The
Key to Long Term Athletic Success
By:
Brian J. Grasso
The
key ingredient to working with pre-adolescent and early adolescent athletes
is providing global stimulation from a movement perspective. Younger
athletes must experience and eventually perfect, a variety of motor
skills in order to ensure both future athletic success and injury prevention.
Developing basic coordination through movement stimulus is a must, with
the eventual goal of developing sport-specific coordination in the teenage
years. Coordination itself however, is a global system made up of several
synergistic elements and not necessarily a singularly defined ability.
Balance,
rhythm, spatial orientation and the ability to react to both auditory
and visual stimulus have all been identified as elements of coordination.
In fact, the development of good coordination is a multi-tiered sequence
that progress from skills performed with good spatial awareness but
without speed, to skills performed at increased speeds and in a constantly
changing environment. As Joseph Drabik points out in his book ‘Children
& Sports Training’, coordination is best developed between
the ages of 7 – 14, with the most crucial period being between
10 – 13 years of age.
As
with anything else, an important issue with respect to coordination
development is to provide stimulus that is specific (and therefore appropriate)
for the individual. Prescribing drills that are either too easy or too
difficult for the young athlete will have a less than optimal result.
An
interesting note is that there appears to be a cap with respect to coordination
development and ability. Younger athletes who learn to master the elements
associated with good coordination (balance, rhythm, spatial awareness,
reaction etc), are far better off then athletes who are not exposed
to this kind of exercise stimulation until advanced ages. The ability
to optimally develop coordination ends at around the age of 16. This
validates the claim that global, early exposure is the key from an athletic
development standpoint. Again, global coordination will serve as the
basis to develop specific coordination in the teenage years.
Once
again, it is important to mention that coordination development is a
process that encompasses years of exposure, and is based on DIVERSITY
and VERSATILITY. Young athletes cannot be pigeonholed into sport specific
stimulus at a young age and expected to vault into the ranks of elite
athletics. As the motto of my company says, ‘You Can’t Become
a Champion Until You Become An Athlete.
Furthermore,
it is important to understand that coordination-based exercises must
be introduced during the preadolescent ages. Adolescence is not an appropriate
time during which to begin elements of coordination training. As strength,
speed, height and body mass change significantly during these years,
it is much more prudent to reinforce already known movements, rather
than teach new ones. Herein lies the art and understanding of developing
a young athlete. Coaches, trainers and parents must accept the fact
that developing a healthy and successful athlete is a journey or process
that encompasses several varying degrees of stimulus, all of which build
on top of the other.
Coordination
training for example, is introduced during the pre-adolescent ages while
nervous system plasticity is high (which refers to the nervous systems
ability to learn new skills easily) and movement habits have not yet
been ingrained as permanent. The scope of coordination training changes
during the adolescent ages, during which physical growth alters the
young athlete’s previously mastered movement habits. At this time,
refinement of movement should take precedent over learning new movement-based
skills. In post-adolescence, coordination training can once again be
taken to new heights.
One
point to consider about coordination is that genetic pre-disposition
plays a significant role. Less coordinated children will likely never
exhibit the tendencies of naturally coordinated children regardless
of training. That is not to say that improvements cannot be made,
however – quite the opposite.
Here
are three basic principals of coordination training –
1.
Start young – coordination improves as a result of
learning and mastering new movements. Start young athletes off early
with coordination-based exercises that challenge their abilities (within
reason). The more coordination a young athlete has, the more ability
he or she will display at any perspective sport.
2.
Challenge young athletes on an individual and appropriate level
– Some youngsters have good balance while others display good
rhythm. The key to successful coaching is to undercover what elements
of coordination each athlete requires, and develop drills/exercises
that most suitably target the weaknesses.
3.
Change exercises frequently – young athletes learn
quickly in most cases. Be sure to challenge them physically and intellectually
with new exercises often.
The
following list provides some basic exercises that you can use with
your young athletes to help develop elements of coordination –
-
Multi-directional
forms of running, jumping and skipping
-
Single
leg balancing games
-
Mirror
games (mirroring each other’s movements)
-
Known
exercises starting or finishing in new positions (start sprints
from belly or one knee; end with hands up or on all fours)
-
Opposite
arm circles (right hand circles forward, left backwards)
-
Simultaneous
arm and leg circles Jump in place with 180 or 360 turns while in
flight
-
Balance
exercises on a low balance beam
-
Cross
step-over running or carioca
-
Somersault
to balance (somersault to standing one legged balance)
Skipping A, B and C’s
-
Obstacle
running (place hurdles directly on floor and have athlete run
over them)
Remember,
coordination includes elements of balance, spatial orientation, rhythm
and various other traits. This list reflects exercises to improve
several of those elements.