We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Walt Shedd a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Walt, thank you for being such a positive, uplifting person. We’ve noticed that so many of the successful folks we’ve had the good fortune of connecting with have high levels of optimism and so we’d love to hear about your optimism and where you think it comes from.
My optimism comes directly from my faith in knowing that there is a Force greater than me, a Benevolent Force that I call God that is accompanying us on this journey. It also comes from an experiential side, in that we have touched trained over 50,000 athletes under the model that we have developed over the past ten years.
And we know that this model, if adopted by the athlete, coaches, etc. will produce an athlete who is able to reach their maximum performance capabilities on the field, court, course, floor, etc.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
At Athletes in Motion, Academy we have developed a unique process model for building an athlete from the ground up, one athlete at a time. The premise behind this model is that good movement mechanics and explosiveness follows good biomechanics.
This process model that was dubbed the Athletic Development Model (ADC Model) has been responsible for improving the athletic performance of athletes across club, high school, collegiate, and professional ranks. 70% of our athletes have been female athletes who tend to be 7 times more susceptible to injury to the lower extremities than their male counterparts.
Over the course of the past ten (10) years we have also become very well known for our work with injured athletes getting them back to sport without a reoccurrence of the same injury.
During this time, we have approached our business, athletic performance training, with science-based methods and feedback loops constantly innovating and early adopting in order to bring our clients the best possible results.
In addition, our trainer model is unique in that 100% of our trainers have been recipients of the same model that they are now delivering to others….former athletes who have been certified internally and externally to deliver a consistent process in the development of the athlete.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
While I hold advanced degrees and certifications, as do all of our trainers, nothing could replace the experience of working with trainers and 50,000 student athletes over ten years. Working under the premise that “text book says”…but……
Being inquisitive, and challenging methods that were presented along the way to validate and adopt or modify and adopt.
Being innovative always assuming that there could be a better way to address an old problem or goal.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents made many sacrifices to make sure I received an excellent education but even more critical than that they gave me my faith foundation and that has made all of the difference.
My mother also had a favorite saying that I have lived by and incorporated in into Athletes in Motion, Academy and that is “the mark of an intelligent person is not if you know the answer, but if you know where to go to find the right answer”. Thank you mom!
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Other: cell phone 949 813-3459
