P3

History

Al Jefferson was having a career best year, averaging 23.1 points, 11.0 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game during the first 50 games of the 2008-2009 NBA season, until he landed awkwardly on one leg in a game at New Orleans, resulting in a complete tear to the ACL in his right knee.

 

Al was able to make it back for the following 2009-2010 season, but was not the same player he had been prior to his injury. Following the 2010 season Al was traded to the Utah Jazz, and was soon there after introduced to P3.

 

When P3 first evaluated Al on 8/25/2010 all of the biomechanical risk factors (Hip internal rotation, knee valgus moments and angles, knee extensor moments and excessive quad muscle activation compared to hip muscle activation) and movement patterns that lead to his non contact ACL injury in 2009 were still in place, especially on his right side.

 

Training

To address hip stability and hip mobility and enable Al to interact with the ground in a safe and efficient manner much of our initial work focused on creating dynamic hip stability and shifting demand from knee to hip, allowing Al to control femoral rotation and hip adduction. This process involved both strengthening and neuromuscular re-education of how to stabilize and activate his gluteus medius and upper-third of gluteus maximus. Al’s glutes rarely ever fired correctly, which caused internal rotation of the hips and put a tremendous amount of stress across his patellar-femoral joint. As Al began to utilize these muscles we saw significant decrease in knee valgus moments and angles and felt confident that he could safely do high intensity power based movements. The systems and structures that we built to keep safe also enabled him to use his primary force producing muscles to execute basketball specific power based movements and train for more power (multi joint strength movements complexed with high intensity plyometrics).

Training Continued

This in turn helped Al make huge performance gains leading up to the 2011-2012 NBA season, including a 27% increase in ability to create force from a rested position, a 4 inch increase in his standing vertical jump, a .95 second improvement in the slide agility (went from 6.62 to 5.67 in the 5-10-5 slide agility shuttle) and a 25% increase in power when rotating from left to right (more rotational power than 86% of our professional baseball players).

Results

AL Jefferson’s physical abilities changed dramatically in his first full off-season at P3. His risk of knee injury has decreased by an order of magnitude and he now possesses a great deal of strength, stability and power, as well as an excellent work capacity, all of which have allowed him to play the best defense of his career over the last two years. Al has also been a force on the offensive end and on the glass averaging 18.5 points per game and 9.4 rebounds per game in the two seasons since he first started training at P3, leading to a three-year, 41 million dollar deal with the Charlotte Bobcats

History

Paul is the the only player in NCAA history to lead the nation in rebounding for three consecutive years. He was selected by the Utah Jazz in the second round (47th overall) of the 2006 NBA draft and averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds per game during his rookie season. Shortly after his rookie season, Paul and then teammate Ronnie Brewer became the first Jazz players to start testing and training at P3.

 

Paul came to us with limited power in movement and reporting significant knee and back pain, which had bothered him throughout his college career and first season in the NBA. During his initial evaluation it was clear that Paul had major biomechanical issues at the ankle and hip which caused poor ground foot interactions and lead to compensatory motion in the lumbar spine, and thus caused his knee and back pain.

Training

Much of our work with Paul has emphasized ankle dorsiflexion to achieve better ground foot interactions, hip relaxation to achieve a full range of motion, and stability work to shift demand from back to hip. This has enabled Paul to interact with the ground in a much safer (reduced jump landing force across knee joint by 30%) and more efficient manner.

Results

Through training Paul has increased his overall power by a significant margin, his ability to get in and out of cuts, accelerate from a small movement to top velocity very quickly and improved his second jump considerably.

 

Passed over by every team but Utah on draft night, Paul is now one of the top power forwards in the Western Conference. His on court production has improved every year and he has been extremely durable, never missing more than 6 games in a season.

 

History

Dan was drafted by the New York MetroStars in 2005 before joining Puerto Rico in the USL. A stint in Chile with Municipal Iquique paved the way for a return to MLS with Chivas USA. During his time as a professional, prior to P3, Dan had suffered a number of serious injuries (Missed the entire 2009 season due to a knee injury suffered in preseason and missed the majority of the 2010 season after tearing the bicep tendon in his left arm), and therefore was only able to start a total of 14 MLS games. Coming off of his bicep tendon tear and knowing that he would be going into Chivas USA camp as the third string goalie, Dan committed to finding a more science based approach to both prevent future injuries and improve performance.

Training

The first objective with Dan was to correct mechanical and postural issues that increased risk of back pain/strain, limited hip and thoracic extension and ultimately reduced the amount of power he could produce. As a goalie, Dan needs to possess a good deal of lower extremity power, have as much reach as possible and be strong in an extended position, so overhead stability movements that simultaneously targeted lower extremity strength and mobility, complexed with explosive plyometrics that forced hip extension in multiple directions became a staple of Dan’s training. Stimulus response and nervous system work to build quickness, agility and faster reaction times were also emphasized as a way to simulate the demands of goalkeeper.

Results

Dan has made considerable gains in his ability to rapidly produce a large amount of force in multiple directions, which allows him to get to more balls and make more saves. His ability to now maintain an upright posture in the mid-back gives him more reach and allows him to be stronger and safer than ever in extended positions.

 

Dan started 14 games in three seasons as an MLS goalkeeper prior to training at P3. After one off-season, Dan not only won the starting job, he went on to start 32 consecutive games and was named Chivas USA’s 2011 Team MVP.

History

Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft by the Detroit Tigers, Brennan Boesch spent two full seasons with the Single-A Western Michigan Whitecaps in 2007 and Lakeland Flyers in 2008.

 

Despite being very strong and having a great frame, Brennan had low to moderate power numbers during his college years and first two years in professional baseball, never hitting more than 10 home runs in a season. In the fall of 2008, Shortly after his second full season in professional baseball, Brennan discovered P3.

 

During Brennan’s initial evaluation it was clear that he had trouble with Relaxation and Tempo in all movements (limits power and efficient kinematics), as well poor thoracic extension and shoulder stability (postural issues led to back pain and mechanical flaws). He also could not separate vertical and horizontal forces in rotation (changing levels during rotation makes it difficult for hitters to make consistent contact and get proper flight and trajectory on the ball).

Training

Teaching Brennan how to accelerate through power based movements and prescribing movements that forced him to relax and reduce internal resistance has helped him realize his true power potential. We placed heavy emphasis on teaching and training Brennan to utilize his lower half to generate force during rotation. Being connected and relaxed from the ground up has enabled Brennan to not only increase his rotational power, but be more consistent and efficient when rotating.

Shown above is Force Plate Data as Brennan Boesch, makes a lateral plyometric movement. The Red lines represents horizontal force and the Blue lines represents vertical force. Small lines are Pre Off-Season Training; Solid lines are Post Off-Season Training.

 

Not only did the quantity of force greatly increase (20%) during training, but Brennan also changed the way he produces this maximal force, which enables Brennan to reach Peak Force 30% faster. Brennan was also able to separate horizontal and vertical forces forces more efficiently which correlates with being able to stay in the correct plane when rotating or hitting.

Results

Results After several months of consistent training, Brennan showed up to 2009 spring training a completely different player and went on have career high’s in all major offensive categories including Home Runs (28), RBI’s (93), Extra Base Hits (61), Runs (89), and OPS (.828). His break out season led him to the Big League’s where he has been a force in the middle of the Tigers Line up ever since. In the 3 seasons leading up to his time at P3 he hit a combined 22 Home Runs. Since then, in 3 seasons he has connected for 61 Home Runs and become one of the games brightest young power prospects.

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