How many times have you heard me say, and I am sure you have said it a ton yourself, “Parents and athletes must be patient and allow development to happen.” While a youngster is developing we as trainers need to coach them up on proper techniques and not rush development. This is a creed among youth trainers.
Isn’t it funny how we often see trainers and coaches doing exercises way beyond the developmental stages or pure readiness stages of athletes. For example; I watch a coach a few years ago during the first day of track practice do bounding and jumping, on and off 18 to 24 inch boxes with young unprepared athletes. This is totally unsafe and unproductive.
So if we are going to get parents to buy into what we are preaching about being patient then we must be patient as well. Don’t be afraid to make your training less intense. You won’t lose athletes. The only way you lose athletes is if your training is unproductive and extremely boring.
Know what is right and stick to it. Your athletes and parents will thank you for it.
Yours in Speed,
P.S. Low Box Training for Athletes is a great training resource to teach young athletes how to absorb forces safely while increasing coordination and foot speed. Go to www.LowBoxTraining.com so you can check it out and add a copy to your library.
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