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Maybe the most frequent question we get is about training young athletes. That prompted me to go back through the archives and pull up all the best articles on training kids. Here are 10 of my favorites.
Training Kids- Michael Boyle
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Coaching Kids
A few weeks ago we had a great thread on the forum entitled Athlete Engagement and Behavior. Anthony had suggested that I expand my thoughts from the thread into an article.
The thread began with this question:
“Would really appreciate if anyone could share their experiences or direct me to some good resources regarding engaging young athletes (13-15 year old female athletes) in structured strength and conditioning sessions.”
My response ( expanded on here) began with this:
Training kids is a balancing act. Kids are kids. They should be having some fun training. However, at 13 -15 they should also be learning that there is a serious aspect to training. If you are having trouble controlling a group I strongly advocate removing those who are most disruptive or, at least threatening to do so. The threat of getting kicked out adds a bit of “what if” to the equation. What if I have to go home and explain that I got kicked out of a training session?
This “threat” gets the message across. You are the boss and this is a practice. What you really have to learn is to be "tight but loose". You have to establish the boundaries. With kids it's a constant push- pull. Sometimes you are pushing them forward from an effort standpoint and other times you pull them back from silliness. With females you can be pushing them to try a heavier load, with males you might be pulling them back from trying to impress the other boys.
Start with simple organizational stuff. Put them in lines, keep them in lines. Call out those who distract the others. Always lines, no circles. Keep everyone where you can see them. Kids behind you is like an invitation to screw around
With kids we want to be light on science and heavy on structure. You can keep them busy as the loads are light and the work is primary technical. Rest between sets is not nearly as critical as it is with older, stronger, more experienced athletes. I use their energy as a guideline. If they have time to screw around, we are probably going too slowly. Join StrengthCoach.com today at access this and all articles with video......
What I Learned from Coaching Kids Again- Michael Boyle
Training Middle School Athletes- Ken Whittier
10 Nutrition Tips for Parents of Young Athletes- Tom Sullivan
Teaching Basic Lifts to Kids- Michael Boyle
Complete Youth Training DVD or Download- Michael Boyle
My Kids Pretty Good, Now What- Michael Boyle
How Kids Learn- Michael Boyle
Organizing a Warmup for Groups- Michael Boyle
The Road to College- Michael Boyle
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