultimate.
Its been a long time since I posted. It’s only been about 5 weeks since I officially finished all my master’s work. Now I am finally free to focus my attention elsewhere.
Having not run a full out sprint since last December (due to Achilles tendinosis) I will be focusing a ton of my attention to crossing over from rehab to performance training. Some of my goals are to get back to playing competitive Ultimate, hiking, sprinting and doing all the activities things I love, all while moving well and avoiding the degradation of my left heal cord. I'd like to play competitive Ultimate again by next summer. This gives me about 6 months.
I will be spending a lot of time focusing on “strength” this winter, as it is the precursor to power and performance. This summer I spent some time with Louie Simmons out at Westside Barbell. He recommended, based on my body and my unique mobility restrictions, the sumo deadlift as a movement I can load heavy.
Based on Louie's advice, one of my great friends, Jake Pudenz, gave me the challenge of deadlifting 405 by next summer. 405! At first I was intimidated by that number, but I am taking it on. Here is week 3 of linear loading… 12.3.11
Since yesterday was a PR deadlifting season, I am defiantly feeling it today. It’s a sunny, relatively warm day in December so I decided to spend some time out behind Windham Highschool in New Hampshire.
I started with a long static stretch, mobility and SMR work.
I moved into speed, movement and medball power work.
And I finished with some light kettlebell strength work. Swings, snatches, get ups, split squats, presses.
As you watch this stuff and follow my progress, note that a lot of my training is just freestyling. I believe we should spend ample time with our bodies, enough that we learn its needs, how and when it can be pushed and when it’s time to pull back. Because yesterdays lift was so heavy today I knew I needed to spend some time exploring and lengthening some tights bits via static stretching, rumble roller and stick work. Also, I knew I should not load anything heavy in order to allow my body to recover, so I grabbed a light kettlebell for the strength portion. 12 KG.
Today’s session was not planned, at all. It was a freestyle, a “flow session.” I simply started to stretch and roll and my body led me to the areas that needed attention. With the speed and medball portion, I knew I needed to spend a lot of time working on glut function, rhythm, foot placement and “sticking” skills. As I flowed, I made up a few things, like the 3 step single leg approach medball throw and circle outside foot push skipping. It was a good day and I love this idea of “flow sessions." I encourage you to try this yourself and post some of your own flow sessions.
Freestyle, flow, explore and get to know your body. After all, it is your machine.
Wow, what a great group of athletes! From when I first arrived I knew this group was going to be fun. What is great is they turned out to be super fun but also super focused. This crew wants to become better athletes… and that is why I was there.
We started by testing serpentines and verticals (combine & approach). I decided to take the time to test for a few reasons. First, this crew is very close (only a 45 minute drive) so I know I will be working with them a lot over the next few years. I will be able to get post-testing data at some point. Second, I believe that having a quantitative idea of where you are, gives you a clear perspective and entices you to set distinct goals for where you want to be.
Here is a video of our top 3 fastest serpentines.
After the testing we got into the nitty gritty, we started with lax ball SMR, moved our way through 4 way hip and into mobility. Everyone was feeling pretty good at this point and after a break we made our way though jumping mechanics, linear speed and agility. We ended with a "jam circuit" which was a simple Ladder Jab Step to 10 Yd sprint, 2 x through. It looked… OK. We definitely have some work to do. But, overall it was a great day, a learning day. I think we got a lot done.
I sent them home with a homework assignment. Here it is:
• Static Stretch: 4 Way Hip (Be creative, figure out a way to hit all 4 quadrants. Hunt- Camp)
• Mobility: T-Spine Rotation (10 ES), Scap Push Up (10), Side Squat (5ES), 90 Degree Squat (5 ES), Toe Touch Squat (10), Reaching SLDL (8 ES)
• Skips: Sprinters Skip, Lateral Skip, Lateral Crossover Skip X 2 Each (get Rhythm then add force)
• Jumps: Approach SL & Approach Double Leg Jumps X 5 each leg (20 Total) (Own the patterns)
• Speed: Lean Fall Run 3 x EL. Rest & Repeat X 2. Full Hip Extension! Big Getaway step! Big Arms.
• Agility: 1,2,Jab with NO LADDER. 10 Yards. Own the pattern. Good shin angle. X 4
• Strength Circuit: Split Squat Hold 30 Sec EL. Push Up x TF. Hallow Hold x 30. Single Leg Bridge x 8 EL Repeat Circuit X 3.
• Questions? MorrillPerformance@ Gmail.com, facebook.com/morrillperformance,
• EL= Each Leg - TF= Til Failure
Football is a super fun sport to work with. Players tend to be strong, fast and have the work hard mentality. This Yulee High School Football team proved to be all of these qualities when we got together for my Phase 1 Speed Clinic last Saturday. We had a blast together learning some new concepts and jamming through some drills. These boys are studs.
