Friday, February 10, 2012

Bigger, Faster, Stronger...Missing the Point?

In the quest to turn every young athlete into the best he or she can be, the concerns from parents and coaches are often the same: 'Billy's too slow', 'Becki can't jump', 'Jack's not quick enough', etc., For decades, the proposed solution has been to train youngsters to get bigger, stronger, and faster. True to form, the testing procedures that are valued my the coaches are all quantitative - how fast can your kid run a 40? What does he bench? How high can he jump?

Better questions would be, can Kelly effectively put force in to the ground? Can David land without her knee buckling? Can Jack change direction without spraining an ankle? The problem with qualitative analysis, and most training and conditioning programs, is that the focus is all on numbers, instead of how adept an individual is at essential movement skills.

It's not enough to adapt a collegiate or professional training program and run kids through it; the vast majority of kids haven't been taught the skills necessary to perform those drills. This is the same reason that middle school students regularly get injured during physical education classes while playing sports or doing 'conditioning drills.'


The focus of HyPerformance Athletics is to be sure that athletes of all levels are able to perform at their highest level while reducing the risk of injury. If you, or your young athlete, would like to experience the Hyperformance difference, call 847-877-6673 to schedule a free assessment.

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