Defying Age and Playing Longer in Life: How Athletes Have Found the Fountain of Youth
Tom Brady led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their second Super Bowl appearance over the weekend, making this his 10th Super Bowl appearance in his 20-yearlong NFL career. This Super Bowl appearance puts him alongside LA’s Lebron James for most championship games played in their respective careers, and at 43 years old, he’s also the oldest active player in the league right now. Despite being the oldest in the league with Drew Brees following closely behind at 42 years old, both players show high level athleticism, health, and skill, and we think it has to do with their training regimen coming into the game.
This generation has seen a shift in players playing past their societally-imposed “prime” ages, going on to be successful in their sports well into their 40’s. We see it with Brady and Brees in the NFL, Vince Carter and Andre Iguodala (and so many other players) in the NBA, MLB’s Fernando Rodney and Scoolu’s own Pudge Rodriguez, who played until he was 41, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thorton in the NHL, and tennis all-star Roger Federer. It seems as though athletes in this generation are defying age and age-related stereotypes.
Brady and Brees, though rivals in the league, shared one thing: Dr. Tom House. Tom House, who started his coaching career with Nolan Ryan after a successful 7-year career in MLB, is known as ‘the Father of Modern Pitching Mechanics’, being the first to take a science-based approach of motion analysis and mechanics to train both pitchers and any other athlete required to continuously rotate their shoulders and arms in their sport. This type of training has helped countless players, and we believe that mentorship from House and this type of science-based approach to rotational mechanics is, on top of usual training and conditioning, is what has helped these players succeed in the way that they have.
In an interview with the LA times back in 2012, Brady shared that after a certain age, there’s a lot of things that you have to re-learn about how you play, and re-train yourself to change certain mechanics you’ve gotten used to over the years, in order to constantly evolve your game— this is what Tom House helps with, and this what sets these older players apart from older players in the past. Players today are constantly maintaining their edge and making sure they’re constantly learning, regardless of how long they’ve been in the game, and it’s showing in this trend of players playing at a high level longer in life.
In a couple of weeks, Brady will go head-to-head against Patrick Mahomes, one of the youngest QBs currently in the league. With quarterbacks at opposite ends of the age spectrum, it’ll definitely be a game to watch. If Mahomes is able to maintain this level of playing and training, this baseball-turned-football player may very well end up following in the footsteps of Brady and Brees, playing well into his 40’s.
These cases of players maintaining athleticism and strong technique into their 40’s shows us just how important coaching and mentorship are in any sport. Having a team of mentors and coaches behind you as you learn, re-learn, and implement techniques could very well prolong your career by decades.
Coaching isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to sports. Contact us to see what our coaches and mentors can add to your current training regimen, and see how we can help you elevate your game!