1) Everything starts with your individual athletic posture. Xyphoid forward, squat down until heels want to come up. That is your athletic posture.
2) Stop trying to increase your ankle dorsiflexion range. The Achilles has two functions: Store-and-release energy and yield. When you crank on the Achilles, it is yielding. When you play sport, it needs to store-and-release. Your banded distractions aren’t doing anything for how the Achilles works in sport. If your squat is limited by ankles, stretching can help. But sprints and jumps, nope.
3) Achilles store-and-release function is messed up after injury. You can see this when you load the injured side and it doesn’t thin out. Adarian says you have to learn to rotate the calf after injury. It’s not a problem. It’s just the way it is. Your body can figure it out.
4) Big toe is meant to be rolled over, not pushed through. Big toe needs to be treated different than other toes. It only has two joints, not three. And it “likes” to be rolled over. If you’re rolling off of it, the knee will track in. If you’re pushing through it (or any of the toes), you’ll be stood up.
5) Learn to fall for effortless athleticism. Gravity is your friend. Fighting it by pushing and attacking the ground… sure, this can work. But the best athletes fall.
6) Heavy sleds are good for the arms, not much for Achilles or pelvis. Again, the Achilles is yielding. This is not what it’s doing in a sprint. And the sled’s movement isn’t driven by pelvic movement, like it is in a sprint or jump. You’ll get strong triceps though.
7) Arches are where it’s at, most people train the toes. There are three arches. “Ride the rail” of the inside edge and pull the pinky toe out. The toes should not be gripping. This sets a base that you will feel all the way up.
8) Inside edge is balance. It’s how you move. How do you pick up one leg and still feel like you won’t tip over from the wind? Inside edge and athletic posture. If you want to move and be balanced, go inside edge.
9) Cutting starts with the foot. Turn it midair. It pulls the pelvis and the whole body follows. If you have the choice, instead of making a hard outside cut, turn the foot midair and the whole body turns into the cut.
10) The body already knows how to decelerate. It’s built in. There’s no need to train it. Instead, you should be training to move.
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