Corrado's Bloghttp://www.volleyball.com/blogs/Corrado/BlogRSS.aspVolleyball.com BlogsengabLibrary RSS Component v1.0Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:26:39 GMTOptimal Verticalhttp://www.volleyball.com/blogs/Corrado/default.aspx?mode=blog&id=144&yearnum=2008&monthnum=11dan@headquarters.com (CorradoCultrera)
 
 
I had the opportunity to attend the ultimate sports vacation in Cancun with the volleyball vacations group.  What a great concept, a bunch of beach volleyball fanatics playing 8 hours a day and being taught by AVP professionals.  My main purpose for the trip was to introduce the group to the latest in hydration products. I have been on these trips before and I have seen people play from sunrise to sunset in 35 degree weather (that is celcius).  Can you say dehydration!!!!! 

The most important thing to remember is that being dehydrated leads to a decrease in performance.   Your hitting power goes down, your arm speed decreases, your reaction time is slower, and your speed and agility decreases.  A player must have a good balance of water intake, nutrition, and electrolyte consumption. In other words, you need to eat and drink to keep your body nourished and performing optimally.

In Cancun , I introduced the athletes to our Optimal Hydration product. People were getting our electrolyte drops first thing in the morning directly into their water bottles.  The line started off with about 20 people.  After added the drops, I decided to head out for breakfast.  A couple of cappuccinos later (how ironic I am hydrated athletes and dehydrating myself) I was approached by Christine Phillips, who works for bith Volleyball Vacations & volleyball.com.  She said, “Corrado where have you been, people are lined up waiting for their drops!!!” Let me tell you, I got back to the courts and there must have been over 75 people lined up.  “Dr. C, we need your drops!” Even the AVP pros were lined up waiting for their drops. 

Well my so called vacation turned into a week of adding electrolytes to bottles of water.    All worth it, people were loving the results.  People were describing an increase in energy and a decrease in cramping.

Can’t wait, we are launching our Optimal Vertical product at the AVCA convention in December.  For the first time, volleyball athletes will have a supplement product that has been designed specifically to meet their needs and promote optimal performance. The product will address all phases of training, the energy cycles, the physiology, and the competition needs of the volleyball athlete.  If any of you guys come out to the convention, be sure to pop by our booth!!!!! I look forward to seeing you there.

So remember play hard and stay hydrated!!!!!

Yours in health and sport,

Dr. Corrado

www.optimalvertical.com




]]>http://www.volleyball.com/blogs/Corrado/default.aspx?mode=blog&id=144&yearnum=2008&monthnum=11Sun, 16 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMTDeveloping hitting powerhttp://www.volleyball.com/blogs/Corrado/default.aspx?mode=blog&id=69&yearnum=2008&monthnum=4dan@headquarters.com (CorradoCultrera) Hey Dr. C here!!!

I have been working with a bunch of young up and comers in the volleyball world. Many of the young athletes are competing for college scholarships and are looking for the edge when it comes to developing hitting power!!!! Well it boils down to mechanics. So many of us are arm swingers. You feel like you have to throw out your arm first and spank that ball. Great, you are hitting the ball hard but guess what happens? That darn shoulder injury. So to be an efficient and powerful hitter, you must break down your swing into its components. The components are hips, shoulders, arm and finally hand.
 
So what initiates your swing. If you said arm, you are wrong!!! When in the air, your hips initiate. You have to develop a stretch between your lower body and your upper body. So your hips fire first by rotating, your upper body lags behind creating a stretch. When your hips stop rotating, you shoulder and mid section begin to rotate creating a stretch in your arm. When your shoulders stop rotating, your arm extends and your hand hits the ball. 
 
Sounds easy right? Not even close. To train that sequence, it requires a lot of repetition. You have to untrain your old mechanics retrain your new ones. I have included some video of those exercises.

Remember practice does not make perfect, practice make “Permanent”
 
Yours in health and sport,

Dr. C
President of Volleyball-Power.com
 
]]>http://www.volleyball.com/blogs/Corrado/default.aspx?mode=blog&id=69&yearnum=2008&monthnum=4Tue, 15 Apr 2008 00:00:00 GMT