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Training with Ronnie Brown
As running back Ronnie Brown and the Miami Dolphins’ Wildcat offensive continue to perplex NFL defenses, Stack magazine recently featured video of Brown training at Athletes’ Performance. Check out footage from Ronnie Brown’s workout routine below, and visit Stacktv.stack.com for more.
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Returning Tricky Shots
(Photo by Feng Li / Getty Images)
Hitting high, kicking shots is fun. It puts your opponent on the defensive and induces short balls to easily put away. Returning high kicking shots, on the other hand, is not fun, since you’re on the defensive and prone to hitting short balls that can easily be put away. Rather than continuing to reach up and flail about, try the following to blunt your opponent’s advantage and dictate play.
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How to Improve Lateral Speed for Basketball
(Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images)
You may be able to run up and down the court in a flash, but how well do you move side to side? Your lateral speed is one of the most important factors to become a better defender in basketball. To improve, start by activating your muscles with a proper dynamic warm-up. There's a lot of acceleration and deceleration needed so it's important to loosen your hips and groin first with movements like lateral squats and drop lunges.
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How to Improve Your Net Returns
Mark Dadswell / Getty Images
The volley really is the simplest of strokes. The problem is that people complicate it, leading to what should be easy winners finding the bottom of the net or back of the fence. It’s time for a return to basics.
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Best Exercises to Improve Balance for Surfing
Jonathon Wood / Getty Images
Q: What are the best exercises to improve balance for surfing? - Jimmy, Chula Vista, California
A: A good place to start is to improve your ability to get to your feet quickly and maintain balance on the board. Try adding drop squats to your workout. They'll help you learn to reestablish your balance on the board as fast as possible to help you get up on a wave. Drop squats are dynamic, so warm up with sumo squats and lateral squats.
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Same Course, New Challenges
Jonathan Ferrey / Getty Images
There’s a benefit to having a regular golf course. You learn the contours. You memorize the distances. You play with the usual foursome. But the downside is that you end up playing the holes in the same way, and everything becomes stuck, from your shot selection to your swing patterns to your score. Laird Small, director of the Pebble Beach Golf Academy, has some ideas to move things forward:
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Build Strength for Swimming
Refine your stroke—it's the number one thing you can do to improve your swimming. The more efficient your technique, the less energy it requires to travel more distance in the water. Another way to think about it: If your stroke is inefficient, it takes you more energy to travel the same speed with more strokes. Of course you also need total-body strength and stability to maintain proper technique. Here are a few strategies for the gym to boost your performance in the water.
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"When performed properly within a well designed workout, plyometrics can help improve your strength and power, and add an exciting twist to conventional training."
— from "Plyometrics: A Primer" in Core Knowledge.
Train Movements, Not Muscles
Your muscles are a team, and by training them that way, you’ll get better results.
Click here for more videos from our experts.
4-10
xThe increased frequency with which female athletes sustain ACL injuries compared to male athletes in the same sport.
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Training with Ronnie Brown
Check out this footage of Miami Dolphins running back Ronnie Brown working out at Athletes' Performance.
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