"Train Like the Pros"?

This is a common marketing line, intended to inspire parents to sign their young athletes up for sport-specific training. It sounds great, right? Not so fast.

Here's my issue with this: the majority of young athletes have yet to master the skills of acceleration, deceleration, force production and reduction, or change of direction; does it make sense to enroll them in a program designed for professional athletes? Or even college athletes?

I've witnessed this multiple times. College students, who happen to play soccer or lacrosse or field hockey at school, are hired by one local company to 'train' young athletes in their sport. There is no evaluation. There is no movement skill work. There is no concern that the college athletes have no education in working with children, nor do they know how to correct incorrect movement. They simply know the drills their coaches had them perform last season, and presume that the kids (who must be athletic, right?) will, pardon the line, Just Do It.

I don't believe it's any different for professional coaches. They have a specific skill set, tailored to a specific sport and age group. Does that make them a great coach of young, developing athletes? Honestly, it really depends. Some coaches simply have the ability to adapt their teaching styles to any group, but I believe that is rare. Nonetheless, a professional program is unlikely to be suitable for a young athlete.

This all makes sense, yet parents continue to buy in to the hype. I get it; it's sexy. Any parent would love to say that their child is "working with professional Coach Whomever." We need to remember, however, it's about the kids; not about the coach. While we are fortunate enough to live in one of the two states in the US that still has a physical education requirement, junior high kids are still spraining ankles when the PE teacher has them run 'suicides.' High school athletes, especially girls, are still suffering season-ending ACL tears. Putting a young person into a program designed for much older, more physically mature athletes is asking for trouble.

We all know the phrase, 'learn to walk before you try to run.' We forget, though, that crawling, standing, and balancing all precluded walking. Ultimately, the goal is to allow kids to be active for life, regardless of their involvement in organized sports. Before considering a 'train like the pros' program for your child, be sure that he or she will be taught my someone who has been educated in teaching aspiring athletes the movement skills they will need to minimize their risk of injury. Be sure that there is an evaluation. When you meet the coach, be sure that he or she talks to your child as much, if not more, as he or she talks to you. Still not sure? Ask for referrals.

"Train Like the Pros"?

Let's get them out of college first.

Exercise as Corporal Punishment

There was a story today about a football coach in Iowa who was accused of using running laps, hills, and wind sprints to punish a player for negative comments made about the team. (I'll add the link to the original story at the end) While it was the article that got my attention, it was the responses and comments posted after the story that really made me want to write this post.

I was really disappointed and disheartened to read how many people supported the coach's position, because they felt that the kid 'had it coming' or 'it would help his conditioning,' among other reasons. It was also amazing to me to read how many adults simply write kids off as lazy because they don't want to move.

What do they expect? We are one of many countries dealing with an obesity epidemic, and aside from the poor quality of food being served in most school lunch programs - a rant for another day - the primary cause is lack of activity. Forty-eight of the fifty states have done away with a physical education requirement.

In an age when kids clearly need to be motivated and encouraged to be active, how can anyone possibly justify using exercise - running laps, doing pushups, etc - as punishment? It doesn't take an astrophysicist to know that forcing a kid to do something is not going to result in a positive response. This is a negative-reinforcement model; essentially, the coaches hope that the experience of running laps, or 'suicides'/line drills, or endless pushups, will be negative enough that the kid won't step out of line again, for fear of having to repeat it.

Personally, I think this is a cop-out; instead of opening themselves to learn how to better communicate with their athletes,it is simpler to send them off to sweat and suffer away from the team. As an aside, I think this type of abusive training is glamorized at times. Exhibit A: Jillian Michaels, of 'The Biggest Loser.' I was disgusted by her methods, not just because she was mean and abusive to her charges, but because she grossly misrepresented the experience of working with a fitness coach. If you were at home and needed to lose a significant amount of weight, and you watched that show, would you want to hire a coach?

My position is this: kids need to move. It is good for them to run, jump, climb, tumble, roll, and play. Active kids have higher self-esteem, fewer illnesses, better muscle to fat ratios, and they are statistically better students than their sedentary counterparts. The coach's job, beyond the obvious teaching of individual sport skills, is to motivate and encourage long-term compliance to an activity program...one that the athlete enjoys participating in.

Those of you who know me know that this is my philosophy. Teach the body to move. Make it fun and challenging. Encourage life-long activity. Laugh.

Yes, that pretty much covers it.

If you know of any young athletes who want to take their performance and conditioning to the next level, please share this blog with them!


Thanks,

Andrew


Here's the link to the original article:

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/prep-prep-rally/iowa-coach-accused-corporal-punishment-forcing-player-run-154701889.html