Compared to everyday movements, athletic movements are performed with more intensity and with much greater force. It is essential as a trainer to have a comprehensive and in depth understanding of: Movement, Stability, Strength, and Power.
Basic Anatomy vs Functional Anatomy
Each muscle serves a function and is integrated with other muscles to perform functional movements, while each muscle has its own movement and should be kept in mind, we must focus on the overall movement and how each part works together to contribute to the whole.
Imagine throwing a punch, your bodies muscles and stretch or shorten through functional lines in our body (kinetic chain) that work together as you twist from one side to the other in order to load your strike. The movement starts in your foot as you step forward (hip flexion) to shift your weight and draw the power into your hips, then utilize muscular elasticity/rotational force to drive your foot off the ground and divert the power up your back, to your shoulder, and out of your arm in the form of a punch. What we look for instead of just the rotation of the upper or lower leg, for example, is the movement of the entire hip/core region and the push off with the leg.
Planes of movement in athletic performance
It is important to understand the different planes of motion and the movements within each one, but athletic performances take it a step further by often utilizing movement in all three planes simultaneously. Our bodies are designed to react accordingly, and this puts greater demand on the athletes’ body to be able to stabilize proximally, while allowing distal mobility in order to maximizing the ability to produce and transfer force efficiently. In summary, an athletes degree of performance relies on their ability to reactively stabilize while transferring force.
Example:
The cross-over drill
Step 1: Bring the foot up and the body shifts to one side (Frontal plane)
Step 2: The foot crosses over the body causing internal rotation (Transverse plane)
Step 3: The body completes a full turn and continues forward (Sagittal plane)