As a coach in charge of many youngsters ranging in age from 8-20 years, I have found that parents in particular have many questions about their children starting sports, with most of their worries centered on over-training and injuries.
These are valid concerns.
As coaches, teachers and exercise professionals, we need to understand as much as possible about what is going on inside the bodies of children and teenagers as they grow, so we can make sure the athletes under our care are training as safely as possible.
An eye to the future and healthy long term development is paramount.
Here are some of the main issues you need to be aware of if you work with developmental/young athletes and sports people:
Everyone is at a Different Stage of Growth and Development
Everyone grows at different rates.
I was ‘fully grown’ (those who know me will laugh, as I barely stand over 5ft!) by 12 years old, while others will not have a major growth spurt until they are in their late teens. You cannot judge a child’s stage of development simply by their numerical age.
Growing Bones Are Still ‘Soft’
By ‘soft’ bones, I mean that a child/teenager who has recently gone through a growth spurt will not have the same ‘hardness’ and calcification as an adult’s bone. Therefore, they are very prone to breaks and stress fractures through repetitive movements and excessive training loads (particularly with load bearing sports like running). The athlete needs to be held back and guided through this time with great care.
Bones Grow Quicker than the Surrounding Muscles and Connecting Tissues such as Ligaments/Tendons.
It takes a while for muscles, tendons and ligaments to ‘catch up’ to growing bones, which can lead to a whole range of injury issues. As such, conditions such as Osgood-Schlatter’s Disease and Sever’s Disease are two common injury concerns in young athletes.
Changes in Body Composition at Puberty
This is particularly relevant with female adolescents whose body composition changes from that of a girl (higher relative lean body mass) to a woman (higher relative body fat). This can be a particularly hard time to navigate because as the athlete adjusts to their new body, performance often plateaus and in some cases, they go backwards for a while. Coaches need to approach this time with care, sensitivity and encouragement or they risk losing the athlete from the sport. Changes in body shape and weight at this time can also effect movement patterns, so an emphasis on refining technique during adolescence should be included as part of the program.
So with all this in mind………how do we manage to coach young athletes safely?
It takes planning, consideration and an individual approach, but the good news is that exercise as a youngster has many physical and mental health benefits that outweigh the negatives.
Here are some practical tips for coaching youngsters involved with some of the more common junior sports:
Swimming
Evidence has shown that you can do a huge amount of development with your aerobic capacity as a child (that stays with you as an adult) and a great way to do this is swimming, as it is non-weight bearing. Young swimmers have been swimming daily for many years and as long as this is part of a structured program with an emphasis on stroke development and the youngster is not suffering any injuries, it is completely safe to do so.
Rotator cuff and shoulder injuries are the main curse to a young swimmer and these are caused by a combination of overuse and poor technique in the growing athlete. If this is happening, then training load needs to be decreased and the athlete referred to a health professional ASAP.
Cycling
Cycling, like swimming, is non-weight bearing however unlike swimming, the action is even more repetitive as you can’t change strokes and use different muscle groups. As the athlete grows, it is very important that bike fit is constantly re-adjusted accordingly to avoid overuse injuries. Many junior cycling/triathlon competitions also use restricted gearing to avoid excessive load.
I would strongly advise against putting in huge amounts of cycling km’s or training with excessive load whilst going through major growth spurts due to the imbalance of bone to muscle/connective tissue growth. If the young cyclist is not going through a major growth spurt (PHV or ‘peak height velocity’) and is set up on the bike correctly, then long distance bike riding is not an issue and like swimming, a great way to build aerobic capacity. Through the growing years, emphasise a program based on skills and developing pedal stroke/cadence.
Running
Running has the highest injury rates of any sport (no matter what age you are!) as it is weight-bearing. Therefore, when a weight-bearing sport is combined with all the growth and developmental factors I have talked about already in this article, you can see how carefully a running training program needs to be constructed for youngsters.
There is good news however; running as a youngster builds up bone density in the legs. As long as your athletes are managed through these years properly, you are setting them up well for a future of running as an adult.
With running training keep to soft surfaces as much as possible, include conditioning and strength exercises such as lunges, squats and planks as part of your program and have sessions focusing on technique development and short, fast efforts rather than long, slow training.
Team Sports
Most youth team sports are modified versions of the adult games with special equipment, rules and coaching methods designed to protect athletes. Non-contact rules in youth sports assist with limiting (however they can’t completely prevent!) impact injuries. Make sure you are aware of all of the age-appropriate rules for your sport and implement them as required. Training for junior and youth team sports should prioritise skill development, movement, decision making, agility and change of direction training, along with plymotric jumping, hopping, landing to build up resistance to injury (also has the additional influence of increasing performance)
In conclusion,,,,,
Treat all your junior athletes as an individual; they all have different rates of growth, personal physiology traits and various ‘training ages’ (i.e. the age they began a certain sport) that need to be considered.
Don’t accelerate or hold back an athletes training just because of their numerical age, consider all of their personal factors.
Develop networks with local allied health professionals for referral and parent/athlete education.
Teach your young athletes to really listen to their own bodies so they can learn to distinguish the difference between an injury and general soreness and tell when something is up.
And most of all, encourage enjoyment and a love for the sport. We want to see these kids stay involved for life, no matter if they take a more performance pathway or simply continue participating as adults.
Train smart, train happy……..Michelle Hemley