This is a great article written by a good friend of mine, Coach Richard White. We both worked together at the National Strength and Conditioning Association in Colorado Springs back in 2011.
Putting a Stop to Injuries in Our Youth Athletes: How to Implement a Long Term Athlete Development Plan
Part 1: The FUNdamentals
This quote was taken from
an interview a Cleveland newspaper did with Dr. James Andrews, an orthopedic
surgeon who has practiced medicine forover 40 years and
has completed surgeries on athletes such as RGIII, Brett Favre, Steven
Strasburg and a host of youth athletes that reside in the cities he practices
in down in Alabama and Florida. He is also the co-campaign chairperson for STOP
(Sports Trauma and Overuse Program), a comprehensive public outreach program
that focuses on the importance of sports safety-specifically relating to
overuse and trauma injuries in today’s youth. Their initiative not only raises
awareness and provides education on injury reduction, but also highlights how
playing safe and smart can enhance and extend a child's athletic career,
improve teamwork, reduce obesity rates and create a lifelong love of exercise
and healthy activity. Our message underscores the problems of overuse and
trauma and emphasizes the expertise of our coalition of experts (1). According
to an article released by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, over 3.5 million kids 14
and under are treated annually for sports injuries and the numbers are growing.
They say that more than half of all youth sports injuries are preventable. In
about half of those cases, those injuries are associated with overuse, which
are more often than not linked with the growing trend of children specializing
in one sport and playing year round. Needless to say, overuse and traumatic
injuries are becoming an epidemic in today’s youth athletes. So much so, that
powerful voices like Dr. Andrews, medical associations, athletic trainers and
even some professional athletes are beginning to speak out against this rising
problem.
So what can we do to help? How can parents, coaches, trainers and everyone else involved in our youth organizations help prevent this from spinning out of control? I strongly believe that the proper implementation of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) programs and the support of organizations like STOP would begin to halt this exploding trend. LTAD models, more specifically the Canadian model to which I will be speaking about from this point forward, seek to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada. CS4L links sport, education, recreation and health and aligns community, provincial and national programming. Canadian Sport for Life's Long-Term Athlete Development framework is a seven-stage training, competition and recovery pathway guiding an individual’s experience in sport and physical activity from infancy through all phases of adulthood. Canadian Sport for Life and Long-Term Athlete Development represent a paradigm shift in the way Canadians lead and deliver sport and physical activity in Canada (2). Dr. Larry Meadors, a leader in the field of LTAD research, noted in a recent article that there is a massive amount of information available to sport coaches, parents, youth organizations, and teachers on the development, growth and maturation of developing athletes. Despite this fact, the message spoken in that information has gotten lost. It is clear that a more thorough job of educating and broadcasting scientifically based LTAD information needs to be presented to these organizational leaders, coaches, parents and practitioners (3).
Finding a Starting Point with the Fundamentals
In the early stages (this stage could begin as early as 3 and go on until age 8 or 9) of an athlete’s development it is crucial that basic movements and skills are introduced through fun and games (2). This is the stage where the athlete begins to attain physical literacy. Physical literacy refers to the competency an athlete has in movement and sport skills and is something that needs to be developed prior to the onset of adolescent growth (2). These skills can be divvied up into three categories: traveling skills, object control and balance & stability. Traveling skills include basic movements such as: climbing, galloping, hopping, skipping, skating, swimming, running, walking, shuffling, backpedaling, etc. Object control skills include: kicking, throwing, catching, dribbling (w/hands and feet), etc. Balance and stability movements include: rolling, dodging, landing, twisting, stopping, bending, falling, etc (2). The above list certainly is not inclusive but hopefully it is easy to see how important these simple movements are for athletes to understand; I can’t think of one sport that doesn’t involve one or more of these skills. It’s unfortunate how many high school athletes I have trained that can’t do several of these things and they still manage to be very good at their respective sport. Fortunately, I believe there are two things parents, coaches, teachers and youth leaders can do to help improve physical literacy in our youth.
• Strongly encourage youth to participate in multiple sports. Playing several sports requires the body to learn new movements they may not be demanded to execute otherwise in other sports.
Without the ability for an athlete to execute these basic fundamental movements, children are going to experience extreme difficulty participating in virtually any sport (2). A strong emphasis needs to be placed on skill improvement and the athlete’s retention of these basic skills. Understand that each individual will have their own learning curve and the main focus should be on increasing each individual’s athleticism. Doing this will keep athletes playing longer and will create a much larger pool of potential talent (3).
In my next article I will focus on the hot topic of sport specialization and why doing so too early in an athlete’s career can be very detrimental to health and performance. For more information on athlete development be sure to check out www.optimizemovement.com.
References:
• http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/about.aspx
Putting a Stop to Injuries in Our Youth Athletes: How to Implement a Long Term Athlete Development Plan
Part 1: The FUNdamentals
”I want
parents and coaches to realize the implications of putting a 12- or 13-year-old
through the type of athletic work done by a 25-year-old. Parents and coaches,
though they mean well, need to understand what the long-term effects of overuse
can be.” – Dr. James Andrews, World Renowned Sports Orthopedist
So what can we do to help? How can parents, coaches, trainers and everyone else involved in our youth organizations help prevent this from spinning out of control? I strongly believe that the proper implementation of Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) programs and the support of organizations like STOP would begin to halt this exploding trend. LTAD models, more specifically the Canadian model to which I will be speaking about from this point forward, seek to improve the quality of sport and physical activity in Canada. CS4L links sport, education, recreation and health and aligns community, provincial and national programming. Canadian Sport for Life's Long-Term Athlete Development framework is a seven-stage training, competition and recovery pathway guiding an individual’s experience in sport and physical activity from infancy through all phases of adulthood. Canadian Sport for Life and Long-Term Athlete Development represent a paradigm shift in the way Canadians lead and deliver sport and physical activity in Canada (2). Dr. Larry Meadors, a leader in the field of LTAD research, noted in a recent article that there is a massive amount of information available to sport coaches, parents, youth organizations, and teachers on the development, growth and maturation of developing athletes. Despite this fact, the message spoken in that information has gotten lost. It is clear that a more thorough job of educating and broadcasting scientifically based LTAD information needs to be presented to these organizational leaders, coaches, parents and practitioners (3).
Finding a Starting Point with the Fundamentals
In the early stages (this stage could begin as early as 3 and go on until age 8 or 9) of an athlete’s development it is crucial that basic movements and skills are introduced through fun and games (2). This is the stage where the athlete begins to attain physical literacy. Physical literacy refers to the competency an athlete has in movement and sport skills and is something that needs to be developed prior to the onset of adolescent growth (2). These skills can be divvied up into three categories: traveling skills, object control and balance & stability. Traveling skills include basic movements such as: climbing, galloping, hopping, skipping, skating, swimming, running, walking, shuffling, backpedaling, etc. Object control skills include: kicking, throwing, catching, dribbling (w/hands and feet), etc. Balance and stability movements include: rolling, dodging, landing, twisting, stopping, bending, falling, etc (2). The above list certainly is not inclusive but hopefully it is easy to see how important these simple movements are for athletes to understand; I can’t think of one sport that doesn’t involve one or more of these skills. It’s unfortunate how many high school athletes I have trained that can’t do several of these things and they still manage to be very good at their respective sport. Fortunately, I believe there are two things parents, coaches, teachers and youth leaders can do to help improve physical literacy in our youth.
• Strongly encourage youth to participate in multiple sports. Playing several sports requires the body to learn new movements they may not be demanded to execute otherwise in other sports.
Without the ability for an athlete to execute these basic fundamental movements, children are going to experience extreme difficulty participating in virtually any sport (2). A strong emphasis needs to be placed on skill improvement and the athlete’s retention of these basic skills. Understand that each individual will have their own learning curve and the main focus should be on increasing each individual’s athleticism. Doing this will keep athletes playing longer and will create a much larger pool of potential talent (3).
In my next article I will focus on the hot topic of sport specialization and why doing so too early in an athlete’s career can be very detrimental to health and performance. For more information on athlete development be sure to check out www.optimizemovement.com.
References:
• http://www.stopsportsinjuries.org/about.aspx
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