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:

(more…)

The X & O Factors in Training Young Athletes

Posted on: May 18th, 2010 by IYCA 1 Comment

Training Young Athletes

For the purposes of this article, let me say this:

“Kids” is a term I will use to encompass everyone who inhabits the ages of 6 – 18.

Athletes and Non-Athletes alike.

Miniature superstars, bench-warmers and the overweight, will all be lumped under the same umbrella.

And simply stated, I do this because the development parameters of physical stimulus needed for ALL ‘kids’ is the same – at very least in the beginning phases of training spectrum.

Training stimulus with this demographic is guided, primarily, by physiology.

(more…)