Strength as it Relates to Sports Performance

First, let me explain an important concept… specificity. Specificity is defined as the quality of belonging or relating uniquely to a subject. For example, you do not get good at playing the piano by playing the trumpet. Basically, this concept implies that if you want to become good at something you need to practice the task at which you are trying to improve.

Let me give another example, if you want to get good at playing basketball (this can be any sport but basketball is the sport of choice for today’s post) you need to play basketball and focus on developing the attributes required to be good at the sport. The most specific thing you can get to playing a basketball game is playing a basketball game, but there are also skills that can be developed independently to help your skills in an actual game. Examples of these skills could be ball handling, free throws, rebounding drills, shooting drills, defensive drills, etc. These drills are all part of the sport but can also be focused on independently during practice.

These would be considered sport specific drills because they closely mimic the sport. You can also include training that does not necessarily mimic the sport itself, but still contributes to the demands of the sport, such as conditioning. Many coaches implement conditioning drills in their practices to keep the athletes conditioned for a game. This is not necessarily a skill such as the sport specific skills listed above, but it is still an attribute that helps contribute to the sport and overall athletic performance. Now let us discuss, a quite often forgotten topic, strength training as it relates to athletic performance.

It seems that strength training is often overlooked when it comes to athletic development. I believe one reason is because it is not necessarily a “sport specific” task. Having the ability to produce more force can be beneficial to athletic development…let me explain. By strength training, athletes become stronger. Strength is defined as the ability to produce force against an external resistance. As you become stronger you can produce more force. As force production goes up so does the ability to generate power. So, by strength training you should be able to generate more force and more power. This allows for improvements in movements such as, but not limited to, jumping, running, and changing direction which are common aspects of sporting events.

Stronger muscles also reduce the risk of injury! Although strength training is not necessarily sport specific, unless it is strongman, weightlifting, powerlifting, CrossFit, etc., it is still beneficial. In conclusion, to become better at your sport, or whatever you want to become better at in life, you need to practice that sport and the demands of that sport. No matter what sport, basketball, football, volleyball, golf, etc., the ability to generate more force is never a weakness. On top of practicing your sport, do not overlook the benefits of strength training, the rewards far outweigh the risks.