Athlete training and conditioning first established roots in individual sports where coaches turned to physical development to get the most out of each athlete's strengths and abilities. Like in the individual sport of track sprinting coaches and trainers found that athletes could benefit from enhanced leg strength and power. Head coaches were the first trainers of athletes, who started considering different athletic training approaches with an eye on improving performance.

The systems and strategies in multi-directional sports such as football, cricket and tennis can best be described as organized chaos; as no one knows what will happen in the very next second. Multi-directional sports as described above are a read-and-react game where success hinges a great deal on individual tactics – such as creative moves on offence side and the mobility and reactivity on the defensive side.