You are definitely making sense but I don't think what I wrote should be over-analyzed. My comments came from a research study conducted on kids that have poor motor control. The research was in a controlled environment and results were based upon comparisons between dependent and independent groups. The possibility exists that the kids were responding only to testing measures so the results could potentially be inaccurate. A recent study that was just published says that left-handed women are more likely to get breast cancer. I'm sure the research methods make sense but people are now making a big deal of something that is most likely a crock of shit.
The point is that research isn't everything, but some thoughts that can be extracted from this research could hold some validity when training athletes.
It makes sense that if an athlete doesn't know what it feels like to perform an action correctly, how do they know the feeling or the action is truly correct? It's difficult to re-create every situation that could occur in sport to help the athlete learn what it should feel like but you can control certain attributes through training.
One in particular attribute is teaching acceleration. Leaning a young athlete against a wall and correcting the lean while the athlete works on driving the knees up with a dorsi-flexed toe is one example. The athlete can get the "feel" of what an accelerated lean feels like. Using a coach resisted harness can provide the same effect just as long as the coach knows what he's doing. Sprint resistance is great but many coaches have to rely on visual and biofeedback cues to develop acceleration in an athlete. With a coach controlled sprint resistance harness, the coach can control the lean and offer just enough resistance to improve speed while also giving the athlete the proper "feel" of what acceleration should be.
Thanks again for the feedback. I hope I've been able to make this a little clearer from my viewpoint.
Will Haskell
Athletic Development Specialist
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