Just Fly Performance Podcast

<p>Jamie Smith joins me to discuss his transition from gym ownership into full-time education and coach mentorship. </p> <p>We dive into client-led exploration, simplifying movement assessment, avoiding nocebo language, and helping athletes discover better movement solutions without overcoaching. </p> <p>Jamie also shares his thoughts on breathing drills, ribcage mechanics, strength technique, sensory versus motor learning, and why good coaching often comes down to creating better environments for athletes to feel, explore, and learn.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses</p>

<p>In this episode, Ted Kroeten joins me to explore free play, underloading, and the idea of movement as a language. We discuss why great athletes often emerge from less-structured environments, how excessive coaching can interfere with creativity and fluency, and why doing less can sometimes produce better performance. Ted also shares lessons from Joy of the People, Brazilian soccer culture, ecological dynamics, late development, and the ideas behind his book, The Talent Thief.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and Lila Exogen.</p>

<p>In this show, Kristina Centenari explores the connection between breathing, nervous-system literacy, and athletic performance. </p> <p>We discuss her journey from Division I tennis to endurance sport, managing pressure and frustration, building awareness of physiological stress, and using breath training to improve composure. </p> <p>Kristina also breaks down breathing “gears” for runners, the relationship between relaxation and high performance, and why learning when to release tension may be just as important as learning to produce it.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength</p>

<p>In this episode, Clifton Harski discusses athleticism through the lens of movement variety, adaptability, and lifelong physical practice. </p> <p>He explores his background in jumping and multi-sport play, developing athletic kids without premature specialization, and why training should create opportunities to express athleticism. </p> <p>Clifton also dives into kettlebell training for rhythm, relaxation, explosiveness, multi-directional strength and deceleration, along with programming ideas that bridge traditional strength work, movement skill, and real-world athletic performance.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Athletic Fusion Cohort<br /> https://www.instagram.com/hammerstrengthofficial/<br /> https://justflysports.thinkific.com/courses/athletic-fusion</p>

<p>In this episode, Daniel Back gets into the role of variety, play, and subconscious learning in developing speed and athleticism. </p> <p>He discusses resisted sprinting, why he avoids over-coaching acceleration mechanics, lessons from the dunk community, and the value of broad movement experience. </p> <p>Dan also explores extensive tempo, longer sprints, training volume, and why specialization and constant measurement can sometimes limit long-term athletic development.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Vert Trainer</p>

<p>In this episode, Josh Bray discusses how endurance training shaped his coaching perspective, the role of games and hidden intention in athletic development, and how roughhousing and free play build adaptable movers. </p> <p>He also explores bucketing athletes as elastic, muscular, or hybrid, using force-plate data without overcomplicating the process, balancing readiness with meaningful training stress, and employing open-ended prescriptions that let athletes self-regulate volume while preserving intent, quality, and engagement.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength.</p>

<p>Joel Smith shares 20 coaching ideas that permanently reshaped how he trains athletes and himself. Drawing from influential books, mentors, training systems, personal experiments, and hard-earned mistakes, Joel explores intensity and recovery, potentiation, individualized strength, motor learning, games, rhythm, biomechanics, group dynamics, ritual, and athlete profiling. More than a list of methods, the episode traces his evolution from conventional programming toward a more adaptive, embodied, and human approach to performance.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses<br /> https://www.instagram.com/hammerstrengthofficial/<br /> https://justflysports.thinkific.com/</p>

<p>Ryan Paul talks about blending sprint training with high-intent isometrics, plyometrics, and force-absorption work to build faster, more resilient athletes. He discusses the influence of Jay Schroeder’s system, using readiness data to adjust training, and creating environments that deepen athlete buy-in and intent. Ryan also explores “New Athlete shape,” the value of training through controlled failure, and why speed development requires more than simply running harder or adding traditional strength.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength.</p>

<p>Kevin Mulcahy talks about using constraints to develop more complete athletes, helping gifted players move beyond their natural strengths, and designing practices that build decision-making, speed, and adaptability. </p> <p>He shares practical ideas for manipulating time, space, and rules to shape behavior, discusses balancing coordination work with game-based learning, and explains how individual athlete profiles, including explosive versus endurance-oriented players, should influence speed development, conditioning, and long-term injury prevention.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and Lila Exogen.</p>

<p>In this episode, Jake explores the principles that underpin resilient tendons and long-term athletic durability. The conversation covers key differences between Achilles and patellar tendon rehabilitation, how loading strategies should be adapted to each, and why avoiding dramatic peaks and valleys in training is essential for keeping tendons healthy. </p> <p>Jake also discusses the often-overlooked role of bone health and bone loading in performance, along with practical concepts coaches and athletes can use to build more robust, resilient lower limbs.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Vert Trainer</p>

<p>Scott Leech explores how constraints, games, and technology can enhance athletic development without sacrificing high-performance outcomes. Scott discusses adapting summer training around limited facilities, balancing speed and conditioning with GPS data, and using game-based drills to teach movement while maintaining athlete engagement. The conversation also dives into the psychology of coaching, variability in training, jump testing, vision work, and practical ways coaches can begin leveraging AI as a research assistant and organizational tool while preserving their own coaching philosophy and intuition.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Vert Trainer.</p>

<p>Today’s podcast guest is Joe Pedulla. Joe is a strength coach at the University of Oklahoma, where he oversees performance training for softball and women’s golf. Prior to Oklahoma, he coached in professional baseball with the Kansas City Royals organization and worked extensively in private-sector performance, helping athletes develop strength, speed, power, and resilience.</p> <p>This episode with Joe Pedulla explores how coaches can better identify what athletes truly need in speed, strength, and power development. Joe shares his path from small-college baseball player to SEC strength coach, including lessons from self-directed training, throwing development, and imperfect environments. The conversation dives into sprint profiling, athlete archetypes, resisted sprinting, tempo work, training buckets, and how coaches can balance general development with individualized performance needs.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Vert Trainer</p>

<p>In this episode, Julien explores resilience, energy allocation, and the deeper forces that shape athletic performance. He explains the phylogenetic hierarchy of the nervous system, how prior experiences influence behavior, and why emotions are better understood as questions rather than answers. The conversation also dives into competition, training environments, attention, and the role of meaningful challenge in athletic development. Throughout the discussion, Julien offers a unique perspective on performance that extends far beyond traditional strength and conditioning.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength</p>

<p>In this episode, Liz Gleadle shares insights about rhythm, throwing, emotional training, and the deeper human elements of performance. She discusses how hanging, rings, dance, breath, sound, and object-based play shaped her understanding of movement, coordination, and javelin technique. They also explore strength training, elasticity, gratitude, coaching energy, cultural rhythm, and how athletes can learn to move with more joy, confidence, reverence, and authentic physical expression.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses</p>

<p>In this episode, Dan shares insights from decades of coaching athletes, throwers, and everyday lifters through a practical, minimalist lens. The conversation explores sustainable strength training, the value of simplicity in program design, kettlebell training, athletic longevity, and how coaches can avoid overcomplicating performance. Dan also discusses lessons from his own competitive career, the importance of movement quality and consistency, and why the best training systems are often the ones athletes can successfully repeat for years.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Vert Trainer</p> <p>Use code “justfly10” for 10% off the Vert Trainer</p>

<p>Today’s podcast guest is Chris Korfist. Chris is a veteran speed coach and founder of Slow Guy Speed School, known for blending sprint biomechanics, neurology, and innovative training methods to help athletes improve acceleration, speed, and movement efficiency.</p> <p>In this episode, sprint coach, Chris Korfist dives into the intersection of speed development, neurology, biomechanics, and athletic performance. Chris shares insights from decades of coaching experience, discussing acceleration mechanics, movement efficiency, reflexive training, and the evolving role of technology in speed development. The conversation also explores how rhythm, coordination, and nervous system function influence elite performance, along with practical ways coaches can create more adaptable, resilient, and explosive athletes across a variety of sports and training environments.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and Lila Exogen.</p>

<p>On today’s episode, Gary Gray goes into a deep dive on movement literacy, biomechanics, and the power of variability in athletic development. Gary shares lessons from decades of coaching and rehabilitation, covering everything from locomotor patterns and rhythm to adductor function, sprint mechanics, and why authentic movement should “feel like a dance.” The conversation explores how coaches can better understand human movement through context, three-dimensionality, and the body’s natural problem-solving abilities.</p>

<p>Today’s podcast guest is Chris Chase. Chris is a strength coach and performance specialist with extensive NBA experience, known for integrating biomechanics, movement quality, and strength training into practical systems for basketball athletes, with an emphasis on durability, adaptable movement, and long-term athletic development.</p> <p>Chris Chase returns to discuss the evolution of modern sports performance training, from force outputs and plyometrics to deceleration mechanics, movement constraints, and load management in the NBA. Chris and Joel dive into the balance between “functional” and traditional strength work, the risks and rewards of plyometric training, resisted acceleration/deceleration methods, and why many athletes may benefit more from simplified, output-driven systems than excessive movement complexity. The conversation also explores basketball athleticism, reactive strength, tendon health, and the art of minimal effective dose training.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses</p>

<p>Today’s podcast guest is Ryan Banta. Ryan is a leading sprint coach at Parkway Central High School, known for blending sport science with practical training. He has guided athletes to multiple state championships and national-level success, and is the author of The Sprinter’s Compendium.</p> <p>In this episode, Ryan shares his unconventional path from politics to coaching, and how early success, and failure, shaped his evolution. He reflects on moving from ego-driven outcomes to athlete-centered development, emphasizing joy, community, and long-term retention. Banta dives into the growth of his “critical mass” system, blending speed, rest, and adaptability, while highlighting the importance of mentorship, self-reflection, and continual learning in building both performance and meaningful athlete experiences.</p> <p>Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and Lila Exogen.</p>

<p>Strength coach Dario Saisan joins to discuss how AI and research are evolving the field. We dive into biomechanics, skill acquisition, and why the next generation is moving toward adaptive systems that sharpen human intuition.</p>