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Coaching Young Athletes

Young athletes are physically developing, from early childhood to late
adolescence. This means they have different capabilities for, and adaptations
to, exercise and for this reason, young athlete training programs should not
be just scaled down versions of adult training programs.

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In the first two years children grow about 5 inches (13 cm). Growth then
continues at a steady rate of 2.5 inches (6 cm) per year until about the age of
11 in girls and 13 in boys, when the pubertal growth spurt begins.

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The pubertal growth spurt lasts about 2 years and is accompanied by sexual
development (growth of pubic hair, development of sex organs, deepening of
the voice in boys, and beginning of menstruation in girls). Normal growth
stops when the growing ends of the bones fuse.

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This usually occurs between the ages of 12 and 15 for girls, and 14 and 17 for
boys. The typical pattern of rate of growth for boys and girls from birth
through adolescence is shown in the figure "Growth Rates for Boys & Girls"
[1]
(Rieser 2002) . This growth rate is an important factor in the Long Term
Athlete Development (LTAD) of a child.

Bonedevelopment
Bones develop from a cartilage growth plate, called epiphysial plates, at each
end of the bone shaft. These growth plates divide the calcified head of the
bone (epiphysis) and the calcified shaft (diaphysis). The bone lengthens as
cartilage is calcified into bone. At the same time, cartilage continues to grow

on the epiphysial border, so the epiphysial plates retain a constant width of

cartilage throughout. Growth ends when the plate eventually calcifies.

Muscles
Muscle mass increases steadily until puberty, at which point boys show faster
muscle growth.

Fat
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The hormonal changes at puberty also affect body composition in terms of fat.
At birth, both boys and girls have around 10 to 12% body fat
Pre-puberty, both girls and boys still have a similar 16-18% body fat
Post-puberty, girls have around 25% body fat due to high serum
oestrogen, which causes the hips to widen and extra fat to be stored in
the same area.
Post-puberty, boys have 12 to 14% body fat
Most athletic females, post-puberty, tend to keep body fat at around 18%
[2]
(Wilmore & Costill, 1994) . Any lower than 12% body fat for females can be
considered unhealthy in terms of maintaining bone density and disrupting
hormone levels, which may increase the risk of stress fractures.
Coaches need to ensure female athletes are aware that until they are 19, they
will steadily gain in muscle and so will naturally be gaining weight and that by
eating the right kinds of foods is the way to avoid unwanted weight gain.

Potentialgrowthrelatedinjuries
The change in female body shape during the growth spurt has its particular
injury risks. The hips widen, placing the femur at a greater inward angle.
During running or walking, this increased femur angle leads to greater inward
rotation at the knee and foot. This rotation can result in an injury called
chrondomalacia patella, which occurs when the knee-cap does not run
smoothly over the knee joint and pain is caused at the front of the knee.
Appropriate preventive training to avoid chrondomalacia patella would be to
strengthen the vastus medialis muscle, the lower abdominals, obliques (side
of stomach), hip abductor and hip external rotator muscles.
Traction injuries are another type of injury associated with bone growth. They
are caused by repetitive loading while the tendon is sensitive to stress as the
bones and tendons are fusing. Traction injuries occur at different sites at
different stages of growth.
10 to 13 years of age - at the heel (Sever's disease)
12 to 16 years of age - at the knee (Osgood Schlatter's disease)
late adolescence - lower back and iliac pain
The only cure for these traction injuries is rest.

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Exercise
Exercise will neither stunt nor promote growth in terms of height but it does
[2]
thicken the bones by increasing mineral deposits (Wilmore & Costill, 1994) .
Growing bones are sensitive to stress so repetitive loading should be avoided.
The epiphysial plate is susceptible to injury and therefore a fracture to the
epiphysial plate prior to full growth could be a serious injury as it could disrupt
bone growth.

A more common kind of epiphysial plate injury, and the one coaches must
take care not to cause, is called epiphysitis. This is a repetitive-strain injury
that occurs when excess loads are placed on the tendons that attach to the
epiphysis, causing an inflammatory response. In extreme cases, this type of
injury can result in a separation of the epiphysis from the epiphysial plate.
The most common epiphysitis, called Little Leaguer's Elbow, occurs mostly in
the USA among young baseball pitchers.

Useofsteroids
Anabolic steroid use in young athletes can stunt growth by causing premature
[3]
calcification of the epiphysial plate (Strauss & Yesalis 1991) .

Strengthtraining
[4]

From research by Weltman et al. (1986)

carried out on the effects of
resistance training on young athletes, it would appear that, in general,
strength improvements are possible. If coaches are to place young athletes on
strength training programs then they must ensure:
young athletes are properly taught (skill development)
young athletes undertake a well controlled progressive program
(planning)
young athlete's joints are not subject to repetitive stresses (injury
prevention)
Strength can be developed with circuit training programs where the young
athlete's body weight is used as the load.

Aerobicandanaerobicdevelopment
The aerobic ability of young athletes can be developed so it makes aerobic
training worthwhile, since it will improve their performance. Anaerobic training
is of limited use to young athletes as they possess little anaerobic capacity
and is perhaps best left until the young athlete reaches adolescence. Aerobic
[5]
and Anaerobic Development, an article by Brandon (2003)
explores the
benefits of aerobic and anaerobic training for young athletes.

Skilldevelopment
The development of sport specific skills along with agility, balance and coordination are important areas to focus on when coaching young athletes.

TrainingPrograms
Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a sports development framework
that matches training needs to a child's growth and development. In athletics
a novice athlete will go through the following stages of development:
Fundamentals - developing agility, balance, coordination
Foundation - developing run, jump, and throw skills
Event Group - developing the athletic event skills associated with the
Sprints, Endurance, Jumping or Throwing
Event - develop the skills specific to one athletic event

Athletics 365 can be used to develop athletes in the Fundamental and

Foundation stages.

The following are links to suggested training programs for the Event Group
athlete:

Sprint events - 100m, 200m, 400m, 4100m relay and 4400m relay.
Endurance events - 800m, 1500m, 5k, 10k, Walks and Steeplechase.
Throw events - Discus, Shot, Javelin and Hammer
Jump events - High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump and Pole Vault

CoachingChildren
Coaches of young children need to ensure that every child or young person
who takes part in athletics is able to participate in a fun and safe environment
and be protected from neglect and physical, sexual and emotional abuse. For
more details read the Scottish Athletics Federation (SAF) policy for Child
protection in athletics.

Communication
Skills
Workshop materials to teach
improved communication
strategies.
corporatetrainingmaterials.c...

References
1. RIESER, P. and UNDERWOOD, L. (2002) Growing Children: A Parents
Guide. 5th ed. Genentech Inc
2. WILMORE, J. H. and COSTILL, D. L. (1994) Physiology of sport and
exercise. Human Kinetics, Champaign, Illinois
3. STRAUSS, R. H. and YESALIS, C. E. (1991) Anabolic Steroids in the
Athlete. Annual Review of Medicine, 42, p. 449-457
4. WELTMAN, A. et al. (1986) The effects of hydraulic resistance strength
training in pre-pubertal males. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 18 (6), P. 629638.
5. BRANDON, R. (2003) Aerobic and Anaerobic Development [WWW]
Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni4a3.htm

RelatedReferences
The following references provide additional information on this topic:
REINBOTH, M. et al. (2004) Dimensions of coaching behaviour, need
satisfaction, and the psychological and physical welfare of young
athletes. Motivation and emotion, 28 (3), p. 297-313
BAXTER-JONES, A. D. and HELMS, P. J. (1996) Effects of training at a
young age: a review of the training of young athletes (TOYA) study.
Pediatric Exercise Science, 8, p. 310-327

PageReference
If you quote information from this page in your work then the reference for
this page is:
MACKENZIE, B. (2000) Coaching Young Athletes [WWW] Available from:
https://www.brianmac.co.uk/children.htm [Accessed 22/10/2016]

RelatedPages
The following Sports Coach pages provide additional information on this topic:

Articles on Coaching young athletes

Books on Coaching
Coaching Young Athletes
Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)

AdditionalSourcesofInformation
For further information on this topic see the following:
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1996) Advanced Studies in Physical
Education and Sport. UK: Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BEASHEL, P. and TAYLOR, J. (1997) The World of Sport Examined. UK:
Thomas Nelson and Sons Ltd.
BIZLEY, K. (1994) Examining Physical Education. Oxford; Heinemann
Educational Publishers
DAVIS, B. et al. (2000) Physical Education and the Study of Sport. UK:
Harcourt Publishers Ltd.
GALLIGAN, F. et al. (2000) Advanced PE for Edexcel. Oxford;
Heinemann Educational Publishers
McARDLE, W. et al. (2000) Essentials of Exercise Physiology. 2nd ed.
Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams and Wilkins
CRISFIELD, P. et al. (1999) The Successful Coach. 2nd ed. UK; The
National Coach Foundation
HAGGER, M. (1999) Coaching Young Performers. UK; The National
Coach Foundation
McQUADE, S. and WEARE, N. (2005) Assessing in Sport. UK; Coachwise
Business Solutions
ROGERS, J. (2000) USA Track and Field Coaching Manual. USA; Human
Kinetics Publishers, Inc.

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