While many coaches concentrate on teaching drills unique to their game, sports performance specialists emphasize improving each athlete’s foundational fitness. That way, you can excel in any sport you choose.
Why Sports Performance Training Is Sports-Agnostic
A common question we hear is: Why not offer specialized instruction for individual sports like soccer or basketball? While specific sports skills are important, youth sports performance training programs focus on the underlying athletic components that every player needs. Strength, flexibility, explosive power, balance, and coordination transcend the boundaries of any one game. By developing these core attributes, athletes create a solid base on which to build sport-specific mechanics during their regular season.
During the off-season, many athletes work on intense skill drills with their in-season coaches. However, these workouts might not address broader strength deficits, muscle imbalances, or power development gaps. Sports performance training fills that void. Off-season sessions use sports performance training equipment — such as agility ladders, resistance bands, and medicine balls — to maintain and improve an athlete’s fitness. In-season programs also help athletes stay resilient, preventing burnout and reducing the likelihood of overuse injuries.
What Makes Sports Performance Training Beneficial?
Below is a detailed list of the benefits of sports performance training and insights into how training can improve your performance in your sport or your fitness.
- Enhanced Strength and Power
- Consistent strength-training sessions help build lean muscle mass. A study from the Journal of Sport and Health Science found that athletes who engaged in a resistance program consistently improved muscle mass, strength, and physical function compared to those who did not. This increase translates into greater power, which boosts sprint speed, jumping ability, and overall explosiveness.
- Improved Speed and Agility
- Through drills involving reaction time and quick directional changes, you can develop faster footwork and acceleration. This proves critical in sports like football or basketball, where an explosive first step can be the difference between success and getting beaten to the ball.
- Better Coordination and Balance
- Targeted exercises help stabilize your core and refine motor patterns. As you become more coordinated, you reduce your risk of falls and improve your overall biomechanics, which plays a direct role in injury prevention.
- Reduced Risk of Injury
- Sports performance training incorporates functional movements that condition the muscles and joints to work in harmony. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), proper strength and conditioning can decrease the risk of overuse injuries and speed up recovery time if injuries do occur.
- Increased Endurance
- High-intensity interval workouts help athletes sustain peak performance for a longer duration. This endurance edge not only benefits marathoners or distance runners but also soccer players or any other athlete who must run extensively during a match.
- Boosted Confidence and Mental Resilience
- Structured training leads to tangible progress. Watching your speed times drop or your vertical jump height increase can elevate self-confidence, which often translates into stronger performances under pressure.
- Versatility Across Sports
- Because these exercises develop universal athletic skills, the improvements carry over no matter which game you play. That’s why the best sports performance training is frequently described as “sports-agnostic.”
Why It’s Necessary Outside Regular Season Training
Many athletes think their in-season practices and games are enough. However, a comprehensive sports performance training program addresses the physical development that sports-specific practice might overlook. In-season coaches typically focus on tactics, team strategies, and technique refinement. By contrast, performance specialists concentrate on improving raw athletic power and endurance to help you withstand the rigors of competition.
Off-season is ideal for building strength, focusing on injury prevention, and correcting form issues. At the same time, in-season training can prevent performance plateaus. According to the journal Sports Medicine, maintaining strength gains through lower-volume workouts during competition helps athletes stay resilient and recover faster.
Where to Find Youth Sports Performance Training Programs
Organizations like the UPSWING Foundation specialize in creating programs that help young athletes build a strong foundation in athletic development. Our youth sports performance training programs offer sessions year-round, empowering athletes to incorporate agility and strength work into their routines without conflicting with on-field demands. Our state-of-the-art facility — USPWING Centennial — is the first dedicated space built to deliver the UPSWING experience to aspiring athletes of all backgrounds in Denver and the surrounding communities with world-class services.
In addition to on-site sessions, we provide resources to make training more accessible. UPSWING Foundation offers sports performance training scholarships to ensure more athletes can participate regardless of financial barriers. You can also learn more about us at UPSWING Foundation and discover how these programs can shape a brighter athletic future for your child.
Getting Started and Supporting the Cause
Ready to improve your athletic skills? Visit UPSWING Foundation’s programs to learn more about curated high-intensity workouts, speed drills, and sports performance training equipment designed for all skill levels. If you’re passionate about helping young athletes access high-performance training for sports, consider supporting UPSWING Foundation’s mission. You can donate now to provide resources, facilities, and coaching opportunities to kids who need them most.
If you’re still wondering how training can improve your performance in your sport or your fitness — the evidence is clear. Strengthening foundational athletic skills yields measurable improvements in both on-field performance and long-term health. As you progress, your confidence grows, and you become more versatile across different sports.
By embracing a specialized yet sports-agnostic training approach, you set yourself on a path toward becoming a more complete athlete. From building raw power to minimizing injury risks, sports performance training programs are the key to unlocking your maximum potential — no matter which sport or activity you love.
UPSWING Foundation was founded in 2020 by Harmony and Jason Myers as a Colorado-based nonprofit with a vision to connect people and catapult dreams. We know access to sports, education, and other opportunities is too often limited by barriers such as socioeconomic factors. We also know all kids should have an equal opportunity to experience sports, to learn and grow, to connect with others, and to discover and pursue their dreams.
Our mission is to develop strong, confident, successful student-athletes who are able to give back to their communities in meaningful ways. We can do that by crushing barriers that limit access. We work to crush those barriers by:
- Developing high-quality programming to support athletes, their families, and our communities
- Creating world-class amateur sports campuses that integrate multiple sports, fields, training, and educational spaces
- Ensuring access to programming and facilities through dedicated scholarship and support programs
- Partnering with and supporting likeminded organizations to create opportunities for aspiring athletes and our communities
If you’re interested in supporting young athletes, you can learn more about what we do, view our partnership packages, or donate to support our critical work!
If you want to sign up for Sports Performance Training at UPSWING Centennial, you can do this by either downloading the “UPSWING Foundation” app on the App Store or Google Play, or by visiting our website.
ABOUT UPSWING FOUNDATION:
UPSWING Foundation, a Colorado nonprofit corporation, exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code, is the only youth sports foundation based in Colorado’s mile-high training grounds that provides access to world-class programs alongside top athletes for kids of all backgrounds in order to connect people and catapult dreams. Where access to sports and other opportunities is often limited by barriers such as socioeconomic factors, the UPSWING Foundation works to crush those barriers by creating first-in-class, accessible programming and training spaces to develop strong, confident, successful student-athletes who are able to pursue their dreams and give back to their communities in meaningful ways. To learn more, visit us at upswingfoundation.org.
Main Office:
1746 Cole Blvd, Ste 300,
Lakewood, CO 80401
contact@upswingfoundation.org
(720) 608-0259
ABOUT UPSWING CENTENNIAL:
UPSWING Centennial is the first dedicated space built to deliver the UPSWING experience to aspiring athletes in Denver and the surrounding communities with world-class services in performance training, dance, and recovery.
UPSWING Centennial:
7460 S University Blvd, Centennial, CO 80122
facilities@upswingfoundation.org
(720) 500-5100
