volume 14 number 3
Speed is an integral part of most sports. Therefore, proper speed development needs to be a vital part of the athletes training regimen. Coaches need to realize that they need to take time to properly prepare their athletes to improve footwork and speed. Today, athletes have a renewed awareness of the importance of speed training. Trainers have used many devises and drills that claim to improve speed, yet many of these devises and drills improve the condition of an athlete but do not improve their footwork or running speed.
In 2000 and 2004 Taekwondo (TKD) became recognized as an official sport at the Sydney and Greece Olympics. Taekwondo (TKD) is a full contact free-sparring sport which awards point for head contact. Also, as a full-contact and fighting sport, much concern regarding the etiology of head and neck injures seems warranted and understandable to those dealing with sport safety and injury management (Pieter & Zemper,1999).
One of the main driving forces behind the United States Sports Academy’s undergraduate program is the concern for a high number of college athletes, in certain sports at certain levels, who do not complete their degrees upon completion of their sports eligibility.
Depletion of the body’s carbohydrate stores has been shown to be a primary limiting factor in endurance exercise performance. Because the body has a limited capacity for storing carbohydrate, proper dietary consumption is important in optimizing endurance exercise performance.
Endurance athletes and athletes who perform a high volume of short, repeated, high-intensity efforts can maintain their carbohydrate levels by consuming 5-10 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of body mass each day. While a great deal of these carbohydrates can be consumed as part of a normal diet, event specific carbohydrate consumption requires specific techniques.
Influenza or “the flu” is a contagious illness that is caused by a variety of viruses collectively known as the influenza virus. The influenza virus can survive in a number of animal models and generally, specific animal classes are infected by specific types of influenza viruses. For instance, humans are typically vulnerable to infection from three strains of the influenza virus, H1N1, H1N2, and H3N2. Once an individual is infected with a strain of influenza, their immune system will develop antibodies to that strain which reduces the likelihood of their becoming ill from that particular form of the virus from subsequent exposures. However, like most viruses, influenza viruses have the ability to mutate. Over periods of time these mutations can cause enough change in the virus so that a person’s immune system may not recognize this new form, allowing the person to become ill from a second exposure to the same virus. This ability to mutate leaves vaccine manufacturers guessing as to which strain of virus and which mutation of each strain is going to be most active each flu season, as vaccines are specific to both strain and mutation. Thus, the efficacy of each year’s vaccine depends on the ability of the vaccine manufacturers to anticipate the particular form of the virus that will be most active that year.
It is imperative to have a sound philosophy with specific goals in mind while developing a comprehensive program that will meet the needs of your athletes. The main goal is to provide a structured training system that all athletes can benefit from and at the same time consider the different positions involved and the different athletes involved.