It doesnt matter where youre at, its where youre going that counts. ST

Proper training is required for the ability to stop and change direction with quick timing.  Most all sports require action that involves reacting in an explosive chaotic environment.  To acquire top performance in any athlete, multilateral development must be met to improve overall adaptation.  An early maturing child may show dramatic improvements initially and be the top athlete, however the later matured will often be the better athlete.  Therefore, for this reason, it is important to look past the short term achievement and let children develop at their own pace and continually reinforce multilateral type training in ALL athletes.

Far too often, the sports program of children imitates programs of well-know elite athletes.  Some coaches fell that if it worked for those athletes it will work for the little guys.  Children are NOT adults.  A well-rounded training program should include low intensity exercise for development of aerobic capacity and anaerobic capacity, muscular endurance, strength, speed, power, agility, coordination/balance, and flexibility. 

Coaches of youth organizations should try to develop skill and strategies that will lead to performance that is more successful at a later stage of development.  That is the whole concept behind multilateral training.  With proper multilateral training that focuses on overall athletic develo0pemnt along with acquiring sport-specific skill/strategies, success can accrue for the athlete now and at the later stages of development.  Multilateral training has been proven most important during the early stage of development.  However, it too has been proven to be effective as part of the training regiment for the advanced athlete. 

If we focus on the youth development over several years of training, we will likely produce some great international champions.  The amount that youth will improve in their physical abilities in a particular sport is the direct result of the amount and quality of work they achieve in training.  The SKILLS are developed during training sessions, NOT during the game. 

 If you would like to have a camp for your athletes focusing multilateral developement, please contact me.

Sandy Thompson

AFFA Certified  Weight Training and Fitness (15 years)

Fitness Consultantt

CPR certified

Contact at sthompson@ppcp.org

Ref.  Lee E Brown(CSCS, NSCA. USAWF),Vance A.  Ferrigno (NSCA, ACSM), Juan Carlos Santana PhD (NSCA, ACSM)