The coach
Jamel Smith
Sports performance coach, movement specialist, and founder of Flip The Switch Performance in St. Louis.
Background
I've been the athlete on the other side of this.
I played college football. I know what it's like to be handed a program that was written for somebody else, to do the work and still not move any better at the end of it.
So I studied why. I have a kinesiology degree from Avila University, and I built my coaching around movement — biomechanics, efficiency, the mechanics of how force actually gets from the ground into whatever you're trying to do with it.
That's the whole idea behind Flip The Switch. Not a harder workout. A better-moving athlete, who can then go use the strength they've built.
Philosophy
Move well. Then move heavy. Then move fast.
Strength that you can't express in your sport is a number on a whiteboard. I'd rather build an athlete who can put force into the ground in the exact position their sport demands — and then make that athlete strong.
Practically, that means every session has a reason. Every exercise is chosen for what it does for you specifically. If I can't tell you why we're doing something, we don't do it.
It also means longevity is part of the plan. Training that wrecks you isn't training, it's attrition. The goal is an athlete who's still playing — and a forty-year-old who's still lifting.
Credentials
On the record.
- Kinesiology degree — Avila University
- Movement specialist: biomechanics and movement efficiency
- Former college football player
- Founder & owner, Flip The Switch Performance
- Performance coach at Ready Fitness Training, St. Louis
- Coaches athletes from elementary school through the professional level
Sports coached
Who I work with
Youth to pro. Same standard.
Athletes
From middle school through Division I and the professional level. Speed, power, and sport-specific movement — built for the position you actually play.
Adults
Anyone who wants to get strong and stay that way. The movement-first approach matters more here, not less — it's what keeps training sustainable.
Teams
Full-squad strength and conditioning, programmed around your season. High school and club.
Next
Come train.
First session is an assessment and a conversation. Bring your goals — I'll bring the plan.