Strength & Agility Training
Taj Washington
Our Academy Night strength and agility will be run for the first three months of the season. During these three months, the girls will be pushed hard. This is a mandatory requirement of our program, as strength and agility is paramount to healthy skill development. The reason this intense portion will be only three months is that we will train hard until the qualifier matches and then utilize our developed skill and continue these practices at team practices and during academy. It is important that our players are not overworked during the heart of our season!
This will be an intense course run by Taj Washington. He is renowned in Delaware's fitness scene and we are THRILLED that he is joining our family!
Taj Washington was born and raised in Wilmington, Delaware and played football, baseball, and ran track and field at Eastern Christian High school. After high school, continued his education and football career on a full scholarship to Delaware State University, where he studied Criminal justice. While in college helped start up an athletic training facility called Alpha Training, where he was the lead strength and conditioning coach for 5 years, until starting a new company called Uncommon Breed Athletics. Taj graduated college in 3 years, obtaining his bachelor's degree. He then received a football coaching job at Delaware Military Academy and is now the head track coach at William Penn High School, as well as runs their football's strength and conditioning program. In addition, he has also trained the Goldey Beacom track and field program.
Taj has helped coach and train many athletes from as young as 4 all the way up to professional athletes. He continues to push and motivate kids to be great and help guide and build them to be respectful and successful young men and women.
Achievements over 30 scholarship athletes in softball, basketball, baseball, track, and football.
Find him on Instagram @Uncommonbreedathletics
If you are happy with the training and progress that your child is receiving during our Academy, you may also contact Taj to set up private lessons!!
Fitness
Strength and agility training are extremely beneficial to sport training and development across the board. However, what is more important, is to understand the necessity of using these elements correctly for the sport you are participating in. On staff we have a strength and agility coordinator, Nicole Kelly, who will be developing plans for the individual teams, based on age and skill set. It is important for the athlete's muscle groups to be honed properly, to prevent injury or overwork.
Agility
Agility is a key component in taking your game to the next level. Volleyball requires explosive movements and rapid directional changes, which are not met solely with weight training exercises. Flexibility occurs naturally with agility training, which is beneficial to injury prevention. When our muscles are already used to moving quickly and sporadically, we are less prone to injury in both the short and long term.
The ability to move quickly and easily is paramount to success in any sport. Without it, gravity will beat our players every play. Accessories such agility ladders, free weights, medicine balls, hurdles and jump ropes will be utilized to obtain the specified goal. Work out circuits will incorporate these five components, coupled with interval training and individual drills, to suit the needs of the players from all age groups and teams.
If you would like to continue to work on agility at home and during the off season, a copy of the agility plan used for your child's team can be provided upon request.
Strength Training
Strength is important in volleyball because every movement is done with purpose. Without strength, our players are unable to play safely at a higher level of competition. Lifting weights stimulates muscle growth, which increases power and strength. However, as with agility, it is important to focus on "volleyball" specific muscle groups.
Core strength is where volleyball players obtain a majority of their power with any type of overhand attack. In addition to arm swing, core strength will heighten the speed and power of the athlete while attacking and serving. It is also crucial for the stability and balance developed during agility and live play.
Leg strength is the next key area that our program will target, as it will help our athletes jump higher, retain stamina and leap further during play. Targeting these muscles will assist our players with movement as well as injury prevention, as the muscles surrounding the bones and tendons are more flexible and stronger.
Arm strength is also important, but would fall last on the list compared to core and leg muscles. Arms in volleyball are more directional instead of power. Strengthening the appropriate arm muscles will assist our athletes with increasing arm swing and drive. This will be completed by utilizing resistance bands, as they will not only strengthen muscles but will increase with speed of the swing.
Along with agility, we can provide a copy of the strength plan for your athlete, to utilize on the off season or on non-practice days!