Archive for “Angles” Tag

The X’s and O’s of Training Young Athletes

Posted on: June 23rd, 2010 by IYCA 2 Comments

Training Young Athletes

What a young organism needs to experience in the way of physical stimulus can largely be deduced by chronological age. Certainly biological age (relative body maturation), emotional age (psychological maturation) and even personality (temperament) can all be factored into the equation, but I have found in my 13 year career that chronological age determents can be successfully applied in 90% of the cases – the remaining 10% can be accounted for through proper coaching and identification.

Having said all that, the following is a brief rundown of the physical needs of ‘kids’ based on chronological age:

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Young Athletes: The Key to Agility Is Positioning

Posted on: October 27th, 2009 by IYCA 19 Comments

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Young Athletes Agility

Tony Reynolds says…

Personally, I have never thought of flexibility or mobility as a factor that plays a huge role in an athlete being able to assume an athletic stance. I do not see where there is enough flexion/extension in any joint throughout the chain where this is really an issue. If you are getting that low you are never going to be overly quick out of the position.

For me, it has always been a matter of reeducation. Young athletes simply have no idea how to align their bodies to create the most effective angles for spontaneous multi directional movement. Often they have been coached wrong or not coached at all and have created their own interpretation of the stance.

So then it comes down to teaching. Therefore, one must be careful with their “selection of words” when describing movements and positions to kids and young.

For instance, flat back can often also mean a completely vertical torso. MANY kids will automatically make this correlation (and so do many coaches.)

I prefer using the terms “neutral” and “tilted.” As Kwame suggested, we work on rounding the spine, we work on arching the spine, and we work on keeping the spine in a “neutral” alignment. Then it is a matter or “tilting” the neutral spine forward as the hips move back.

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Complete Athlete Development: No More Guessing

Posted on: October 27th, 2008 by IYCA 4 Comments

No more guessing.

Proven strategies that work every time.

Complete Athlete Development:

That’s what you get when you follow what is in the DVD

An all-inclusive training system for working with

young athletes ages 6 – 18.

And yes. It’s been internationally field-tested and

proven to work.

Over 15,000 young athletes worldwide have been exposed

to my training system. And I may a lot of mistakes

with them along the way.

That’s kind of like the built-in guarantee of Complete

Athlete Development.

I’ve made mistakes and am certainly never afraid to

say I was wrong.

I used to work endlessly on linear speed technique.

Teach my young athletes who to accelerate forward,

drive their arms and get full hip extension with every

stride.

Then I realized I was wrong.

It’s not about linear speed. It’s about angles and

deceleration.

That’s why I created my Principles of Movement.

They teach young athletes how to accelerate and decelerate

through a progressive sequence –

1) Repeat Statically

2) Repeat Dynamically

3) Repeat Randomly

4) Predictable Specificity

5) Random Specificity

6) Individualization

I also used to think that working with pre-adolescents

was nothing more than playing some random games.

Tag

Sharks and Minnows

Capture the Flag

Then I realized that these games had to be cloaked in

certain aspects of coordination.

That without these coordination efforts, young athletes

would be grossly deficient in certain areas of athletic

ability by the time they reached the teenage years.

Some of the coordination facets include –

1) Kinesthetic Differentiation

2) Balance

3) Rhythm

4) Spatial Awareness

5) Movement Adequacy

Ever since I adopted all these ideas and put them into

practical use, I have seen the injury rates of my young

athletes drop considerably while their overall performance

increase dramatically.

Have a look at what other Coaches worldwide have to

say about my Complete Athlete Development system –

www.DevelopingAthletics.com/cad-short-copy

This training system has changed the philosophies,

training styles and lives of countless Coaches worldwide.

And all because I was in the trenches making mistakes.

Until I found the secret to it all…

www.DevelopingAthletics.com/cad-short-copy

‘Till next time,

Brian

Youth Fitness and the Success Train

Posted on: August 26th, 2008 by IYCA No Comments

Youth Fitness Keys To Success. A post by Brian Grasso

What do you think about ‘credentials’ when it comes to
our industry?

It seems to me that most professionals in our industry
look at the whole credentialing or certification
process from a few different angles:

a. Credibility of the Credentialing Body

b. Member Satisfaction

c. Cost

In the case of the IYCA, the credibility we have is
absolutely ‘locked’ as world-class.

And I can say that without hesitation.

Whenever I’m judging the credibility of any
organization, I always look at what other organizations

or esteemed professionals have to say about the
quality and content that is being presented.

Now, I’m not shy in saying that the IYCA has been
absolutely overrun with high praise from some of this
industries most notable figures:

“The knowledge and dedication of the IYCA and its
leaders have helped us to shape and deliver a robust
curriculum with broad appeal”

:: Zari Stahl – Club Industry

“There is not an inch of doubt that the Sports in
Action Program has become a better youth sports program

through the Brian’s work. The IYCA is invaluable”

:: Clement Chilshe – Sports in Action (Zambia)

“This collaboration of industry leaders combined with
the focus of guiding future leaders is what makes the
IYCA the most complete program”

:: Billy Corbett – PT on the Net

“The IYCA is changing the way we train youth”

:: Scott Quill – Men’s Health

Without going on and on, that answers the question of
our credibility, doesn’t it?

But what about our own Members satisfaction?

Is the IYCA truly appealing to fitness and sport
training professionals worldwide?

Do we actually make a difference in the lives of
people, or are we just adding ‘letters after their
last names’?

You be the judge:

“I believe you will change Youth Fitness in America”

:: Jeff O’Connor – IYCA Certified (Oklahoma)

“The content contained within the IYCA certification
materials provides the most technical, practical and
application education that I have EVER experienced

with any program”

:: Donovan Owens – IYCA Certified (Texas)

“Youth fitness is moving into the mainstream and the
first movers need to be associated with the best –
which is the IYCA”

:: Luca Hocevar – IYCA Certfied (Slovenia)

“I would suggest that one of the greatest decisions I
ever made in my life was to take the Youth Fitness
Certification course that you offer”

:: Bob Acton – IYCA Certified (Canada)

Is that the kind of loyalty and endorsement you hear
about other certification companies?

Not a chance.

The fact is we care so much about the success and
knowledge of our Members that we provide them with the
very best when it comes to education and business
knowledge.

Now, that leaves us with price.

Did you know that the IYCA is currently the most

inexpensive mainstream youth fitness certification on the market
today?

$197

That’s all it costs for our Level 1 – Youth Fitness
Specialist course.

Compare that to other certifications out there.

You’re looking at a MINIMUM of $400+.

And we take pride in that.

We feel 100% dedicated to our mission of regulating
and elevating the knowledge of professionals with
respect to youth fitness and sports training.

But we’re also realistic.

With all the quality content we provide and all the
world-class professionals we have involved in our
organization, we know without question that we
simply offer far too much to stay routed as the
lowest priced certification on the market.

So we’ve decided to raise the price.

And if you’re a savvy business person, you’ll
understand two very critical things:

1. The best and most worthwhile goods and services
aren’t the most inexpensive on the market. The quality
they offer is just far too great to be ‘cheap’.

2. More importantly, locking into the fastest growing

organization in the entire industry at as low a price
as you possibly can is absolutely essential if you
intend to make a successful career for yourself.

So this is your chance.

The IYCA ‘Level 1 – Youth Fitness Specialist’
certification is being re-priced on Tuesday September 2.

I have made a personal and executive decision to
keep the cost exactly where it is for the next 6 days.
$197 is as small an investment as you’ll ever have to
pay in order to become part of what you just read
in the endorsements above.

And if you want more proof of how important this

decision will be to your career, just re-read those
endorsements.

I think you’ll realize that this is a once in a
lifetime opportunity…

… And something you have 6 more days to take
advantage of.

Click on the exclusive link below and lock your
$197 price in now –

http://www.iyca.org/fitspecialist1.html

Opportunity and success come to those willing to
take action.

It’s just that simple.

Brian

Common Mistakes in Youth Speed Training

Posted on: July 9th, 2008 by IYCA 8 Comments

The video above is an excerpt from the Youth Speed Training’ DVD in my Complete Athlete Development system.

Teaching quality deceleration and acceleration skills from different
angles is the most important place to start with an effective
Youth Speed Training system.

Do you have a system for Youth Speed Training?

Complete Athlete Development will be off the market very soon, but
the speed training system I outline within it will make all the difference
in the world to the success rates of your young athletes.

Heath Croll down in Virginia had this to say –

“… I realized in an instance that the techniques and progressions he
was showing were going to make my athletes the fastest and most
agile in the game…. I was right!”