N1 Performance Lab · Article 01 · Apr 2026
01
Forensic Positional Report
POSITIONAL
FORENSICS
Why Your Training Program Is Leaving Performance on the Table
N1 Performance Lab
Hawkin Dynamics CMJ
Force-Time Positional Profiling
Apr 17, 2026
The Argument
MOST PROGRAMS RUN ONE BLOCK FOR AN ENTIRE ROSTER.
The force-time data says that is a misallocation of training resources. Two positions. Two completely different mechanical demands. The curves do not look similar. They do not overlap. They tell two different stories about what the body is being asked to do — and what it needs to be trained to do.
Source: Hawkin Dynamics CMJ · Positional force-time profiling · N1 Performance Lab
"PEAK JUMP HEIGHT TELLS YOU WHAT HAPPENED. BRAKING RFD TELLS YOU HOW THE SYSTEM GOT THERE."
What it measures
The rate at which the athlete loads and redirects force during the eccentric phase of the jump — before propulsion begins. Not the peak. The rate of getting there.
Why it replaces jump height
Block-transition speed, landing mechanics, and long-term tendon health are all determined by braking rate — not peak force value. Jump height is the outcome. Braking RFD is the mechanism.
Why it differs by position
Positional demand determines the curve shape. When Braking RFD is the primary testing metric, program design stops being generic and starts being forensic.
Positional Profile
MIDDLE BLOCKER
Peak Force Window
35
milliseconds
Force peaks inside 35ms — a high-velocity braking event
Demand Type
REACTIVE
TENDON
capacity
Not raw strength. Reactive tendon capacity under high-velocity braking load
Profile Classification
FORCE
DOMINANT
impulse athlete
Maximum impulse in minimum time. Steep curve, early peak, fast transition
The Middle Blocker's force-time profile peaks inside 35 milliseconds. A high-velocity braking event that demands reactive tendon capacity, not raw strength. The curve rises steeply, peaks early, and transitions to propulsion with minimal hesitation at the bottom.
Positional Profile
SETTER
Force Window
2×
the MB time window
Curve spreads across nearly double the duration. Lower peak. Longer absorption.
Demand Type
RHYTHMIC
CONTINUITY
system
Built for repeatable load-unload cycling — 50–80 jumps per match across five sets
Profile Classification
VELOCITY
DOMINANT
continuity athlete
Not a weaker curve — a different curve. Wider, shallower, built for durability
The Setter's curve spreads across nearly double the time window. Lower peak. Longer absorption. A system built for rhythmic continuity, not explosive impulse. Same sport. Same plyometric block in most programs. Completely different neuromuscular requirement.
The Risk
IDENTICAL LOADING.
TWO FAILURE MODES.
Treating these two profiles with identical loading is not just inefficient. It is a risk management failure — and the consequence is the same in both cases: reduced output at the point in the season when the roster can least afford it.
01
Overloading the Setter
Peak-force protocols overload the Setter's amortization system. Cumulative fatigue accumulates silently — the testing battery never flags it. The athlete presents as recovered. The tissue is not.
02
Under-loading the Middle Blocker
Slow eccentric work under-loads the Middle Blocker's reactive demand. The athlete looks fit. The force-time curve tells a different story: the mechanical ceiling was never reached because the training stimulus never demanded it.
PROTECT
The Principle
ASSET
PROTECTION.
Asset protection is not a recovery conversation. It is a programming decision made in the weight room — before the season, in the loading prescription, in the choice of what metric drives the test battery.
Performance directors investing in positional force-time profiling are not buying data. They are buying specificity: the ability to allocate training time, manage load, and protect high-value athletes with information that generic testing protocols do not produce.
"THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IS NOT THE TECHNOLOGY. IT IS THE METHODOLOGY BEHIND IT."
N1 Performance Lab · Article 01
What Comes Next
THE SIGNATURE
ACROSS TIME.
02
"The positional signature establishes what the athlete is. The next question is whether the curve is changing — and in which direction."
Article 02 — Braking RFD Across Two Test Dates
Once the positional baseline is set, the question becomes trajectory. How does Braking RFD shift across test dates? When it rises, is the adaptation integrating cleanly — or is the concentric side lagging?
The Training Implication
Position predicts the target curve. Training determines whether the athlete reaches it. The force plate is the feedback mechanism — not just at the end of a block, but at every test date in between.
One Metric. One Principle.
When Braking RFD drives the test battery, program design stops being generic and starts being forensic. A completely different quality of decision — for each athlete, each position, each phase of the season.
Article 01 · Apr 2026
Hawkin Dynamics CMJ
Positional force-time profiling
N1 Performance Lab PH
N1
PERFORMANCE LAB
Forensic Athlete Data