Indiana University Athletics
Speedy Delivery
8/5/2018 10:42:00 AM | Football
By: Andy Graham
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Dr. Matt Rhea doesn't necessarily look like a speed merchant.
But he's selling. And Indiana football players sure are buying.
Rhea, brought to IU under the auspices of new director of athletic performance David Ballou this past January, appreciates the buy in from the Hoosiers.
He isn't surprised by it, though.
Because the data speaks for itself. It's an easy sell.
Ballou and Rhea initially showed the Hoosiers improvements documented during their work in 2015 and 2016 at IMG Academy in Florida – where they trained top prep prospects, college stars and pros – and, in 2017, when Ballou was at Notre Dame.
But now the Hoosiers can just look at increases in their own speed and power numbers, culled from February through July.
Such as:
Indiana has five times as many players squat-thrusting 500 or more pounds now than it did in February. The number of players bench-pressing 400 pounds or more has quadrupled.
And the speed increases are truly eye-popping:
"The fastest unit, as a whole, is the DBs," speed-specialist Rhea wrote. "A lot of speed back there."
As impressive as those speed and strength gains look, they won't matter unless they transfer to improved play on the field. Ballou and Rhea, through past experience, have every reason to think they will.
"We have a thing called 'Power Profile,' " Ballou said. "We have 10 exercises that we wholeheartedly believe translate to football better than any other sort of exercise you can do. So our guys get a number from those 10 exercises that determines where they are on that power chart.
"We are going to do the things that we feel transfer to the football field. Because if it doesn't, it's a waste of time."
Tom Allen, after his initial season as Hoosier head coach concluded last fall, wasted little time deciding his team needed a new approach to strength and conditioning. He found that in Avon native and former Hoosier player Ballou.
Allen told Ballou that he not only planned to recruit speed at IU but to have Ballou further develop it. Ballou knew exactly who could help with that.
Not everybody believes athletes can increase speed much once they reach college level – but Matt Rhea does.
"The challenge of people thinking you can't have that much impact on speed is probably what first drew me to it," Rhea said. "I'm really intrigued by the nervous system and how the brain controls things.
"The complexity of it was a challenge and continues to be a challenge. It's really intriguing for me to see how the brain controls those things but, even better, how we can influence the brain to control them better – which is basically what our system is built to do."
Rhea found a kindred system-building spirit in Ballou while at IMG.
"Dave Ballou is a really unique guy in this industry," Rhea said. "He's just as interested (as I am) in the data and the science behind it. He's put full faith in me."
And over time, Rhea and Ballou have earned the faith of others.
"It's a process of explaining what we're doing, demonstrating that it's worked in the past, and then showing them data that it's working (for them)," Rhea said. "They get reports from us, both for themselves and for the team, on a monthly basis."
When an IU player arrives at a weight rack, a tap of an iPad reveals an individualized workout plan designed specifically for him – to attack weaknesses and maximize gains, built via data accumulated via 3-D cameras, body sensors and other high-tech gear.
There is a laser, for example, that gauges how far and how quickly an athlete is actually moving the bar during lifting.
And all the data is fed into a program that reveals how any given athlete needs to proceed.
When Ballou and Rhea arrived in Bloomington, team-wide need for speed was overt.
"When we got here in January and started looking at the speed we had, it was obviously something that needed to improve," Rhea said. "I think our guys took that to heart and have worked incredibly hard since then.
"Coach Ballou and I sat down and mapped out where we thought we needed to be to really compete in the Big Ten. And I think our guys have outdone themselves, have worked really hard. I think where we're at from a speed standpoint is really good. You can never be fast enough, can always get faster, and we'll keep working at it.
"I saw an interview with a strength coach for a team out West that's known for its speed, and he was pretty happy that they have 20 guys running over 20 miles per hour. We have 47. So I'm pretty happy with where our speed is at right now."
Ballou has similar sentiments, having recently helped Notre Dame go from a 4-8 season in 2016 before his arrival in South Bend to 10-3 with a bowl win over LSU last fall.
"I have the numbers of the team where I was at last year," Ballou said, referencing Notre Dame. "I'll just say this, without getting too specific: We are much closer to those numbers than I thought we had a prayer of being when I got here in January. Let's put it that way.
"I thought a year from now we might possibly get to that, but we're in a lot better shape now than I ever thought we had a chance to get (this fast.) That's a credit to our whole staff and our players for everything, including buy in. I can't think of one day, literally, when our guys didn't come in here ready to go."
And they were spurred by results they could see quickly.
"The first couple of months, I just think it was catching on, when they saw the power and the speed coming," Rhea said. "It's addictive. You can't get enough of it. So it only took a month or so to see those improvements starting to come.
That helps."
The momentum carried through spring football and beyond.
"When we saw those Profiles at the end of the spring, which were above where we thought we'd be able to get to," Ballou said, "our biggest concern was, 'This will only be good if we can keep that happening over the summer. It's got to go up again. It can't stop.'
"And it went up again. I think the average increase for the whole squad was 18 percent (since the spring) in that Power Profile. That's the whole roster. It was exactly what we were hoping for."
Now they're hoping to see it reflected on the field. The Hoosiers started fall camp Thursday and will be in full pads this week.
"The last part to this is now showing that speed on the field," Rhea said. "They said they got a sense of it during spring ball, that they're moving faster, that things were happening much quicker. But the last piece of this is helping them not only feel it and see it on the field, but be comfortable at that speed.
"September 1 will be a big date for us."
That's when Indiana play its season opener at Florida International.
Allen feels his Hoosiers will enter the fray more confident via their offseason conditioning work.
"It was a major change in our program to bring those guys here and you ask our players, and they've been a game changer for us," Allen said. "I'm very optimistic. The numbers are what they are. You can go through and look at them on paper.
"Those that have been around this game know the physical piece gives you confidence. There is just a confidence about our guys right now because they know they're bigger, faster, stronger, more explosive, and they feel that way. It affects your mindset. So I think that's been another big benefit of Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea and the work they've done.
"Obviously, now you've got to go play football. You've got skills that have to be developed and those (sorts of) things, but it starts in that weight room."
Rhea said he and Ballou are not only grateful for the support and enthusiasm they've received from Allen, his staff and his players, but from IU's athletic administration.
"Nobody has told me 'no,' yet," Rhea said with a smile, "so I'm going to keep asking till somebody says, 'No.' If that never happens, fantastic. But so far the technology and tools we've needed have been given us, and I'm appreciative of that."
Yes, it seems the administration is buying merchandise.
And happily buying what Ballou and Rhea are selling.
A FEW PLAYER TESTIMONIALS REGARDING DAVID BALLOU AND MATT RHEA DURING IU MEDIA DAY:
WHOP PHILYOR: "The speed program is probably the best thing that's happened to us. It's actually great. Coach Rhea – great doctor, great teacher, everything. Everybody's gotten faster, myself included. It's not just (numbers). You can actually see it."
COY CRONK: "Coach Ballou and Dr.Rhea have helped us tremendously with how they've worked their program, with all the things they emphasize. And I think maybe the best part is that they individualize it for everybody. It's not cookie-cutter, where everybody does the same amount of the same stuff. They really specify."
GAVIN EVERETT: "It's done a lot for me and the team. All your numbers get posted and you're ranked – however many guys are in the group, you're 1 to 20, you're competing. Being able to see your numbers, how fast you're moving the bar, the power your producing, it brings a competitive edge that I think we had lacked (previously) in the weight room. Now it's created an atmosphere that can't be broken."
DAMEON WILLIS JR.: "Everyone looks like muscle-heads. Coach Ballou did a great job with us this summer. Really pushed us to the limit. He feels good about it. We feel good about ourselves. We're ready to get out there."
NICK WESTBROOK: "Dr. Rhea really got us going … I didn't really have to buy in. I'm a big analytical guy. I saw the numbers from the start, the whole presentation from when they first got here. Some of the numbers showed how it worked for these guys in the league (NFL). When I first started with Dr. Rhea, I was running about 20 miles per hour. Now I'm at 22. So pretty big increase."
MORGAN ELLISON: "I'm somewhere in the 22 (miles per hour range) … when I hit 23, that's when I'll be happy. Definitely, I just feel faster. Feel better. In shape. And just giving it everything I have in the weight room. I think that's the biggest thing. When you come away knowing you gave it everything you have, that's when you know you're going to be stronger, faster, just … better."
MARCELINO BALL: "I feel like they've broadened the spectrum in regard to increasing our speed on the field, with pads on. They've made their mission to make us stronger, more explosive. Ready for Big Ten football."
IUHoosiers.com
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Dr. Matt Rhea doesn't necessarily look like a speed merchant.
But he's selling. And Indiana football players sure are buying.
Rhea, brought to IU under the auspices of new director of athletic performance David Ballou this past January, appreciates the buy in from the Hoosiers.
He isn't surprised by it, though.
Because the data speaks for itself. It's an easy sell.
Ballou and Rhea initially showed the Hoosiers improvements documented during their work in 2015 and 2016 at IMG Academy in Florida – where they trained top prep prospects, college stars and pros – and, in 2017, when Ballou was at Notre Dame.
But now the Hoosiers can just look at increases in their own speed and power numbers, culled from February through July.
Such as:
Indiana has five times as many players squat-thrusting 500 or more pounds now than it did in February. The number of players bench-pressing 400 pounds or more has quadrupled.
And the speed increases are truly eye-popping:
- On average, Indiana has seen a 2.5-3.0 miles per hour increase in top speed across the team. That correlates to a .2-.3 improvement in 40-yard sprint time.
- Last year, Indiana had 3 players running at more than 21 MPH. It now has more than 30, with 17 of those running over 22 MPH (which Rhea ranks as elite speed at any level of football.)
- All three Hoosier scholarship quarterbacks – Peyton Ramsey, Michael Penix Jr. and Brandon Dawkins – are running over 22 MPH.
- IU sophomore wideout Whop Philyor and freshman defensive back Jaylin Williams are both running over 23 MPH.
"The fastest unit, as a whole, is the DBs," speed-specialist Rhea wrote. "A lot of speed back there."
As impressive as those speed and strength gains look, they won't matter unless they transfer to improved play on the field. Ballou and Rhea, through past experience, have every reason to think they will.
"We have a thing called 'Power Profile,' " Ballou said. "We have 10 exercises that we wholeheartedly believe translate to football better than any other sort of exercise you can do. So our guys get a number from those 10 exercises that determines where they are on that power chart.
"We are going to do the things that we feel transfer to the football field. Because if it doesn't, it's a waste of time."
Tom Allen, after his initial season as Hoosier head coach concluded last fall, wasted little time deciding his team needed a new approach to strength and conditioning. He found that in Avon native and former Hoosier player Ballou.
Allen told Ballou that he not only planned to recruit speed at IU but to have Ballou further develop it. Ballou knew exactly who could help with that.
Not everybody believes athletes can increase speed much once they reach college level – but Matt Rhea does.
"The challenge of people thinking you can't have that much impact on speed is probably what first drew me to it," Rhea said. "I'm really intrigued by the nervous system and how the brain controls things.
"The complexity of it was a challenge and continues to be a challenge. It's really intriguing for me to see how the brain controls those things but, even better, how we can influence the brain to control them better – which is basically what our system is built to do."
Rhea found a kindred system-building spirit in Ballou while at IMG.
"Dave Ballou is a really unique guy in this industry," Rhea said. "He's just as interested (as I am) in the data and the science behind it. He's put full faith in me."
And over time, Rhea and Ballou have earned the faith of others.
"It's a process of explaining what we're doing, demonstrating that it's worked in the past, and then showing them data that it's working (for them)," Rhea said. "They get reports from us, both for themselves and for the team, on a monthly basis."
When an IU player arrives at a weight rack, a tap of an iPad reveals an individualized workout plan designed specifically for him – to attack weaknesses and maximize gains, built via data accumulated via 3-D cameras, body sensors and other high-tech gear.
There is a laser, for example, that gauges how far and how quickly an athlete is actually moving the bar during lifting.
And all the data is fed into a program that reveals how any given athlete needs to proceed.
When Ballou and Rhea arrived in Bloomington, team-wide need for speed was overt.
"When we got here in January and started looking at the speed we had, it was obviously something that needed to improve," Rhea said. "I think our guys took that to heart and have worked incredibly hard since then.
"Coach Ballou and I sat down and mapped out where we thought we needed to be to really compete in the Big Ten. And I think our guys have outdone themselves, have worked really hard. I think where we're at from a speed standpoint is really good. You can never be fast enough, can always get faster, and we'll keep working at it.
"I saw an interview with a strength coach for a team out West that's known for its speed, and he was pretty happy that they have 20 guys running over 20 miles per hour. We have 47. So I'm pretty happy with where our speed is at right now."
Ballou has similar sentiments, having recently helped Notre Dame go from a 4-8 season in 2016 before his arrival in South Bend to 10-3 with a bowl win over LSU last fall.
"I have the numbers of the team where I was at last year," Ballou said, referencing Notre Dame. "I'll just say this, without getting too specific: We are much closer to those numbers than I thought we had a prayer of being when I got here in January. Let's put it that way.
"I thought a year from now we might possibly get to that, but we're in a lot better shape now than I ever thought we had a chance to get (this fast.) That's a credit to our whole staff and our players for everything, including buy in. I can't think of one day, literally, when our guys didn't come in here ready to go."
And they were spurred by results they could see quickly.
"The first couple of months, I just think it was catching on, when they saw the power and the speed coming," Rhea said. "It's addictive. You can't get enough of it. So it only took a month or so to see those improvements starting to come.
That helps."
The momentum carried through spring football and beyond.
"When we saw those Profiles at the end of the spring, which were above where we thought we'd be able to get to," Ballou said, "our biggest concern was, 'This will only be good if we can keep that happening over the summer. It's got to go up again. It can't stop.'
"And it went up again. I think the average increase for the whole squad was 18 percent (since the spring) in that Power Profile. That's the whole roster. It was exactly what we were hoping for."
Now they're hoping to see it reflected on the field. The Hoosiers started fall camp Thursday and will be in full pads this week.
"The last part to this is now showing that speed on the field," Rhea said. "They said they got a sense of it during spring ball, that they're moving faster, that things were happening much quicker. But the last piece of this is helping them not only feel it and see it on the field, but be comfortable at that speed.
"September 1 will be a big date for us."
That's when Indiana play its season opener at Florida International.
Allen feels his Hoosiers will enter the fray more confident via their offseason conditioning work.
"It was a major change in our program to bring those guys here and you ask our players, and they've been a game changer for us," Allen said. "I'm very optimistic. The numbers are what they are. You can go through and look at them on paper.
"Those that have been around this game know the physical piece gives you confidence. There is just a confidence about our guys right now because they know they're bigger, faster, stronger, more explosive, and they feel that way. It affects your mindset. So I think that's been another big benefit of Coach Ballou and Dr. Rhea and the work they've done.
"Obviously, now you've got to go play football. You've got skills that have to be developed and those (sorts of) things, but it starts in that weight room."
Rhea said he and Ballou are not only grateful for the support and enthusiasm they've received from Allen, his staff and his players, but from IU's athletic administration.
"Nobody has told me 'no,' yet," Rhea said with a smile, "so I'm going to keep asking till somebody says, 'No.' If that never happens, fantastic. But so far the technology and tools we've needed have been given us, and I'm appreciative of that."
Yes, it seems the administration is buying merchandise.
And happily buying what Ballou and Rhea are selling.
A FEW PLAYER TESTIMONIALS REGARDING DAVID BALLOU AND MATT RHEA DURING IU MEDIA DAY:
WHOP PHILYOR: "The speed program is probably the best thing that's happened to us. It's actually great. Coach Rhea – great doctor, great teacher, everything. Everybody's gotten faster, myself included. It's not just (numbers). You can actually see it."
COY CRONK: "Coach Ballou and Dr.Rhea have helped us tremendously with how they've worked their program, with all the things they emphasize. And I think maybe the best part is that they individualize it for everybody. It's not cookie-cutter, where everybody does the same amount of the same stuff. They really specify."
GAVIN EVERETT: "It's done a lot for me and the team. All your numbers get posted and you're ranked – however many guys are in the group, you're 1 to 20, you're competing. Being able to see your numbers, how fast you're moving the bar, the power your producing, it brings a competitive edge that I think we had lacked (previously) in the weight room. Now it's created an atmosphere that can't be broken."
DAMEON WILLIS JR.: "Everyone looks like muscle-heads. Coach Ballou did a great job with us this summer. Really pushed us to the limit. He feels good about it. We feel good about ourselves. We're ready to get out there."
NICK WESTBROOK: "Dr. Rhea really got us going … I didn't really have to buy in. I'm a big analytical guy. I saw the numbers from the start, the whole presentation from when they first got here. Some of the numbers showed how it worked for these guys in the league (NFL). When I first started with Dr. Rhea, I was running about 20 miles per hour. Now I'm at 22. So pretty big increase."
MORGAN ELLISON: "I'm somewhere in the 22 (miles per hour range) … when I hit 23, that's when I'll be happy. Definitely, I just feel faster. Feel better. In shape. And just giving it everything I have in the weight room. I think that's the biggest thing. When you come away knowing you gave it everything you have, that's when you know you're going to be stronger, faster, just … better."
MARCELINO BALL: "I feel like they've broadened the spectrum in regard to increasing our speed on the field, with pads on. They've made their mission to make us stronger, more explosive. Ready for Big Ten football."
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