DEVELOPING FUTURE CHAMPIONS

The training they need today to give their best performance tomorrow…

Acorn to oak?

It’s not about ME!

I don’t agree with all this ‘Athlete Development’ stuff!

Today’s talk

1.  Sporting Histories – what history tells us about how the most successful athletes practice

2.  Females during puberty

3.  Resources on Athlete Development

4.  Rules of thumb when working with developing athletes…

SPORTING HISTORIES The best VS the ‘also runs’...

Sporting histories

•  History of training and competition and how it changes with age in both domain and other sports

German Study - Gullich and Emrich (2012)

•  Does the volume of specific practice in a target sport predict an athlete’s long term success?

•  Does involvement in other sports positively or negatively impact upon success in senior target sport?

•  Population:

–  1,558 German national squad athletes across multiple sports –  57% Male / 43% female –  Included 387 athletes with top 10 finishes in Olympic or World Championships

German Study - Gullich and Emrich (2012)

•  Is early specialisation an advantage in the long term?

–  Early specialisation, and little involvement in other sports favoured early adolescent success

–  Successful children at age 14 entered early specialisation earlier, and participated less in other sports

–  Many senior world class athletes did not experience success as a juvenile

–  Juvenile success did not predict senior success.

“Accumulation of practice in the domain sport is progressive and incremental for World Class athletes, reflecting a long term development focus”

German Study - Gullich and Emrich (2012)

National Level World Class

Specialisation began (average) 12.1yrs 14.4yrs

Involvement in other sports training 51% 66%

Involvement in other sports competition 39% 53%

Gullich and Emrich (2012) – take home messages

•  Exposure to multiple sports and later specialisation in a target sport should be encouraged because:

–  Diversity in participation allows selection of correct sport for specialisation –  Lack of balance likely to lead to withdrawal from domain sport –  Improves self-determined motivation for prolonged investment in a sport –  Enhanced motor learning through not specific stimuli –  Reduce risk of *overuse injury* –  Enhances athletes ability to problem solve/adapt and perform motor tasks/skill

execution as able to call upon wide range of experiences.

•  Early specialisation is not completely dismissed but it is acknowledge that there increased risks/costs associated with its application.

Significance for sports

•  Funded sports are now looking into what alternative sports may be complementary in order to create strategic alliances

•  Athletics!

–  Participation in other Event Groups? –  Other events within an Event Group? –  Diverse Physical Preparation activity?

•  Barriers to implementation: –  Club structure –  Your skill set?

Sporting histories take home messages

•  Provide a diverse training background

•  Don’t worry about ‘not getting enough athletics practice’ and instead focus on ‘providing enough variation in practice’

Specific Training VS Specialised Training •  You can be specific without specialising •  You cannot specialise without being specific

Practice event specific technique but avoid creating very specialised adaptations

FEMALE ATHLETES Long Term Development of…

Male VS Female athletes

•  Before puberty: males and females are physically well matched

•  During puberty: females undergo more dramatic changes relative to males:

–  Fat mass increases relative to body mass

–  Hips widen

•  During/after puberty females must relearn skills in their new body

Greg Myer

Information from ACL studies

Female athletes and jump height (power output)

Jump test results (power output)

Leg strength values during puberty (hamstrings & glutes)

Boys vs girls and neuromuscular control (knee valgus)

Hewett JBJS 2004

Hewett JBJS 2004

Hewett JBJS 2004

Hewett JBJS 2004

Problems with avoiding physical preparation…

ACL Take-home messages

•  Female athletes must relearn key skills after puberty –  Generic movement patterns –  Event specific technique

•  Targeted physical preparation is required to develop female athletes physical qualities during and after puberty to reduce the chances of injury and regain global athleticism and stability

•  Focusing on weight loss as a strategy is NOT an alternative! –  Especially important for endurance athletes…

RESOURCES ON ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT

Want to find out more?

uCoach.com – Athlete Development Section

Derek Evely - uCoach

uCoach Athletics 365 Section

uLearnAthletics.com – Event Group Qualification

www.canadiansportforlife.ca

TAKE HOME MESSAGES Developing Future Champions…

Take Home Messages!

•  Children & developing athletes are NOT mini adults!

•  Optimal training from 10-18 should reflect these differences: –  More variation –  Greater range of experiences –  Don’t be over concerned that an athlete is not ‘training like a ________’ –  Encourage other sports participation especially at younger ages –  Encourage athletes to do other events

•  Females need a greater focus on co-ordination & physical preparation during and after puberty in order to display athletics specific skills

–  A focus on retaining and developing strength, speed and power are all important in respect to compensating for healthy bodyfat increases.