Author: Dr Damian Harper (Founder of Human Braking Performance)
Given the significance of horizontal deceleration to athletes competing in multi-directional sports, there should be special interest devoted by sports science and medicine practitioners on how to optimally enhance their athlete’s horizontal deceleration ability. In other words, we want to improve our athlete’s ability to perform and be resilient to one of the most mechanically demanding tasks they will be exposed to during competitive match play! The Braking Performance Framework was published in September 2024 in the International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, with the aim of providing practitioners with practical recommendations and guidelines on how to enhance horizontal deceleration (Harper et al., 2024). Within this blog I wanted to provide a short overview of the framework and the training solutions that can be used to optimise preparation of your athlete’s horizontal deceleration and braking capabilities.
The Braking Performance Framework is illustrated below:
The key goals of the Braking Performance Framework are to:
1. Increase Braking Force Control
2. Increase Braking Force Attenuation
I have discussed the importance of these two goals in a previous blog where I define what horizontal deceleration ability is and the importance of this skill for sports performance and injury-risk reduction. It is also important to highlight that a key aim of the training solutions and targeted adaptations is to help protect the health of the athlete from the very high forces encountered when decelerating (i.e., help build damage resilience). This is why we have previously described deceleration as a ‘critical mediator’ that can moderate the athlete’s external movement behaviour and ability to perform other high-intensity actions such as sprinting, changing direction and jumping (Harper & Kiely, 2018). This aligns to the phrase “you will not speed up what you can’t slow down” and further highlights the importance of increasing your athlete’s horizontal deceleration ability for both performance and injury-risk reduction purposes.
Another important aspect of the Braking Performance Framework is the use and illustration of a ‘mixed method’ training approach that integrates exercise categories and training solutions targeting both local (i.e., general structure and function) and global (i.e., braking co-ordination/skill) specificity. Therefore, the different exercise categories and training solutions should be used interconnectedly to best promote transfer to enhancement of horizontal deceleration ability.
Horizontal Deceleration Ability
“A players ability to proficiently reduce whole body momentum, within the constraints, and in accordance with the specific objectives of the task (braking force control), whilst skilfully attenuating and distributing the forces associated with braking (braking force attenuation)“
Harper et al. (2022)
The Braking
Performance Framework contains 3 main exercise categories, each comprising key
goals (Table 1).
Table 1. Exercise categories within the Braking Performance Framework and key goals.
Exercise Category | Training Solutions | Key Goals |
Braking Elementary Exercises (BEE) | · High eccentric loading · Eccentric Yielding-Isometrics/Holding Isometric Muscle Actions (HIMA). · Pre-planned horizontal decelerations (no COD). · Assisted horizontal braking steps. · Eccentric landing control | · Target specific adaptations to muscle-tendon neuromechanical structural properties to enable players to produce and tolerate higher horizontal braking forces. · Increase ability to attenuate shock through lower limbs. · Enhance limb and trunk sensorimotor control (i.e., dynamic stabilisation). |
Braking Developmental Exercises (BDE) | · Fast eccentric loading · Fast concentric loading · Overcoming isometrics/Pushing-pulling isometric muscle actions (PIMA) · Oscillatory isometrics · Pre-planned horizontal decelerations with COD · Assisted horizontal decelerations | · Increase ability to produce high net braking forces in less time (i.e., braking impulse/braking rate of force development). |
Braking Performance Exercises (BPE) | · Unanticipated horizontal decelerations · Contextual horizontal decelerations · Game-specific horizontal decelerations (i.e., small-medium-large-sided games). | · Enhance braking skills under constraints specific to the competitive environment (i.e., game-representative braking). |
Within each exercise category practitioners can choose a range of training solutions to target the required adaptations underpinning enhanced horizontal deceleration ability. For more detailed coverage of these training solutions and programming considerations readers should consult the full Braking Performance Framework article that can be accessed here. Also, in future blogs (keep tuned) I am going to focus in on some of these specific training solutions and how they help to enhance your athlete’s horizontal deceleration and braking capabilities. However, for now here is an example of a couple of exercises demonstrated by Chris Cervantes (Assistant S&C Coach, Houston Texans NFL) that are included in the Braking Performance Framework article. Here you can see assisted braking steps from the Braking Elementary exercise category (Video 1) and fast eccentric loading from the Braking Developmental exercise category (Video 2).
Video 1: Assisted 2-step braking sequence with use of 1080 Sprint.
Video 2: Fast eccentric hand supported rear foot elevated split squat with band assistance
In conclusion, unlike horizontal acceleration and maximum sprinting speed capabilities little attention has been directed towards training strategies aimed at improving an athlete’s horizontal deceleration and braking performance capabilities. The Braking Performance Framework provides practitioners with a selection of evidence-informed training methods to optimize the preparation of an athlete’s ability to perform and tolerate repeated horizontal decelerations during match play.
Dr Damian Harper is the founder of Human Braking Performance. He has consulted with many high-performance organisations and technology companies around the assessment and training of horizontal deceleration and braking performance. For enquires around consultancy, speaking or individual and group staff CPD please enquire through the Human Braking Performance website here.
References
Harper, D. J., Cervantes, C., Van Dyke, M., Evans, M., McBurnie, A., Dos’ Santos, T., Eriksrud, O., Cohen, D., Rhodes, D., Carling, C., & Kiely, J. (2024). The Braking Performance Framework: Practical recommendations and guidelines to enhance horizontal deceleration ability in multi-directional sports. International Journal of Strength and Conditioning, 4(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.47206/ijsc.v4i1.351
Harper, D. J., & Kiely, J. (2018). Damaging nature of decelerations: Do we adequately prepare players? BMJ Open Sport & Exercise Medicine, 4, e000379. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjsem-2018-000379
Harper, D. J., McBurnie, A. J., Santos, T. D., Eriksrud, O., Evans, M., Cohen, D. D., Rhodes, D., Carling, C., & Kiely, J. (2022). Biomechanical and neuromuscular performance requirements of horizontal deceleration: A review with implications for random intermittent multi-directional sports. Sports Medicine, 52(10), 2321–2354. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40279-022-01693-0