Determining the most important skill or ability for the sport you participate in is crucial. By deconstructing your sport, you can figure out what that skill or ability is. With that information, you can then create effective and appropriate goals, and an effective exercise program.
An Example – Deconstruction:
Let’s take football for an example. What separates the professional players from the rest of the athletes able to play in the NFL? Their height, weight, speed, agility, etc, right? While this is true, there is still a lot of players who have those abilities that don’t make it. Also, there’s quite a few skill-position players (running backs, etc) who don’t have those characteristics. They have to do something with the size they have. They need to push players around, run others over, get out of their stance fast. Most contact occurs at close distances too. Just watch any offensive line square up with a defensive line. They’re only inches away from each other.
Those inches of space between opponents is where the key to football lies. Most of us have heard the saying that football is a game of inches. Even wide receivers beat their opponents in small spaces. Most wide-receivers use their skills to get the offense five or ten yards. Ask any head coach/offensive coordinator if they would take five or ten yards every play. They would love it.
An Example – Deconstruction’s Result:
We know small space is the key to football. We also know that size, speed, strength, etc, and how players utilize that in these small spaces, is what determines who will beat who. That’s the textbook definition of power. Power = mass x acceleration. So as a football player, we want to increase both our mass and acceleration to improve as a player. I know what you’re thinking, “No kidding. That’s why we’re always in the weight room.” True, but examine the exercises you do. Do bicep curls really increase your power? No. So what does?
Implementing the Deconstruction to Better Our Ability:
Football players gain their power from their legs, so that should be your primary concern. Squats, deadlifts, and especially plyometric exercises. (Go into any high school weight room and you’ll see basically three exercises: bench press, bicep curls, and calf raises.) Utilizing this knowledge will lead to a huge boost in our performance.
The Good News and Bad News:
The good news is anyone can deconstruct their sport to determine what separates better athletes from the average. You can use this knowledge to improve your athletic ability. T
he bad news: it’s time consuming and hard. It’s up to you to determine if it’s worth it. By you doing all the little things to improve yourself will lead to huge results. Come game day, you’ll see the fruit of your efforts when you are victorious over your opponent.
