Today’s podcast guests are Vern Gambetta and James de Lacey. James is a strength and conditioning coach and sports scientist with extensive professional rugby experience. He is the founder of Sweet Science of Fighting and host of its podcast, specializing in combat sports performance. Vern is a pioneer in athletic development with over 50 years of coaching experience, including work with the Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, and U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. He is also the founder of the GAIN Network and an accomplished author.
On today’s show, Vern and James dive into the development of agility and game speed, challenging conventional approaches to change of direction training. They discuss the limitations of speed ladders and isolated drills, the importance of rhythm and tempo, and the role of small-sided games in building adaptable athletes. Topics include movement variability, reactive decision-making, and creative training environments, along with how coaches can better integrate physical preparation with sport skills to develop more instinctive, capable athletes.
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Topics
0:00 – Rethinking the Speed Ladder
6:50 – Footwork, Rhythm, and Coordination
17:16 – Change of Direction vs. Agility
23:28 – Moving Beyond Agility Drills
31:32 – Teaching Cutting and Movement Solutions
37:07 – Games and Small-Sided Training
43:05 – Overcoaching Athletic Movement
48:56 – Integrating the Training Process
54:12 – Environment as the Coach
58:49 – Preparing for the Demands of the Game
1:01:11 – Building Better Agility Games
Vern Gambetta Quotes
“Feet don’t work independent of the rest of the body.”
“The human body is tuned to that. So that’s a big piece of this whole topic to me about agility and speed and that. It’s just rhythm and tempo are the key to all of this.”
“We’re hung up on drills, agility drills, change of direction drills, most of which have no cognitive component, no reaction component, and no understanding of what happens after you change direction.”
“You’re an athlete first and then a cricket player. You’re an athlete first and a basketball player. And allow them to express themselves through movement.”
“Artificial speed or fake fundamentals don’t prepare you for the increasing speed of the game and creativity.”
“Stop them before they’re knackered… Change it up a lot, and you’ll get the cumulative effect without taking away the movement quality.”
James DeLacey Quotes
“Footwork is contextual to whatever’s in the environment.”
“You can’t train footwork in isolation.”
“The only way to really develop this is in context of the sport and then be shown all the different scenarios.”
“You need to create an environment where the athletes can express and play.”
“You need to make mistakes in training. It’s the whole kind of point of training.”
“You don’t want to put fear in players for making mistakes. You want them to express themselves.”
“You can’t just do the game… because you end up in the same positions, the same rhythms, the same tempos.”
“You need to create an environment where the athletes can express and play.”
“You need to make mistakes in training. It’s the whole kind of point of training.”
“You can’t just do the game… because you end up in the same positions, the same rhythms, the same tempos.”
About Vern Gambetta
Vern Gambetta is a pioneer in athletic development and functional training, with over 50 years of coaching experience across professional, collegiate, and Olympic sports. He has served as Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox, Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets, and conditioning coach for the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team. Vern is the founder of the GAIN Network, co-founder of the USA Track & Field coaching education program, and author of several influential books on athletic development and sports performance.
About James DeLacey
James de Lacey is a strength and conditioning coach, sports scientist, and founder of Sweet Science of Fighting, where he also hosts the Sweet Science of Fighting Podcast. He has extensive experience in professional and international rugby, including coaching roles with Romanian Rugby, Austin Elite, and New Zealand rugby league teams. James holds a master’s degree in Sport and Exercise Science, has published peer-reviewed research, and specializes in combat sports performance and athletic development.
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