Youth Sports Training Technique: Part 2

February 16th, 2011 by BrianGrasso

Youth Sports Training Technique: Part 2

Group One, Group Two & Group Three youth sports training classifications… But what else?

Here’s Part 2:

How efficiently an athlete learns the technical skills of a sport, strength training exercise or movement is determined by several variables -

Age – Complex skills are often understood and comprehended better by more mature athletes (although individual exceptions certainly apply).

Emotional State – Relaxed and easy-going athletes tend to learn and reproduce new skills better than athletes who are uptight and self-critical.

Motivation – So many parents, coaches and trainers just assume that the kids they are working with WANT to be at practice or in that training session. This goes back to my argument on effective coaching includes knowing your athletes and what kind of stresses they are under OUTSIDE of your 60 minutes with them. Athletes who are motivated to learn new skills will do so more easily than unmotivated athletes.

Natural Talent – Athletes with innate natural ability are far superior at learning and reproducing new skills.

Critical to note within this topic are the methods being employed by the Coach/Trainer to teach new techniques. With the lack of stringent regulations at the youth sport coaching level and the youth training industry, it is certainly more than fair to consider the quality of instruction being given:

What kind of personality does the coach have? In a study released by the Journal of Applied Sport Psychology in 1999 (Youth Athletes & Parents Prefer Different Coaching Styles), it showed that adolescent athletes (ages 10 – 18) enjoyed coaching styles that involved concerns regarding the well-being of each athlete, a positive group tone & feeling and supported friendly interpersonal relationships.

Does the coach have a solid working knowledge of the technique? This goes right to the route concern of inadequately credentialed Trainers and Coaches -if you aren’t sure yourself how to correct the problem, how is the young athlete supposed to get it right? Remember, when working with kids, you are building habits, good or bad. Your job is to make sure that each repetition is forming a strong, positive habit in that young athlete. That can only be accomplished if the Trainer/Coach understands what they are teaching and can instruct the technique properly.