Warm-up Rediscovered

I feel vindicated the Play Magazine section of the Sunday
November 2, New York Timeshttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?ref=playmagazine
They talked about things in the article some of us figured out 35 years ago (Sorry
for the sarcasm) but warm-up is just that, it is movement. Two of the exercises
they illustrate in the article the straight leg march and the scorpion are two
exercises I would NEVER do in
warm-up. I think they are not inappropriate for warm-up and actually set the body
up for injury. I was disappointed that nothing was said about the order and
sequence in warm-up. I was left to believe that if you just throw a bunch of exercises
together and call it dynamic then it is OK. Nothing could be further from the
truth. I think warm-up must be orchestrated like a ballet. It should build in
tempo from slower deliberate movements to fast dynamic movements leading
directly into practice or the game. Each of the last five teams we have played
with Venice volleyball have done some version of the so called movement prep.
It has been interesting to watch. One team spent 18 minutes on this stuff. All
at a walking temp almost at Tai Chi rhythm. Folks that does not prepare you to
play a ballistic game like volleyball. Our warm-up is 6 to 8 minutes long,
depending on how the head coach and I read the team. It is dynamic leading to
ballistic jumping because that is what they do in the game. This is not rocket
science, it is common sense. Go to www.gambetta.com
to get our DVD on Warm-up and Preparation also see the chapter in my Athletic
development book.