Damian Harper is our guest on this week’s Pacey Performance Podcast, bringing with him a wealth of wide-ranging experience in coaching and strength and conditioning. Damian is currently working in the Institute of Coaching and Performance at UCLAN, supervising students on professional masters and doctorates in elite performance. He’s also a member of UCLAN’s newly developed football performance hub, developing the human braking research group following his PhD.
Prior to his time with UCLAN, Damian lectured in exercise physiology at York St John University, coached at the Bobby Charlton Soccer School, and earned his master’s degree while working with sports clubs in his local area. One of which was St. Albans Rugby Club, where he developed the 10/05 repeated jump test. This test, amongst other jump testing options, and deceleration testing and training, is what he discusses today.
With a huge depth of academic and first-hand experience of strength and conditioning harking back to his days as a footballer, there are very few individuals better placed to give their insight into S&C. Listen to this week podcast below to learn more about how Damian builds effective deceleration and change of direction, without succumbing to injury.
This week’s topics:
Improving movement, strength training, and the academy > first team transition in football with Callum Walsh, Ally Harris & Chris Haslam
S&C in schools, managing parents and the school to performance connection with Scott Drawer, Alan Richardson & Graham Williams
Force vector theory, glute development and the role of hip extension in speed development with Bret Contreras (Coach, Researcher and Owner of Glute Lab)
Mindfulness practice and its link to increased athlete physical performance with Pete Kirchmer (Mindfulness Coach & Director of mPEAK)
Load management, in-season training, and recovery in ice hockey with Matt Price (Head Strength & Conditioning Coach at LA Kings)
Sleep science; sleeping pills, devrivation, insomnia and strategies to improve athlete sleep with Meeta Singh (Service Chief & Section Head at the Henry Ford Sleep Disorder Centre)
Skill based conditioning & periodisation stratgies in football with Tom Little (Head of Performance at Preston North End FC & Founder of Colour-Fit)
Jump training and plyometrics, resisted sprint progressions and sprint analysis with Håkan Andersson (Sprint Coach and Senior Advisor/Lecturer at the High Performance Center in Växjö, Sweden)
Injury risk reduction strategies; best practice, using technology and departmental integration with Kevin Kikugawa (Head Football Athletic Trainer at Northwestern University)
Coaching young athletes; obstacle courses, gymnastics and integrating multisports into a programme with Jeremy Frisch (Owner and Director of Achieve Performance Training)
Working with Andy Murray, dealing with injuries and load management in tennis with Matt Little (Strength & Conditioning Coach at Team Murray)
High intensity interval training; designing sessions, small sided games and skill based conditioning in the MLS with Pierre Barrieu (High Performance Practitioner)
Run-specific isometrics; the when, the what and the how with Alex Natera (Head of Strength & Power at GWS Giants)
Hamstring injuries; rehabilitation, prevention and eccentric & isometric training with Jurdan Mendiguchia (Physiotherapist, Researcher & Injury Consultant)
Lessons and key principles from 20+ years in the AFL with Glenn Stewart (High Performance Manager at West Coast Eagles)
Velocity based training and its integration with auto-regulatory training (APRE) with Bryan Mann (Assistant Professor of Kinesiology & Sport Sciences at the University of Miami)
Calisthenics, bullet proof shoulders and progressions and regressions of core stability training with Tim Stevenson & David Jackson (Co-founders & Directors of School of Calisthenics)
Building performance teams, platforms, and assessing team culture with Steve Tashjian (Head of Performance at US Men's National Team)
Working in esports; cognitive training, demands placed on esports athletes, and recovery around travel with Taylor Johnson (Chief Performance Engineer at Statespace Gaming Company)
Balancing scientific 'best practice' with real-world constraints in football with Scott Guyett (Head of Sports Science and Strength & Conditioning at Crystal Palace FC)
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