Refs, Umpires, and Judges, Oh My! Performance Training is Not Just for Athletes

Athletic PerformanceAwesomeBaseball
Written By Sarah Walls

If you could discern from the somewhat cryptic title, this month's theme will be athletic performance training for referees, umpires, and judges of sporting events. These brave men and women, dashing and dodging players, balls, and sticks, also require performance training that is equal to that of the players that watch. For example, did you know that a study of English Premier League soccer (football, really for everyone else in the world besides Americans) refs ran an average of 9.5 km (that's 5.9 miles) in one game?!

Not to mention the facts that refs are typically 10-15 years older than the players and they're running that distance while looking sideways.

And let's not forget the hazards of being a ref:

And this:

It's a tough job being on the authoratative side of sports. SAPT is here to help out! Stay tuned this month as we explore various aspects of training for referees, umpires, and judges.

Sarah Walls
A little about me: I've worked in pretty much every corner of the fitness industry for about 10 years. I've had the great fortune of spending most of this time working with gifted athletes at every level. I've also had the great opportunity of designing and conducting research projects, writing occasionally for various publications and blogs, competing in powerlifting, and just generally having a killer time pursuing my passions wherever they may take me. Now I own two businesses: one is an athletic performance training company that I started in 2007 at age 26 and the other is a software company startup that was launched in 2014. Paramount to all the awesomeness of my professional career, is my family. My kids are a thrill and my husband continues to be my most critical and important supporter.
www.strengthboss.com
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Conditioning Strategies for Field Refs (Including Basketball and Hockey Refs)
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Mental Break from Sport