Matt DeWalt
sports@weatherforddemocrat.com
June 23, 2008 11:18 am
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Athletes in all sports are always looking for an edge, an advantage or some kind of step up on the competition. Many of these athletes find the extra umph they need in the gym after hours of lifting weights, while some jog or run some high amount of miles at the beginning or end of their day with the hopes that each step will push them toward the pinnacle of their chosen sport.
But not many athletes think of stretching and flexibility when it comes to improving speed, endurance and productivity. In many instances, stretching is the time consuming task that provides the opportunity to joke with teammates and discuss post practice itineraries.
However, Weatherford native Bubba Wright, thinks stretching and flexibility are the keys to a successful sports season and a more productive career, no matter what the arena.
“I grew up in a house with a track coach and he was kind of ahead of his time as far as the flexibility aspects of it, full range of motion, all those things,” Wright said. “A lot of times people spend too much time in the weight room, they want to get big. Well, in turn, they’re not doing anything else but trying to get big. I have run by so many big guys in my life. I just think the most important aspect of the sports world is speed, unless you’re playing golf. Any ground-based sport, by far, speed is the biggest tool you can have.
“Even though I get kids in my program who are already fast, the elite kids, I can deal with those, but I can’t see as much improvement in those guys as I can a 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman. I can make great strides with guys like that because most of the time guys like that are lazy by nature. They don’t want to stretch, they don’t want to bend over to pickup a shirt, much less to stretch.”
Wright offers a speed camp for a range of athletes in an around Parker County who participate in football, baseball, basketball, track, bull riding and motocross to name a few. He said that with improved flexibility comes improved health and speed. As the speed improves, so does an athlete’s ability and if an athlete is healthy and suffers little or no injuries, he or she is more dependable.
“[I teach] flexibility first, form running second and then your agilities and lateral movement fall in there with all of that,” Wright said. “I guess the main thing is I base everything off injury prevention first because to me, if you’re hurt and on the sidelines, you’re no good to anybody. That just comes from being a coach. Along with that comes flexibility, which is range of motion, which in turn, is a faster athlete.
“When I coached, it was such a big deal, you don’t realize it. You go through practice, you get everything set up and one of your key guys goes down with a pulled hamstring and you’re like, ‘Why? How?’ And as a kid, too, you automatically, for lack of a better term, you become worthless, to yourself, to your coaches, to your team or any body.
“I felt like, through my career, I very rarely ever pulled a muscle,” Wright said. “I think I missed one football game my whole career, never missed a baseball game. I look back on it and that’s just because I was a stretch freak. Stretching, flexibility and dynamic flexibility go hand-in-hand with getting faster.”
Wright offers his camp to any age of athlete, some as young as 6 years old, Tuesday and Thursday at Hall Middle School throughout the summer for a flat rate of $200.
“It’s been a situation where at times I’ll have 50 [participants], not all at once, but going through two or three camps,” he said. “Then, it’s even been down, I had some going in the spring, where I had maybe 30. So it’s been in that range, generally.”
Wright said the campers have an age range from 6 to 35 and that many times, they all work out together. Because of the size of the groups, he offers an 8 a.m. and a 9 a.m. session, and will possibly add a third session at 10 a.m. He added having the wide range of ages in participants is a benefit to campers and to the community of Weatherford.
“Eventually, I’ll split the groups for the older kids and have them go off by themselves, but I love having the older kids up there around those younger kids because we’re doing the same thing,” Wright said. “I can put [the older kids] at the head of the line and the kids watch them and learn to start looking up to those guys.
“I’ve got four or five high school kids, football players, that are up there. They’ll leave and those little kids are like, ‘Are those football players?’ They love that kind of stuff and the kids love it, too. I kind of like to start out with them mixed up, but when it gets down to where those guys are fixing to have to go and start two-a-days, we’ll break off and kind of go through a little more intense atmosphere before they have to get into two-a-days. It always works out good.”
Wright conducts the camp with assistance from his wife, Courtney, who is a former collegiate track athlete, and arena football player and Weatherford native Aaron Chavers.
For more information about the camp or how to register, contact Wright at (817) 694-3155.
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