Vern Gambetta's Page

With the instant availability of thousands of drills on the Internet I wanted to give some of my ideas on using drills effectively. My first question always is: Does the drill lead to something? If it just something you learned at a clinic or saw on the internet that looks then think again before using it. No drill is an end unto itself. Can you design a progression involving the drill that will enhance what comes after?…

What are disadvantages of using unstable surfaces? The inherent disadvantage of using unstable surfaces is that the ground moves under you. This only happens in a few sports. If the surface is too far away from the normal competition surface there is a risk of developing a skill set that makes them able to handle the very unstable surface but has no relationship to the actual activity. The danger is that overuse of the…

Lets take a quick look at how using unstable surfaces in training evolved from my personal perspective. About 25 years ago I began to experiment using unstable surfaces with healthy athletes after observing that athletes coming back for ankle sprains and even ACL tears seemed to have better functional balance and control of their bodies. I felt that if we could incorporate what they had done in rehab with healthy…

Do not use testing to:

Select a team; team selection should be based on results in the competitive arena of the actual sport. Tests can verify what you see or do not see in the competitive arena, but they should not be the sole criteria for team selection.…