How Early to Start Training…
I had a conversation with a parent the other day about training their daughter who is in the eighth grade. Normally this is around the time that we will start to consider taking a kid on depending on what the situation is. There are numerous factors that determine at what age and in what capacity we will begin the training – let me explain.
Some parents and coaches will be up in arms about training an athlete that is in the 8th grade, while others will think it’s great and that it’s setting that child up for a lifetime of good health and habits. From my perspective the only difference is not in if you train the athlete, but in how you will train the athlete. I am upfront with parents about the fact that when kids are younger (ages 9-13/14) we will do more of what seems like a gym class with them. We will do more movement based games, drills, and exercises focusing on proper motor development to make sure that their body is properly developed and then we will work them more and more towards a traditional strength program as they get older.
There are a lot of variables we factor in like: maturity (both physically and emotionally), development (how well do they move for their age), strength (how do they handle their own body weight when performing), and lastly we base our training models off of a development chart which shows what athletic skills (ie speed, flexibility, strength, etc.) are most easily developed during those ages.
It’s important as a parent, coach, or athlete to know where you stand and what your goals are both short and long-term. We always take on athletes with the thought that they will be with us long-term (years) because of the continual progress that they will make. Once you know what the goals are, it is up to you to move in the direction that is best suited for the situation.
