Sand Training
Sports and Agility Training in the sand
Breakdown of Training
Sand running is an effective training tool for improving strength, speed, agility and balance. The unstable surface adds resistance between your feet and the ground, requiring greater proprioception and stabilization with every step. Athletes can benefit from sand training because the added challenge of running with ground contact resistance strengthens the lower body, helping to improve speed and explosiveness, while reducing the risk of injury. Running in the sand can be made sport-specific using multi-directional drill work that emphasizes agility and promotes athleticism. Many professional sports teams use sand training as an off-season alternative for conditioning. Warm-Up. With sand training, the purpose of the warm-up should be to prepare the joints and musclesof the trunk, hips, and lower leg for the demands of increased range of motion (ROM). Because of the soft surface, the joint stabilizing muscles of the legs and trunk are continually active, compensating and engaging with every movement. The result is an increased joint ROM compared to flat ground running, specifically in the feet and ankles. Light jogging, shuffling, and backward running help to get players moving and build a comfort level on the soft surface. After the general warm-up, performing directional lunges and body weight squats will help mobilize the hips and trunk in all three movement planes. Lastly, running mechanics drills, A-B-C march-to-skip progressions, and light bounding exercises can be added to form a bridge from the dynamic warm-up into sprints, agility drills, and plyometric exercises. Speed Training. A variety of speed drills can be performed in the sand. We treat speed as “Quality Work, Not Quantity Work” to be performed before resistance training and metabolic conditioning. Fatigue is the enemy of performance, and in technical work, like speed and agility drills, excessive fatigue can have a negative impact on movement patterns very quickly. Fatigue is amplified in the sand due to the soft unstable surface. With sprints and agility drills, pulling each leg out of the sand in stride becomes more taxing, thus adding to the development of knee drive. The unstable surface requires players to sense their position and feel for the ground (proprioception) while planting and cutting. The outcome is that the ideal 45 degree body angle is achieved more easily when accelerating on sand, as players are trained to create positive shin angles to propel the body forward.
Cancellation Policy
*** Session cancellations and rescheduling (unrelated to covid) must be made within a minimum of 24 hours in advance or the full session fee is due *** You'll be contacted as soon as possible in the event that your session needs to be rescheduled by Jon. Thank you