CAL Sports believes strongly in complimenting skills training for any sport with strength, speed, and agility conditioning. Working the entire body enhances the motor skills it takes to get your moves to the next level. Working the leg muscles makes you jump higher. This results in getting that rebound or spiking the ball over your opponent. Repeating your chosen sport skills takes repetition and muscle memory – why not take that even further by conditioning your body to perform when you require it to, no questions asked!

CAL Performance training classes are run by experts in their fields of youth conditioning. Nothing we do is inappropriate for our athletes’ age groups. What’s appropriate at a young age? Any exercise that uses a child’s own body weight. Squats, lunges, working with bands, push ups, sit ups, and pull ups all use an athlete’s own body as the weight, so it’s never too much. As a child enters teenage years, then weight training can be added to enhance the training and challenge the athlete to develop their strength. These exercises build the foundation not only for better performance but to avoid injury.

How can we avoid injury? Using squats and lunges to build the muscles in the legs and around the knee, for example will support the knee when it needs to perform. Rather than leaving the knee susceptible to injury, the foundation has been laid for support from the surrounding platform the knee depends on.

Similarly, building the core (the abdominal area) lays the foundation for a multitude of support that can prevent injury. Building core strength helps support the back muscles and provides balance so the athlete is less likely to twist improperly and get injured. Ankle injuries can also be avoided with the strengthening of the leg muscles in much the same way. If the ankle has the support of the muscles around it, injury is less likely.

And, of course, strength training on the whole makes for an athlete who is going to be more competitive against their opponent. You may be out sized by the guy you’re going up against on defense, but if you’ve put in the work on your conditioning, you are more likely to shut him down with your strength and speed.

What else is to be gained by performance training? Speed and Stamina. Building those leg muscles will help you get down the court faster. You can play for longer periods of time without getting winded. Coach Jess challenges her Club Volleyball teams by making conditioning a mandatory part of their practices. She was very happy with the results of all the age level teams’ improved game time stamina and performance.

Please consider adding the benefits of our strength training classes to take your game to the next level. You WILL see results if you put in the work!

In October we will be having a FREE Performance Training Workshop to demonstrate the types of training exercises we teach to kids. Coach Tom will be working out with the kids while Coach Corey explains the principals and answers questions from parents. Stay tuned for the details on this free performance training workshop!