FEATURE ARTICLE
HOW TO TRAIN THE CORE: SPECIFIC TO SPORTS MOVEMENTS
TRAVIS BROWN, MS, CSCS,*D
hen training an athlete’s core, the training should mimic real life sport movements. The core should be trained in multiplanar and multidirectional movements, using unilateral and bilateral stances and various force lines. Training should incorporate the various planes of motion (frontal, sagittal, and transverse) with the athlete in a combination of unilateral and bilateral stances. The sports performance coach should also be able to provide equipment and training methods that utilize the three major force lines: horizontal, vertical, and diagonal. This article will provide several examples of exercises that can be used to train those types of movements, planes, stances, and force lines. When looking at human movement in all sports, movements usually involve pulling (e.g., judo athlete), pushing (e.g., lineman in football), locomotion (e.g., baseball player stealing a base), rotation (e.g., tennis forehand), level change (e.g., MMA fighter tossing his opponent), or complexity, which is any combination of those movements (e.g., linebacker in football shedding a block and making a tackle).
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