447: Scott Salwasser on An Evolution of Speed and Movement Assessment

Today’s podcast is with Scott Salwasser. Scott is a sports performance specialist at EXOS, and previously served as the Head of Athletic Performance for Bishop Lynch High School, along with stops at numerous NCAA DI institutions, as well as work in the private sector. Scott is a field leader in assessment protocols and training methodology for physical preparation, speed, and combine development. As technology continues to push forward, and the data that comes with it, it’s crucial to have practical methods to apply technology to training in a meaningful way. Scott has a strong background in technology/assessment protocols, but is deeply practical and puts coaching and applied techniques at the forefront of his system. On the podcast today, Scott speaks on his experiences and transition away from sports performance in the NCAA, and talks on athlete assessments for speed and movement abilities, asymmetries, and meeting the evolving needs of an athlete over time. Scott has a great sense of what it takes to distill technology and advanced concepts into the needs of athletes in a performance setting, and it was great to catch up with him for this episode. Today’s episode is brought to you by TeamBuildr’s Gym Studio and the LILA Exogen Wearable Resistance Training Sleeves. Use the code “justfly25” for 25% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance training, including the popular Exogen Calf Sleeves. For this offer, head to: Lilateam.com For a Gym Studio 14-day free trial, head to gymstudio.com View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Main Points 7:28- Athletic Development Through High School Coaching 12:51- Transformative Spirit: The Key to Discipline 14:12- Data-Driven Athletic Assessment for Training Programs 27:15- Personalized Athlete Training Plans Through Data 31:43- Unlocking the Final 5-10% in Sprint Training 33:48- Mental Focus and Environmental Influence in Sprinting 46:25- Quantifying Movement Asymmetries for Enhanced Interventions 52:49- Enhancing Athletic Speed Beyond Isolated Tests 59:59- Tailored Athletic Programs for Individual Performance Gains 1:06:03- Customized Assessment for Enhanced Athletic Performance 1:07:48- Optimizing Performance Through Individualized Asymmetry Analysis Quotes "If you have a strength coach standing behind you, hollering at you to get deeper, you're gonna find a way to get deeper however you can, right?" - Scott Salwasser “I actually did force-velocity profiling, I think it was my second year (of high school coaching). I'm like, okay, I'm gonna just really be over the top here and we're gonna get it. And to oversimplify it, basically told me that we were bad at everything. - Scott Salwasser “Even at the high school level, is you have a kid run a sprint, that's laser time, he's going to run harder. You have a kid, you're working on explosive strength or speed strength or any avenue in the weight room, you get a VBT feedback on that, the bar is going to move faster” - Scott Salwasser “Within a healthy scope, and everybody's got to define their own “healthy scope” of variability, But within that, you're going to be better at one thing slightly worse than another. But at what point does it red flag” - Scott Salwasser "Force and strength with a barbell on your back or in your hands are not the exact same thing." - Scott Salwasser “Asymmetrical. But it's 5% difference. So we'll keep it in mind. But we're not going to go crazy over it. Oh, it's 30%. All right. Maybe he's not gonna do these exercises. He's gonna get extra, you know, PT and we're gonna take these lifts out and replace them with these” - Scott Salwasser About Scott Salwasser Coach Salwasser is a sports performance specialist at EXOS in the Dallas area. He has previously served as the Head of Athletic Performance for Bishop Lynch High School, Director of Speed & Power at Texas Tech, the Director of Strength & Conditioning at Texas State, and as Assistant Director of Strength & Conditioning at Cal, South Carolina, and Washington State. He began his career as an Intern with the Oakland Raiders. He has a Masters's Degree in Kinesiology from Sacramento State University and a Bachelor's Degree from UC Davis, where he lettered in Football. He is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist.