Andrew Ryland on Shared Mental Models, Integrated Shoulder Work, and Fighting Giant Humans

Football and rugby may be two of the most violent – and exciting – sports on the planet today.

So how do you go about preparing young athletes for these sports?

How do you get them prepared for the physical nature and brutality they’ll be exposed to on the field?

And how can you make sure that the best overall athletes stay in the game long enough to show what they can REALLY do?

Well luckily for you, my guy Andy Ryland and I are going to cover all that in today’s show!

Andy is USA Football’s senior manager of education and training. He has consulted with programs, coaches and athletes at every level – from high school, the NCAA, NFL and professional and international level rugby.

He is widely recognized as a foremost expert on tackling and the preparation for contact with athletes, and today, we’re going to take a deep dive into everything collision sports!

When you talk to an elite level player they see the lean, the little movement, they see the opening before it’s there because their pattern recognition and game database is so massive.

– Andy Ryland

This Week on the Physical Prep Podcast:

• A brief bio about Andy and how he got started in physical prep.
• His career arc and how he ended up working with USA Football.
• For the uninitiated, the biggest similarities and differences between rugby and football.
• Andy’s thoughts on building more physically robust athletes.
• The biggest differences you see across levels – from youth, to collegiate, to professional athletes.
• Why it’s so important to help late-maturing athletes to “stay in the game.”
• Chinks in the armor: What are the biggest gaps he’s seen in the preparation of athletes? And how can we address these?
• At the youth level, what we’re doing well – and areas where we still need to improve
• Tackling prep: How do you get kids mentally and physically ready to run into and tackle each other?
• The BIG Question and a really fun lightning round!

Connect with Andy:

• Andy on IG
• Andy on X/Twitter

Related Links:

Here’s the crazy sequence Andy was talking about in rugby!

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Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Physical Preparation Podcast with Mike Robertson – your one-stop-shop for fitness trainers, coaches, and athletes.

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