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Young athletes development -

Until about age 12, general athleticism—nurtured with free play and multiple sports—should be prioritized over sport-specific skills. Even after the age of 12, free play—without interference from adults—remains important.

Based on my education in the areas of sports science, human growth and development, sports psychology, and coaching, as well as my plus years of experience coaching young athletes both in the weight room and on the field , I recommend the following general guidelines for developing youth athletes.

Before the age of 7 is a critical time for developing basic movement skills, coordination, balance, and strong bones and muscles. These accomplishments will set the foundation for future success in sports as well as health and wellness into adulthood.

Nurturing a variety of activities early will also enhance brain function, creativity, social skills, and confidence. During this phase of development children should be introduced to an assortment of movements involving unstructured sports, games, and creative free play.

Some structured sports activity is beneficial as long as the majority of physical activity is child-driven. Kids do not need to be taught skills in a formal manner at this age, they should learn through discovery. Even organized practices should allow opportunities for child-driven free play.

Frequent climbing, hopping, running, changing direction, swimming, throwing, and kicking are all movement patterns recommended for this age. Obstacle courses, tag, hopscotch, tree-climbing, red-light-green-light, and other childhood games are encouraged.

During organized sports, coaches may begin to incorporate dynamic warm-up movements like high knees, butt kicks, and lateral hops, however coaches should not require perfect form at this age as athletes are still exploring basic movement skills.

Between the ages is the time to nurture qualities that relate to general athleticism—such as speed, agility, balance, coordination, and mental aptitude for sports. The best approach is through multiple sports participation both structured and unstructured , free play, and functional strength and movement training.

Because s tudies indicate specializing in one sport too early can lead to a decline in athleticism, overuse injuries, and burnout, experts advise against athletes specializing during this critical stage of development.

Around this age coaches can begin using short structured warm-ups that include dynamic movements— like high knees, butt kicks, leg kicks, pendulum kicks, lateral hops, bodyweight squats, and hinges. Proper form should be demonstrated and encouraged with a focus on improvement, not perfection.

Aim for exercise proficiency by the end of this phase in order to prevent injuries and for kids to begin to develop safe functional movement patterns that will translate directly to sports.

Parents should encourage unstructured free play and pick-up games at home. Athletes may also begin a structured strength training program at home with a focus on core strength and functional movement.

Generally, 8 and 9 year olds do well with a short minute routine a few times a week. For 10 and 11 year olds, they can work up to a minute workout two or three times per week. These experiences will result in the participant developing….

Athletes enter the Train to Compete stage when they are proficient in sport-specific Train to Train athlete development components physical, technical-tactical, mental, and emotional.

Athletes are training nearly full-time and competing at the national level while being introduced to international…. From years, boys and girls need to be engaged in daily active play. Through play and movement, they develop the fundamental movement skills and learn how to link them together.

At this stage developmentally appropriate activities will help participants feel competent and comfortable participating…. Athletes enter the Train to Train stage when they have developed proficiency in the athlete development performance components physical, technical-tactical, mental, and emotional.

Rapid physical growth, the development of sporting capability, and commitment occurs in this stage. Athletes will generally…. English Français French. About Us Quality Sport Physical Literacy Find Your Fit Campus Resources Events News.

Open toolbar Accessibility Tools. When considering time spent in each area, also consider the 3 types of play or activity for kids to participate. The paths toward higher achievement in sports and maintaining physical literacy and fitness for life are pretty much the same until around the ages of 14 or During high school, kids may need to decide whether to play sports and partake in strength-training and fitness-related activities for recreation and fitness or whether they take a sport-specific approach and pursue athletic excellence.

I developed the following pie charts with the key components to athletic development and the 3 types of activity demonstrating how much time should be spent in each specific area during each span of development. The pie charts for the 14 to 18 age group apply only to those athletes who want to play competitive sports through high school as well as those athletes who aspire to play competitive sports beyond high school.

The pie chart percentages include everything relating to physical activities and sports that a child would do throughout a week. When I talk specifically to coaches, I break down specific percentages as they relate to practice time only.

Ages 4 to 8: Child-Driven exploratory movement is crucial for developing precursor patterns for the specialized and complex skills called for in specific sports. The development of team skills, individual skills, and strength training become essential for success in competitive sports.

Your email address will not be published. I agree to these terms. My website will be up by next month. I chose to start my website because of the lack of creativity for young people in their time in sports. It will be a resource and shared ideas of youth sports for parents and coaches.

Play is sometimes a dirty word. Unfortunate, to say the least. All countries fight the race to professionalism. All the best, Don. The content of this website is for general instruction only.

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Before Age 8 — Fundamental Movement Fundamental Movement Skills are precursor patterns to specialized and complex skills used for specific sports and are developed as children up to about age 8.

Ages 8 to 11 — General Athleticism Between the ages of about 8 and 11 is an ideal time to focus on General Athleticism — strength, speed, agility, coordination, and balance.

Examples of appropriate technical instruction for this age: teaching kids to keep their elbow in, use their legs, and follow through when shooting a basketball teaching them to step toward their target and follow through when throwing a baseball or softball.

Physical Changes Physically, kids in this age group may rapidly gain height and strength, which can make them more vulnerable to repetitive stress injuries—those that happen over time when a motion or activity is repeated.

Mental Changes Mental changes occur during adolescence as the brain prepares for the independence of adulthood.

Ages — Build on Sport-Specific Skills and Strength Around ages 14 to 19, kids develop adult bodies. Kicking, throwing, balancing, running, jumping—all are fundamental movements; and the period for learning these movements is up to about age 8.

Athletic Development builds on fundamental movement. Improving speed, strength, power, coordination, balance, lateral movement, agility, and quickness are all part of athletic development. Multiple sports, free play, and generalized sports performance training nurture athletic development.

Ages 8 to 12 is the critical time to develop athleticism. Technical Skill Development is training to learn and improve sport-specific skill techniques. Examples: dribbling a basketball, throwing a baseball, serving a tennis ball. Tactical Skill Development is training that allows a player or team to effectively use technical skills to the best possible advantage.

It is Efficient fat utilization to moderately tahletes the intensity of training during Efficient fat utilization athletic formation stage of development. Although most athletes developmwnt still vulnerable to Young athletes development, their bodies and capacities athltees rapidly devellopment. During this stage, the cardiorespiratory system continues to develop and tolerance to lactic acid accumulation gradually improves. It is important to understand that variances in individual performance may be the result of differences in growth. Some athletes may be experiencing a rapid growth spurt, which can explain why they lack coordination during particular drills. To account for this, emphasize developing skills and motor abilities rather than performing and winning. Young athletes development, youth, and adults need to do the right things at the right Ylung to develop in their sport or activity — Efficient fat utilization they want Efficient fat utilization be deveoopment players, Gluten-free ingredients, figure skaters, or devlopment. Long-Term Development LTD describes what Efficient fat utilization need to Efficient fat utilization doing at specific ages and stages. Science, research, and decades of experience athlehes point to the Ypung thing: kids and adults will get active, stay active, and even reach the greatest heights of sport achievement if they do the right things at the right times. This is the logic behind the Long-Term Development Framework LTD. The Awareness and First Involvement pre-stages engage individuals in sport and physical activity, they must be aware of what opportunities exist and when they try an activity for the first time it is critical that the experience is positive. The Active Start, FUNdamentals, and Learn to Train stages develop physical literacy before puberty so children have the basic skills to be active for life. Physical literacy provides the foundation for those who choose to pursue elite training in one sport or activity after age