152: Nick DiMarco on Integration of Perception-Reaction Agility Training in Sports Performance | Sponsored by SimpliFaster

Today’s episode features Nick DiMarco, director of sports performance at Elon University. With a thorough understanding of training loads, and the components behind transferable agility training, Nick has a unique array of insights he brings to the coaching table.  As a former professional athlete (NY Jets and Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker in 2014), Nick is well versed in the intuitive aspects of what it takes to be a high achieving athlete.  Nick is on track to finish his PhD in Health and Human Performance at Concordia University of Chicago by early 2020. When it comes to agility and change of direction training, there are a lot of questions on the context and integration of perception/reaction work.  At the end of the day, the more elements of sport we as coaches can engage and overload, the better, and this area of the field has exciting possibilities for transfer to athletes. This concept follows up to the last show with Mike Guadango on the evolution of the strength coach and the sports skill industry as a whole:  Where does the role of the strength coach in terms of reactive agility training fit in the grand scheme of things?  How do we intermix the different layers of the Bondarchuk pyramid in terms of training transfer?  Does “basic agility technique” outside of reactive stimuli need to be trained or considered? Nick covers many of these concepts and more in today’s show, as well as describing his system of categorization of perception and reaction work.   He also shares ideas on assessing the results of such a training system, which is a question that many coaches have when considering implementing the work and gauging their progress. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster.com, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more. View more show notes at Just-fly-sports.com/podcast-152-nick-dimarco