What Young Athletes Need to Know About Training

by Mitch Hauschildt, MA, ATC, CSCS

As the prevention, rehab and physical performance coordinator and former strength and conditioning coach at a NCAA Division I university, I have been asked a number of times over the years about what I would like for high school coaches to do with their athletes, or what I would like our incoming freshman to look and act like.

Its always a great question because there is so much variance with our athletes and their maturity levels, training age, genetic potential, medical history, and quality of training.  Is it best to specialize?  Should we hire a private coach or personal trainer?  How much is too much?  Every coach and parent want the best for their child or athlete, so I field these questions a lot.

As we enter into the summer, many incoming college freshman will be starting their final training programs before going off to college and many underclassmen will be training hard over the coming months to get ready for their fall season.  Most high school coaches are doing their best to take care of their high school athletes, but the reality is that most of them have an education in history, math, art and so on.  They don’t have the education or experience that those of us who do this for a living have, so it is a good time to take a step back and talk about some things that most, if not all, college strength coaches would love to see ingrained into their college athletes at an early age:

• Lower the weight.  Emphasize movement quality.  This is the classic mistake that I see most well intended high school coaches make.  They want their athletes to be strong and athletic, but they don’t have the background in movement science to recognize poor movement quality.  I don’t necessarily blame them, because their education is limited in this area, but what they do need to remember is that load cements movement.  When movement quality is poor and load is added, it locks in the poor pattern, making it much more difficult to deal with in the future.  When they become college athletes, then I get to try to undo 4 years of layering strength on top of dysfunction.
• Focus on Mobility.  Mobility is much harder to gain that strength at the next level.  At the college level, we can add strength very easily with all of the resources we have at our disposal.  Mobility can be more challenging.  Addressing mobility issues before they become problematic is a great advantage for college coaches.
• Play multiple sports throughout high school.  In this era of early specialization, I know being a multipart athlete this isn’t a popular statement among some parents and coaches, but the research is consistent.  Multi sport athletes are more athletic and less likely to get injured.  Let them be kids and play a lot of different things.  In the long run, they’ll be better off.
• Train to compete.  I have never met a college coach who doesn’t love athletes who just plain love to compete.  This might be competing in the weightroom, on the field, in conditioning, or playing cards.  Anything you can do to develop an attitude of competition is an advantage for any college coach.
• Develop a blue collar work ethic.  As college coaches, we love to work with the athletes who train hard, don’t talk, and are hungry to be coached and get better every single day.  This is more challenging than ever in today’s society, but the more we can ingrain this mentality, the better.
• Take a team approach to player development.  The old school method of developing and keeping athletes healthy by relying on a single coach isn’t smart.  Even high school athletes need to rely on sport coaches, athletic trainers, strength coaches, chiropractors, physicians, therapists and so on.  Building a team around an athlete or program will provide you with the resources that you need to elevate your game to the next level.  Assemble a team and lean on them.  This can be difficult in small towns or for people with limited resources, but most high schools have at least some of these people available on a consistent basis, so take advantage of them.
• Be wary of personal trainers.  I want to be very clear on this.  This does not pertain to all personal trainers and many of them are very, very good at training athletes.  But, because the industry is largely unregulated, be very weary of personal trainers who train soccer moms all day and tell you that they know exactly what your youth athlete needs.  They are very, very different and just because someone looks good or is athletic themselves, doesn’t mean that they know how to train athletes.  Young athletes have special needs.  Make sure they can meet their needs.  Pediatricians and internists are both doctors.  I only want a pediatrician treating my kid.  The same is true of coaches.
• Speed and fitness win.  Strength is great, but at the end of the day, especially in high school athletics, the athlete who gets to point A to point B faster consistently throughout the course of the game will win.  Train fast and train to be fit.  Strength is easy to get later on.
• Vary your training.  Periodization is important.  If you aren’t knowledgeable in that area and you don’t have anyone around you who is, just understand that the body needs constantly changing stimulus to improve.  Variation for the sake of variation is a good place to start.  A good coach can be very strategic about what type of variation is best, but the big thing to take home here is to not do the same running, lifting, jumping, etc workout all of the time.  Variety is the spice of life.  Embrace it.
• Don’t try to emulate big college or pro athletes’ workouts.  I once had a high school football coach tell me that he didn’t need my help because he utilizes the same techniques that he learns every year at the SEC football clinic.  I know he means well, but you just can’t use the same techniques on a 22 year old, soon to be first round draft pick from Alabama that you do with a 14 year old kid from southwest Missouri.  That 14 year old kid will get buried or never reach his full potential.  Seek out training that is specific to young athletes.

Overall, the coaches and trainers who are working with the majority of young people around the country are great people who are trying to do the right thing by their young athletes.  Unfortunately, though, they don’t realize that their kids are train wrecks when (or if) they make it to the next level.  Take this advice as a good place to start in order to maximize long term athletic development and enjoy competing at the college level.