Planning and designing training programs for a new group of athletes (e.g., a new recruiting class or a new coaching job) can be problematic without a base level understanding of the athletes’ current skill levels. This article describes one system that can be used to determine an athlete's self-confidence on different exercises.

Dr. Allison Randall, Strength and Conditioning Coach for the Vanderbilt University Women’s Basketball Program, talks to the NSCA Coaching and Sport Science Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about how her path to the 2012 London Olympic Games as an athlete led her to pursue the strength and conditioning profession. Topics include the use of appropriate cueing strategies to optimize work with young athletes, differences with team versus individual sports, and the importance of education for coaches. Find Dr. Randall on Twitter: @AllisonVRandall or Instagram: @allisonvrandall | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

The purpose of this article is to discuss the different opinions regarding the validity of early sport specialization as opposed to diversification, specifically the effect these two methods have on injuries, motor development, skill acquisition, and social and psychological aspects.

The Educator of the Year Award is presented to an educator who has made noteworthy contributions to education and clinical application of strength training and conditioning.

In this career series article, developing personal training skills to train special populations is discussed; it includes starting out as a novice through the expert level.

This article discusses the impact and importance of resistance training with kids on their mental and physiological health and well-being.

“The goal of what we’re trying to do is make a difference in someone’s life,” says Gary Schofield in this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference. Coach Schofield explains areas where you can make a difference for your athletes, including movement efficiency, recovery and regeneration, autoregulation, velocity-based training, and conditioning with purpose.

From the 2019 Tactical Annual Training, Rob Orr, co-lead of Bond University’s Tactical Research Unit, explains how the backs of tactical personnel can be compromised. He also details the systems that affect the back and how to construct programs to optimize physical conditioning and reconditioning.

This 2018 National Conference video features Scott Riewald in an overview of the 2018 USA Winter Olympic team and discusses how sport science support contributes to elite athlete performance. As well as the training, preparation, and expanding talent identification initiatives to influence performance for the Olympic Games.

Learn about common misconceptions about shoulder function and the process for improving shoulder mobility and stability. In this session from the NSCA’s 2017 TSAC Annual Training, Lee Burton—one of the founders of Functional Movement Systems (FMS)—provides easy-to-prescribe screens and exercise progressions to improve and maintain shoulder function.