Sport Specific Training

Sport specific training. What does it really mean? To many it means training specifically for a certain particular sport.  That's good and all, but then you can just call it training for that sport, like hockey specific training, or basketball specific training.  To me it means just as it says...sport specific training.  My definition would be training to be more athletic, improving balance, strength, co-ordination, speed, agility, quickness, power, stamina and more.  You are not training for a certain sport, but you are training to be an athlete.  What athlete doesn't need to be stronger, more powerful, be a little more co-ordinated, have better balance, or be more agile.  Yes, there are things that an athlete must do to get better at his or her particular sport, such as skill development, or certain muscle groups that need to be worked on, but in general, all sports take athleticism.

I bet you can name a variety of athletes and sports that use lateral movement, lower body strength or agility.  Is training lateral movement different for basketball than it is for football? Is training the crossover step different for lacrosse than it is for hockey?  Whether you are training the crossover step for lacrosse or training lateral movement for football, you are training to get better.  You are training as an athlete and as an athlete, you use training techniques, such as periodization for in-season or off-season training, but in any case you are training to be a better athlete.

Let's look at something different that comes between sports.  Energy systems.  To me, that is where the big difference in sport specific training comes in.  Let's take a running back for a football team, and a forward for a basketball team.  Both may need such things lateral movement and both use running, but the running back plays very hard for a short time for a short time (a single down) before play stops, whereas the basketball player plays continuous for an extended amount of time, but not may not at full capacity. Totally different sports, totally different athletes and totally different training.  When we are talking specificity, that's where trainers and athletes need to look at what energy systems need to be developed, such as your  phosphagen system like a sprinter, or aerobic system, like a marathon runner.


Whatever the case may be, sport specific training takes on different meanings when you really look at what differs between sports.  If you really want to start getting specific with your training, then look at energy systems.  If you are an athlete, then chances are you need balance, strength, flexibility, power, speed and agility.  But it is the energy system that you tap into that will set your sport apart from other sports.  And if you're a multi-sport athlete and you tap into the same energy system for all your sports, then it will just be a matter of getting a good performance coach or strength and conditioning coach, who can set you up on a good periodized training plan.