TO PLACE AN ORDER IN USA/CANADA/SOUTH AMERICA – CLICK HERE
THE INSIDE TRACK
About GSI Performance
Over the past 12 years, GSI Performance has quite simply changed the way players and coaches prepare and train the areas of ‘Tackle, Collision and Contact’. This has been achieved through their innovation of technical training aids for Rugby Union, Rugby League and American Football, with an emphasis on specific techniques that can be coached and performed by the player on each piece of equipment. These technical training aids are being used by international, professional and club sides globally.
IT’S ALL ABOUT PERFORMANCE
Upskilling Performance Levels
Gray believes that if we can upskill each individual player’s performance levels, this will in turn have a direct impact on creating safer contact and collision sports for all.
“
The sports of American Football, Rugby Union and Rugby League are all intrinsically linked - they are all faced with challenges due to the health and safety of their players. Concussion and impact injuries have been well documented, especially in recent years, and one of the primary ways to assist in reducing this, is in the way we prepare our athletes. We must increase technical mastery and thus increase player performance, which in turn will reduce the risk of injury.
Richie Gray
Elite Performance Skills/Contact Coach and owner of GSI Performance
INNOVATION WITHIN COLLISION SPORTS
GSI Performance Technical Training Aids & Contact Collision System
GSI Performance continually innovates what Gray calls “Technical Training Aids”. Each piece of equipment takes between 12-18 months to develop and test, and over the years Gray has created technical training aids which have been designed to accommodate and isolate training drills and techniques specific to the individual sports of Rugby Union, Rugby League and American Football.
One example of these is The Wrap & Grip Tackle System which was first used by the Miami Dolphins throughout the 2016-17 season, where Gray also acted as a Consultant. The training aids allowed the players to work continually throughout the season on key technique and skill development work relating to the tackle area, while taking away the ‘player on player’ contact that had been used in the past, and which could result in injury out-with actual game time.
“
Going forward, the reliance upon specific technical training aides to assist in coaching ‘contact’ within collision sports globally will only increase. This is not only primarily due to the duty of care we have towards our athletes but also the pursuit of excellence in performance. As a result, there is a need to find/create more innovative tackle-specific ways of preparing our players for the demands of the modern game. The Gray Tackle System has been developed to facilitate this and allows individual technique to be developed and maintained within the whole tackle area, resulting in this system becoming an integral part of our training and preparation.
Wayne Diesel
Ex Sports Performance Director at Miami Dolphins (NFL) & San Antonio Spurs (NBA)
GSI Performance Technical Training Aids for the Tackle, allow you to train at different tackle levels (depending on the laws for the sport):
- Level 1 - Foot to Knee
- Level 2 - Knee to Hip
- Level 3 - Hip to Pec/Shoulder
They have been developed to bring about key technique relating to all the tackle heights a player may be faced with. Using these different heights and weights assists in isolating various parts of the overall tackle technique, which therefore creates a degree of difficulty depending on the training aid being used.
Each piece of equipment will complement and enhance the coach and player development in this area, allowing practice to be carried out in a safe and structured manner.
The aim is to create the player who is a confident ‘Multi-Purpose Tackler’.
Does your facility, building, club or team have a tackle culture? It is a question I ask on every occasion I visit contact sports facilities worldwide. When I enter your building, whether it be the strength conditioning facility, the locker or changing rooms, the indoor or outdoor training field – does your tackle culture jump out at me? How important is it to your organisation?
The only way you can ensure there is a structured tackle culture within your organisation, is to:
- Make the area important
- Measure it
- Continually train it in different ways
If the tackle is one of the single biggest challenges within collision sports, then are we giving this key area the time and focus needed to make our players and coaches better? A ‘tackle culture’ has to be adopted.
At GSI Performance feel we have a duty of care to ensure that when you purchase a product, we provide you with the best advice and direction on how to use that product properly and maximise its use – this we call ‘developing the coach’s eye’.
We want all coaches to have the correct technical information about using our products, in order that you can go out and make a real difference with your player(s) - after all, purchasing equipment you don’t know how to use effectively, is worthless.
Our website is packed with coaching content. Each individual page within the GSI Performance shop has three main areas to it:
- Individual equipment visuals
- In use with player/s action visuals
- Written information on how to get the best out of your piece of equipment, and how to use it properly to improve the coaching outcome
