Hawly implements different training course at CBA

By Justin Hayes
Published in Sports on August 14, 2017 12:59 PM

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PIKEVILLE -- The terminology, scrawled in angular penmanship on a yellow legal pad, reads like an obscure language.

There are words and phrases such as goblet squats, DB good-mornings, trap-bar jumps and push presses. On another page, written with the same determination, the author waxes about Kroc rows, agility ladders and dips -- weight-training moves designed to first terrorize, then quickly recover, one's physical form.  

If it sounds like a different form of training, it is.  

It's a system-shock, more than anything, and exactly why James Hawley -- the new offensive line coach at Charles B. Aycock -- was encouraged to implement the rigors of his powder-blue plyometric manifesto this past spring.  

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Hired in the hush between last Christmas and the January term, Hawley didn't officially enter the Aycock football fold until February, when he finally had occasion to discuss his don't-try-this-at-home approach to strength training with head coach Steve Brooks, who quickly tabbed him to fill the void created by the departure of longtime assistant coach Dave Elmore.

"He's brought an idea and a way of doing things," Brooks said last week. "Here's the biggest thing I can tell you -- our kids like stretching now... (and) I don't think we had three guys all summer to miss a workout."  

By April, Hawley had penned numerous versions of the team's new training regimen, and as June appeared on the calendar, so too were a quartet of program pillars likely to remain intact for some time.  

Stretching.

Minimal weight.

Intensity.

Recovery.   

Out with tradition, suffice to say, and in with a box-jumping, quick-twitching shakeup rooted in the rigors of Full Metal Jacket.

"It's about creating better movers in space," Hawley said. "Teaching them how to jump and how to land... putting in plyos that they've probably never seen before -- just making sure they move better."

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There's that word again -- plyos.

Part contraction, part reaction and part shock therapy, the concept of jump-training has taken off in Pikeville for two very simple reasons -- both of which are named James Hawley.

To begin, his enthusiasm for the program's development has no apparent relent. As CBA's spring turned into summer workouts before marching toward August, there was Hawley, taking copious notes about his agenda -- highlighting what worked, what didn't and what might need refinement.    

But beyond that, there are the results -- quite noticeable in terms of speed and durability when you watch the Blues rip through drills -- that speak to a different, more comprehensive level of fitness this fall in Pikeville.  

"We do any kind of jump," the coach said. "Broad jump, long jump, vertical jumps... (and) instead of deadlifting for reps, we'll put 135 (pounds) on the bar, and you're trying to get as vertical as you can. It helps out a lot, as far as explosiveness needed for all positions -- not just one specific unit."

So, with all early returns signaling prosperity, the matrix will continue for Hawley and the Blues, who open the regular season on August 18 versus Rosewood.