Posted on: January 21st, 2011 by IYCA 12 Comments
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Get the entire audio event I recorded with Eric Cressey, Mike Robertson and Wil Fleming:
“The High School Training Manifesto”
Everything you need to know about training high school champions!
Click Here —> https://iyca.org/highschool/
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Posted on: November 2nd, 2010 by IYCA 15 Comments
One of Ken’s young athletes (a 13 year old pitcher) has a Softball Coach who is rather… how shall I say this… INTENSE about what he thinks he knows to be true and right about all matters pertaining to strength and conditioning.
He and Ken recently had a disagreement about what was ‘best’ for the 13-year-old in question. With Ken’s permission, I’ve posted the return email “Mr. Softball Coach” sent declaring himself to be 100% RIGHT on all counts below:
Posted on: October 12th, 2010 by IYCA 2 Comments
Here’s where I left off yesterday…
Moreover, I’d be willing to bet that 90% or better of the 13 year olds who walk into your facility would ‘fail’ this standard assessment:
A formal assessment can certainly show us gains, improvements and corrections when performed at regular intervals – and because of that, I am all for them.
But here’s what I’ve learned to be true about coaching young athletes in the trenches:
Posted on: September 5th, 2010 by IYCA No Comments
When I look around the industry, I find myself becoming more and more discontented with the view. It seems that there is a never-ending litany of new, innovative and advanced techniques in the field of strength and conditioning that are, in essence, just re-fabricated models and methods that have proved tried and true for literally decades.
This is especially true at the youth level where we tend to walk the fine line of wavering between dummying down adult-based prescription and creating ‘novel’ schemes of building the same results that can, and are developed through the standard basics.
When working with young athletes (aged 6 – 18) I implore you to resist the temptation of thinking too far outside the box and instead concentrate your time and effort on both pondering and answering these 3 specific questions:
Let’s examine ‘Concept vs Cool’ today…
Posted on: January 4th, 2010 by IYCA 21 Comments
Dan Parsons had the greatest impact on my Youth Coaching career.
Bar none.
Of all the wonderful Coaches I have had the sincere pleasure
of meeting and working with over the years, he, by far and
away, is the one that stands out to me.
I was 22.
Young and very ambitious.
Dan was a seasoned veteran and had worked with literally
hundreds of young athletes through his career.
And wow… what a role model he became to me.
He taught me about the scientific concepts of long-term
athlete development.
He showed me how to communicate with young athletes of
varying personalities and skill levels.
He explained to me the ART behind the SCIENCE of strength
and conditioning.
He put me in difficult youth coaching situations, gave me just enough
rope to hang myself and then demonstrated how to do it
right.
Posted on: September 15th, 2009 by IYCA 23 Comments
I was speaking yesterday to a fellow strength and conditioning professional and the question came up “Do you like to do cleans from the floor or from the hang?”
Considering that my first experiences with training came at the age of 15 in an Olympic lifting club where we competed regularly in the sport of Olympic lifting, you might just assume that my answer is from the floor. It was what I was first introduced to and where I cut my teeth in training. It turns out though that the answer is not in line with traditional thinking. I choose the hang clean for all of my athletes (For the most part).
I choose the hang clean because for nearly all Olympic Lifting With Young Athletes it is the position from which they will complete most of their athletic skills. The start position from the floor is essentially a rolling start and the last time I checked linemen in football don’t get to take a running start to the line.. The response to this line of thought mostly comes in the form of, “Well I don’t ever get in a full squat position while pole vaulting/playing tennis, etc etc, So are you suggesting that I don’t ever squat?” The answer is emphatically, undeniably that……
Well they are missing the point. What we train by doing Olympic lifts from a hang starting position is the quality that often makes athletes successful not the specific movement pattern.
Olympic Lifting from the floor is a sport, and good Olympic lifters are built for and made up to be good at that sport. You probably wouldn’t make a 5’10” Olympic Lifter a basketball player to improve their Olympic lifting, so why make a 6’6″ basketball player an Olympic lifter to improve their sport?
All this said, I do have my athletes train movements from the floor for increased hip mobility and for some variation in their training program over the course of a typical program, but for the most part the focus is on developing the hang clean and hang snatch to the fullest.
The hang clean is a perfect way to overcome the difficulties in teaching and the physical limitations of many athletes. By starting from the above knee position the athlete can take advantage of the strong stretch shortening cycle and maximize their potential pulling power. I believe that the ability to move a load quickly and explosively is absolutely essential to being a good athlete. The hang clean is by far the best way to learn and develop this skill.
Where do you have your athletes start their cleans? I want to know…
You absolutely need to have progressive training systems in place for all areas of your programs. Speed, strength, power and especially if you are using Olympic Lifting with young athletes!
If you want to know how to start using Olympic lifting with young athletes in your program check out the Olympic lifting instructors course.
https://iyca.org/olympic-lifts/
Posted on: April 20th, 2009 by IYCA 10 Comments
Jim Ochse is an athletic trainer and strength and conditioning coach at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa. He serves as athletic trainer for the women’s Volleyball, men’s and women’s cross-country, women’s tennis, and baseball.
During the summer, Jim presents SAQ camps for athletes from 10-18 years of age in northeastern PA.
IYCA: What’s your background in youth sports and athletics? Have you worked with young athletes?
JO: I started out as a Health and Physical Education teacher for K- 6 for several years, but was disenchanted in how physical fitness was instituted in the educational system. I then became certified as an athletic trainer and have covered all aspects of youth sports for the past 22 years. I serve as a volunteer coach for soccer, basketball, and baseball for my local youth association. During the regular school year from September to May, my main responsibility is to the college athletes at DeSales University in Pennsylvania ; however, I do talks and clinics whenever possible to youth, and have a few personal training clients that I collaborate with. During the summer months I direct a number of Speed, Agility, and Quickness camps in my local area for youth from ages 10-18. I also do one day seminars on running, and other topics such as how to incorporate stability ball training to their strength programs.
IYCA: 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 them against that kind of training?
JO: I see this mentality used by both parents and youth coaches, and obviously, this type of mentality is not appropriate for developing athletes. A training routine for youth should be individualized for that particular athlete. A young athlete is not mature enough physically, psychologically, or emotionally to even perform the same type of training as an adult. They do not have the base of aerobic/anaerobic conditioning that a more mature athlete has acquired, nor should they attempt a strength program that is meant or written for an adult. With their growth plate still immature, performing strength exercises for mature athletes may predispose them to unnecessary injuries. Weight training does have its place among young athletes; however, emphasis should be place on light weights, proper form and techniques, an implemented by a well qualified coach or personal trainer.
IYCA: The age old debate is "How old should an athlete be before beginning to lift weights." What’s your view on that controversial topic?
JO: I go along with the NSCA position on weight lifting. I believe that children can even be taught Olympic type weight lifting techniques, but not use extremely heavy weights. In fact, most of my teaching at this level is with either a broomstick or at most a light barbell. I even have my 8-year daughter lifting light dumbbells, and even perform modified pushups on a Swiss Ball, and performing abs curls. Physiologically youth athletes physiologically are not capable of withstanding great weights, due to their anatomical structure and rate of maturity. I use a lot of body weight exercises such as squats, lunges, and step ups. I use upper body exercises such as push-ups, chin-ups, and resistance bands, in place of weights. I want to make sure that the young athletes have the proper techniques down. When they are older, they can worry about increasing their resistance training.
IYCA: Using your ideals, could you define "functional conditioning" for us?
Posted on: March 31st, 2009 by IYCA 4 Comments
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Chris Scarborough is a professional Strength & Conditioning Coach who specializes in Youth Athlete Development. His information is top-notch and reflects his unprecedented knowledge of this topic.
BG: What’s your background in youth sports and athletics? Have you trained a lot of young athletes?
CS: As a young athlete myself many years ago, I was always interested in the conditioning aspect of sport. In 1995 I became licensed as a Physical Therapy Assistant in the State of Alabama and took a job in an outpatient therapy clinic that had a lot of patients that were young athletes. I saw first hand common injuries that young athletes suffer — many of which could have been prevented by proper conditioning. By the way, I am not saying that the athletes were "out of shape", I am saying that the athletes were often injured because of poor techniques or habits. For example, football players, basketball players, and volleyball players would come in with knee or ankle injuries that were a result of poor running, jumping or landing technique. Baseball players, tennis players and golfers often came in with elbow and shoulder injuries due to poor swing technique or overuse of the arms and not enough of the trunk.
In 1997, I became certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist by the National Strength and Conditioning Association and began working with athletes on performance enhancement. As a result of working with hundreds of athletes in several settings, I realized that there was far more to High School Strength and Conditioning than getting an athlete into "game shape".
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?
CS: The reason young athletes follow the training programs of their sports heroes are obvious. After all, if Barry Bonds followed this routine and he hit 73 home runs in a season then it should do the same for the young athlete–right? NO!!
First of all, the young athlete has a growing body and is prone to overuse injury in the muscles and tendons, stress fractures in the growth plates, and muscle imbalance injuries that a more mature athlete would be less prone to getting.
Also, the large majority of world class athletes have developed a broad base of athleticism and strength prior to specializing their training in one sport. Tudor Bompa and yourself have written a great deal on the topic. Specializing in a particular sport too soon is far more likely to lead to 1) burnout from playing and training for the sport 2) early skill development in the sport, but the skill level potential is never fully realized due to a very narrow athletic ability base and 3) increased likelihood of injury.
Finally, the conditioning needs of the pro athlete have been very carefully assessed by the team Strength and Conditioning coach. Even if the young athlete has the same needs, the conditioning program would still be different.
A young athlete should develop a broad base of athleticism by doing activities that require them to run, jump, catch, throw, swim, climb, etc. By playing several sports and various other physical activities the young athlete develops all the abilities including strength, speed, agility, stability, balance, endurance, coordination and power.
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?
CS: Let me preface my answer by saying that I am referring to weight training as lifting with barbells, dumbbells and weight machines. Body weight exercises can be classified as weight training, but I am not including them in my definition of weight training.
While it is safe for a young athlete to begin a strength training program with weights at an early age, I do not think that it is necessarily optimal for their development. I know many kids who would be considered strong in the weight room, but can’t handle their own body weight in certain activities.
For example, one 17 year old I know can bench press 300 pounds, but can’t hold his body straight while doing a push up. His hips sway toward the ground indicating he has chest, shoulder, and arm strength that far exceeds what his hip and abdominal muscles can stabilize. He also can’t do a single proper pull up, so his pushing movement overpowers his pulling strength. Unfortunately this is fairly common. It is not weight training that is going to get him hurt, it is improper weight training that is going to get him hurt.
Also, he will be far more likely to get hurt on the field of play, not actually in the weight room. I think that weight training can begin for most females around the age of 12 to 14 and age 14 to 15 for males — even then it should be balanced, supervised training. Up to that point, good technique can be taught at any age doing other activities than weight training. I do not think that an athlete has to do much weight training to get good strength development. For example, push ups, pull ups, stability ball exercises and medicine ball exercises can all be performed with minimal equipment. They require use of the same techniques as in the weight room, and develop entire groups of muscles or movements at a time, rather than isolated strength training. The strength can actually be used on the court or field when the child plays the sport. These activities can be started at a very early age.
You may hear some people say that squats and dead lifts are bad for your back and knees — that is not true. It is squats and deadlifts performed improperly that causes injury. My son started squatting before he could even stand. Everything that he picks up is a deadlift (from the floor). I have never seen a child age 3 or under perform an improper squat or dead lift. That does not mean that I think that kids should be lifting heavy weights that way, but I do think that the movements should be trained using the equipment stated above. Train a child for the long-term — not just for the season.
BG: Using your ideals, could you define ‘functional conditioning’ for us?
Posted on: March 10th, 2009 by IYCA 19 Comments
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Okay… So the ‘trouble’ really isn’t with high school athletes, per say,
it’s with the training programs they’re often forced to use.
And frankly, they don’t know any better.
But then again, neither do many high school Coaches.
Not a targeted shot, just reality.
So here are some of the problems I’ve seen –
1) Train Versus Teach
From Day 1, many incoming high school athletes are asked to ‘perform’.
Using lifts they are often unfamiliar with and receiving little to no
technical instruction, they are often left to their own devices.