Author: Steve Bennett
There are many very young (9-13 years old) extremely talented athletes out there. Some of them, like Australia’s Georgie Clarke, can make significant progress at an early age. 800m age 11 2:12 age 12 2:08 age 13 2:05 age 14 2:02 ….age 16 2000 Olympics Semi-Final in the 1500m . She was on a very minimal and varied program in the early years and still performed brilliantly.
You only have to watch any young Athletics Championships. Some show talent because they are early maturers or have already undergone specific training. However, some show the necessary qualities required to do something great on the track as mature senior athletes and have done very little specific training. What do we do with this latter group of super-talented athletes? The answer to this question is often full of distractions, most seeded in jealousy and rivalry. For example, accusations of athletes being trained too hard are common even when the athlete is doing a good variety in training.
We have to recognise that many other sports start their preparation much earlier than athletics. Our young athletes need good long-term preparation if we want athletes with good qualities as adults. Sitting down all day watching TV or at school, wearing shoes all day, only exercising in competition, and not having a variety of experiences of the positive effects of exercise are just some of the obstacles we face. In African nations, children do various activities as part of their lifestyle that gives them strength and conditioning. If we want our athletes in any sport to have a chance, we have to provide them with variety when they are young, or we will have to play catch-up later to keep our athletes healthy.
These super-potential young athletes need a broad base of training stimuli. They need coaches that are willing to arrange it for them. Not coaches who will focus ONLY on the areas that give good results fast. Adrian Faccioni and Di Barnes presented some great information at the 2001 Australian Track & Field Coaches Congress. http://www.faccioni.com/lectures/juniorcondition.PDF Athletes at this stage of development should have great variety in their programs. What follows are some examples and ideas:
Swiss Ball – training sessions – great for mid-torso development and balance.e.g. 20-minute sessions, maybe 1-2 a week, follow videos or do a class.
Pilates – do a floor class or follow a video – similar to the above. Maybe even integrate some of these exercises into a warmup phase of a session. -maybe one a week
Gym – Train with free weights only and avoid max weight lifts. Young athletes need to develop strength. However, good guidance and supervision is required. Variety in the program is necessary. Start with small duration sessions – maybe just one a week.
Steady Running – run on grass, dirt and mixed uneven terrain at varying speeds, making it fun. Kenyan athletes in their thirties, in many cases, were playing on their farms (strength training) and running 100+ km a week to get to school on uneven terrain from age 6. The trick is NOT to structure it and have young athletes pound out the steady, continuous runs at an even pace on even terrain (road) or a track!!. If we got Kenyan youngsters to do this, they would not last long either. There is no reason our young athletes cannot do regular play, such as running for 30 minutes on uneven surfaces combined with walking or long all-day bushwalks, etc. Make it as natural as possible – search out trails and stay off paths and roads.
Bushwalks – are a great way to build base stamina and strengthen legs. A very natural exercise mode. There are some great ones in any National Park.
Other Sports – Participation in various sports is good for all-round physical and psychological development. We need to ensure that in whatever sport they play, the training and competition should be very varied and appropriate. Many other sports are years behind athletics in using methods that are the best in training for running.
Athletes who prepare for Athletics following the general philosophy presented here will be prepared brilliantly for other sports they may play or later specialize in.
Medicine Ball – med ball exercises can be performed that are good for everything from balance, strength, power, etc. Maybe even help our athletes not get knocked over as easily.
Be creative.
Foot/ankle/lower leg conditioning – walking on toes, walking on heels, walking on soft sand, foot strengthening, e.g. rolling up a towel, pick up pencils, etc.
Plyometrics – bouncing exercises of varied intensity in different directions. Maybe over obstacles or up onto obstacles. Do standing Long Jump tests. Play hopscotch. Ease into it gently and design other fun games to play. Whatever athletes are regularly doing will generally not be a problem.
Competition – DO NOT over-compete. Young athletes should enjoy the process of all aspects of this sport. It is common to see underprepared athletes (supposedly being looked after) over competing by going to multiple races a few times a week. Athletes cannot work on technique when under pressure. Competing a lot may be fun, but it is the quickest way to create future problems when athletes compete in various settings against athletes of various ages and levels and in different events. Spending all day at track meets or Gala days is not everyone’s idea of fun, so try to spend quality time at the track. Not hours waiting for the next event.
Speed improvement – this is a critical age for the development of speed. Not working on it now may mean missing the boat. Increasing cadence and improving coordination are very important.
Technical improvement- This is paramount to longevity. Young athletes must spend enough time each week improving their technique. The typical way to compromize this development is to compete too much (no athlete will be able to change an old technique during max effort situations) or do too much of one type of training e.g. focusing only on aerobic development.
Many talented athletes fail to make it or develop chronic injuries that prevent them from reaching their full potential. I believe that with these athletes, we can maximize their chances of avoiding problems by providing them with a varied program, always focusing on technical improvements and being patient. Never let one type of training dominate the others. When the athletes are mature, it may be more appropriate to allow certain kinds of training to dominate the program, especially if, as young athletes, they were exposed to a few years of multilateral training and now have excellent posture/technique, etc. In the meantime, athletes who train with variety will likely meet success off relatively small volumes of training in every area and show good performance improvements anyway. The best way to judge a program is for the athlete to improve steadily technically. There may be hiccups as the athlete has a growth spurt, for example, BUT generally, the athlete should improve technically throughout their foundation years.
“Saving kids for later” by getting them to do next to nothing in a low-key program is a myth that will never produce talented athletes who are resilient as adults.
