Get an edge over the competition at Performance Athletics in Chester County

With just a few weeks left until the start of a new school year, many sports teams have begun their pre-season practices in anticipation of September games, matches and meets.

Terry Donnelly, who lives in St. Peter’s Village, Chester County, has gone the extra mile for her three daughters to get them individualized attention in preparation for swim, golf, track and dance, by having them train at Performance Athletics in North Coventry. One of the motivations was to give them an edge up.

“Setting themselves apart from the competition was definitely a motivation,” Donnelly said. “If they build the leaner muscle it’s going to make them better, faster and stronger.”

Donnelly was also concerned about her children being taught the proper mechanics of working out.

“I didn’t want them going into a gym and hurting themselves,” she said. “I wanted them to learn properly and do it right to prevent an injury.”

Through semi-private training, Performance Athletics offers customized programs that are tailored to each athlete based on the sport they play.

“We start out with a performance evaluation and from that, and input from the parents and kids on what they want to focus on, we then customize a program to help them improve where they need to improve the most,” said Doug Grosser, owner of Performance Athletics for the past twelve years. “We want to somewhat simulate what the demands of the sport will be.”

These days, most of his clients are baseball, field hockey, lacrosse and soccer players.

“It changes a lot,” Grosser said. “We had a lot of swimmers in the past and some basketball players.”

Body more prepared

Training well in advance of a sports season can get the body more prepared for the demand a sport places on it, as well as improves performance at the same time. The main components of a program at Performance Athletics typically include strength training, mobility work, conditioning, explosive power and agility.

“One of the main focuses of training is to reduce the likelihood that an injury can occur,” Grosser said. “If their bodies are strong and they have better mobility, they are less likely to get injured.”

Two of Donnelly’s children have been Division I swimmers in college and have been going to Performance Athletics for many years.

Her oldest, Brigid, 22, recently graduated from Old Dominion College, Virginia, and previously went to Performance Athletics regularly. Her middle child, Kiersten, 20, currently at Old Dominion, continues using Performance Athletics when home on vacation from school to keep up her physical fitness. Donnelly’s youngest daughter, Maeve, 17, a senior at Owen J. Roberts, recently started going twice a week.

“They have to keep up with their workouts and building strength,” Donnelly said. “Doug always talks to them about goals and keeping up and he’s very good about tailoring the workouts to suit their needs.”

Enjoy the camaraderie

With about five clients in each one-hour training session, Donnelly’s children have enjoyed the camaraderie.

“It’s a nice, diverse mix of people and it’s good for them to see that,” she said. “They say people have complimented them during the sessions and they enjoy that positive effect — they say, ‘I feel so good when I leave from Doug’s’.”

Donnelly likes the flexibility Doug offers for workouts and purchasing packages for semi-private sessions makes things more affordable and a worthy investment.

“My youngest is starting to realize that if she can build more lean muscle, it will help her,” she said.

Between the demands of practices and schoolwork during the school year, Grosser recommends athletes train with him once or twice a week. For pre-season workout training, he recommends two to three times per week, but during the school year he said that given some students are playing on travel teams on top of school teams and homework, time can be the biggest challenge.

“If it’s once a week during the the competitive season, we can maintain the levels they achieved prior to the season,” Grosser said. “When you stop the training, they lose some of what they gained prior, so we don’t want the physical attributes we improved to decline through the season — we want them to at least stay the same.”

Stand apart in a sport

Spring sports training usually begins in the fall and fall sports training usually begins in the spring, which provides the time necessary to enable your child to stand apart in a sport.

“If they are trying to get ready for a fall sport, it takes some time for the body to make adaptations,” he said.

If your child hasn’t invested the extra time in preparation, it’s not too late, but there is a certain area of focus that Grosser recommends.

“Now that we are two to three weeks out, in general most kids need to get stronger and most things improve when their strength improves,” Grosser said. “Their speed, agility and strength improves.”

Performance Athletics is a sports performance and personal training facility located in North Coventry Township. They provide individual instruction through a semi-private format. Training is by appointment. For more information, visit www.performanceathleticstraining.com or call 610-327-2570.