How to build a strong foundation

by Dave Nissenbaum

You have probably heard about it before but never understood what is meant and how it pertains to sports and performance. Core stability is a buzzword in the training and conditioning world and everyone wants to have it. It is essential to sports performance and injury prevention. Your “core” is the basis for all movements that we perform in sports such as jumping, cutting, spiking or bumping.

The core muscles lie deep within your torso or midsection to help stabilize the spine and provide a foundation for movement in your extremities. They attach to the spine, pelvis and scapula or shoulder blade. When they “contract”, they provide a solid base so you can move your arms and legs and perform the proper technique without falling down or hitting a bad shot.

Training the muscles of the core also corrects postural imbalances that can lead to injuries. The biggest benefit of core training is to develop functional stability to be able perform your chosen activity whether it be volleyball, soft ball or basketball and demonstrate proper balance, coordination and stability while performing that task.

Sounds easy right!!

NO!! In order to target these small and deep muscles and recruit other muscles is challenging. We have to train these muscle to work very differently than they have before. This takes a lot of time and energy. We begin with small movements and progress to large movements. We focus on movements in what is called the sagittal plane (straight) and progress into the frontal plane and then the transverse plane. We use medicine balls and different bands and weights to help train the core. The goal is to make you the best athlete possible.

So what are the benefits of having a Strong Core Stability?