Shepherd Sports Performance
Our Vision
Be the premier NCAA DII sports performance program at developing student-athletes to be the best version of themselves.
Mission Statement
Shepherd Sports Performance aims to create a high-energy, positive, and competitive training environment that functions as an asset to our student-athletes and athletic department. Our programs are designed to attack every aspect of performance potential in a way that provides the greatest opportunity for sustained success.
Core Values
R - Relentless Intent
A - Authentic Love
M - Meticulous Detail
S - Savage Competitiveness
Performance Team Goals
1. Minimize the likelihood of injury
2. Improve performance potential
3. Develop meaningful relationships centered around building character, accountability, ownership, and competitiveness
Principle-Based Performance
Specificity:
- Performance specificity centers around two main components. The first is a deep understand of sport demands. In order to truly provide our athletes with the highest performance potential we must understand the requirements placed on them from sport. By looking at common injuries, key tasks and demands, and individual athlete requirements, we can reverse engineer training to ensure athletes are prepared to excel in these essential areas. The second revolves around the S.A.I.D principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands). The S.A.I.D principle simply states that the body adapts to the tasks it is asked to perform. This is essential to understand as we can then analyze what types of stressors are being put on the athletes and refining our priorities and training plans to best ensure elite levels of preparedness.
Overload:
- In order to become elite, training must be stimulating enough to drive adaptation over time. Continuous adaptation requires both significant and consistent change and data-informed decision making that pushes our athletes to be the absolute best version of themselves possible.
Progression:
- Training continues to need specificity and overload as athletes develop. Progression involves understanding the physical, psychological, technical, and tactical components of each sport and, in conjunction with understand the individual athlete, designing training phases to consistently build upon each other, leading to long-term adaptation.
Variation:
- Each and every sport is inherently unpredictable. We believe the systematic structuring of training to expose our athletes to the variety of positions, patterns, and stressors that may be asked of them during sport provides the best opportunity for improvement and longevity.
Periodization:
- The placement of appropriate training modalities, during appropriate times of the year, for the appropriate group of athletes to ensure development is continuous and holistic.
Quality Coaching:
- We believe our athletes deserve the pinnacle of what our department has to offer and work tirelessly to ensure relationships are genuine and meaningful. This allows us to coach relentlessly, drive intent, and create belief in the plan.
Continuous Refinement:
- Shepherd Sports Performance is dedicated to providing an elite training system and environment. This means that our staff is constantly analyzing and adjusting our programming, coaching, scheduling, and education to make sure our athletes are receiving the highest quality of service.
Education:
- Education is the foundation of sustained success. True understanding leads to actionable change, and it is vital to create an environment that challenges athletes' capacity to learn and apply the principles of physical and mental growth.
