04 Nov This assignment asks you to fill in your previously created Assignment 1 template with assessment results. Keep in mind these exploratory processes will be
This assignment asks you to fill in your previously created Assignment 1 template with assessment results. Keep in mind these exploratory processes will be used to build a foundation for conducting practices and preparing a team or athlete for competition. You will be achieving hands on experience with these assessments. This is the second of 3 assignments and 5 discussion boards that will assist you with this foundation so that you can Plan, Teach, Assess, and Adapt strength, conditioning, and performance enhancement to promote athlete centered sport and skill development, future success, and lifetime physical fitness and activity. This foundation will culminate in the Final Assignment.
WARNING: If you have not submitted your PAR-Q+ and answered NO to each question do not continue. Notify your instructor and ensure you are able to participate in these assessments. They are difficult and are not intended for an untrained, non physically fit individual to perform. If you are concerned with a specific assessment and the possibility of injury, notify your instructor and ask for approval of another individual to be able to go through the assessments in your place. You must monitor the assessment as if you were the hired strength and conditioning coach.
Assignment 2 Instructions:
Athlete Centered Strength, Conditioning, and Performance Enhancement
Assessment Results
For this assignment you will be responsible to provide the following information:
- Identify and list all Sports Performance Initial Assessments you will conduct to evaluate the athlete's conditioning, performance, and training needs. Use your approved Assignment 1 assessments.
- The same applies as did Regarding Medical History within Assignment 1, you can assume the Athletic Trainer and/or medical staff (Paralympic) have cleared the athlete(s) for participation and will perform any traditional medical assessments necessary.
- As in Assignment 1 place the assessments into Categories for Sports Performance Assessments. These Categories are located on page 83 of Chapter
- Organize assessments into their correct categories. Definitions are not necessary for this assignment.
- Perform all chosen assessments and record the results under the relevant assessment.
- Place results into assignment. Make sure the audience can clearly locate and evaluate data.
- Describe the process of gathering the assessment data. Was it easy? hard? Why? Why not? 2-5 sentences per assessment.
1
Athlete-Centered Strength, Conditioning, and Performance Enhancement Plan
Jameire Jordan
APUS
October 12, 2024
Athlete-Centered Strength, Conditioning, and Performance Enhancement Plan
University Location and Demographics
Introduction
The men's NCAA Division I basketball team at Duke University is based in Durham, North Carolina. Excellence is often synonymous with basketball at Duke because its men's basketball team has been featured among the top-ranked teams in the country for many years. In the season just concluded, Duke had a fantastic year, finishing 27-9, top 10 nationally, deep in the NCAA tournament. The university prides itself on academic excellence and talented athletics, with a student body from all walks of life.
Sport: Men's basketball
Gender: Male
Sport Class Classification
In this case, with non-paralympic, non-disabled athletes, no sport class classification would be necessary; thus, only the Duke men's basketball team would be Included. Of course, if we were dealing with a Paralympic sport, then sport class classifications would need to be included depending upon the impairments of each athlete and the sport they are competing within. For now, though, it is about NCAA Division I men's traditional basketball.
Average Build of an Athlete
The average height and weight of Duke basketball players range between 6'4" and 6'9" and 190 lbs and 240 lbs, respectively. This calibre of basketball player usually ranges in height and is lean in appearance. Their training focuses on speed, agility, and muscular strength within the sport due to the extreme level of physical demands that both vertical leaping ability and cardiovascular endurance are above-average capacities these players possess.
Athletic Experience
Most of Duke's basketball players come from high school or even pre-high school and have experience playing the game. These generally are players from some high-powered high school or prep program that has already received national attention. Also, many of these athletes have participated in AAU tournaments, an environment where top talent does well (Thuany et al., 2023). By the time they get into Duke, these athletes already have been working with professional strength and conditioning coaches for at least 4-5 years and have been exposed to techniques of high-performance enhancement.
Choice Justification: Duke Men's Basketball Team
I chose to work with Duke's men's basketball team because of the program's history of success with high standards, which entails an all-around dynamic strength, conditioning, and performance enhancement plan. NCAA Division I basketball is the perfect blend of strength, speed, agility, endurance, and mental toughness. At this level of the program, the athletes are highly skilled and athletic, making them ideal candidates for performance optimization (Epp, 2020). Moreover, basketball is one of the most dynamic sports that include an extremely fast pace; thus, the training protocols must optimize explosiveness and quickness and prevent injuries.
Initial Evaluations in Sports Performance
Initial assessments are important as the foundation of a good training program to ascertain what the general condition of the athlete currently exists, what they are capable of doing, and what their particular needs will be that will be addressed during training. These will be labelled as the following:
1. Body Composition Assessment
Definition: This would fall under a percentage measure of body fat, muscular mass, and the general makeup of an athlete's body. The stage or degree of a person's physical condition concerning readiness to compete would be considered (Moeskops et al., 2022). Measurements taken here would, therefore, include skinfold, BMI calculations, and even DEXA for a more in-depth study.
Reason: Understanding how the athlete's body is composed is crucial for prescribing appropriate strength and conditioning programs, especially in a sport like basketball that requires lean muscle mass and low body fat percentages for agility and endurance.
2._Movement and Flexibility Screening
Definition: Category of assessment regarding joint mobility, flexibility, and mechanics of movement; this usually includes FMS (Functional Movement Screening) range of motion tests as standard assessments.
Reason: Basketball includes wide range motion at hip, knee, and ankle level. This assessment could help analyze how an athlete is moving and can give a basis for forming a program not only to prevent injuries but also to enhance sports performance.
3. Strength Testing
Definition: This class defines the highest intensity of force an athlete can exert. It is usually determined by performing a 1RM of squats, bench presses, and deadlifts (Rimer et al., 2023). Upper and lower body strength should be checked because it helps design sport-specific conditioning programs.
4. Power and Explosiveness Test
Definition: This category defines an athlete's explosive power and fast-twitch muscle fiber recruitment using common procedures such as vertical jump tests, standing broad jump, and medicine ball throw.
Rationale: Power and explosiveness are very important in basketball players, particularly in jumping, sprinting, and turning in less time on the court. These tests will help design plyometric and explosive training programs.
5. Speed and Agility Testing
Definition: This assessment class demonstrates an athlete's ability to accelerate, decelerate, and change direction quickly. Possible tests include the 40-yard dash, pro-agility shuttle 5-10-5, and T-test for agility.
Reason: this is inherent in basketball as the players are subjected to constant transformations from extremely fast tempos. These assessments will form the basis for developing agility drills and conditioning exercises.
6. Endurance and Conditioning Assessment
Definition: This measures cardio-respiratory endurance and overall fitness. Examples include the Yo-Yo Intermittent Recovery Test and the beep test, which measure the performance of an athlete in successive sprints
Rationale: In a basketball game, all players must give their utmost; hence, endurance is a critical factor in their fitness. These tests ascertain the format for cardio and interval training
7. Mental Toughness and Cognitive Performance
Definition: This category evaluates the readiness of the mind of an athlete and cognitive performance in situations of stress. These may include psychological assessments or tests of reaction time and decision-making abilities under conditions of fatigue.
Reason: The mental part of basketball is as important as the physical one, especially at high-tension moments. Comprehending how mentally resilient an athlete is can be of good use in formulating mental conditioning programs for focus and decision-making enhancements during games.
Conclusion
The project's purpose is to provide the foundation for an athlete-centered strength, conditioning, and performance enhancement program for the Duke men's basketball team. Assessments of the athletes in multiple arenas will allow the development of targeted plans focusing on improving physical abilities while minimizing the prospect of injury and laying a foundation for long-term success in their sport and lifelong activities. Such assessments can also be used as a baseline against which progress will be compared and training programs modified.
References
Epp, M. (2020). An Athlete-Centred High Performance Coaching Approach: A Participatory Action Research Study (Doctoral dissertation, University of Saskatchewan). https://harvest.usask.ca/bitstream/10388/12792/1/EPP-DISSERTATION-2020.pdf
Moeskops, S., Oliver, J. L., Read, P. J., Cronin, J. B., Myer, G. D., & Lloyd, R. S. (2022). Practical strategies for integrating strength and conditioning into early specialization sports. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 44(1), 34-45. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2022/02000/Practical_Strategies_for_Integrating_Strength_and.3.aspx
Rimer, E., Petway, A., Jones, P., Schultz, R., Hayes, B., Suchomel, T. J., … & Ivey, P. (2024). Building comprehensive integration of health and performance support through sport science. Strength & Conditioning Journal, 46(1), 55-68. https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2024/02000/building_comprehensive_integration_of_health_and.6.aspx
Thuany, M., Gomes, T. N., Weiss, K., Knechtle, B., Rolim, R., & Moura dos Santos, M. A. (2023). Beyond the border of the athlete-centered approach: a model to understand runners' performance. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1137023. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1137023/full
