SETPRO TRAINING CLASSROOM |
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| "BE ALL YOU CAN BE" HOW TO MAXIMIZE YOUR ABILITY TO
REACH GENETIC POTENTIAL What is genetic Potential? All athletes are born with a fixed limit as to their athletic capabilities. Researchers call this capability genetic potential. God and your parents (and their parents and their parents, .....) are the sole determinant of your genetic potential. If you could perfectly train your mind and body you would achieve your genetic potential. This means perfect muscle size, strength, speed and technique (mechanics). For baseball players of all ages, I would estimate that at best 1 in every 10000 players ever comes close to realizing their genetic potential. The greatest limits of achieving genetic potential; motivation, knowledge and time. What determines your ability to reach Genetic Potential? There are several factors, some we have control over, others we do not. 1. Complexity of the event. Sports which have many possible variations of outcomes and therefore require many combinations of mental and physical efforts are the most difficult to maximize genetic potential. They are also the ones that offer the most opportunity for participation and success. As an example, If your goal is to run the fastest 100 meter sprint possible, reaching your genetic potential for the 100 meters is largely determined by how much and the type of training you do specific to making the legs move the mass of the body at maximum speed for 100 meters. Because this is a well defined event (run as fast as you can for 100 meters), it is reasonable to expect that with the RIGHT type of training, you can come close to your genetic potential for sprinting 100 meters. If instead your goal is to be the fastest 100 M person in the world, your actual success in achieving this goal is limited by such things as body type and genetic near-muscle composition (how much fast fiber and firing rates). Unless you have a significant genetic advantage (born with the right genes) reaching your genetic potential will not make you the fastest 100 meter person in the world. A pitcher faces a similar situation as the sprinter when it comes to his achieving his maximum possible throwing velocity. Because the event is very limited in its outcome (you either throw the ball fast or you don't), it's very possible that with the proper training a player can achieve close to his genetic potential. On the other hand a position player on the baseball field has many more demands placed on his near-muscular system. He has to hit for average, hit for power, throw, run, and field. Developing his maximum potential as a total player is virtually impossible (best fielder, best hitter, best power, best runner, best arm). Combine the individual skills required with decision making on the field and you can see the infinite number of conditions he has to train for. Position players usually develop (based on mental-physical predisposition) one or two skills to a level close to their genetic potential. Or they develop all skills as best as possible. For a position player the amount of time spent training becomes more of a factor than a single event athlete. 2. Training. The Russians developed a term to desire an athletes athletic progress called PASM (Process of Attaining Sports Mastery). Mastering a sports was/is considered attaining performance close to your genetic potential. They developed measurements and training methods to determine and increase PASM. Training variables (applies to any sport) are the type of training (technique, strength, power, etc), method of training (weights, plyometrics, overload, underload, etc.) Intensity of training (heavy, medium, light), frequency of training (daily, weekly, monthly) and amount (time, repetitions, distance, etc.). These training variables must be adjusted based on age of player and level of development (how close you are to your maximum potential). There are some "pitching/training experts" who say there are no exercises to improve pitching velocity. This is a totally rediculus statement. Depending on he players level of proficency (how close he/she is to their genetic potential determines the type and potential results of training. A pitcher/hitter who never performed strength training will gain velocity from strength training (there are several studies that corroborate this statement). Every athlete/sport has an optimum strength level. Below this level, performance will be less than he/she is capable of. Above this level, there may be no improvement or an actual decrease in performance. One of the major findings from their research efforts is training that works at a lower level performance will not produce results at a higher level. Training has to be not only sport specific, it has to level of proficency specific. Also all athletic events require a minimum functional strength level to achieve maximum technical mastery (mechanics). Once this strength level is achieved, further increases in strength will not improve performance and may actually degrade performance. Variation of training is extremely important. Athletic performance progress is rapid in the first 4-6 weeks of a new training regimen and then flattens out quite rapidly. The greatest challenge of the parent/coach is maintaining meaningful physical challenge (stress) and mental motivation. Maximum results can only come from a well organized and documented training program specific to the needs of the event and athlete. Individual factors. Motivation is the number one reason players do not reach higher levels of performance. Those players who are motivated, knowledge of training (see below) is the biggest obstacle (not only a coaches/players lack of but also the general lack of training research to answer/resolve some fundamental training/performance questions/issues. If the player is motivated and has the knowledge, time/energy becomes the limiting factor. How do you know how close you are to your potential? There is no exact method. The best that we can do is compare the players current performance based on amount of training to the best historical results. As an example, if a 12 year pitcher is consistently throwing 65 MPH and he has been playing baseball for 6 months chances are he would have more available genetic potential than another 12 year old throwing 65 MPH who had been playing for 4 years (this assumes both players are practicing under same conditions). If the first player was throwing 70 MPH after 6 months instead of 65 MPH, it is not as certain that he has more genetic potential available than the 12 year old with 4 years experience throwing 65 MPH. Researchers have tried to develop individual athletic tests that correlate to the final event performance. To date, these attempts have met with very limited success. That's why a good scout is invaluable to a professional team. Summary Maximizing your progress to attaining your genetic potential depends on he type athletic event and type of training. Training regimen depends on your level of proficency. At this point in time, determining an athletes genetic potential for a complex sport such as baseball is equal parts science, experience and luck. That's why good scouts keep their jobs. |