Andri Freyr

Periodic testing feels like science. But when was the last time a vertical jump result changed your training plan? Monitoring is what actually moves the needle. A few years ago I ran a testing session with a squad. Vertical jump, both double leg and single leg. I was the fitness coach. Testing felt like the right thing to do. It felt professional. So we did it. Two results surprised me. One of the fastest players on the team jumped significantly lower than I expected. And one of the players...

A team that runs 12km per player and loses may have worked harder than the team that ran 10km and won. That gap is where things get interesting. Picture two games. In the first, your team controls possession from the start. Quick decisions, intelligent movement, the opposition chasing shadows. You win comfortably. The GPS numbers are modest. In the second game you win again — but this time the numbers are significantly higher. Your players ran more because they gave the ball away more. They...

The athlete who builds gradually almost always outlasts the one who builds fast. Here's why that isn't obvious and why it should be. Everyone remembers the hare. Fast out of the blocks, full of confidence, completely certain that speed alone is enough. What we forget is that the hare's problem wasn't laziness; it was the assumption that more, faster, sooner is always better. In sport and in training, that assumption is one of the most expensive mistakes you can make. The principle of...