sweat Stance™ System
Background
The grassroots sporting landscape has changed a lot for this generation of developing athletes. Early specialization with single sport year-round participation has been shown to impact the development of physical literacy and foundational movement patterns that are important building blocks in the creation of a resilient athlete. In addition, the number of repetitive stress injuries is on the rise. The current generation of youth athletes is seeing far more overuse and biomechanically-related injuries than their previous cohorts, and they are occurring in younger ages. These factors are having a large impact on their athletic journey and in some instances can be detrimental. Due to the repetitiveness and lack of movement variation from participating in a single sport year-round, growth and maturation are also becoming increasingly more important factors that need to be identified and managed properly to help mitigate injury.
SWEAT Stance ™is a term developed by Dani Langford to cue and remind athletes both of proper athletic positioning, and optimal state of mind. The SWEAT Stance™ System was developed by Dani Langford and Alex McKechnie (co-founders of Core A.I.M™). Both are physiotherapists with coaching and player experience, which helps connect the clinic and the court. This system coaches proper sequencing of movement in addition to education on state of mind and body which are foundational in developing career longevity and fostering resilient, versatile athletes.
Our mission at Core A.I.M.™ is to connect, challenge and elevate youth athlete development.
A – Athletic
I – Integrated
M – Movement
Connecting coaches, athletes and parents with practitioners, we are developing a common language. Working towards common goals while ensuring athletes have the resources they need to optimize their athletic potential, we are keeping them playing the sports they love for as long as they want.
Alex McKechnie PT VP,
Player Health and Performance
Toronto Raptors Basketball Club
about the course
This course is not a basketball camp, prevention program or strength and conditioning program. This course is unique, combining psychology, physiotherapy, and education with movement training. It is meant to be an adjunct to the training and practicing athletes are currently doing. This course connects playing fields and physiotherapy movement training; developing movement foundations that directly transfer to the athlete. The athletes will learn the foundations of their sport and how to properly hold, transition and move their bodies. Curriculum also include material to develop a better understand how growth and exercise impact the athletes bodies and their performance.
The purpose of this course is to plant the seeds. We have included a course workbook to support learning with; working sheets, action plans, weekly reflections, and post-course programming to aid in growing the course principles; however, parents and coaches are the day-to-day constant and therefore vital in watering these seeds.
The SWEAT Stance™ System is a 6-week long course with one 90-minute session per week. This is a small group physiotherapy service that may be claimed on benefits (depending on insurance provider). Individual baseline assessments will be done as well as end of course assessments. The curriculum is progressive with each session building upon the previous.
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Program Physiotherapists
Dani Langford is the co-founder of Core A.I.M and developer of the SWEAT Stance™ System. She graduated with a Master in Physiotherapy degree from Curtin University in 2008. In addition to 12 years of physiotherapy experience, she has her CSCS certification and Clinical Pilates training, all tools she uses for movement training. Dani has worked at Fortius Sport and Health for 6 years where she works with both youth developing athletes and professional athletes. Dani has a passion for working with athletes to help them play the sport they love for as long as they want to.
Dani was a former basketball player, representing Canada on the junior national team and university games team. Following that, she assistant coached at SFU. Dani’s history in sport as a player, coach and now physiotherapist provides her with a unique understanding of the challenges athletes face and their needs for success. Her goal is to connect to the community allowing physiotherapy education and services to become more proactive vs reactive on an athlete’s journey.
Dani Langford
Courtney Gerwing
“Courtney Gerwing is an Australian-trained physiotherapist with an interest in athletes and youth. Her drive to develop movement quality and efficiency stems from vast experience as an athlete and coach. Originally a multi-sport athlete, Courtney chose to focus on basketball. After a three-time National Championship career at Simon Fraser University, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Her desire to mentor others, and elevate high-performance athletes led her to coaching, both at the University and College levels for many years. Throughout this time, she continued to cultivate her strength and conditioning skills as a registered Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with the NSCA. Courtney’s desire to help each individual athlete reach their full potential expands beyond just the court.
In returning to Canada, she connected with Dani and is passionate about the opportunity to get pro-active in the development of young athletes through the SWEAT Stance™ System Dani has developed. With her varying background in sport, and her current focus on biomechanics, Courtney is excited to help empower the next generation of athletes.”
Dani Langford
course objectives
- Learning that working hard can be FUN.
- Empowering young athletes with knowledge of their bodies
- Educating athletes with tools for mobility, postural strength and endurance
- Bridging a gap between physiotherapy and on court movement increasing the transference of movement biomechanics
- Teaching and working on the mental side of athletic performance
- Education on 6 foundational seeds of a developing athlete
- Sport specific based movement education to develop efficiency
- Linking the medical and coaching community by encouraging coaches to join session to increase post-course compliance and development
Take Aways:
- 6 small group movement education with 9 hours of physiotherapist led and prescribed movement education.
- A physiotherapy / playing field based individual workout that challenges the body in relation to the demands on the sport
- A working educational athlete booklet for the course
- An at- home mobility program targeted to growing athletes and specific to their sport
- Future plan examples to support post course compliance
- An at- home foundational postural endurance program
- A SWEAT Stance™ T-shirt
- A reminder sticker to help on court cueing and transference