Is it safe for your young athlete to train?

Is it Safe For Your Young Athlete to Train?

 What type of training will help your child improve at the sport he or she plays? Here’s what Jess Williams, director of Proehlific Park, says based on her experience with human movement science studied at the University of Tennessee.

General Preparation

Many parents want to improve a child’s skills specific to one sport. However, when you consider the different physical capabilities—strength, speed, balance, coordination, explosive power, visual perception, etc.—that combine to create athleticism, sport-specific training for youth is a must. A study by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) found that young people who participated in a variety of sports and other activities prior to puberty were more consistent performers, had few injuries and had longer athletic careers (AAP 2001). Regardless of the sport your child chooses to play, he or she will need to be proficient in the capabilities mentioned above in order to advance his or her level of play and learn positive exercise habits that will last a lifetime.

It’s easy to confuse sport skills and general preparation. Every sport has a specific set of tactical skills. In soccer, for example, you must be able to dribble, pass, trap the ball and shoot. These skills, however, are made up of more general physical capabilities—such as strength, coordination, balance and mobility—that aid in creating overall athleticism. If you focus training primarily on a specific skill set, you ignore the important foundations of that skill set. You can’t build a house from the top down. Like any structure with a poor foundation, training that skips the basics is bound to have problems down the road. Just ask our one of our own experts, Rodney Beasley – Head Speed and Agility coach at Proehlific Park. He adds that a strong foundation is so crucial that he spends the majority of a young athletes initial training specifically in this zone. He coins it the FUNdamentals program in our PSP (Proehlific Sports Performance) department. Beasley states that“youth athletes have untapped potential and science proves that between the ages of 7 to 12 they are poised to improve basic motor skills. Our FUNdamentals program combines research and cutting edge techniques in a FUN and friendly environment to build your young athlete’s physical foundation and improve coordination and self esteem through our signature speed and strength training methods. Athletes graduate from here into our P.O.W.E.R., Elite, Sport Specific, or Next Level training programs.

As your child becomes proficient in basic abilities, you can introduce more specific skill sets. For example, a young or physically inexperienced child should begin with movements that require very general physical abilities. Good choices include exercises and games that require skipping, marching, hopping, grasping, crawling, climbing, rolling, catching, throwing and kicking. Blaze Thompson, Proehlific’s head Strength Coach expresses  “When your child can accomplish these tasks well, it’s time to move on to more specific preparatory activities, such as running, resistance training exercises (beginning with body weight), sustained cardiovascular exercise and other related athletic drills. Once the child has mastered these skills, you can maintain constant improvement by increasing and manipulating load, resistance and criteria for success. It’s really not about at what age resistance training is safe for youth. We would be doing our young athletes a disservice by waiting until a specific age. Here at Proehlific, we constantly monitor the athlete’s movement patterns (how the athlete’s muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems collaborate to create functional movements) This process is affected by many different factors and occurs at different ages. As a general rule of thumb, we see it occur most often between the ages of 12 -14.

A well-designed youth-exercise program should be based on improving a variety of physical skills in a positive, engaging environment. The actual skills involved depend on the child’s mental and physical developmental level, preparedness and proficiency. If you have further questions or would like a full evaluation of your child’s current level of play, please contact Proehlific Sports Performance at 336-665-5233. Or email info@proehlificpark.com with the subject line: “Exercise for Young Athletes”

If your children do not play sports, it can be challenging to get them moving. Use these strategies to encourage activity.

1. Let kids get dirty. Doing “clean” activities is not as interesting for children. A little dirt when they’re young beats heart disease when they get older.

2. Play with them! Go outside and show kids games you played when you were young. When their friends are over, set up a “tournament” with a made-up sport or activity. If they enjoy it, they’ll do it when you’re not around.

3. Have rules about electronics. For example, stipulate “no video games or television until after dark.” Keep electronics out of kids’ rooms. This forces youngsters to find things to do instead of lounging around.

4. Don’t allow the phrase “I’m bored” in your house. Kids are becoming accustomed to being entertained. This requires no imagination on their part. If they say they’re bored, give them chores to do. They will pretty quickly find an alternative to being bored!

5. Foster an active culture at home. If you go to work and then come home to sit around, so will your kids. If you exercise for the sake of fun, so will your kids. If you exercise only to lose weight and kids exercise only to get a college scholarship, exercise becomes work, not a lifestyle.

References

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP). 2001. Intensive training and sports specialization in young athletes. Pediatrics, 106 (1), 154–57.

Drabik, J. 1996. Children & Sports Training. Island Pond, VT: Stadion.

Grasso, B.J. 2005. Training Young Athletes: The Grasso Method. Schaumburg, IL: Developing Athletics.

July 8, 2013 | Categories: athletes, fitness, strength Training | Tags: athletes and, athletes and water, child resistance training, corrective exercise, working out, young athlete, youth exercise | Comments Off on Is it safe for your young athlete to train?