End Zone Athletics

 Casey Sherfey, CSCS

 UW Swimming 2000-2004

The first day of my college career was traumatic.  I was a walk-on and the UW women’s swim team already had 9 incoming recruited freshmen and 6 girls trying out for only a couple of spots, so my memories of the entire week of tryouts are tainted with anxiety and fear.

One of the most commonly asked questions we get asked is what to eat before and after practices/games. Eating the right foods at the right time can be the difference between performing to the best of your ability and falling short when it matters most. It's also a way to the edge of your competition and make sure you'll be ready to perform when it counts!

Question: What's the best way to improve my vertical jump for volleyball and basketball?

Answer: While there is no shortage of programs out there promising to improve your vertical jump, most of them simply don't deliver.

Common fast food meals contain 1200-2200 calories per meal. Making smart selections when eating at your favorite fast food restaurant can help you stay lean, fast and strong. Be sure to make smart substitutions to avoid eating a high calorie/fat meal. Choose a salad with light or low fat dressing, or order only small fries. Drink Water or Unsweetened Tea with meals.

The Life of a Walk-on by Casey Sherfey, CSCS

I was never recruited. I was asked to try-out for the UW swim team in the summer after my senior year when my college plans were still up in the air. I had been accepted to two schools – the only two I applied to – and had contacted the coaching staff at both with my meets, my times, and a rough resume that outlined my academic and athletic achievement and my community involvement. 

EndZone Athletics is proud to bring you an interview 14 year NFL Veteran Robbie Tobeck. After spending the previous 7 years as the starting center for the Seattle Seahawks, Tobeck decided it was time to hang it up and retire after this past season. We asked him some questions about his career in sports and any advice he'd like to pass on to the next generation of athletes.

Inside your body a marvelous process of self-repair takes place, day in and day out, and it all has to do with protein, the nutrient responsible for building and maintaining body tissues. Unlike carbohydrates and fats, which are primarily responsible for energy, only protein has the building blocks for new cells and tissues. Proteins are present everywhere in the body—in muscle, bones, connective tissue, blood vessels, blood cells, skin, hair, and fingernails. These proteins are constantly being lost or broken down due to normal, physiological wear and tear, and must be replaced. For example, about one-half of the total protein in muscle tissue is broken down and replaced every 150 days.

During the course of a basketball players career, injuries are inevitable. There are several ways to help prevent injury and to prepare your body as much as possible for the rigors of competition. This article will provide you with guidelines that should help you to prepare your body to compete at its highest level. The following suggestions are tried and true by elite college and professional basketball players and if taken to heart will allow you to gain the same advantages.

I hear a lot of volleyball players asking "what kind of training should I do once we start the season?" or "I don't have much time to work out when the season starts, so am I going to lose the strength and explosiveness that I developed in the off-season?" Luckily there are easy answers to these questions, and others relating to in-season athletic development for volleyball players.  First, you must remember that there are times of the year to emphasize skill development and work a little less intensely on athletic development. 

Have you ever heard the quote, “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail?”  Unfortunately, the first time I heard that quote, I had already starting coaching at the UW, and my baseball career was over.  I thought to myself, I wish I would have heard that while I was still in high school.  I wish I would have known the proper ways to prepare my body and my mind for collegiate baseball before I started.  I still think that if I would have prepared properly, I would not have injured myself, and I might still be playing to this day.

Without a doubt, one of the most commonly misunderstood subjects today in the world of athletic training and development is athleticism. What exactly is athleticism? What separates the average athletes from the great athletes? How is athleticism improved? How does athleticism relate to skill? While everybody can recognize a great athlete when they see one performing at the highest levels of their sport, few can describe what exactly athleticism is or how it relates to skill. In this article I will describe the EndZone Athletics model of athleticism and answer the many common questions surrounding this important topic.

An excerpt from our Performance Nutrition 101 booklet by Dr. Susan Kleiner...

The most important factor in having enough energy is eating enough energy. Consuming adequate calories is one of the keys to a high-performance diet. Without enough calories, athletes won’t gain muscle, will feel tired and weak, and will be more prone to injuries and overtraining. Performing at a high level and building muscle requires tremendous energy: energy to do the muscle-building exercise, plus the energy to build the tissue itself..

Often times I am asked by young athletes and their parents “Is there anything I can do to improve my chances of getting a scholarship to play in college?” I am here to tell you that, YES there is! There are a bunch of things in sport that are out of our control, but luckily many of the things that can make you stand out as an athlete are controllable....

The Single-Leg Rotating Deadlift is a great overall lower body exercise for strengthening and improving the joint stability of the quads, hamstrings, and lower back. Because of the rotational component, it is also a great core exercise and will serve to strengthen the obliques and core stabilizers. Use this exercise as a lower body accessory exercise after a proper warm-up and strength exercises or use light resistance and incorporate into your dynamic warm-up. Coach Daniel Jahn of the University of Washington demonstrates proper technique: