You can’t build an athlete on vibes. Coach Joel “Coach Mo” Molina from 1822 Fitness joins me to lay out what sports performance training should look like when you care about results, health, and long-term development. We start where most programs skip ahead: the first conversation. Parents often bring the athlete in, but real progress begins when the player can say what they want and put numbers to it, whether that’s a faster 60 time, a higher vertical jump, or their first strict pull-ups.

From there, we get specific about assessment and testing. Coach Mo walks through how he uses tools like the Functional Movement Screen (FMS), joint range checks for overhead athletes, and performance measures like countermovement vs non-countermovement jumps, reactive strength index, pro shuttle change of direction, and sprint splits. The goal isn’t to collect data for fun. It’s to find the limiting factors, reduce injury risk, and design a strength and conditioning plan that transfers to volleyball and baseball.

We also talk programming philosophy, including warm-ups athletes can repeat on their own, mobility correctives, CNS activation with throws or plyos, and his triplex training structure that keeps sessions efficient. Then we zoom out to the bigger “village” around the athlete: when to push, when to protect an off-season, why unstructured play still matters, and why mindset and character might be the real competitive advantage.

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