By:
Brian J. Grasso
www.DevelopingAthletics.com
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
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