Pioneer Valley Youth Sports and Fitness Institute

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A Performance Pyramid Model

Some athletes believe the best way to excel at their particular sport of interest is to master those sport-specific skills pertaining to that sport (i.e.,better ball handling for basketball, accuracy for football quarterbacks, stick handling for field hockey). Although important, sport-specific skills alone will not make a better athlete; think about what is happening with the body while performing sport-specific skills. First and foremost, the body is moving in various planes of movement. Second, the body is producing power, demonstrating strength, speed, and agility. Lastly, the body is performing the sport skill necessary for an activity or position. If athletes are first able to optimize movement patterns of a sport, followed by movement efficiency (i.e., speed, power, agility, etc.), and finally sports skill, the full athletic potential can be discovered.

Gray Cook, Lee Burton and Keith Fields devised the optimum performance pyramid. It consists of three levels. Level one, the base, represents the ability of an athlete to move through fundamental patterns, functional movements. Next, the second level, movement efficiency, defined as power, gross athleticism. Thirdly, the top of the pyramid is sport sport-specific skill, the athlete’s ability to do a given activity, play a specific sport or position.

Level one, the broadest of all levels, focuses the athlete to discover a full range of movement and demonstrate movement awareness throughout numerous positions. If an athlete does not have a first level broader than the second level, the athlete is producing a significant amount of power however; there are many restrictions and limitations in functional movement thus reducing the athlete’s ability to perform at an optimal level.

Level two, diminished in size from the first, represents movement efficiency in the sense of measurable power or gross athleticism. If an athlete is under powered, excellent freedom of movement is observed but movement efficiency or power is poor. This individual has the requisite movement patterns to perform multiple tasks, activities and sports skills, but lacks gross athleticism or the ability to produce power in simple movement patterns. This individual would benefit greatly from power training, plyometric training, or weight training.

Level three, diminished in size from the second, identifies an athlete’s ability to perform a sport-specific activity, position, or skill. If the athlete is under skilled, a situation where the movement pattern and efficiency, or power generation in the first two blocks of the pyramid, are adequate. However, analysis of skill and sport performance demonstrates an overall weakness or below-average performance. Athletes in this category appear to be appropriately conditioned but not appropriately skilled. This individual would probably benefit most from technique training to refine or improve mechanics or to develop a greater awareness of the movement needed to perform skill at a higher level.

The body’s movement inefficiencies underlie strength, endurance, coordination, speed, agility and power problems, as well as, the ability to master a sport-specific skill. If athlete’s can first move freely, then move freely with efficiency or power, and finally move freely with efficiency or power while performing a sport-specific skill than athletic potential will be unleashed. An athlete’s ability to understand how to reach their full athletic potential can be difficult. The performance pyramid although, not the end-all-be-all to become the ultimate athlete, is a simple and effective way to keep body balance in check.

Len Haggerty is a Sports Performance coach and owns STRIDES Performance & Wellness, Inc. in Northampton, MA. He provides an experience for youths, athletes, and adults of all ages and abilities to discover their athletic potential. Contact Len at len@strideshpi.net.