It's all in the hips at Football Summit

HIGHLAND | One step forward, two steps back.

Brian Grasso has a better idea. It's called the "plyo step."

"I know a lot of coaches have a hard time believing about taking a step back in order to go forward," Grasso said during the Coaches and Parents Football Summit held June 25 at Ignite Sports Performance and Athletic Centers. "But I'll give you an example."

Grasso called on Ignite trainer Ben Porter to serve as Exhibit A. He instructed Porter to sprint forward from an athletic stance without using a plyo step -- a quick-footed maneuver where one's leg shoots out behind to help buttress the momentum going forward -- and then to take off while using one.

"The first time, all the agility had to travel up his body to his shoulders before he was finally able to lurch forward," Grasso said.

Grasso, a Toronto native who now lives in Chicago, is the founder of the International Youth Conditioning Association. During his talk, demonstrations and interactive stretching and conditioning drills, Grasso stressed the importance of things like thoracic spine flexibility, the non-importance of bench-press and squat totals achieved with poor technique and how gridiron success is "all in the hips."

"If you have good hip mobility, you have power," Grasso said.

The summit was hosted by Ignite owner and former NFL player Jared Tomich.

"We plan to do something like this about twice a year," said Tomich, who starred for Lake Central and Nebraska before becoming a defensive lineman for the Green Bay Packers and New Orleans Saints. "The next one may be more basketball-specific."

Also speaking at the summit were Tomich's former Packers teammate, linebacker Chris Gizzi, and Packers strength and conditioning coach Mark Lovat.

"You can say I'm still loyal to the Packers," said Tomich, who played four seasons in Green Bay. "It's where I spent most of my career."