Developing Functional Power for Football

The search for conditioning drills that enhance functional power for sports is an on-going process. A key consideration in this endeavor is the principle of specificity of training. Simply stated, specificity of training means that the body gets better at doing physical activities that it is required to do on a regular basis. If these activities are progressively overloaded as they are repetitively performed, the resultant gains are further magnified. In many sports improving power is more valuable than just improving absolute strength. This is especially true in a collision sport such as football. The more rapidly an athlete can display force. the more effective that athlete will be. If the drills being used to condition athletes can simulate movement patterns they use in performing their specific “jobs”, the training result is even more enhanced. Medicine balls are valuable tools