Speed Boosters Sports Performance Training Blog

Welcome to the Speed Boosters Sports Performance Training Blog! This blog has been developed to inform athletes, parents, coaches, and the sports performance training community on: tips for increased athletic performance, new reasearch and findings in sports training, as well as information on our training sessions, and upcoming events.

Speed Boosters provides training programs devoted to enhancing athletic performance. The programs are designed and developed to meet the needs of middle, high school, college and professional athletes. We combine cutting edge training methods, state of the art equipment, and knowledge and expertise from certified sports conditioning specialists and SPARQ certified trainers who bring a wealth of theoretical and practical strategies in the sports performance arena.

Sean Erwin B.A., M.S.E., M.Ed., SCS, SPARQ Certified
Speed Boosters LLC
Owner/Sports Performance Trainer
sean.erwin@speedboosters.net
www.speedboosters.net

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Speed Boosters Developments

Over the course of the past couple years Speed Boosters has greatly expanded. We are at an all time high for athletes participating in our programs. As athletes begin to see the importance of sports performance and SPARQ training and continue to reap the benefits of being involved in our training programs the numbers will only expand more. In a continued effort to offer the best possible experience and results and at the most affordable price for our athletes, Speed Boosters will be offering new services and a greater number of programs. Within the next week or two we will be announcing the new developments and opportunities we will be offering for athletes in the St. Louis and Metro East area. TRAIN BETTER, TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS!

Friday, November 7, 2008

STL Softball Showcase


Myself and the Speed Boosters staff had the opportunity to work with ESPN Rise Magazine, Nike, and SPARQ at the annual St. Louis Softball Showcase last weekend. It was a great event attended by well over a thousand of the areas top softball players. Over the course of the weekend we had the opportunity to SPARQ test 1,323 players. It's always great to see young athletes compete and see the results of their dedication and hard work. There were several athletes that really stood out from the rest. What did these athletes have in common? They were part of a well designed sport specific training program to increase speed, power, agility, reaction, quickness, flexibility, and injury prevention. The gains received from training have carried over directly to the diamond and have put them at the top of their game. Below is a list of the "Top 10" from the weekend that can also be seen at http://myespn.go.com/blogs/highschoolsoftball
TOP OVERALL SPARQ RATINGS
Mackenzie Sykes -2010-2B-Originals (RE) -133.02
Brandee Bohr -2009-OF-S E Iowa Softball Allstars -126.75
Brianna Corwin -2010-C-Originals (RE) -120.27
Jenna Marston -2009-SS-St Louis Diamond Cats -120.12
Marissa Mersch -2011-OF-Lemont Rockers (DD) -120.09
Cynthia Miller -2010-OF-Illinois Bandits 18U Gold -118.65
Alyssa Smith -2011-2B-Oak Park Windmills (MS) -115.68
Allie Anttila -2010-OF-Illinois Chill (BE) -115.26
Staci Bonezek -2011-3B-Homer Hawks Black 16-U -113.82
Lauren Ackerman -2009-C-St Louis Diamond Cats -111.6


What are you doing to improve? TRAIN BETTER, TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS

Monday, September 29, 2008

Speed Boosters SPARQ Team Challenge

What are St. Louis area high school basketball programs doing to prepare for the basketball season? Competing in the Speed Boosters SPARQ Team Challenge training sessions with Speed Boosters. Speed Boosters SPARQ training sessions consist of dynamic flexibility development, speed, linear and lateral footwork progressions, and explosive movement training that prepares the basketball player for the rigors of the high school basketball season. Check back soon for basketball specific development drills from the training sessions as well as updates on how the players are progressing.

TRAIN BETTER, TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS.

Friday, August 1, 2008

Speed Boosters Football SPARQ Training Top 10

Congrats to all of the football players that completed 6 weeks of SPARQ training. The results that were obtained are a testament to what a well designed program based on research and a strong work ethic can accomplish. Below are the "Top 10" SPARQ ratings with the increase each athlete saw in their SPARQ rating from the first week of training.

1.)Mike Heumann - 110.25 (Increase 56.76)
2.)Robert Pratt- 108.27 (Increase 37.35)
3.)Randy Emilien -85.5 (Increase 20.10)
4.)Sean Alexander- 81.33 (Increase 34.83)
5.)Sam Smith- 77.16 (Increase 26.91)
6.)Steve Wiley- 75.36 (Increase 22.16)
7.)Ryan Campbell- 74.58 (Increase 38.01)
8.)Garth Shermann- 71.94 (Increase 29.88)
9.)Kyle Portell- 69.36 (Increase 32.22)
10.)Dylan Bannecke- 67.14 (Increase 31.11)

Again, congrats to all that trained this summer and good luck as you enter your fall seasons.

TRAIN BETTER, TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS.

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Fall & Winter Training Sessions Announced

It's been a while since I had the opportunity to post to the blog. So far it has been a crazy summer full of camps, training, and SPARQ testing hundreds of athletes within the St. Louis area. I have also been working on several projects with SPARQ that I will hopefully have more info on soon. We just recently completed our summer training sessions and had some unbelievable results. I will post the top SPARQ results soon. Many have inquired about our fall and winter SPARQ training schedule at St. Louis Baseball & Fastpitch Academy. I have provided our schedule below for those that are interested in increasing their on field performance. If you are interested in SPARQ team training or having your team SPARQ tested please feel free to contact me at sean.erwin@speedboosters.net . Speed Boosters is dedicated to helping individual athletes and teams achieve their goals and can come to your practice to train or SPARQ test your athletes. TRAIN BETTER, TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS!

FALL SESSION
(Begins August 25th)
Nike SPARQ Training Sessions
Days: Monday & Wednesday
Times: 7:00-7:45 p.m.
Location: St. Louis Baseball & Fastpitch Academy
Cost: $10 per session
Open Enrollment- Attend on days and times of your choice

WINTER SESSION
(Begins November 3rd)
Nike SPARQ Training
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Times: 5:30-6:15, 6:15-7:00 p.m.
Location: St. Louis Baseball & Fastpitch Academy
Cost: $10 per session
Open Enrollment- Attend on days and times of your choice

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Is Your Better Really Better?

What are you doing this summer to increase your performance? Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction, and Quickness are vital to every sport. Athletes are not born with these attributes, they are developed. Through a well designed functional training program you can take your game to the next level and make your better even better.
Speed Boosters, a leader in sports performance training, offers Nike SPARQ training and functional sports training sessions to improve your on field performance. The sessions are geared towards middle, high school, college, and pro athletes who want to maximize and reach their full potential. Training sessions will enhance speed, power, agility, reaction, quickness, flexibility, and improve fundemental movement skills while aiding in injury prevention.
Speed Boosters uses your SPARQ rating to develop an individualized training program aimed at improving your sport specific performance. Make your on field performance better! For more information on Nike SPARQ training with Speed Boosters visit http://www.speedboosters.net/ or email sean.erwin@speedboosters.net

TRAIN BETTER. TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS.

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Metro United SPARQ Testing

Today myself and the Speed Boosters staff headed out to the Metro United Soccer Complex in Collinsville, Illinois to do the first piece of the SPARQ Test before the U 15/16 and U 17/18 teams head up to the Development Academy Spring Showcase in Rockford, Illinois May 23-26. Dale Schilly has a great program going and just a great group of kids in the program.
Today the players were having their height and weight measured as well as running the YIRT 2 Test. The YIRT 2 Test is designed to test the players endurance and recovery capacity. Both teams today had several players score at or above the 90th percentile. I was impressed by the conditioning levels of the guys.
On May 23-26th they will take the second portion of the SPARQ Test. Below are the specific tests in the Soccer SPARQ Test as well as what each test is measuring.

20 Meter Sprint - Speed - measures linear speed and high end running
Arrowhead Agility - Agility - measures speed, agility, and change of directon
Vertical Jump - Power - measures explosive power
YIRT 2 - Endurance - measures endurance and recovery capacity

For more information on SPARQ and U.S. Soccer check out www.sparqtraining.com or http://ussoccer.com

TRAIN BETTER. TRAIN SPEED BOOSTERS.