Shippensburg University Sports Performance

Shippensburg University Athletics

Welcome

Shippensburg University Sports Performance and the Department of Strength & Conditioning is responsible for the management, direction, and oversight of a competitive and progressive strength & conditioning program for the Shippensburg University Athletics Department and its student-athletes.

SU Strength & Conditioning is under the direction head strength and conditioning coach Dennis Kerstetter.

The Athletics Weight Room, located on the bottom floor of Heiges Field House, is the primary location for SU's Strength & Conditioning efforts.

2022 Football Pregame Warmups vs. Kutztown

The Athletics Weight Room was renovated in January 2020 and unveiled to student-athletes on Tuesday, Jan. 14.

Mission Statement

We are committed to principles of ethical conduct, integrity and excellence, which will prepare the student athletes for personal growth both during and beyond the competitive years of collegiate athletics. We will prepare a safe and comprehensive training environment to include, but not limited to, increasing specific sports performance, reducing potential injury risk and education of proper nutrition.

Philosophy

Our goals are to increase athletic performance, and help reduce athletic-related injuries.

Our training philosophy is to train ground based movements, multi-joint movements and three dimensional movements. These three training staples ensure that our athletes are training appropriately for their sport or competition.

Enhancing strength, speed, explosiveness, agility, mobility, metabolic conditioning needs, body composition, nutritional habits and recovery methods.
Core exercises are ground-based movements, training our athletes in the same position in which they compete. This teaches our student-athletes to apply force through the ground, increasing speed, power and strength.
Exercises are three-dimensional, meaning I train our athletes in all movement planes, especially in movement patterns they perform on the field while also teaching them to stabilize their musculature in all movement patterns.
Provide education and guidance in performance nutrition and active recovery methods
Lastly, we train movements, not muscles. All movement patterns involve multiple joints because athletes move through multiple joints simultaneously while competing.

Healthy, strong muscle and joints decrease the risk of injury by allowing the muscle and joint to dissipate more force applied to it on a daily basis, as well as to speed up the recovery time needed for an injured student-athlete. I program injury reduction exercises for our student-athletes, targeting common areas of injury in specific sports.

Dedication to the strength and conditioning program develops an individual’s accountability, discipline, focus, teamwork, maturity and competitiveness. All of which lead to an increased commitment toward team goals.

Improvements seen from our strength and conditioning program instill trust in ourselves and our teammates. It brings teams closer and allows teams to play at their highest potential.

Ten Principles of Athletic Development

(1) Ground based movements
(2) Train movements, not muscles
(3) Train explosively
(4) Variety
(5) Periodization
(6) Specificity
(7) Split Routine
(8) Injury Reduction
(9) Functional Mobility and Postural Control
(10) Diet and Recovery