Mike Young, PhD abd
Director of Sports Performance
In his role as the Director of Sports Performance, Mike serves as the primary biomechanist and strength and speed consultant. Mike is also the coach for the HPC Elite team. Mike has an undergraduate degree in Exercise Physiology and a Master of Science degree in Athletic Administration. He is currently completing a PhD in Biomechanics. He has studied extensively in anatomy, physiology, sport psychology, motor learning, training theory and biomechanics. Mike has served as a jumps and multi-events coach at Ohio University where his athletes set 2 school records. Following OU, Mike moved to Baton Rouge where he did his doctoral studies and mentored under legendary track and field coach, “Boo” Schexnayder for 4 years. While at LSU, Mike was on the staff of 6 National Championship teams. Following his time at LSU, Mike became the sprints and multi-events coach for Army Track & Field. In his short 3 years at Army, Mike’s athletes rewrote the record books with 9 school records, 54 All-Time Top Ten performances, 24 Conference Championships, and achieved the three highest point totals ever recorded in a single event at the conference championship (highlighted by a pole vault, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th at 2006 indoor meet).
Mike has been a guest at all three U.S. Olympic Training Centers as an athlete (Lake Placid), sport scientist (Colorado Springs & Chula Vista), and coach (Colorado Springs). Mike has worked with several Olympians, National Champions, and Collegiate National Champions in the sport of Track & Field. In addition to working with track athletes, Mike has also trained athletes from a variety of other sports. Mike has helped prepare numerous players for the NFL combine, most notably Bradie James (Dallas Cowboys) and Super Bowl Champion Marquise Hill (New England Patriots).
He has lectured for USA Speed Skating, and has developed strength and conditioning programs for collegiate sports ranging from basketball to swimming. A Level 1, 2, and 3 Instructor for USATF, he also serves as the Director of Technology, Biomechanics Chairperson, and Vertical Jumps Chairperson for USA Track & Field’s Coaches’ Education division. Mike is certified as a USA Track & Field Level 1, 2, and 3 coach and is only one of two people to be a Level 3 instructor in three different event disciplines (sprints, throws, and jumps). In his role as a USATF Coaches Education instructor, Mike became the youngest Level 2 (at the age of 26) and Level 3 (at 28) instructor ever in the 25 year history of the program. On top of these duties, Mike is also the biomechanist for the United State’s men and women shot putters who are consistently ranked among the very best in the world.
His research on sprinting, balance, and throwing activities has been published and presented in Regional, National and International journals and conferences. In the field of strength and conditioning, Mike is an NSCA Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist as well as a certified USA Weightlifting Club Coach. He is well-versed in coaching the Olympic Lifts and creating specialized strength, speed and conditioning programs to help maximize the performance of any athlete.
*Visit Mike’s personal website.
Will Wu, PhD
Director of Skill Acquisition
As the Director of Skill Acquisition for HPC, Will’s primary goal is to optimize the mental aspects of sports performance by enhancing motor skill acquisition. He can effectively optimize sports performance by using strategies of movement memory, performance feedback, practice schedules, and skill accuracy. Will has instituted these techniques in a multitude of environments that include designing efficient practice schedules for amateur golfers, optimizing driving performance under stressful environments, and consulting on cell phone use while driving.
Will is the creator of result-dependent practice, a type of practice that has proven to be one of the most effective styles of learning and practicing a skill. He is well-educated in the field of skill acquisition and knows many techniques that can be successfully employed to enhance movement memory and accuracy. In addition to his expertise in skill acquisition, Will is also a USA Weightlifting certified Club Coach. Will earned his PhD in Motor Learning in 2007 from LSU.
Jared Porter, PhD
Skill Acquisition Specialist
Jared’s areas of specialization are practice schedules, skill acquisition, decision making and sports psychology. Jared is skilled in designing practice schedules to increase practice efficiency for both player and coach. In addition, he is also knowledgeable in the field of training and conditioning. Jared’s goal is to combine principles of training, motivation, teamwork, and coaching philosophy into a well-rounded program that will lead to a successful team. Jared has worked with a variety of coaches and athletes in the planning and implementation of programs to enhance coaching efficiency and player performance.
He has also lectured widely on various motor learning and practice related issues. Broadly speaking, Jared’s research focuses on the contextual interference effect and how contextual interference influences motor skill learning, specifically applied motor skills. His current research investigates how gradually increasing contextual interference enhances performance both during practice and on later tests. He has developed a line of research suggesting low amounts of contextual interference are beneficial for novices early in practice while higher amounts of contextual interference are beneficial for skilled performers later in practice.
More specifically, his research suggests that as a learner becomes more skilled it is beneficial to systematically increase the amount of contextual interference in practice. His research has been presented both nationally and internationally. Jared completed his Ph.D. in Motor Learning with a minor in Cognitive Psychology in 2008 from LSU.
Mianfang Ruan, PhD
Motion Analysis Specialist
Mianfang is one of the lead researchers for HPC. Prior to coming to HPC, Mianfang served as a sports biomechanist at the Shanghai Sports Institute in China. Mianfang is an expert in analyzing human movement. From live data collection to lab experiments, Mianfang can collect and interpret data from a wide variety of human movements. Mianfang is also highly knowledgeable in muscle mechanics and has used this knowledge to improve performance in a variety of activities.
Mianfang’s goal is to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners and to combine the principles of biomechanics and the latest intervention technology into a comprehensive human performance enhancement solution. His research has been presented at the national and international level. Ruan earned his PhD in Biomechanics in 2007 from LSU.
Jason Winchester, PhD
Exercise Physiologist / Performance Specialist
Jason’s area of expertise is in understanding the physiological and mechanical demands of training for elite performance. This understanding of the integration between human physiology and biomechanics allows him to optimize training programs for HPC clients. In recent years, Jason’s research in human performance has been published nationally and internationally in multiple peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at conferences of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). His research has also been presented internationally at the Commonwealth Games International Sports Conference in Melbourne Australia.
Jason earned his undergraduate degree in Health and Exercise and his Master of Science degree in Human Performance where he worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach and performed research on elite and sub-elite athletes in the Musculoskeletal Research Center, a facility dedicated to understanding the biomechanical and physiological demands of human performance. Currently, Jason completed his Ph.D. in Exercise Physiology with a minor in Biomechanics at Louisiana State University. At LSU, Jason was the primary instructor for academic courses titled ‘Scientific Basis of Exercise’ and ‘Exercise Testing and Prescription’. Jason is currently a professor at George Mason University.
In addition to teaching, Jason performs research on elite athletes in the Exercise Biochemistry Lab and worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach for the LSU Football Team. Jason is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the NSCA and has years of experience working with athletes in various sports, ages, and levels.