Training of Elite Youth Athletes….. What Age Would You Start?

Given that some youth athletes can start their competive  running participation like  bullets out of a gun,only to later  begin to grow and change body size ,coordination and  perhaps interest change as speed abilty of others catch up, and even pass your bullet. How is a parent to know when fast is really “special”  fast and when it’s transitional fast?   Where do we find balance? Where do parents get information to help make informed choices about sports activity and more indepth training? Is it  really necessary? 

For more  on Elite  Youth Athletes see:

 What is an Elite Youth Athlete? ,  What Is The Financial Cost Of An Elite Athlete  and  Is There Such A Thing As A Youth Elite Athlete ?

Let’s see what contributing author Coach Mike Cunliffe has to say about training an elite youth athlete

How Much is Too Much and When is Enough not Enough ?

 Training Elite Athletes at what age? 

 

Often I’m asked at what age do you start training an elite athlete, I pause and tell the person (usually a parent)

The moment you know they are an elite athlete. I hear then often hear a familiar response “but what if their only 9″?  

I will now give you a scenario that I have given dozens if not a hundred times to parents.

If your child picked up a violin and played Mozart at age 7 and you called all the people you knew then discussed it with his or her teachers at school you then enrolled them in a special program, and then hired very competent (and expensive) tutors; you would be applauded as a responsible parent nurturing a “special and unique gift”.

 

If your child picked up a math book at age 9 was doing math suited for 8 graders and you placed him or her in a private school or possibly paid for special lessons and tutors after school; then began driving them in their middle school years to a university to work with math professors in order to make sure they were on track. You would be a wonderful parent taking the time and money to help your child develop their talent.

Now if your child could do either of the above in music or math and all recognized it, yet you did nothing to advance them. People would say (parents, grandparents, friends, etc) why don’t you do something for her or him. They need special attention. They are out of their league with the other kids in the school, etc. Often times family members step in to help financially (grandparents are common) at this point.

 

But there is one exception to the rule socially; athletics. When I say as a coach that I train our athletes on Seattle Speed with former PAC-10 T&F athletes as coaches and we have massage services and chiropractic; that we focus on core strength, and have a very detailed and specific flexibility program; we do bio-mechanic analysis, etc. I’m asked (sometimes told) isn’t that too much for such young kids? And here the hypocrisy begins.

The coaching staff. When you have coaches of this caliber working with 9, 10, 11 years olds (and older) they know what their doing, other than stating the obvious let me explain. They know and understand energy systems in relation to training effect. What is a true speed workout (distances, total distance for the workout, rest intervals between each rep, etc) what is a true speed endurance workout and what energy system does it relate to (Alactic - extended CP system); then when should you do these workouts and at what frequency in relation to various athletes in relation to their events and major meets, etc.

 

If your coaches on your child’s track team do not know these type of things - they are guessing and that in relation to child development in any field is not good at best and very bad in most of my observations. So we would agree that having a very knowledgeable and qualified staff would be something you would want for a gifted athlete. And I preface that with: ANY ATHLETE.

 

Be healthy. If the gifted violin player needs massage for his or her hands and shoulders because he or she is cramping when they play. What would happen? Massage would be immediately on the weekly agenda in order to “take care of the gift”. Now if a track athlete who is being coached properly is getting massage; that often times (not always) is construed as “over the top”. Massage is looked at as not needed or “too much” as is chiropractic. Let me elaborate on one of these - chiropractic. We use chiropractors at our practices to work on bio-mechanics in real time speed conditions in order to make adjustments to running form. I won’t make the case for chiropractic here in detail but suffice to say a majority of NBA and NFL teams staff them full time or at minimum use them regularly. I also know quit a few Olympians personally in Beijing who had chiropractors with them. If they did not work they would not be used - and I can testify to many times in my own experiences the direct positive results of their use. Massage and chiropractic are two things that are healthy for any person. So if a child’s gift was a physical/athletic gift how much more common sense should be exercised to make sure that while young and growing they stay as healthy as possible. In other words for an elite athlete to have these things is like the young mathematician having tutors to challenge the brain properly for the correct development.

 

Healthy food. We drill all of our athletes to eat healthy. I mean very healthy. Often times it’s the parents whose habits are bad and hold their kids back. The kids are willing to eat what is best but the parents prefer to stock the shelves with other items. If it’s the kid then they need to start eating healthy anyway. So regardless of track or whatever sport they are highly talented in they need to eat right; so don’t tie healthy eating to being a top athlete. Healthy eating is for everyone. So a healthy diet and feeding an elite athlete good food (organics - if possible) is that over the top? No.

 

So now I have the opportunity to ask the questions. Is it too much to have a 9 year old who is very gifted in T&F to have coaches who :

1) Know how to develop her or him and won’t hurt them by over training

 2) Won’t miss-train them and thus get in the way of progressing properly - remember a fast runner who is miss trained is still fast and now this is the key - but not at their fastest. Is it too much to have a 9 year old who is very gifted in T&F where proper alignment is directly related to speed and jumping ability; see on a regular basis a sports chiropractor and massage therapist

 Think on this before you answer. If the difference between 14^th and 8^th(making the finals) in the 100 meters for 9 yr olds is .25 and massage and chiropractic would definitely close this gap allowing for greater power output based on more acute mechanical alignment. Then getting chiropractic and massage combined and compared with training for 6-7 months and spending thousands of dollars to go to nationals - would be an increase of only 10-12% of the overall season budget - would that make sense? Well if your already spending 7 months training, your child has proven themselves to have a gift and you spend thousands of dollars on travel, gas to and from practice, time sitting in stadiums, etc etc. Then is an extra $300-$400 over 7 months over the top? No! Because you are already over the top with a 9 yr old! Note: .25 seconds was the difference this year at AAU nationals between 14^th and 8^th.

So after the above evaluation; doing what is right what you can do  at an early age for any child let alone a highly gifted child only makes common sense.

Coach Mike Cunliffe, Is the  Head Coach of the Seattle Speed Track Club  See his latest Interview Here . A USATF (former TAC) medalist - 5^thplace - in Nebraska 1982 (Inter. Boys LJ)  and dad of Hannah Cunliffe AAU Midiget Girl Double National Champion 100m and 200m.

 

Related posts:

1. Common Characteristics Of Elite Youth Athletes
2. What is an Elite Youth Athlete?
3. What Is The Financial Cost Of An Elite Athlete
4. The 2009 United Age Group Track Coaches Association Youth Invitational
5. Part 2 Common Charactersitics of the Elite Child Athlete (continued)