by Drew Kiel | May 13, 2020 | Physical Therapy, Quarterback Training
Quarterbacks and quarterback coaches all over the country always hear the terms “arm slot”, “arm talent”, and release point all the time when it comes to throwing mechanics. What actually does matter in the upper body mechanics though for a QB? Does it really matter how the quarterback brings the ball back? Is there an ideal area on how far a QB should load the ball back in his motion? We will answer these questions and many more as we break down what actually matters for quarterbacks when it comes to upper body mechanics during the throwing motion!
by Drew Kiel | May 6, 2020 | Physical Therapy, Quarterback Training
The throwing motion is an extremely complex movement and often times doesn’t get trained as intricately as it should by most coaches. One ideology that we promote often is that the QB will only throw the ball as well as his body allows him to throw it. Just like other complex movements such as the squat or the deadlift, there are many joints of the body moving all at one time in synchrony to be able to perform a very specific task. When there are mobility, stability, or motor control issues, complex movements become compensated movements very quickly, which predisposes the athlete to decreased performance and increased injury risk. One of these areas that is often times a glaring problem for the QB throwing motion is a lack of hip internal rotation on the drive leg. When a quarterback lacks hip internal rotation on the drive leg, there is automatically a disconnect between the ability to generate power through the hips and translate that power to the trunk, and then up to the rest of the body. Today, we want to give you a literal step by step process that you can perform in order to increase the internal rotation range of motion!
by Drew Kiel | Apr 29, 2020 | Physical Therapy, Quarterback Training
One of the most common questions that we get asked on a consistent basis is “what is the best warm-up exercise to get the shoulder ready before throwing?” Whenever we hear this in a singular text, as if the shoulder was just one joint, we always want to educate that the shoulder girdle is one of the most complex joints in the body. It’s so complex that it is made up of four joints in which many of the muscles that surround the shoulder joint also attach to the shoulder blade (scapula). There’s actually 17 muscles that attach to the shoulder blade. Isn’t that amazing? Today, we want to give you a series of exercises that you can perform as part of your warm-up to get the shoulder girdle ready before you throw. This is a post that you don’t want to overlook!
by Drew Kiel | Apr 22, 2020 | Physical Therapy, Quarterback Training
We get some great questions from people when they ask about the throwing motion. “How do I throw the ball further?” “How can I improve my accuracy?” What is the most important area of the body for a QB to improve his throwing motion?” The more that I get these questions, the more I realize that coaches and players don’t understand the important relationship between all three of these questions. Today, I will go in depth about the importance of a super critical area of the body and how improving this area will AUTOMATICALLY clean up accuracy and increase power.
by Drew Kiel | Apr 15, 2020 | Physical Therapy, Quarterback Training
When thinking about the throwing motion, we often times hear the term “hip dissociation” when describing the sequence between the loading phase and acceleration phase. This term is often times essential for quarterbacks to perform in order to maximize performance in relation to power and accuracy. We would agree that this is most definitely important, but is it the most important concept when it comes to the throwing motion? How do quarterbacks get better at this skill if it is? Today, we want to describe what this term is actually referring to and where it falls in line in importance in the throwing motion!
by Drew Kiel | Jan 29, 2020 | Physical Therapy
The world has changed greatly over the past 15-20 years. Technology has boomed at a pace in which nearly every single person over the age of 10 has a small computer in their hands. The age of information is at its peak, but this can also be a double edged sword. This has changed the landscape in which children are raised and has high influence over young people’s lives where they crave playing video games and scrolling through social media. There has never been a time in the world where instant gratification has been so prominent in young people’s lives. What does this mean for young athletes though? With the performance demand being so high and children lacking the traits to build performance (a lot of these mental), we are seeing a huge increase in instances of mental illness such as anxiety, depression, and even suicide. Today, I want to talk about the development continuum of an athlete through the course of pre-adolescence and adolescence. We will cover both the physical and mental aspects of children and teens during these critical times and how to take advantage of their biology for peak performance.
