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Shaq Is Slow

By Alex On August 18, 2009 Under Uncategorized

It’s late Tuesday night and I just had some recent motivation to write a quick post here. I was watching this new show on ABC called “Shaq’s Big Challenge”….not gonna lie, I was entertained.

I was watching it with my Dad, who is notorious for his Shaq-hating. This of course made it even more interesting since this is a man who once said he would rather have Kwame Brown on his team than Shaquille O’Neal because “at least Kwame doesn’t actually think he’s Superman!”

As we were watching the show, it wasn’t the final competition that captured my attention, but Shaq’s sprinting. They had him run a 40-yard dash, and if you didn’t see it, well, put it this way: it was so slow, there’s a chance you might still be able to watch him running right now, since he still hasn’t finished it!

Jokes aside, it made me think about what I would do with Shaq if I had to make him run a faster 40-yard dash.

So I put together a list of things I would focus on with him to get him running a sub-ten second 40:

  1. Feet- Shaq’s feet look heavier than my car. I would start from the bottom up with him, gettin all of the dysfunction going on down there taken care of, then slowly but surely continue to make his feet quicker and stronger, while being careful not to overdo anything since, well, he does weigh nearly 350 lbs.
  2. Posterior Chain Strength- Shaq has a history of knee problems over his career. Obviously his weight and the amount of pounding his knees have taken over the years because of it have played a role, but he is also impressively quad-dominant. By packing on some serious muscle mass to his glutes, hamstrings, lower back and calves, he’d not only improve his speed, but take a TON of pressure off his brittle knees.
  3. Flexibility- The dude’s tight, plain and simple. Get his hip flexors loosnsed up, his overly tight rectus femori stretched out and his tight calves working properly is going to make a bid difference for the Big Aristotle.
  4. Technique- I don’t like coaching technique, because as you already know, all I care is about REAL speed (heck, you are the official Game Speed Insider Blog). But in this case, since it is ONLY for the 40pyard dash, I’d work with him on his start, since it had A LOT of room for improvement.
  5. Mentality- He was mouthing off with Big Ben WHILE running his forty! I’d much rather him stay focused during the sprint, then AFTER he kills it, go mouth off to Ben Rothleisberger, Kobe Bryant, Pat Riler and anyone else Shaq has beef with.

Put all that together and I think we’d have the Mr. O’Neal moving a heck of a lot better.

Now what’s cool about this list is these are 5 of the most common problems I see with athletes who are still too slow for their own good.

So, based entirely on intuition and your own experiences, I want to hear from YOU which of these things is your biggest problem right now, and what you’re going to do to SQUASH it.

Talk to you in the comments section,

-Alex

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20 comments - add yours
Klaus

August 19, 2009

Excellent! I always been a “little shaq” (6′4″) in game style, but I can’t play that way anymore… I’m to short for a center and I want to be a real player. I think that my main problem ( besides the english writing =D ) is the Flexibility. I’m trying Pilates now to try to loose my body and be faster, as a complement to the TAQ system.

[ ]’s

Charles E. Long

August 19, 2009

sound great put me on the list

Antoine

August 19, 2009

I think my main problems are my feet (not as Shaq’s,but they can use some work) and my posterior chain strength. I don’t know a lot of hamstring exercises ,so a hand in that department would work :)

Dex

August 19, 2009

Yeah, I’m like Antoine and can use some help in the Posterior Chain. My Hamstrings and Lower back is what holds me down. Even my squating is kept down because of those two. Any info or exercises to address that would be awesome.

Alex

August 20, 2009

Dex-

Be on the lookout *very* soon :-)

-Alex

lllcb33lll

August 20, 2009

Hey Alex, my main problem is without a doubt flexibility. I have looked all over for a program such as TAQ that focuses exclusively on flexibility, but I couldn’t find anything like that. Do you know of any flexibility programs?

Alex

August 20, 2009

There really isn’t anything that’s great for overall flexibility that I’ve seen yet…kinda funny that you asked though, I just met my new next door neighbor, he’s almost 80 years old, a former farmer from China who now lives with his kids and grandchildren here, and he is the most vibrant, healthy FLEXIBLE 78 year-old I’ve ever seen.

He was showing me some incredible movements and routines earlier today that he absolutely claims are the reason for his health and longevity…I’m going to do some more digging into his secrets…I’ll keep you posted.

-Alex

Brian

August 23, 2009

Why don’t you like coaching technique? Aren’t there are many situations where you need to be in a full sprint during most sports? I’m a baseball player and legging out a triple takes some speed. Breakaways in other sports are similar. What would you suggest to help with plays like that?

Alex

August 24, 2009

Brian-

I have strong belief that too many athletes get caught up with over-analytical details, and focusing on sprint technique is just another thing for them to waste their time with, over-analyzing.

I’d rather focus on building up the physical qualities that contribute to blazing speed and quickness than technique.

I agree that legging out a triple take a lot of speed, but when I talk about technique, I’m really only referring to acceleration mechanics. It’s funny though that for all the technique coaching people like to do, when you get an athlete stronger, with the right muscles firing and their feet nimble and reactive, all of their technique issues start to dissipate.

So, there’s my general prescription:

1. Get stronger

2. Get quicker

3. Run high-quality sprints at least 1x/week

4. Be Faster

Now, give that a shot!

-Alex

Brian

August 24, 2009

-Alex
Thanks for the response. As for your perscrption. I cover number 1 at the gym and number 2 by doing the TAQ system. As for number 3 I run sprints but what are “high quality sprints”?

Alex

August 24, 2009

Brian

Sprints where you aren’t tired or fatigued from the last sprint. This is where you take ample rest between sprints. I usually recommend around 45 seconds for every 10 yards of sprinting.

A sample “high-quality” sprint session might look like:

8 x 10 yard sprints w/ 45 seconds rest between each sprint

5 x 30 yard sprints w/ 140 seconds rest between each sprint

Focus on running each sprint with full focus and effort. I also usually recommend something called a “drop-off” in sprint training, maybe that’ll be tomorrows post :-)

Djordje

August 31, 2009

Shaq may run the 40 yard dash slowly, but hes actually incredibly quick for a guy his size! Have you seen him do his drop step dunk or some of his other moves that he excecutes so quickly that the defender is lost?

My point is that no, hes not fast, but he’s quick – especially considering his size.

Bob

September 6, 2009

Can you pros and trainers please comment on the use of kettlebells rather than squats and deadlifts to strengthen the posterior chain muscles?
I am looking to increase strength, speed, and agility. I don’t want or care about having massive looking legs. I want function.

Pjwwybei

September 8, 2009

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