Posted on: November 7th, 2010 by IYCA 4 Comments
Is it really possible to effectively train a group of young kids with varying levels of
ability at the same time?
What if some of them were highly skilled in movement aptitude while others (in the same group) had Autism?
Watch this fascinating ‘practical’ video from 2010 IYCA Trainer of the Year, Dave Gleason, and see for yourself:
Posted on: September 15th, 2010 by IYCA 4 Comments
Motor Skill Development & Young Athletes…
The cornerstone of progressive training programs.
Enjoy this information on young athletes and please be sure to leave a comment below:
Posted on: September 14th, 2009 by IYCA 6 Comments
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This subject can actually get quite complex, because we are delving into the inner workings of the developing brain, with billions of neurons. However, as much as we have to learn, we do know some things. I will try to break down this subject of how pretend can be beneficial for development.
Everyone knows that kids pretend. It’s often considered a frivolous, useless activity. I find this a curious conclusion. Why would kids all over the world, no matter the culture, engage in pretend play if it was so useless? Why are our brains wired to do this if it is so devoid of value?
Have you ever considered the reasons why children engage in pretend play, or “pretense”? Well, cognitive researchers have, and the findings are interesting:
1) Children pretend in order to learn the ability to represent a “strategy map” (if you will excuse my liberal use of that term). Instead of being truly “in” the situation, they can learn to think many steps ahead. It is basically like practice for the problem solving machinery in the brain.
2) Pretense can develop these problem-solving skills in the absence of performance based stress. Think about having consequences to your own safety and the expectations of adults always “weighing” on your decisions. You are most likely going to always pick the “safest”, most familiar solution. You are likely to not be very creative in this situation. But in pretend play, you can be anyone and you can be anywhere!
3) Pretense can even help kids develop empathy, by being able to picture themselves in someone else’s shoes.
4) Pretending can deepen kinetic understanding (a term I will coin here). Pretending, literally, to move with someone else’s patterns and rhythms can promote a much deeper feel for a movement, or what we might call “second nature”.
Posted on: July 10th, 2009 by IYCA 6 Comments
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The key ingredient to working with pre-adolescent and early adolescent young athletes is providing global stimulation from a movement perspective. Younger athletes must experience and eventually perfect a variety of motor skills in order to ensure both future athletic success and injury prevention. Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage years. Coordination itself, however, is a global system made up of several synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability.
Balance, rhythm, spatial orientation and the ability to react to both auditory and visual stimulus have all been identified as elements of coordination. In fact, the development of good coordination is a multi-tiered sequence that progresses from skills performed with good spatial awareness but without speed to skills performed at increased speeds and in a constantly changing environment. As Joseph Drabik points out, Young Athletes coordination is best developed between the ages of 7 – 14, with the most crucial period being between 10 – 13 years of age.
As with anything else, an important issue with respect to coordination development is to provide stimulus that is specific (and therefore appropriate) for the individual. Prescribing drills that are either too easy or too difficult for the young athletes will have a less than optimal result.
An interesting note, as I have suggested in past articles, is that there appears to be a cap with respect to coordination development and ability. Younger athletes who learn to master the elements associated with good coordination (balance, rhythm, spatial awareness, reaction etc), are far better off then athletes who are not exposed to this kind of exercise stimulation until advanced ages. The ability to optimally develop coordination ends at around the age of 16. This validates the claim that global, early exposure is the key from an athletic development standpoint. Again, global coordination will serve as the basis to develop specific coordination in the teenage years.
Posted on: June 15th, 2009 by IYCA 6 Comments
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‘Intelligence’.
Defined by the dictionary as –
“The capacity for learning, understanding and aptitude for grasping relationships”
That sets the stage very nicely for the meaning of this IYCA-based term.
What about ‘Athletic’?
It’s defined as such –
“Involving the use of physical skills or capabilities”
String those two definitions together and you’ve got the basis for the main motivation needed when training and developing young athletes.
In short –
“Increasing the capacity for learning and understanding various physical skills and how they relate”
That is the crux and critical requirement with respect to programming for young athletes.
And how backwards do we have that these days?
Increase the capacity for learning:
It’s not about over-coaching pre-adolescent children.
Teaching them the ‘mechanics’ of how to throw a baseball or kick a soccer ball.
It’s about enhancing their knowledge and understanding of how to perform these actions via Guided Discovery.
Allowing them to play.
Get a feel for the motion themselves and through trail and error, develop bodily aptitude.
Understanding various physical skills and how they relate:
Through this ‘trail and error’ period of development, it can’t be about specificity, either.
It’s about indirect, global stimulus.
Running fast, for example, isn’t just based on the action of running.
It’s based on:
Posted on: April 14th, 2009 by IYCA 6 Comments
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Stephen Holt has long been considered one of the fitness industry’s top personal trainers. He has been highlighted by NSCA, PTontheNet, Fitness Magazine, IDEA and Health and Fitness Source, to name a few. Additionally, Stephen has been named "Expert of the Year" by AllExperts.com and "Personal Trainer of the Year" by the American Council on Exercise.
BG: What’s your background in youth sports and athletics? Have you worked with young athletes?
SH: Hi, Brian. First, let my point out that I’m really glad to hear about your book. Far too many trainers and parents are forcing kids into programs designed by and for adult bodybuilders.
Back to your question & That depends on your definition of "young." When I started as a personal trainer over 20 years ago, I set a minimum age of 16 for clients. Later, as I took more courses and read more books and articles on training young athletes, I lowered that minimum to 14, then eventually 10 or so, depending on their mental and physical maturity.
Most of the young athletes I help are girls’ lacrosse players with the youngest being 11. (We started when she was 9).
Although I focus on lacrosse (it’s a major sport here in the Baltimore area), most of the girls are three-season athletes and also play soccer, field hockey basketball and/or tennis.
If the athlete is a little younger (9-11,12), I’ll typically train them along with one parent. It seems to keep all of us happier.
BG: There are a lot of coaches, parents and even trainers who treat young athletes as if they were "little adults". What I mean by that is they will take the training routine of a superstar athlete and use it as a guide when working with youngsters. Why, if at all, should we warn against that kind of training?
SH: I agree that, unfortunately, there are too many young athletes being forced to specialize in a single sport.
Although it may appear counterintuitive at first, it’s better for young athletes NOT to specialize in a single sport. A single sport will limit that athlete’s motor development. Diversity puts the young athlete in various positions and requires different motor patterns and different strategies of muscle and muscle fiber recruitment.
You’ll find that most successful adult athletes were well-rounded athletes when they were younger.
BG: The age old debate is "How old should an athlete be before they begin lifting weights." What’s your view on that controversial topic?
SH: For years we’ve heard the myth that weight training will stunt a young athlete’s growth, but most scientific evidence shows otherwise.
In fact, recent studies indicate that young athletes can make gains in strength and, in some cases, even muscle size (which we once thought was impossible) at any virtually any age.
What you do what to avoid, however, are structured weight training "routines" based on traditional bodybuilding for adults.
respond better both mentally and physically to workouts that are more like play. Games using medicine balls work well, for example.
We also know that the adult heart rate charts don’t work for children and neither do the %RM vs. reps charts. It’s clear that the "rules" that we often use in training adults don’t apply to young athletes and can even be harmful.
BG: Using your ideals, could you define "functional conditioning" for us?
SH: It’s interesting that "functional" is probably the most popular buzzword in the fitness industry these days, yet most people, even trainers who claim that they’re "functional," can’t define exactly what they mean.
My definition of functional is "fortifying the way the body is designed to work based upon anatomy, movement patterns and biomechanics."
I use what I call the "3-4-5 System."
This is a little technical, but … I make sure that my clients work all three planes (sagittal, frontal, transverse), all four outer unit muscle systems (anterior oblique, posterior oblique, deep longitudinal and lateral) and all five basic motor patterns (pushing, pulling, rotation, moving your center of gravity, and working on one leg).
If you’re doing the math and think that’s a lot of exercises, it doesn’t total up to 3 x 4 x 5 = 60 different exercises. You simply select exercises that cover multiple categories.
The scientific basis is a little complicated, but the exercises are not as complicated. I explain it all in my book and through free excerpts that I publish in my "3-4-5 Fitness Newsletter." Most people pick up the system quickly and easily.
Posted on: July 7th, 2008 by IYCA 4 Comments
The above video clip is from the ‘Coordination Development’ DVD in my
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