Matt Tometz Performance Podcast

Dr. JB Morin has been all around the world doing speed training and research. In this conversation we go through the craziest story he has so far: 1:40 Experiencing the first non-Afro-origin sprinter hit a sub-10-second 100-meter time 8:00 The misconception strength has for sprinting 16:01 How he would construct the perfect body for sprinting Instagram @jb.morin.1 ; Twitter @jb_morin Website:...

Lee "The Speed Guy" Taft has coached speed and agility for 30+ years from starting in his garage, to consulting for professional teams, to speaking internationally. In our conversation we go over his craziest story: 1:03 Disciplining an athlete and having to apply all of his speed and agility training to escape while the kid's mom chased him 8:22 Advice on how to handle those stern conversations a...

Matt Solomon coaches Olympic and Paralympic athletes for Team NL (Netherlands), has accumulated coaching experience all over Europe and the Middle East, and hosts the Science for Sport Podcast. In this episode we discuss: 2:40 Moves from following his wife's career to becoming a strength coach for a soccer team in the United Arab Emirates 14:03 His "financial getaway" receiving 4 months salary onl...

From being an entrepreneur all around the private sector to making his home training high-level and professional basketball players at Pace Fitness Academy, Justin has some incredible stories from 10+ years in the field. Justin shares his stories about: -Inviting an Indiana Pacer to his wedding as a joke then him becoming a client -Having athletes of his connect all around the world playing for th...

With any knowledge of sport science you know that the actual numbers are the least important part. It was my job over 3 months to vet and assess our trial force plates to see if they were fit for the facility I coach at. In this episode (20 min), I share my experiences, lessons learned, and thought processes throughout the journey. Force plates are great and extremely useful, but consume my perspe...

The last place you'd expect an Ole Miss football player who grew up in Oxford, Mississippi to end up: in Utah working with speed skaters. Andrew takes us through his entire journey navigating all the different sports and different locations along the way all across the country. The connected dots and the full circle moments have led him to asking himself "What impact are you trying to have today?"...

From "don't just sit there looking like a puppy dog" to winning a gold medal in Tokyo, Christian Hartford has achieved success for himself and his athletes by constantly finding ways to "be better." Christian walks us through the day of the beach volleyball gold medal match that his athletes won and all the emotions it brought. Then he wrapped up the episode by sharing what it means to him to...

Are you looking for a competitive edge when looking for jobs and interviewing? Listen to my experiences of an on-campus interview so you can be better prepared for yours. Although each university will have their own specific protocols, what I experienced can give you examples and insights to help you prepare for yours. Additionally, even if you might not be looking for jobs specifically as an "ass...

A story unlike any others starting with stumbling upon Lee Taft while coaching basketball, Tyler has navigated his career up to a job in the NBA. Developing effective "mental models" along every stop, each stop has brought stories of ascension of his athletes to things beyond just performance. Check out my chat with Tyler about what has made his story as unique as it is. Empowering you to take con...

Job searching is a lot more similar to The Bachelorette and getting an ACT tutor than you might think... In this episode I draw on my experiences from job searching for over 2 years (thanks COVID) including 80+ applications and networking with 60+ professionals (100+ phone calls). My analogies and 1 real life story help put this process into perspective to help you maximize your efforts and increa...

The most fundamental story of Coach Cromer left him with one less finger and turned his world upside down spurring the genesis of "Living 9 Strong" and his motto for life. Stumbling into softball and the life lessons he's learned from his players and winning conference championships, Bryan brings a ton of insight wrapping up his question you can ask yourself to get better by focusing on "inte...

Hopping off the plane at LAX without know where he'd sleep that night to now a Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, Jonathan Valentini has made it happen everywhere he's been. College volleyball, internship at UCLA, and St. Laurence High School are his 3 biggest stops thus far. Check out this episode as Jonathan shares insights from private, college, and high school roles to help you land your fi...

Starting with 6 months going on 4 years, Zack Wade is on a mission to continue making a difference through baseball in Thailand. From losing baseball entirely for a year as a college athlete, to the happenstance that brought him to the International School Bangkok, and now being a business owner on top of everything else, Zack shares a ton of valuable stories and insights. Learning how he navigate...

Sam Acho is just getting started after truly letting the world see him. From the laundry list of accomplishments from college and the NFL, to his mission work, and now current and future aspirations, Sam is on a mission to inspire others to be real in a world full of fakes. A speed round of questions, stories from meeting 2 Presidents, and a story that's never been told before, this is an episode...

Maybe this is the advice I should be taking, but I know there are a lot of you out there like me and you are not alone. I FEEL YOU. Graduating, starting your career, being an "adult" for a few years. I share the 2 toughest things about being an ambitious 20-something year old, the advice I've received, the experience I've gained, and action steps you can take. I don't have all the answers, but I h...

From almost 20 years in college track, Bob Thurnhoffer has the stories to back up an already tenured coaching career. COVID, last minute pole vaulting, philosophy, unlikely heroes, and the power of questions, this episode and conversation show what coaching is all about. These perspectives and stories help you take a step back and ask "why am I here and how do I best help my athletes?" Empowering...

The opportunity to coach youth athletes and set them up for literally the rest of their athletic careers (and lives) is one of the coolest parts of coaching. However, there are many factors that are outside of the coach's control (i.e. time, puberty, etc.) when it comes to developing athletes. In this episode, I put together my own experience plus advice I've received when coaching this population...

Dr. Zach Cogen, Sports Physical Therapist out of EXOS San Diego, shares the biggest and coolest stories he has accumulated thus far as a professional. From having to take the GRE 5 times, to doing physical therapy across the world through Zoom, to watching his athlete's accomplishments, you'll want to hear these. With commonalities and themes of working athletes, just in a different role, Zach's i...

"That same thing has happened a few times in my life: where I’m a dummy, then I do something smart in the end, then it sort of pays off. It’s a recurring lesson in my life.” Kyle Davey's journey has been a combination of opening doors, making doors out of nothing, and doors closing even when he didn't want them to. From wanting more out of his career and making stuff happen, he shares...

Celebrating episode 100, I had 3 of my favorite guests on for a roundtable discussing my favorite part of each of their episodes. Here are the top quotes from the discussion: “You play where your spikes are. I think when we get into careers and things like that, it becomes a really exhausting chess match. And sometimes we just have to remind ourselves to play where our spikes are at.” -Dr. John Wa...

“To this day I still receive letters from individuals that I worked with over a decade ago, and just knowing I was maybe some small part of that, that’s what keeps me coaching, that’s what really drives me.” Nick Brattain, the man who does it all, shares his stories from all over performance (and the world) that've shaped his career so far. From high school athletes to NBA athletes, from the NHSCC...

“This is about how to maximize your efforts. How intentional can you be to make it the most efficient, the most worth your while, and consequently the most worth their while so it’s the most beneficial, efficient exchange of value in this professional context.” Short, sweet, to the point on what you can do to bring the most value to the table to set yourself up for some really awesome, genuine, hu...

A career that has accumulated from many top universities and USA Baseball, Brandon Golden of the Los Angeles Dodgers shares the most impactful stories thus far from his journey. From an incredibly formative internship influencing how he leads others, to his athletes doing crazy things in conferences tournaments, to a full circle moment of his 3-year old son being asked to be in one of his ex-athle...

There are often many solutions to our problems not only outside of our actual field, but even within our field just a sector or two over. It's important as a professional to get outside of your own echo-chamber because that's where perspective and future innovation is. In this episode, I share three of a biggest lessons I believe every professional in sports performance can learn from coaching in...

With stories just as crazy as you'd expect from a sport science technology start-up, Plantiga CEO Quin Sandler takes us through the journey from the Creative Destruction Lab competition to get initial funding, to being trusted by 50+ teams, to now his vision of the democratization for people's own biomechanical data. 10 years in and counting, Quin and his team are filling a huge pain point of miss...