When beginning the DWMA Screen and introducing it to athletes, don’t overwhelm yourself. As coaches, our instinct is to try and conquer the DWMA in its entirety and then go forth to implement its sum. Taking this approach leaves you and your athletes overwhelmed. When introducing the DWMA, your goal should be to empower your athletes — not confuse. Approaching DWMA with athletes in a slow, calculated approach strengthens your DWMA instruction. Furthermore, setbacks and discouragement are lessened, resulting in higher program results and adherence.
Supporting the above proposition, begin with learning just one or two of DWMA’s ten unique movement patterns and joint segment references. The DWMA is a simplified screening plan, but with any program, there is a learning curve. Next, review instructions for the Kinetic Chain corrective exercises respective to the referenced joint segments. It is good practice to probe these on yourself to elevate your aptness of instruction. Better yet, if a position coach, assistant or volunteer coach is available, have them perform the movement patterns. Taking time to rehearse before administering the DWMA to the group builds your confidence when critiquing and identifying patterns and their joint segment references.
After rehearsing the DWMA movements and their joint segment references, download the DWMA Screen Web App (not available in the App Store or Goggle Play) and save it to your smartphone’s home screen for quick retrieval. The DWMA Screen Web App replaces the DWMA Checklist and enhances your ability to recognize and chronicle movement dysfunctions for selected DWMA exercises using your smartphone.
The benefits and features of the DWMA Screen Web App allow you to:
- GO PAPERLESS and deliver movement screen reporting via email.
- Label sessions to better track mobility and stability improvements.
- High-quality, animated DWMA exercises enabling better screen instruction and execution.
- Select DWMA exercises of ANY screen to accommodate movement preference.
- Movement Tips for each screen exercise to boost the insightfulness of screening.
After adopting the above steps and practices, you are ready to guide a group through the DWMA Screen. Before the group’s arrival, set-up a set of cones; 10-15 yards apart as markers for movement transition. If you are performing the DWMA Screen in a basketball gym, mark sideline to sideline as the area to measure. Next, retrieve your smartphone and use the DWMA Screen Web App to mark joint segments relative to a movement pattern. As the athletes in the group perform the movement, mark when you sight global segment deficiencies.
If you have a large group, don’t assume you have to get everyone in a single try. Repeat the movement several more times until you have globally chronicled movement pattern deficiencies relevant to joint segments. If training time is grossly limited, consider filming the athletes using your smartphone so you can later review. Once journaled, instruct the group to complete their traditional warm-up and progress into their workout.
Don’t burden yourself or your athletes with the task of learning and applying the kinetic-chain corrective exercises at this time. Instead, continue to review the DWMA movements as you guide and chronicle groups and teams in similar segments previously outlined. If doing so takes a week or longer, don’t get distressed. Getting started takes some time, but as you and your athletes progress, you become more proficient.
Recall, the DWMA screen examines an individual or groups movement in three different ways:
- Pass = functional movement
- Fail = movement dysfunction
- Pain = refer out to a specialist
Recollect, screening does not mean assessment. A movement screen is like blood pressure. When you take someone’s blood pressure, it doesn’t tell you why the individual is hypertensive; it just tells you it’s so. Therefore, avoid doing an assessment and a performance test when screening. The DWMA movement screen should NOT be to diagnose for anything — it should strictly identify dysfunction.
An excellent way to aid you with assessment LATER is to record the screen using a smartphone or tablet. Doing so allows you to focus on identifying movement dysfunctions and avoid the temptation to assess or the anxiety of screening correctly. Secondly, with video feedback, you provide meaningful feedback to your athletes so they can make changes in movement behavior. Thirdly, the recording provides you with precise feedback for later assessment and corrective exercise planning.
You can capture the screen further and boost changes in movement behavior with the Coaches Eye app. The app is free and offers the chance to playback videos in slow motion and scrub frame-by-frame to provide you and your athletes with well-defined feedback. Furthermore, the app allows you to analyze two videos side-by-side, so you can compare and contrast movement changes, and help athletes make quick adjustments or praise improvements. With the paid version of the app, you can send video links to your athletes via email, text message, or social media so they can reference your feedback long after a training session is over. Better yet, Coach’s Eye lets you draw on your video using lines, shapes, and arrows, to clearly illustrate your points and emphasize technique. Add voice-over narration to provide your athletes.
Lastly, when one of the DWMA movements is dysfunctional and causes pain, you should immediately refer out to a specialist. The reason: joint restriction and pain are two inhibitors of movement that distort motor control. When pain is present, it is impossible to know if the athlete’s pain is because they move poorly or poor movement is causing the pain?
