Improve your athlete testing by breaking down the mechanics of your sport with Adam Petway

This week’s guest on the Pacey Performance Podcast is horizontal jumps coach Adam Petway. Adam currently coaches track and field at the West Chester University of Pennsylvania after previously serving as the Director of Athletic Performance for the Washington Wizards in the NBA. Prior to this, Adam was the Biomechanist/Strength and Conditioning coach for the Philadelphia 76ers, and Director of Strength and Conditioning for University of Arkansas basketball. He also holds a PhD in Sports Science and High-Performance Sport.

Adam has just released his new book, Basketball Mechanics, which digs into what makes the world’s top basketball players tick. Much of what inspired Adam and his co-writer leads today’s conversation – namely which physical assessments are appropriate for basketball, assessing and addressing deficiencies in an athlete, and assessing neuromuscular readiness and fatigue. This involves measuring outcomes, including how to understand neuromuscular fatigue without force plates and jumps through three key assessments.

There’s also some great advice for strength and conditioning coaches in how to understand the technical and tactical aspects of sport when talking with head coaches. Adam also shares how he deals with common ankle and Achilles injuries, and how he uses isometrics and creates regular exercises in a safe environment. Isometrics is also the topic when Adam discusses how they fit in with the physical development model in the NBA. For all this advice from a top track and field coach who specialises in measuring and monitoring jump performance, hit the play button now.

This week’s topics:

• Which physical assessments are appropriate for basketball
• Understanding the technical and tactical aspects of sport
• Assessing and addressing deficiencies in an athlete’s skillset
• Common scenarios, drills and interventions to use
• Assessing neuromuscular readiness and fatigue
• Outcome measures, and why Adam wouldn’t go down the jump height route
• Understanding neuromuscular fatigue without jumps and force plates
• The three assessments to use when measuring neuromuscular readiness
• Dealing with ankle and Achilles issues
• Isometrics and creating exercises in a safe environment
• How isometrics fit in with the physical development model in the NBA