Recipe to Success: Behind the Scenes with IMG's Performance Team

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"At IMG Academy, the stakes are high, the expectations astounding, and the investment in athletic development simply unmatched." Ben Crookston, CEO of TrainHeroic, went behind the scenes to find out what really goes in to IMG Academy's success in developing top talent, year after year.

IMG Academy's professional grade Performance and Sports Science Center is 56,000 square feet of the most innovative and effective training equipment and technology out there. The 12,000 square foot weight room is dressed with some of the best equipment in the strength industry, including 24 Sorinex racks, 12 custom Power Plate pro5's, and Trigger Point performance therapy products. Also on the first floor are the physical therapy and rehab center and the Gatorade Sports Science Institute (GSSI) Performance Lab. The facility is Gatorade's first satellite lab, and provides fuel to IMG Academy's student-athletes before, during, and after workouts, and performs tests and evaluations to identify areas of athletic opportunity. Located on the second floor of the Performance and Sports Science Center is the mind gym, vision lab, and yoga studio.

All of this real estate is home to IMG Academy's team of elite performance specialists, lead by Head of Physical Conditioning, Scott Gadeken. They're dedicated to setting up IMG Academy student-athletes for success at the next level, to which Gadeken says is college athletics for 97% of their student-athletes, and straight on to a professional career for the remaining 3%. For Gadeken and the sixteen strength and conditioning coaches he oversees, the goal is to lay out a foundation for each individual athlete, and continue to build off of that as they improve. He says, "We're about how well and how fast, not so much how much."

In addition to physical conditioning, recovery is an equally-as-important part of IMG Academy's training programs. Gadeken says, "The whole day may include 2 to 3 hours of training throughout the day, but it's the other 22 to 23 hours that dictate your performance." This is where the Gatorade Fuel Bar comes into play, providing food, liquids and nutrients to student-athletes each day, in order to make sure they are fueling their bodies correctly, and learning how to do so for the future. Gadeken explains the importance of sleep as another essential part of the recovery process, urging his student-athletes to "get off your iPads, get off your phones, and go to sleep".

For injury prevention and injury management, the IMG Academy performance staff leans on top brands like Power Plate and Trigger Point to help keep their student-athletes healthy. Through the use of vibration technology and foam rolling, the goal is to increase blood flow and "get some oxygen to the muscles so that your body can move and perform like it's supposed to perform", Gadeken explains. He also discusses the program they have in place for injured student-athletes, which unlike traditional rehab programs, keeps the athlete fully involved in team workouts and training sessions. The rehab and physical therapy is scheduled outside of that time.

The last major piece of IMG Academy's performance program is their Athletic and Personal Development training. These disciplines help student-athletes to maximize their potential, and train them in different areas that promote athletic progression, character development, leadership, and overall personal evolution. One of these disciplines is vision training, which, as explained in the video, develops an athlete's eye muscles and visual system to enhance hand-eye coordination, peripheral vision, reaction time, and depth perception.

IMG Academy's performance team has helped develop some of the best athletes, from olympic medalists to Heisman Trophy winners. Yet, the awards, rankings and records are not how they measure their success. Gadeken says, "Not all of these kids are going to go big time DI, but they are going to go on to college, and they're going to be over-prepared for when they get to college." That's the goal.

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