Youth Training
I get the question from parents all the time “What age should my child begin training?” Usually they mean sports performance training with me. My answer is they have already begun sports performance (weight training, speed, and agility) training at a young age. Every youth team sport and many individual sports involve running, jumping, hitting, kicking, or throwing. If they are doing these activities, they already begun performance training. Here is the problem: parents are willing to invest money to have their kids practice with specialized coaches such as soccer goalkeeper specialists, basketball shooting coaches, pitching/hitting coaches, and many other specialized coaches. At a young age you teaching your child one skill, when they really need to train their overall athletic development. On the other hand, I teach young athletes a variety of skills that apply to virtually every sport. If the training is age appropriate and progressed systematically, there should be absolutely no reason for your child to not participate in a sports performance program. They will develop many skills such as improved coordination (footwork and foot speed) and body awareness (how to move in all three planes of motion effectively, how to change direction efficiently, improved flexibility, and relative strength). Every type of athlete, young and old needs to develop and refine these skills on a continuous basis or they will either A) never develop these skills or B) loss their ability to perform these skills correctly and efficiently. A and B will both lead to inquires in the long run.
Parents: If you invest your money into a specialized coach, you had better also invest your money into a quality sports performance coach who works on the develop of athletic ability otherwise you’ll be paying to have your child rehab from sports injuries in the future. ASAP Baseball Academy is taking the right approach and combining specialized training with athletic development training, check it out www.asapbaseballacademy.com. This is how the development of young athletes should take place.
Train Hard-Train Smart,