There are certain physical skills that every person possesses. The more evident these skills, the more athletic a person is. The less evident, the less likely they are to be the first pick in the next pickup basketball game. Jim Cawley, and Bruce Evans of Dynamax identified ten general physical skills required of optimal physical competence. These 10 skills are:
1. Endurance
2. Stamina
3. Strength
4. Flexibility
5. Power
6. Speed
7. Coordination
8. Agility
9. Balance
10. Accuracy
As an athlete, the more of these skills you are competent in, the higher your ceiling of growth is in your respective sport. Look at the professional athletes in the world today. The truth is, most of them could have been great at ANY sport they wanted. They all have a solid athletic base (the 10 physical skills above) and then tailored those skills to fit into the sport of their choice. It’s no secret that the more “athletic” you are, the easier it will be to pick up on new techniques and fixes, as well as train at the volume needed to become dominant on the field of play.
The great thing about these skills is that they can always be improved upon. The first four (strength, stamina, endurance, flexibility) are improved by training. The bottom four (coordination, agility, balance, accuracy) are improved by practice. And the middle two (power, speed) are improved by both training and practice. The sooner you start, the sooner you can start to see results. The off-season is the time to do so! Yes, you do need to spend time on your sport specific skills, but if you are not working on becoming an overall better athlete then you are selling yourself short. Especially if you play more than one sport. Now, if you have settled on a sport and position that you want to focus on solely, you would spend more time improving upon whichever of the 10 physical skills are more necessary for your position.
The danger comes when an athlete starts to neglect ANY of the skills listed above. We see this all too often. Every football team has a lineman that lifts the most weights, but doesn’t have the endurance to hold a block long enough, the agility to shift quickly, or the stamina to make it to the end of the game. On that same team, there’s the guy with the fastest 40 time and quickest feet, but doesn’t possess the strength to take contact or run through any arm tackles and the accuracy and coordination to catch everything thrown his way. The same can be seen, in different forms, on any sports team! The ones who are in the game, the ones who make it to next level spend time working on all of these skills. They know, that as the ones they are weaker in start to increase, their strengths will also increase. They all work together to create an unstoppable athlete.
Our Athletic Performance camp is programmed to do just that! We don’t harp on one of these 10 areas. We look to improve on all of them! We use our knowledge and expertise to make sure everyone that walks through our doors leaves a more complete athlete! Our drills, movements, and strength work are designed to take your athletic abilities to the next level! Sign up here!

About the author:
Troy Folse is the head coach and manager at Crossfit 28 in Pineville, La. He played 4 years of college basketball, as well as one season of collegiate tennis and cross country. He has trained multiple high school and collegiate athletes and teams from various sports.