I know you are thinking, why is there a picture of NFL All Pro Darrelle Revis matched up with one of the best athletes on the planet Ochocinco in a basketball blog?
The answer is simple. One of the hardest positions in sports is to match up on a 6’5 WR who runs a 4.4 40yd dash and lock him up. Check above picture: look at his balance; look at the distance between his feet; look at the contact points. All these factors lead to a world class defensive stopper.
Often in today’s game, players are encouraged to get LOW on defense. Get low mentality is screamed but not taught. Without the proper form, most athletes cheat in their low back and become quad dominant as a result.
3 Quick Fixes to a bad stance:
Overall lack knowledge of the proper squat and weak posterior chain result in most poor stances.
1. Feet are too wide, and there is no leverage in a wide stance–w/o leverage there is no power to change direction and balance comes from the ground up.
2. Feet out at an angle, outside the knees. Feet should be North and South, shoulder width apart, and minimal external rotation.
3. Quad dominance, when athletes slide forward in their stance resulting in pressure to be put onto front of leg instead of activating the back of legs,resulting in more stress upon the knee joint (patella knee pain is a common symptom’s among young athletes who are quad dominant).
Key Physical Cues to an All Pro Stance:
1. Feet Shoulder width apart, squared up
2. Posture proud ability, to keep shoulders back and activate core
3. Big toes are focal point for contact and force production
4. Hips at a 3-5% grade anterior tilt
5. Glutes and hamstrings activated
Open committed stance, a common mistake.
