Be sure to get over to http://combines.underarmour.com and sign up for one of the latest Combine Weekends that were just announced.

May 2: Houston May 2: Cleveland May 9: New York May 16: Pittsburgh May 23: San Diego

Space is limited and these events will sell out!

As an athlete you know you need to train. Training to most means the obvious endeavors, strength training, linear speed improvement, lateral movement sessions, and eating right. Since most athletes who are serious about their sport perform the obvious, those who want the edge need to practice the less obvious on a daily basis. Flexibility is one of those less obvious tasks that when performed on a consistent basis can yield obvious results. A good way to train flexibility is to always train flexibility. Flexibility training is useful and should be performed before, during, and after events.

• Pre-event flexibility: to insure body is warmed-up and prepared o Lying dynamic rope flexibility • Rope around foot, pull flex hamstring, groin, quad, hip: 10 reps each o Super-set with form running drills • Power Skips 2x20yds/Walking Frankenstein hamstring kicks 1x20yds • During event flexibility: to keep involved muscle groups and regions loose, limit risk of injury, and to improve performance o Between sets of linear speed development • Example: posture wall drill acceleration training set/foot on wall ledge hamstring lean-ins o Between sets of strength training • Example: a work set of bench press with arms extended up and wide, band or rope over-and-backs • Post-event flexibility: to make gains in range of motion as well as speed recovery for next session o Example: Post practice or training session. Static partner stretching; hold hamstring in stretch position for 30 sec and move on to groin, quads and hip

In summary, flexibility is an excellent habit to develop. Once one realizes the extra time is paying off with decreased risk of injury and increased performance, one will be hooked. It takes passion to train hard; it takes discipline to train right. A few pointers: • Flexibility training should be dynamic pre- and during event; Static flexibility is only an option post training. This should make sense, since once you start warming the body up, you should keep it moving. • Use as many flexibility tools as possible for variety. Tools include: rope, hurdle, ledge, and partner.

Under Armour has announced five cities and dates for their Lacrosse Combine Weekends. Head over to the Combines website and check out all the information on the Combine Weekends including the Coaches Clinics, Youth Combine Clinics, Skills Camps and Combines and be sure to register early before they sell out!

http://combines.underarmour.com/Combines/Lacrosse/List

Scouts, Inc. writer JC Schurburtt checks in from LA with this recap:

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Fast-rising wide receiver Michael Thomas (Woodland Hills, Calif./Taft) highlighted a strong group of receivers at the Los Angeles Under Armour Combine on Sunday at Santa Monica College.

Thomas was a standout two weeks ago at the Badger Sport Elite 7-on-7 in Las Vegas and followed that up with an excellent showing Sunday. The 6-foot-2, 170-pounder runs excellent routes, has good hands and excellent quickness. He also caught nearly everything during the one-on-one and seven-on-seven portion of the event. "When you come to events like this, there are so many people watching," Thomas said. "You get to show people what you can do because there are eyes everywhere. You just want to get out there and show people what you can do."

Thomas did not put up big numbers last year, playing in a run-oriented offense (2010 USC commit D.J. Morgan was a senior this past season) at Taft, but he's not worried about his recruiting stock.

"Maybe doing well here can get people to come to my games [this season]," he said. "This will help get the word out. I am going to go to every camp I can and show that I am a player in Division I football. Taft is a great program. Last year, we had a great running back. This year, we have a transfer quarterback who is really good. He's like a prayer answered to come to our school. This year, we are thinking about passing for a lot of yards and getting the ball out there."

Thomas is the nephew of former NFL and Southern California receiver Keyshawn Johnson.

"I learn a lot from him," Thomas said. "He gives me a lot of pointers and is always on me no matter what. He tells me to run fast, that the game is played fast. You can't be running slow. You can't be jogging. He knows I can catch and I can get open and jump high, but he wants me to keep on running all the time."

On the recruiting front, Thomas is getting heavy attention from a number of programs, including USC, Oregon, Arizona State, Washington State, Boise State and North Carolina.

"I am going to be looking at academics, how my parents like it and the programs that put players in the NFL, because that's always the goal," he said. "I am also going to be looking at who has the top trainers, so they can get me better. I also am going to consider which school I can get early playing time at, so I can be an impact freshman."

This past week in Indianapolis, 329 NFL hopefuls trekked to Lucas Oil Stadium to show the true measure of their athletic potential by competing in the 2010 NFL Scouting Combine powered by Under Armour.

For the second consecutive year, these athletes competed in the latest innovative Combine apparel from Under Armour including Battle compression shirts, the new Core Short, and Combine shoes and Mercenary cleats. These shirts are the same style being used in the Under Armour Football Combines across the country, where some of the top athletes are going through the same evaluations in the hopes of taking their game to the collegiate level.

Coverage from Indianapolis has been plentiful, but two of the top recaps of both what the Combine is about as well as two of its stars, Gerald McCoy and Ndamukong Suh, came from Peter King in this week's Sports Illustrated. Links to both articles can be found below.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1166774/1/index.htm

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1166775/index.htm

Under Armour athlete Paul Rabil headed down to Bradenton, FL this week to check out the IMG Academies as they prepare to launch their Lacrosse Academy.

Paul spent time on campus going through the Combine360 performance evaluation, setting the standard for future lax athletes as they look to get the one true measure of their athletic potential.

Following his testing, Paul worked with members of the Lacrosse Academy on-field. Here is some video of him from IMGA.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbF4PtBC0A8&feature=youtu.be&a

Scouts, Inc.'s JC Shurbutt reports from the Under Armour Combine this weekend, where Running Backs stole the show. Be sure to check back all week for stats, photos and more recaps as the Under Armour Combine Tour heads west this month!

BRADENTON, Fla. -- A group of running backs that featured some of the top prospects in the country, including versatile star James Wilder Jr. (Tampa, Fla./Plant), and one of the top 2012 prospects in the Sunshine State highlighted the Bradenton Under Armour Combine on Sunday at IMG Academies.

One of the big questions about Wilder, who has nearly 50 scholarship offers to his credit and is one of the top overall prospects in the country, is what position he will play in college. Equally good on both sides of the ball, Wilder could easily be an elite linebacker prospect as well. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder worked out at running back on Sunday and that appears to be the position he is leaning toward playing in college.

Wilder ran a 4.45 short shuttle and was impressive during position drills and one-on-one work. Combine that with the work he did on the field last season, nearly 1,000 rushing yards, going both ways and leading his team to the Florida Class 5A championship, and it's clear that he's one of the top prospects in America for the 2011 cycle.

"Coming out here was a great experience," Wilder said. "I love competition. Coming out here to compete and meet new friends and new people. Also, I enjoyed being trained by people that played in the NFL and know what it takes to make it to the next level."

Mike Blakely (Bradenton, Fla./Manatee) also has a national offer list. He helped his team reach the Florida Class 5A finals, where they played to and lost to Wilder's Plant team. In the state semifinals, he and his teammates upset top-ranked Saint Thomas Aquinas.

"Beating them, I don't want to say it was a dream come true because we knew we could do it," Blakely said. "But everybody else didn't think so, so we put all we had into that game and unfortunately did not have enough for Plant in the finals."

The 5-8, 193-pound Blakely is a versatile back who has good hands and can play the slot if needed.

Class of 2012 standout Matt Jones (Seffner, Fla./Armwood) is a taller (6-2½) running back who is a power runner with excellent feet. He's younger, but he is a team player. When asked about his early success on the football field, he gave the credit to his offensive line.

"I just wanted to come out here and compete with everybody," Jones said. "(Wilder) is one of my big competitors in (Hillsborough County), so it was good to compete against him."

Fullback prospect Hunter Joyner (Tampa, Fla./Catholic) had an impressive showing. The 5-11, 249-pounder threw up 33 reps of 185 pounds on the bench press and broad jumped 9 feet, 7 inches. He also displayed good quickness and hands during position drills and one-on-one/7-on-7 work.

Joyner will play tailback for Tampa Catholic, which produced ESPNU 150 prospects Christian Green (Florida State) and Chaz Green (Florida) in the 2010 class. North Carolina, Louisville, Florida and Georgia Tech are the schools in the mix for his services. His brother, Kameron Joyner, plays at Louisville.

Class of 2013 running back Adam Lane (Winter Haven, Fla./Winter Haven) is the younger brother of Rutgers tight end D.C. Jefferson. Lane made some good plays during one-on-ones and shined in the position drills. He played a good bit for Winter Haven last season and is one to watch in the future.

ESPN/Scouts Inc.'s Craig Haubert recaps this weekend's "Mr. Combine" from Miami:

The Miami Dolphins' indoor practice facility hosted one of the most anticipated Under Armour combines of the year. With South Florida being known for its rich talent pool, a big turnout of excellent talent was expected and the local prospects did not disappointment. With a roster filled to capacity, the event featured prospects that tested well, competed well and also looked the part. Here are some of the highlights from Sunday's event.

The event was not short on fine performances, but one player in particular seemed to put together an excellent outing. Wide receiver Tacoi Sumler (Miami/ Columbus) tested well, performed well and demanded attention. A diminutive receiver, Sumler proved he could make up for what he lacks in size with athleticism. The former Gulliver Prep player posted a 4.33 40 time, 6.73 three-cone drill time and showed he could play bigger than his height with a 37-inch vertical and 9-foot-7 broad jump.

However, he was just not a workout warrior. He displayed quickness in his route running and was difficult to cover in one-on-ones. In one particular instance he flashed his big-play ability by beating and turning around promising 2012 cornerback Tracy Howard (Miramar, Fla./Miramar) with a beautiful post-corner route. Sumler also displayed good hands by being able to catch the ball after he got open and his quickness can certainly make him a dangerous weapon after the catch.

Be sure to check back later this week for more stories from Miami.

Don't miss out on future Under Armour Combine Weekends in your area...sign up now!

http://combines.underarmour.com

As the Under Armour Combine Weekend takes over the Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area this week, a huge announcement came today as Coach Mike Leach is now scheduled to appear this Friday at the Under Armour Coaches Clinic at the Renaissance Plantation Hotel in Ft. Lauderdale.

Coach Leach will be one of the featured speakers at the event being held from 6-9pm. For more information and to register, please visit:

combines.underarmour.com

Be sure to register quickly as Coach Leach's appearance is sure to lead to the Clinic selling out!

The 2010 Under Armour Combine Weekends started off with a great turnout in Jacksonville, FL this past weekend.

Things started off on Friday evening with the Under Armour Coaches Clinic. Local coaches heard from Jacksonville Jaguars Coach Joe Cullen and University of Florida Coach Scott Loeffler. All who attended came away with some great coaching points and anecdotes from the field.

On Saturday, the Under Armour Skills Camp took place at the Jaguars facility. This sold out event featured 75 of the area's top athletes who took full advantage of learning skills and Combine fundamentals from the Under Armour Combine coaching staff that ultimately would benefit them the next day at the Under Armour Combine. Almost all of the attendees were signed up for the next day's Combine, and the handful that weren't were scrambling to get into the SOLD OUT Combine on Sunday.

Following the Skills Camp, local youth came to participate in the Under Armour/AYF Youth Combine Clinic. Here, these athletes of the future learned several Combine drills including the broad jump, short shuttle and L-Cone drill while also learning valuable training drills that will help them in those events down the line. This fun and informative introduction to the Under Armour Combine experience was their first entry into Under Armour Combine weekends and is sure to be a success in each city we visit weekly.

Finally the Under Armour Combine was held on Sunday. This event SOLD OUT the week prior to the event, as many of the top local athletes jumped at the chance to experience the Under Armour Combine and be evaluated under the new Combine360 measurement system. Stats and stories from the Combine will hit later this week, so be sure to keep checking the blog!

Don't miss your chance to experience an Under Armour Combine Weekend. Schedule and registration available at:

http://combines.underarmour.com

Be sure to act fast, as all events at Under Armour Combine Weekends will sell out!