Common Characteristics Of Elite Youth Athletes

 Common Characteristics of Elite Youth Athletes

 As a culture we have become fasinated with the performance of our athletes,professional and increasingly our youth athletes.I will explore the common traits of elite youth athletes in the discussion below.

Sports have always been an integral part of society and culture in the United States and around the world.   We learn the core values of teamwork, dedication, loyalty, commitment, fair play, selflessness and sportsmanship through participation in sports.  The essence of children’s sports is that, through participation during the formative years, a youngster can develop those qualities that will enable him or her to evolve into a responsible adult and good citizen.  Children who participate in team sports learn the value of sublimating personal goals for the higher goals of the team.  Sports provide the venue for children to develop the aforementioned core values through positive experiences which promote their physical, psychological and emotional maturity and well-being. 

 What if your child is considered to be an elite child athlete?  What are the commonalities that exist among elite child athletes, and how are parents and coaches to cope with these gifted youngsters?  What are the problems that these children face and the concomitant issues for parents, coaches, health care providers and for overseeing sports governing bodies? These issues will be discussed today are the unique challenges that an elite child athlete faces in our society .   

 Recognition of an Elite Child Athlete

 If you’re a parent and your child is between the ages of six and thirteen years of age, you may wonder how a child’s athletic success translates into identification as an elite child athlete.  An elite child athlete is one who has demonstrated an ability to perform at a level that well exceeds that of his or her peers.  The superior child athlete has demonstrated prowess in a particular area of sports through competition among peers. This specialized talent may require the employment of a skilled support staff in order to permit the child’s gift to further blossom and flourish. The elite child athlete who receives the coaching of experts in the field is often exposed to competition among other elite child athletes.  What are the commonalities among the extraordinary child athletes that set them apart from their other peers?    

Common Character Traits

 While each elite child athlete is unique and no two participate in sports under exactly the same conditions, there are some common traits that are basically found in the superior young athlete:

• Undaunted Will:  the children possess a determination and will to succeed in whatever sport they are undertaking.  While participation in sports is an enjoyable experience providing healthy physical and mental exercise, the elite child athlete embraces the competition and utilizes any temporary athletic setback as motivation for further improvement of his or her skill level.
• Superior Athletic Mentality:  the children are gifted with an insight and understanding of the sport in which they are participating on a far greater level than that of most of their peers.  This is not to say that these children are all superior students.  There is no absolute correlation between comprehension and performance in the classroom and comprehension and performance on the athletic field, although the elite athlete’s ability to concentrate appears to be more developed.

More to be examined next time……

This is an excerpt from my up coming book

Nurturing The Youth Athlete…..

Everthing You Thought You Knew ,But Didn’t Have a Clue

 Track Mom

Dr.Lorraine JohnsonWilliams

The Seven Secrets of Hydration

 The Seven Secrets of Hydration

If you wish your child to perform at a high level, they need to consume fluids. Water For each 1% of body weight lost due to dehydration, your performance slips by about 2%, and a small 2% loss in weight can force your heart rate and body temperature to spiral upward, making strenuous exercise almost impossible to carry out.So what are the rules for fluid intake? How much do you really need and what should your drink be like? To make it easy for you, we have listed the seven rules of fluid intake during exercise below. If you follow these rules, you will keep your body water intact during exercise and perform at a much higher level.

Rule 1:
The rate of passage of water from your stomach into your small intestine depends on how much fluid is actually in your stomach. If there is lots of water there, fluid flow from stomach to intestine is like a springtime flood; if there is little water, the movement resembles a lightly dripping tap. Therefore, to increase stomach intestinal flow (and overall absorption of water) you need to deposit a fair amount of liquid in your stomach just before you begin your exercise. In fact, 10 to 12 ounces of fluid is a good start. This will feel uncomfortable at first, so practice funneling this amount of water into your tank several times before actual competition.

Rule 2:
To sustain a rapid movement of fluid into your small intestine during your exertions, take three to four sips of beverage every 10-15 minutes possible.

Rule 3:
If you are going to be exercising for less than 60 minutes, do not worry about including carbohydrate in your drink; plain water is fine. For more prolonged efforts, however, you will want the carbohydrate.

Rule 4:
Years of research have suggested that the correct concentration of carbohydrate in your drink is about 5 to 7%. Most commercial sports drinks fall within this range, and you can make your own 6% drink by mixing five tablespoons of table sugar with each liter of water that you use. A bit of sodium boosts absorption; one third teaspoon of salt per liter of water is about right. Although 5 to 7% carbohydrate solutions seem to work best for most individuals, there is evidence that some endurance athletes can fare better with higher concentrations. In research carried out at Liverpool John Moores University, cyclists who ingested a 15% maltodextrin solution improved their endurance by 30% compared to individuals who used a 5% glucose drink. The 15% drink also drained from the stomach as quickly as the 5% one, though many other studies have linked such concentrated drinks with a slowdown in water movement.

Rule 5:
A 6% ‘simple sugar’ drink will empty from your stomach at about the same rate as a fancy, 6% ‘glucose polymer’ beverage, so do not fall for the idea that the latter can boost water absorption or enhance your performance more than the former, and do not pay more for the glucose-polymer concoction.

Rule 6:
Contrary to what you have heard, cold drinks are not absorbed into your body more quickly than warm ones. However, cold drinks are often more palatable than warm ones during exercise, so if coldness helps the  drink large quantities of fluid while you exert yourself, then keep your drinks cool.

Rule 7:
Sipping water during exercise does NOT increase your risk of digestive system problems. In actuality, most gut disorders that arise during exercise are caused by dehydration, not from taking in fluid. Dehydration induces nausea and discomfort by reducing blood flow to the digestive system, so by all means keep drinking! TrackMomDr.Lorraine Johnson

Giving Your Child the Excellence Edge

Being a parent I am always looking for stategies to help my daughter to be productive and  have much success and happiness. It’s not as easy as it seems. The tips below are worth a peek

 Track Mom

By: Family First Staff

Are you teaching your children skills that will help them excel in life? According to Vicki Caruana’s book, Giving Your Child the Excellence Edge, parents have an integral part in how their children succeed — not only in school, but in their future careers and relationships as well. Caruana provides ten key strategies which parents can implement in the home to help their children lead productive, fulfilling lives.

Teach Your Children to Become Quality Producers.

Quality involves taking a competency or skill and improving on it. Teach your kids the importance of doing above what is expected of them. For example, if a teacher requires the minimum of two pages for a report, the student should submit at least two and a half. Or if your child’s weekly chore is to take out the kitchen garbage, encourage him to find other trash cans around the house that need emptying.

Teach Your Children to Become Independent Learners.

Teach your children how to be self-directed and to think for themselves. Encourage them to set academic and personal goals and to monitor their own progress.

Teach Your Children to Become Creative Thinkers.

According to Caruana, “Creativity is the power of the imagination.” Creative thinkers are able to define and solve a problem by evaluating choices and considering possible outcomes. Teach your children how to creatively solve problems by having them (1) define the problem, (2) evaluate the possible solutions, (3) develop a plan of action and (4) adjust the plan when necessary.

Teach Your Children to Become Critical Thinkers.

Discernment and reasoning play a large part in critical thinking. One way to raise critical thinkers is to encourage your children to apply the scientific method to daily problems. For example, in determining the best way to walk to school, your kids would first state the question, form a hypothesis (i.e. Elm Street to Maple Street is best), test it through experimentation (timing how long that route takes) and then drawing conclusions.

Teach Your Children to Become Information Managers.

Children need to know how to find information for themselves, whether through a phone book, dictionary, encyclopedia or Internet. They also need to know how to evaluate, store and use this information. For example, if your child has multiple projects for school, he could use file folders to store his notes for each project. Also help your child determine which researched information he collected is relevant to his project, and which is extraneous.

Teach Your Children to Become Cooperative Learners.

Cooperative learners participate in group learning experiences; are helpful to fellow students; can negotiate with a balance of assertiveness, consideration and flexibility; and show patience with those who do not learn as quickly as them. Essentially, these students get along well with their fellow classmates. In your home, be sure to instill this important lesson by teaching and modeling respect for others.

Teach Your Children to Become Effective Communicators.

Make sure your children understand the concept of tone, and that the way something is said can be just as important as the content of what is said. In addition to speaking effectively, a good communicator also focuses on respectful listening. Caruana suggests teaching your kids how to sit still and listen by having them listen to books on tape. Start at 5 minutes a day and gradually work up to 30 minutes per sitting.

Teach Your Children to Become Confident Leaders.

Confident leaders know how to listen to the opinions of others, are comfortable in their leadership style and have a defined vision. Be sure to model good leadership in your home and always treat others with respect.

Teach Your Children to Become Efficient Time Managers.

Help your children create a timeline with goals for completing tasks on time instead of waiting until the last minute. Teach your children the value of being on time and set consequences when they do not get themselves ready for school on time. Use your children’s chores to teach them about deadlines. And make sure your children are also effectively using their free time by engaging in a variety of activities (i.e. reading, playing outdoors) instead of just sitting in front of the television.

Teach Your Children to Become Self-Assessors.

Self-assessment skills will help your children know how to improve on their weaknesses and build on their strengths. They may find journaling helpful in identifying which areas of school they are struggling with. Have occasional parent/child conferences during the school year to check on their progress and to help your children identify areas needing improvement.

This article is based on the book Giving Your Child the Excellence Edge: 10 Traits Your Child Needs to Achieve Lifelong Success by Vicki Caruana. Click here to order this book.

This article courtesy of FamilyFirst.net (Click Here).

Is Only Running The Best Thing???

There is a current trend to specialize our youth athletes long before necessary. Don’t get caught in the trap of allowing your child to only participate in their best performing sport. Childen under 13 or 14 with little exception  need not specialize to get a so called edge on the competion. Being well rounded is the best edge a child can get.

Well intentioned youth sport coaches often follow the lead of adult elite coaches and develop a training program that is tailor made for an adult but not for a growing child. I cannot overstate the value of varied sports activity. If you or the coach are not allowing your child this opportunity,  you are prohibiting her to grow as a complete athlete.This is obviously counterproductive and impedes the optimal development of young athletes.   Research and common sense show that children do not posses the attention span to concentrate on one athletic skill for a prolonged period of time. If forced to they will most often develop the habits, and a form you don’t want them to develop, and an arsenal full of attitude you won’t like either. The best of the best athletes rarely chose a single sport to focus on in the beginning. They played and experienced many sports.

Diversification is  key.  There is more than enough time and opportunity to specialize. Fun is first priority.  Recently I had the privilege of interviewing Olympic Gold medalist Harvey Glance.  

http://www.rolltide.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=8000&ATCLID=830010

Harvey began his track experience at the age of 7. He states that he loved running and he loved many other sports as well. He didn’t just run because he was “good” he ran because it was fun. It wasn’t until 15 or 16 he made the decision to focus on track and field. When he made that decision within 4 to 5 more years he won his first of two gold medals in the 100 meters. Did he lose anything from participating in several other sports not at all.  A matter of fact he states he was able to see what would possibly bring him the most success based on comparison.  

 Give your youth athlete lot’s of positive reinforcement, ask him questions about his feelings and the sports he or she participates in.  Remember, it is all-encompassing athletic skill that leads to proficiency in single sports - not specialization.   When “Coach Henry” and I plan for meets and train Lauren we always plan in fun. Fun with the workouts is so important. The season gets long and tiring for a child that would rather at times go play.    Know your child. Know what he thinks is fun. Develop games that will condition and develop as well as promote fun and enjoyment. 

  People often tell me that Lauren looks like she is having fun. She looks like an 8 year old. That makes me happy. I believe she will have fun for years to come because that is the focus not the gold medals.   They come when she is having fun! 

Trackmom  

For Young Athletes Having Fun Is#1

 ScienceDaily (Mar. 9, 2007) — Boys and girls who played basketball for coaches trained to emphasize personal improvement, giving maximum effort, having fun and supporting their teammates reported lower levels of sport anxiety compared with athletes playing for untrained coaches. Further, athletes playing for trained coaches showed positive changes in their personal achievement goals, according to a pair of companion studies by University of Washington sport psychologists.

The research is the first to show that a coaching intervention is as effective with girls as it is with boys, said Ronald Smith and Frank Smoll, the UW psychology professors who headed the project. In addition, the new studies also indicate that the positive effects of what they call a “Mastery Approach to Coaching” may extend beyond athletic arena and into the classroom.   It was created to counteract what sport psychologists term an “ego climate” where success is defined as being better than others and the main goal is winning at all costs.

 The intervention was offered as a 75-minute educational workshop for these studies. The UW researcher team compared the different coaching approaches by working with two separate youth basketball leagues in Seattle run by the Catholic Youth Organization and Seattle Parks and Recreation. More than 200 athletes 10 to 14 years of age and 37 coaches were involved in the studies. The number of boys slightly exceeded the girls. All of the coaches in one of the leagues attended the mastery workshop prior to the season. Coaches in the other league were not given the intervention. All of the athletes were given a battery of questionnaires twice, 12 weeks apart. These tests included one that measured their level of competitive anxiety and another that charted their personal achievement goals in sports. The measures were administered the week before the coaches attended the mastery workshop and later near the end of the season when teams were still competing for spots in each league’s playoffs. A questionnaire measuring the athletes’ achievement goals in academics was also included in the second battery of tests. The pre-season round of measures showed little difference among the two groups of athletes in their levels of anxiety or in their sports achievement goals. But 12 weeks later, it was a different story.

Athletes playing under trained coaches reported decreased levels of physical anxiety (such as queasy stomach, feeling tense and tight muscles), mental anxiety (worrying about performing poorly) and concentration problems (inability to focus on what they were supposed to do while playing). In contrast, the level of anxiety increased for the athletes playing for the untrained coaches. In addition, the athletic goals of the two groups of children were different. As the season progressed, girls and boys playing for the trained coaches were more likely to score higher on questions such as “I feel successful when I play as well as I can” while those playing for untrained coaches scored higher on questions such as “I feel successful when my team wins.” Similarly, the mastery approach seemed to transfer to school, with the children who played for trained coaches placing more value on effort and doing one’s best in the classroom.

The program also reduced the dropout rate, a major problem in youth sports. Just 11 percent of the athletes playing for trained coaches quit during the basketball season compared to 26 percent from the other group of players. “This is consistent with our previous research,” said Smith. “With an ego climate you lose youngsters who are not successful or very good at a sport because their coach tends to focus on the talented athletes. With the mastery approach more kids hang in there, even if the team is losing because personal improvement makes them feel successful…

 However, the effects we found can’t be attributed to winning or losing. We controlled for team won-lost records.” “Winning is important,” added Smoll, “but coaches need to focus on other desirable aspects of sports. Winning will take care of itself if you adopt the mastery approach. Other studies have shown that it actually leads to more winning because it decreases anxiety and increases enjoyment.” Adapted from materials provided by University of Washington.

University of Washington (2007, March 9). For Young Athletes Having Fun, Mastering Skills Outscore ‘Winning At All Costs’. ScienceDaily.  http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2007/03/070308220635.htm

  On this and related topics on Youth Athletics make sure to look for the new book  coming in Spring!!!   

                Nurturing the Youth Athlete,Your Child and Sports

          “Everthing You Thought You Knew But Didn’t Have A Clue”

                       By Dr.Lorraine M.Johnson-Williams

Youth Training …..Thinking Outside of The Box

Youth Training… Think Outside the Box Brian Grasso is the CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and is considered one of the premier authorities on youth athletic development in the world. Access Brian’s free database of articles and exercises at www.DevelopingAthletics.com. Through both my articles and seminar series, I discuss the Art of Coaching quite frequently. The Art of Coaching infers that it is not what you know as a coach that matters. It’s how you can relay it to young athletes. This is a common concern I see especially with younger coaches just out of college and still looking to impress people with there high intellect and advanced vocabulary.  In fact, out industry is littered with coaches who talk a great game, seek out as much PR and notoriety as they can, but don’t truly have any degree of experience or ability when it comes to effectively applying training strategies to athletes in unique and varying settings. In that, I want to discuss today a coaching strategy that I have used that truly enables young athletes to master a given technique. Rewrite Strategies If you have ever been driving in a car with a small group of teenagers and had a familiar song come on the radio, you have already experienced in practicality the essence of a rewrite strategy. By most contemporary definitions, a rewrite strategy is simply “a teaching strategy designed to help students explore content area topics using music”. For the purposes of sport and training, it involves using common musical tunes to both learn and support the retention of a given set of instructions. Those teenagers in your car, once they hear that familiar song, all begin to sing along – word for word.  That is the point… we all tend to remember the lyrics of our favorite songs.  Even if 20 years has past, we can still sing the words or hum the tune of a given song, because of music’s innate ability to stay within the long-term memory of our brains. Training Application As you know, I am a strong proponent of teaching young athletes the skill set of a given exercise.  That is, a 4-point instruction series on how to set-up their bodies prior to initiating movement (primary skill set) followed by a brief one or two instructions, which define the movement (secondary skill set). Let’s take the basic squat for example. My secondary skill set is as follows: Hips Back  - To ensure that the athlete is driving into hip flexion/extension and using the powerful muscles of the hip to execute rather than the anterior thigh. In-steps Off – To protect against valgus knee motions and further elicit a kinetic chain that runs outside heel to glute medius. Although the young athletes are taught this sequence and have it reinforced constantly, some youngsters may still fail to execute session to session. The Art of Coaching Many times in my career, I have used rewrite strategies to force these basic instructions into the vernacular of my young athletes’ brain. I challenge them to take the words of my skill set and place them into the tune of a favorite song or catchy jingle that they can recount at will.  Once in the form of a common tune, the skill set literally comes alive to the young athlete and they can communicate it immediately.  I even have them repeat the ‘song’ in their heads as they perform the movement. One young athlete I trained comes to mind as I am writing this article.  Her name was Mary and she couldn’t seem to get her hips back during the eccentric phase of a squat.  More over, her heels kept coming off the ground as she descended. Her solution? Mary wants to learn to squat Learn to squat Learn to squat Mary wants to learn to squat Hips back, insteps off Say those words aloud to yourself… Now sing them to the tune of ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’. Beware… rewrite strategies work and this little jingle may stay with you for some time! Learn more about Brian’s complete system of developing young athletes -

Home   Free Youth Training Resources   Featured Products   About Brian Grasso   Testimonials   Blog   Contact Us ©2007. DevelopingAthletics.com. All rights reserved. privacy policy   |   disclaimer

No More McDonald’s ……No More

No More McDonald’s………..No More  

You may say this is a hard position to take, not allowing my daughter to have an occasional “treat” of fast food at McDonald’s. Truth be told if you are a parent out there wishing to remove MD’s off you food offering but your kid’s protest to much all I can say is JUST DO IT.  

The day we stopped eating MD’s poison Lauren was about 5.We watched as a family “Supersize Me”. After watching, even the 5 year old was able to understand how bad that food was for her body. We have never touched a MD’s poison burger again.  She didn’t want to eat there again.

You gotta watch this…It is Amazing.

Look what your puting in your body.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYyDXH1amic  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEM0T1Ar5Qo

My postion is simply. I am building a healthy athlete not an athlete that can’t decide on good food choices when mom isn’t around,This will take years of training and teaching.

I realize that with training schedules,school ,homework and more that one child to care for it can get a little hairy at time trying to get everyone feed and happy.  Planning is the key and when fast food is off the table as an option it will force you to plan accordingly. At first it was very difficult because not only did I take MD’s off the list but Jack In The Box,Carls, well just about all fast food exceptEl Pollo Loco(certain items only and In and Out (we love Hamburgers still) just not every week. When we travel to meets I think a head about food, I almost never leave it to chance. When your family is hungry they will eat what you place in front of them. 

There is no time like the present to begin, it only gets harder every year….look how hard it is for we parents to maintain healthy weight and exercise routines. Begin to practice what you preach.You and your family will be healthier fo the effort.

Start A New in 2008 NO MORE   McDonald’s…..NO MORE

Eating The Right Foods After Training for Proper Recovery

This article  below underscores the importance and attention we as parents should give to the nutrition of our youth athletes. Even though we  have very busy lives ,we need to consider the damage we do short and long term when we feed our children fast food and highly processed foods anytime especially after work outs and track meets. A little more effort to the nutritional aspects of a well rounded athlete goes very far in training, injury prevention and proper growth and development.

Based on a series of experiments using rats, University of Illinois scientists say swifter recovery occurs when foods containing leucine, a branch-chained amino acid, are eaten immediately after intensive workouts. Leucine is found in protein products such as meats and dairy products.

“Leucine appears to have a specific, and apparently unique, impact on skeletal muscle,” said Donald K. Layman, a professor of nutrition. “It stimulates muscle protein synthesis, provides fuel for the muscle and helps to maintain blood glucose. What really surprised us was that its activity is not seen when leucine or protein is consumed before or during exercise. Instead it has a dramatic impact on protein synthesis during the recovery period after exercise.”     

– Immediately after exercise, consume a low-fat, protein-rich food such as lean lunch meat ,  a low fat ounce of cheese(string is good) and a small apple or a protein drink(with no HFCS) or Protein bar. Also include plenty of carbohydrate-rich fluids. 

 – Maintain a balanced diet that contains carbohydrates, fat and protein, with the protein making up 30 percent of the calories, at every meal, including snacks.

 Children are growing and need the healthy building blocks of Protein and Carbs and good fats to perform at there best. 

 University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign (1999, July 13). Eating Proper Foods At Right Time After Exercise Can Speed Recovery.  Science daily  Retrieved December 9, 2007, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/1999/07/990713073730.htm

Primer on Periodization

PRIMER ON PERIODIZATION
By Tudor O. Bompa, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus

Tudor Bompa is THE person who stimulated Western interest in Periodization. As the author of 14 books on the topics of periodization, planning, peaking and strength training, he is one of the strongest influences on the topic in the United States. Tudor Bompa competed as a rower in the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne, Australia and won a silver medal at the 1958 European Championships, which were held in Poland.

As a very important training concept, Periodization is not, as many people may believe, a new discovery. As exemplified by Flavius Philostratus (AD 170-245), a Greek philosopher and sporting enthusiasm, a simple form of periodization has been used since the ancient Olympic Games. In his six manuals on training, Phylostratus wrote extensively about the methods used by the Greek Olympians.

The roots of periodization can be found in the term “period” as in a period of time. In fact, the term periodization has been borrowed from history, where it refers to the specific periods of time of human development. In sports training, this term, periodization, refers to dividing the yearly training plan into smaller and, therefore, easier to manage training phases.Basically, the periodization of an annual plan has three major phases: preparatory or pre-season, competitive or season, and transition or off-season. This is what Philostratus mentioned about the way the ancient Olympians organized their own periodization, except that they used slightly different terms: preparation, Olympic Games, and relaxation. Is this training organization method so drastically different than what the US track and field athletes, the winners of most medals in the first modern Olympic games (Athens, 1896), have used? Not at all! This first group of American Olympians has used exactly the same periodization plan: preparatory, competitive, culminating with the Olympic Games, and off-season (transition).Why is it necessary to use periodization? The use of periodization is dictated by several training elements, such as:

Physiological adaptation to training. The scope of training, especially during the preparatory phase, is to create a training program that will result in the highest adaptation, or athlete’s best adjustments of the neuromuscular and cardio-respiratory systems to your training program. Higher adaptation, increased athlete’s physical potential, is the determinant factor in reaching peak performance during the competitive phase. The program you organize during the preparatory phase, the development of the motor abilities necessary in your sport (strength, speed and endurance) to the highest level possible, is a fundamental requirement to improvement of the athlete’s working potential, their physical abilities, and as a result, their improvement of performance from year to year.

Peak performance. Normally, a peak performance is planned to be reached during the competitive phase and cannot be maintained forever. This is why during the preparatory phase; the scope of training is to improve the athlete’s working capabilities, to accumulate the highest physical potential possible, to cope with the fatigue of training and competitions, but not necessarily to reach highest performances of the year. This is normally achieved during the competitive phase by progressively planning more specific training programs– specific speed, power, and endurance. However, your athlete’s highest adaptation to training, continuous improvements of physical potential, represent the foundation on which peak performance depends. Without a continuous increase in your athlete’s physical potential from year to year, you cannot expect to improve performance on a yearly basis.

Skill development. The rate of improving and perfecting your athlete’s technical and tactical skills, are directly dependent on how you periodize your training program. During the preparatory phase, where the stress of competitions is almost nonexistent, skill acquisition is maximal. Now is the time to teach your athletes new skills and to perfect the ones acquired in the past year. Your athlete’s skill improvement during the preparatory phase will be most beneficial during the league games and/or official competitions. The longer the preparatory phase, the better your athlete’s chances are to improve skills effectiveness. In team sports, martial arts / contact sports and racquet sports, any technical improvements will directly assist your athlete’s tactical proficiency. In other words, the better the technique, the easier the athlete will apply the skills into your tactical plan.Psychological qualities. Athlete’s psychological behavior, his/her degree of motivation and focusing capabilities are directly dependent of their physical potential acquired during the preparatory phase. High level of physical potential usually translates into better abilities to cope with fatigue. An athlete’s psychological well-being is directly dependent on the level of fatigue. When an athlete is physically exhausted it directly affects his/her visualization, concentration capabilities, focusing, and motivation. An exhausted athlete is not a highly motivated athlete. But an athlete’s psychological behavior is also negatively affected by the volume (quantity) and intensity used in training (high loads in weight training, the abuse of maximum speed, the daily employment of just high intensity drills in team sports/racquet sports/martial arts, etc.). The higher the intensity of training the higher the stress, and the more it taxes the central nervous system (CNS). The consequence of constant high intensity training is a high psychological fatigue. The best cure for a negative psychological fatigue that affects the level of psychological qualities and reactions is a well-planned periodized training. Organize longer preparatory phases, if you can, with the lowest psychological stress. Accumulate best physical adaptation to training so that your athletes are well equipped to cope with fatigue, and as such, decrease the level of psychological fatigue.Climatic conditions. The duration of the seasons in a given geographical region, also dictates the way you’ll organize your periodization plans. Often the duration of a given training phase, such as the duration of outdoors season, clearly dictates how long the league games for outdoors team sports can be. Climatic conditions, therefore, directly dictates the periodization of all the outdoors sporting activities, seasonal sports such as skiing, rowing, kayaking/canoeing, running, cycling of any type, triathlon, sailing, golfing, etc.

Variations of Periodization/Annual Plans

The time since the ancient Olympic Games has long passed, and along with many other improvements in the human society, periodization of training has evolved as well. In addition to the basic periodization plan of three main phases (see Figure 1), the typical plan for most team sports, there are other variations of periodizations as well. The needs of certain sports have made us depart from the ancient periodization plan with one peak only, known as mono-cycle in the technical nomenclature, or peaking only for one major competition (i.e. National Championships). Consequently, different sports with specific domestic and international calendar of competitions employ other types of periodization plans. As such, track and field has two major competitions per year: indoors and outdoors competitions, or short and long course championships in swimming. This type of plan is called a bi-cycle, or double peaking. Other sports, such as wrestling, boxing, or martial arts, use either triple peaking, also called tri-cycle, or multi-peaking plans, where the athletes have to peak several times per year.

The Annual Plan

Figure 1. The periodization of an annual plan.

As illustrated by Figure 1, each training phase is subdivided into smaller phases, such as macro-cycle (macro=bigger, and cycle= a phase which repeats itself several times throughout the annual plan). A macro-cycle is usually 3-5(6) weeks, or micro-cycles (micro=small). The only smaller training phase than the micro-cycle is the training session, or workout. Therefore, looking from the top of figure 1 to the bottom, you realize that a periodized annual plan progressively becomes shorter. The shorter the phase, the easier is to manage a training program. However, an overall guideline of training is necessary: a periodized annual plan.

As already mentioned in several sports, coaches have to use a bi-cycle (double periodization), a triple-cycle, and very few sports employ a multi-peaking plan.

Figure 2 shows a bi-cycle annual plan with its training phases, and the specific objectives for each training phase. Not mentioned at all are the macro-, and micro-cycles, now relatively clear in readers’ mind that they subdivide each training phase into smaller units of training. Please also observe that each preparatory phase has two training objectives:

• In the first one third of the phase, the scope of the plan is to train the athletes with non-specific, but also with some specific type of training.
• The rest of the preparatory phase is dedicated to sport-specific types of training, from specific flexibility to specific speed, strength and endurance.

Figure 2. An example of a bi-cycle, or double peaking periodized plan.

LEGEND:
T = transition phase: the first one of only two weeks, while the second one (Transition 2) is 4-5 weeks long
PC = pre-competitive, or exhibition competitions/games/matches
U = unloading/tapering for the major competition of the year
M = maintenance of a 40-50% of the previous training load

Figure 3. A tri-cycle, or a periodized annual plan with three main competition seasons, or three major peaks.

LEGEND:
Prep.1 = preparatory for the first competitive phase
T = transition of two weeks duration, following the first competitive phase
GP = general preparatory-type of training
SP = Sport-specific training

Some Challenges of Periodization

Number of peaks per season

The more peaks you are planning for a year or a competitive phase, as often is the case with individual sports/martial arts/contact sports/racquet sports, the more difficult is to peak for each important competition. Usually, a competition means a very stressful environment. Therefore, the more competitions and the more you push your athletes to peak for each one of them, the more stress the athletes are exposed to. The higher the stress without rest and regeneration prior to a new competition, the closer your athlete is to a state of staleness, or even overtraining. To avoid such unpleasant conditions, you have to prioritize competitions, meaning to treat some of them as very important and others the second, or even third priority competitions. Obviously, the intent should be a full peak only for the first priority competition; which usually should be the championships competition of that cycle.

Avoid overtraining

As you plan for competitions, you should plan to avoid their strain, staleness, and the undesirable state of overtraining. There are certain methods to accomplish that, such as:

1. Never plan a challenging workout immediately following a stressful competition! Give your athletes time to remove the fatigue, relax mentally, rest and recover before your athletes will train hard again.
2. Throughout a week of training constantly alternate high with medium and low intensity workouts. This is a build-in strategy to avoid critical levels of fatigue.
3. After each competitive phase, make sure the athletes have at least two weeks of transition, so that they can replenish the energy stores, remove fatigue, relax mentally, and regenerate from exhaustion.
4. Use the step loading method, as the best progression training adaptation: one week of low intensity, followed by a medium, and then by a high intensity week. Every time you’ll start again with low intensity week, this will be an opportunity for your athletes to replenish energy stores, recover and regenerate physically and mentally before they’ll be exposed to more difficult weeks.

Figure 4. The step loading method; the progression of increasing the intensity and volume of training per week.

Short-duration preparatory phases

Influenced by professional sports, some coaches attempt to imitate their heavy competitive schedule, and as such accept the notion; the more games/competitions, the better my athletes will improve. In reality the opposite is true: the more you compete the less time you have for training. As demonstrated by sports science, well designed training programs and not high number of competitions led to higher adaptation, and as a result, to higher performance improvement.

To play/compete more means in reality to have a longer competitive phase, a situation which is possible only by reducing the duration of the preparatory phase, with all its negative repercussions: less time to acquire / perfect skills, reduced time to improve general conditioning (such as during the general preparatory phase), and shorter time to work on improving the sport-specific speed, power and endurance. Reduced time to train but increased time to compete means in reality to train and over train just the same exercises, same specific parts of the body, joints and muscles, and as a result, increase the incidents of injuries. On a long-term basis, shorter duration preparatory phases will reduce training time, lower the rate of adaptation, and ultimately result in a stagnation of performance improvement.

Nutrition For Sports Performance…Your Child’s Winning Edge

I am always amazed when I attend Lauren’s track meets and see the athletes  drinking soda, Gatorade,eating chips, donuts.All before 9am. Their bodies need real nutritious fuel not empty calories to satisfy the immediate hungry.The Body’s desire  is for energy pack “Rocket Fuel”something to keep them going all day.

To many times I have had parents run up to me 1/2 hour before their child’s first  event and say what should I give her??? At that point nothing is really going to help that event out.We as parents have a responsibility to fuel and hydrate our children properly before they get to the track  NOT BEGINNING AT THE TRACK…It really is to late to make an inpact for the early events.

It is never to early to teach good eating and training habits.These things go hand and hand but some how some parents consider the training more important that the fuel to get the training in gear.

I will comment more on this in the weeks to come ,offering simple food and hydration strategies that will help you little star to really shine.   

I have an entire chapter devoted to this subject in my up coming book : 

Parents Guide For the Elite Youth Athlete…How to Nurture,Care and Properly Direct Your Special Athlete.

 Until next time,

Track Mom

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