Entries by hloft

Why our tennis players aren’t using Olympic lifts

This week the athletes I spend the majority of my time coaching came back from half-term and were due to be progressing into the final phase of their peak performance training plan.  They were supposed to be realising the training effects of their strength and power phases by working under conditions of fatigue- what I refer […]

How much should junior athletes train?

I recently received a nice email from one of the coaches I taught on the 1st4sport Level 2 Certificate in Strength & Conditioning so I thought I would answer it as a blog post.  His questions are all about programming for junior athletes.   1.  I still have a few issues on creating a valid […]

Using mean bar velocity to predict 1RM

If you read my post last week you will notice I am going to start measuring the Reactive Strength Index (RSI) during a 30cm drop jump as part of the weekly monitoring with APA athletes.  I believe it will be more sensitive than using a standing vertical jump for this specific purpose. I have also […]

Counter movement jump or Depth Jump- which is better?

For as long as I can remember I have used the standing vertical jump (SVJ) with an arm swing and a squat jump without an arm swing to measure power.  I use the SVJ as a measure of performance first and as a measure of fatigue second. However, I have always doubted the usefulness of the […]

Level 2 Strength and Conditioning Testimonials

  ”Had a great 4 days on the Level 2 S&C course with APA, the course was delivered in a fun, practical and easy to understand manner in a great learning environment. Any questions/problems I had were quickly sorted face to face or via email with the course leader.” – Nathan Atlay   ”I would […]

Ed Corrie- World Top 250

  ”Over the past three years I have been training at Gosling IHPC and have been lucky enough to work with the APA team for my strength and conditioning. Daz and his team have handled all of my S&C program, working closely with my coach and physio in order to understand my tournament schedule, tennis […]

University of Hertfordshire

  ”APA has been instrumental in furthering the developmental experiences of University of Hertfordshire Sports Studies students who have a chosen specialism in strength and conditioning. The opportunities provided for mentoring, training, hands on experience, and stimulating articles/evidence based advice via the website have been transformative for several of our past and current students. Daz […]

Helen K Emms

  “Daz is a true craftsman and professional of his trade, one of a rare breed; those who actually seek to really understand the science they are working with in order to create the best learning and improvement programmes, and environments for his clients. If I was an S&C coach I would look to him […]

Knightsfield School

  ”Scott Dodman has worked at the school for approximately a year. As the school’s Additional Needs Co-coordinator I am responsible for making sure that pupils receive the provision required in their statement.   Scott takes one of these pupils twice a week for a one-to-one session. The pupil has cerebral palsy mainly affecting his […]