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By Lee
Taft
In part one of deceleration training; I spoke about the importance
being able to decelerate as a tactic to expose opponents biting on a
fake or move. In this weeks article I want to talk about how to
train for deceleration of multi-directional speed.
There is definitely a need to teach proper deceleration technique to
avoid injuries and improve performance. Unfortunately, there is a
lack of understanding on how deceleration angles need to be applied
to be both safe and to improve performance.
I have actually seen techniques taught that COMPLETELY miss the
point on angular deceleration for multi-directional speed. There are
fundamental concepts and laws of movement that need to be applied to
have proper execution during a deceleration move. This can’t be
completely understood without having an understanding of what form
of deceleration is needed. Keep in mind, not all deceleration is
stopping! Most of the time deceleration is cutting or changing
directions while maintaining some level of speed. You see- you must
understand that decelerating to stop is different then decelerating
to cut or change directions.
The important question is what differences are seen? Well there are
several things. The first being the position of the shoulders over
the hips a split second after the initial foot contact of the
cutting or stopping foot. During stopping, the shoulders will settle
in vertically over the hips to maintain balance. If the athlete is
cutting, the shoulders stay to the inside of the hips on an angle
that is in line with the plant leg and allows the athlete to go in
the desired direction. This allows the athlete to cut quickly
without having lag time or swaying.
The next important physical aspect that will be used to aid in
deceleration is the lowering of the hips or maintenance of hip
height. If the athlete is going to stop, the hips must lower to
create a better balance situation and to control momentum. If the
athlete is going to make an oblique cut and needs to use it to
escape the hips don’t actively lower. The hips may lower due to the
angle of the cutting leg being outside of the vertical axis of the
body which automatically lowers the hips. By not lowering the hips
too much the cut can be quick and allow the athlete to maintain
speed. The last reason for lowering the hips would be if the cut is
acute. If this case the athlete will need to control speed by
lowering the center of mass and slowing the body to allow the cut to
be made without moving off the intended path of the cut.
The last physical aspect of decelerating I will mention in this
article is the synergistic movement of the hips and feet to make
deceleration safe and effective. What I will do is outline for you
the deceleration exercises that my athletes learn and practice on a
daily basis when decelerating from linear running. I will talk about
lateral some other time.
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