By Brett Klika Now, before you through your arms up in frustration and shut me out completely with the old “You’re telling me I can’t eat ANYTHING!!! A soda is not going to kill me” routine, wait a second. I agree with you. If you are part of the American majority that eats a diet […]
By Brett Klika If you work with youngsters, you realize the wide variety of skills they need work developing. You also acknowledge the limited time you have to work with them. All too often, coaches make mistakes in designing and implementing activities during a practice session. Time is wasted with erroneous activities at the expense […]
By Brett Klika A frequent challenge with young (and old) athletes is gaining or losing weight in order to improve performance. Because it is an athlete’s most familiar medium, they often assume that exercise is the primary factor behind weight gain or loss. After all, every fitness magazine on every newsstand is touting the newest, […]
By Brett Klika You’ve seen me say it before, “The first step to getting faster is getting stronger”. The relationship between strength and speed is commonly misunderstood. Either athletes are afraid to get stronger in the weight room because they think it makes them slow, or they spend all of their time in the weight […]
By Brett Klika “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. Twenty-six times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” ~ Michael Jordan It’s a well established fact […]
By Brett Klika It isn’t pretty, but it’s a reality. Our youth are getting fatter and unhealthier by the day. Physical Education classes are either gone, or absolutely minimized in our educational curriculum. The classes that are still intact are ill-suited for the new generation. As trainers working with youth, many of us do a […]
By Brett Klika ATTENTION PARENTS, COACHES, TRAINERS, and anyone else in a mentorship role. I’m officially calling you out. I’m going rogue. I’m dismantling the credo that has united so many when dealing with children, players, and clients. It’s going to be harder from here on. No room for the weak. As of today and […]
By Brett Klika Finding the Right Health Care Professional for Youth Injury Care and Prevention It is a near certainty that at some point in a young athletes’ career, they are going to need to seek the services of a health care professional. This can be due to a variety of factors, but usually, it […]
By Brett Klika With my job, I have the opportunity to meet many young athletes beginning their journey towards athletic excellence. This usually starts by sitting down in the office and listening to both the athlete and their parents talk about their needs for improvement. The discussion usually ends with the question “So how many […]
By Brett Klika For anyone who watched this year’s Kentucky Derby, the tragedy of the injury and resultant euthanization of “8 Belles” after a second place finish left us wondering “Could this have been prevented?” I watch the sports and news stations interviewing prominent veterianarians and horse experts talking about how often these horses are […]
