Improving change of direction ability, deceleration drills and coaching “transitional movements” with Hailu Theodros

This week on the Pacey Performance Podcast is Athletic Development Coach at Speedworks, Hailu Theodros. Hailu spoke recently at the Sportsmith speed conference about gamespeed and his talk was incredible so to get him on the podcast was a complete no brainer.

In the first half of our chat we discuss deceleration and its part in improving change of direction ability. Hailu spends a lot of time explain "sitting" versus "folding" when it comes to the final few steps of a deceleration and reacceleration. He describes why sitting is so important and how we can coach our athletes into that position using a number of drills and various different cues.

In the second half of the episode, Hailu focuses on transitional movements, what they are, why they are so important and how we can create drills to develop them. Transitional movements are those that link other more talked about movements like deceleration, reacceleration, cutting etc. He uses the example of a central defender in football (soccer) and their pursuit of an attacker looking for the ball. This a fascinating look at the more micromovements of sport and how we can develop them.

If you're looking to improve the change of direction ability of your athletes and understand how to decipher what they need to develop first, this episode with Hailu is for you.

Main talking points -

• Developing change of direction ability
• Deceleration assessments
• "Folding" vs "sitting" when decelerating and reaccelerating
• Coaching the skill of change of direction
• How do you go about coaching someone who spends too long in the "hole"
• How does deceleration strategy differ when the athlete is coming to a stop versus reaccelerating?
• What are "transitional movements"?
• How do we go about identifying whats needed under this movement umbrella?
• Example drills and what to look out for