An Interdisciplinary Athlete Development Program Aimed at Improving Skills and Physical Attributes in Elite Athletes

Abstract

While strength and conditioning training can improve athlete skills and physical attributes, little is known on how effective an interdisciplinary approach can be when focused on additional factors (medical, psychological, nutrition) shown to influence such variables. PURPOSE: to evaluate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary athlete development program for improving skills and physical attributes related to the NFL combine. METHODS: Retrospective review (2008-2016) of 108 elite level football athletes that completed the St. Vincent Sports Performance NFL Pre-Draft Program. Sports health and fitness professionals created 6-week individualized training programs based on 4 disciplines: 1) Physical Training (strength, speed, position skills), 2) Medical (diagnostic, treatment, corrective exercises), 3) Nutrition (dietary analysis, meals), and 4) Psychological (mental preparation, composure). Anthropometric and skill measurements for strength, power, speed, and agility were obtained pre- and post-program. Paired t-test (p<0.05) was used to assess pre to post differences for all athletes and for subgroups of position demands (speed, hybrid, power). Independent t-test was used to compare both pre- and post-program to NFL combine averages. RESULTS: All variables significantly improved pre- to post-program (Table 1), which moved our athletes from worse than combine averages at pre-program, to the same or better at post. Subgroup outcomes showed the same general pattern of improvements, except for fat weight where hybrid (tight end, quarterback, linebacker) showed significant change (38.4 to 36.8 lbs, p=0.03). CONCLUSION: While our athletes were of elite status pre-program, thus little room for gains, all outcomes improved post-program and were the same or better than the NFL combine averages. This was likely due to the interdisciplinary approach focused on the total athlete. Future studies should assess how such gains translate to performance.Table: No title available.