Our fifth presenter is one that has been a long time coming. Justin Kavanaugh is not just a great practitioners but he’s also a “coaches coach”. Not only leading by example but helping professionals through mentorship and meetings around the country to ensure coaches are moving forward and driving our profession forward. He also works with a lot of people who get better and are super fast. Tie that in with the fact that he’s been a voice of reason for me, and a driving factor behind all the moves we have made here at CVASPS and you can now see why having Coach Kav on the stage has been a long time coming, I couldn’t be more excited to welcome Justin to the stage and hope you are as fired up for him to be part of the event as well. With out further ado, let’s meet Justin Kavanaugh.
JD: If you could, please give our readers a little background information about you, what your niche in the world of athletics is, accomplishments, how you got there, education, any products you have available and/or notable publications.
JK: Justin Kavanaugh has been coaching for over 18 years and is the #1 best-selling author of the book Man Up. He has trained over 50,000 athletes, helped prepare hundreds of College and future NFL players for their Combines and Pro Days. He has a wealth of training and business experience in the field and is regarded as one of the top speed experts in the country. His ability to assess and breaking down biomechanics to correct sport movement is what he attributes to enhance sport transfer. Some of the athletes Coach Kavanaugh has worked with include standouts such as Olympic Gold medalist Justin Gatlin, UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, 3rd overall MLB draft pick Eric Hosmer, the USA Women’s Softball Team and NCAA Touchdown and Rushing leader Keenan Reynolds. His emphasis on the complete athlete, mind, body, and spirit, are what he attributes to his and their success. He is currently the CEO of The Sport and Speed Institute in Chantilly, VA.
JD: Discuss with us the mistakes you see made by strength and conditioning coaches in the United States and around the world, and what you feel should be done differently/how to correct these issues.
JK: The biggest mistakes I see with coaches is that they don’t study the sport. They look through the lens of a S&C coach. In order to make an impact on performance you need to see and recognize what is the weak link and address that. By not watching the game and understand the strategy being implemented by the sport you are missing so many opportunities in the weight room to help your athletes succeed.
JD: What advice would you give a coach to improve knowledge in the lines of continuing education, meaning could you point our readers in a direction to find the scientific and practical information to improve the methods they use to improve performance?
JK: In regards to coaches education. I would stop reading anything new and cool and make sure you read from the source. It is my belief that the science has not evolved much from the earlier years and that we should get in the minds of the original sources of sport training and science. Dr. Verkoshansky, Tudor Bompa, Ian King and Henk Kraaijenhof. If you want to grow as a coach you need to have skin in the game. Work with athletes and communicate with other coaches but you should have a sound understanding of the principles that came before you so your opinion can actually hold some weight one day.
JD: If you could give a brief description of what our attendees can expect from you at The Seminar?
JK: What you can expect from my presentations at CVASPS is practical strategies that you can implement with your athletes on assessing speed and sport movement. The program design that I will cover is what I actually have done with my athletes in preparation for the NFL Combine and Olympic Cycles. You can see the changes I have made when things went wrong and the programs that produces some of the fastest times in sport. I don’t get to experiment much because most athletes come to me with a timeframe and a lot on the line. You will get an inside look at how I assess speed and make adjustments based on the athletes needs.
JD: Any closing thoughts Kav?
JK: What I am looking forward to this year at the seminar is helping coaches look at the whole picture and get out of this tunnel vision approach we have with Strength and Conditioning.
Who is Justin Kavanaugh?
Justin Kavanaugh has been coaching for over 18 years and is the #1 best-selling author of the book Man Up. He has trained over 50,000 athletes, helped prepare hundreds of College and future NFL players for their Combines and Pro Days. He has a wealth of training and business experience in the field and is regarded as one of the top speed experts in the country. His ability to assess and breaking down biomechanics to correct sport movement is what he attributes to enhance sport transfer. Some of the athletes Coach Kavanaugh has worked with include standouts such as Olympic Gold medalist Justin Gatlin, UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia, 3rd overall MLB draft pick Eric Hosmer, the USA Women’s Softball Team and NCAA Touchdown and Rushing leader Keenan Reynolds. His emphasis on the complete athlete, mind, body, and spirit, are what he attributes to his and their success. He is currently the CEO of The Sport and Speed Institute in Chantilly, VA.
Grab your seat for this summers MUST ATTEND continuing education event here!
