Suggestions for young athletes and their parents

At this time of year many of our young athletes are on the field. Most kids are coached on their sport but not many are told how to properly warm up or cool down when they’re done, prevent injury and properly train for their sport. Sometimes these activities are the most important of any practice.

One of the most important pieces of advice is to encourage children to maintain a good base of fitness throughout the year and avoid a sudden start to a new routine during sports seasons. Kids should be encouraged to exercise for fun and fitness all year long.

Having said that, the development of sport specific skills along with agility, balance and co-ordination are equally important areas to focus on when trying to prevent injury and train young athletes.

Young athletes are still developing from early childhood to late adolescence and for this reason a young athletes’ training program should not be just a scaled down version of adult training programs. If you choose to place a young athlete on a strength training program it important to adhere to some guidelines:

• young athlete’s must be properly taught (skill development)
• young athlete’s should undertake a well controlled program (planning)
• young athlete’s joints are not subject to repetitive stresses (injury prevention)
• Strength can be developed with circuit training programs where the young athlete’s body weight is used as the load. Using giant bands as part of a resistance training program is also a great tool for young children. We have athletes as young as seven yrs. old working out at our training center.

There are many options out there for coaches and parents to help these athletes reach their potential. Place the focus on the child and everyone comes out a winner.