Team Sport Athlete Training in Austin: Quicker on the Field Starts in the Trunk

Every cut and every landing runs through the trunk before it reaches the knee. Kinetic Blueprint is a Functional Patterns movement and biomechanics training studio in Old West Austin. We test how your trunk holds up under a sudden jolt and how you land, then train both, and test them again.

Team sports are running and throwing under pressure. You sprint, stop, cut, jump, land and reach, often with someone in the way. The athletes who look quick aren't just fast. They change direction without losing the body over the feet.

What we look for

We look at the trunk first. In a three-year study of 277 college athletes, how well the trunk held up under a sudden jolt predicted which women athletes later hurt a knee (PMID 17468378). For the men in that study it didn't, so we don't quote it as a rule for every athlete. It's why we test the trunk before we look at the knee.

On camera, we watch:

• how the trunk holds when you land from a jump,
• whether the knee follows the trunk when you cut,
• how you decelerate before you change direction,
• and whether each side of the body lands the same way.

How we measure it

We run one method: Measure, Map, Move.

1. Measure. A movement assessment that films trunk control and landing mechanics, plus gait analysis for how you sprint.
2. Map. We connect what the trunk does to what the knee and ankle have to absorb.
3. Move. We train how you land, cut and decelerate, then test again so you can see what changed.

Who this is for

Soccer, basketball, volleyball, lacrosse, hockey and flag football players in Austin who want to be quicker and move with more control. Rec-league and competitive players. Athletes coming back to their sport who want to know how they're landing before they're back at full speed. If a knee already hurts, read our knee pain page first.

Frequently asked questions

Do you replace my team's strength and conditioning? No. Your coach runs the season. We work on how you move underneath it: how you cut, land and change direction, filmed and re-tested, so the work you do with your team lands on better mechanics.

What does a trunk control test look like? We watch how your trunk holds when you land, cut or get pushed off balance, and how the knee follows it. It's part of a movement assessment, filmed so we can compare it later.

Can training prevent injuries? We don't promise that, and no honest trainer should. What we can say is that trunk control and landing mechanics are measurable and trainable, and we measure them before and after.

Where are you located? 507 Pressler Street, Suite 100, Austin TX 78703, in Old West Austin. You can reach us at (512) 215-8106.

See every sport we train on our performance page.