Athletic Development & Injury Prevention
The Athletic Development & Injury Prevention Program (A.D.I.P.) was started in the fall of 2003. For years, the Headfirst Directors had wanted to offer a specific program where all male and female athletes, not just baseball players, could participate, learn, improve and enjoy.
Throughout the 4 athletic seasons of the year, the Headfirst Athletic Development Program focuses on strength, flexibility, anaerobic conditioning and core power through the use of agility drills, plyometrics, dynamic stretching, and resisted and over-speed running. In our sessions, we will use some of the latest drills and techniques used by college and professional trainers. Energetic music and other motivational techniques are commonly used throughout the clinics and workshops to promote a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
The Headfirst Athletic Development and Injury Prevention Programs (A.D.I.P.) have been composed from strength and conditioning concepts, methods and exercises from some of the top athletic enhancement programs in the United States. Specific athletic models, drills and exercises have been selected from a number of professional and collegiate athletic developmental programs. These programs include the Headfirst Director's experience with the Boston Red Sox, Cleveland Indians, Stanford University, Harvard University and Amherst College accelerated fitness programs.
Participation in multiple sports and athletic events allows the body to learn how to balance, accelerate, be agile, and develop a mental and physical toughness. For example: an athlete can be in fantastic shape playing for his football season, but when the season changed over to basketball or wrestling, this well-tuned football players may struggle getting into shape for their winter sports. The endurance, speed, agility, body movements and balance are different. New muscles are used with each changing season and the body reacts positively to the required changes - creating and developing better all-around athletes.
Injury Prevention Information For Males And Females
Females
Our research concludes that an average of 20,000 high school and 10,000 college female athletes sustain serious knee injuries each year while participating in sports. Researchers have also shown that females are 2 to 8 times more likely than males to suffer significant knee injuries. Headfirst Baseball would like to help reverse this trend by offering injury prevention programs for female athletes and incorporating “pre-habilitation” components into our normal strength and conditioning classes.
Researchers have found that the three main non-contact injury causes are planting and cutting, straight knee stopping, and one-step landing with knee hyperextension. In fact, loading on the ACL is two times greater in quick change of directions and jumping versus straight ahead running.
The Headfirst A.D.I.P. Program's goal is to help females improve their outer zone balance and expand their balance threshold while maintaining proper lower leg alignment and stability throughout all jumping and cutting movements. Women can also improve their core, hamstring, and back strength, while also reducing stress on their knees by playing sports in a more crouched position lower to the ground. Finally, by improving muscle contraction reaction times, maintaining good calf flexibility, strengthening the hamstrings in proportion to the quadriceps, balancing the strength evenly between the two legs, learning the correct varus alignment of the knees (over foot and pointed down second toe), and landing “soft as a feather” by landing on toes and sinking heal into the ground, females learn to overcome their biological athletic dispositions.
Headfirst will use flexibility training, jump training, agility drills, and video analysis of the cutting and jumping motions to help prevent future injuries.
Males
The Headfirst A.D.I.P. attempts to prevent injury in male athletes through an aggressive flexibility program, and drills to teach the correct jumping, squatting, cutting, and running techniques. We also aim to attack muscle imbalances between antagonistic muscle groups on the anterior and posterior sides of the arms, legs, and trunk that can often lead to muscle strains or ligament and tendon damage. Lastly, we incorporate drills and exercises that strengthen joint stabilizers such as the ankle and knee, and increase the "balance threshold" of young athletes to allow them a greater and quicker capability to control their bodies in motion.
