Concussions in Youth Sports and What We Can Do About It
Zackery's Story It was 2006, and as the first half of a junior high school football game was coming to a close, 13-year-old Zackery Lystedt tackled an opponent and hit the ground head first. Lying face down, he clutched the sides of his helmet in agony, but did not...
Age-Related Training Goals for Young Athletes (Part 4: Learning How to Move for Sports and Other Activities)
In this final installment of the Age-Related Training Goals for Young Athletes series, we look at the fundamental movement skills that are the basis for all sports and activities. To reach the mature stage of the fundamental movement skills, expert instruction is...
Age-Related Training Goals for Young Athletes (Part 3: Prime Time for Coordination)
In the 3rd installment in our series, you will learn that coordination is not one skill, but rather a combination of many specific elements of physical development. As with other skills, there are unique times during development in which there are increased...
Age-Related Training Goals for Young Athletes (Part 2: Start with the Senses)
In Part 1 you took home a basic framework for introducing athletic skills at opportune ages. In Part 2 of this series, you’ll discover how and when to develop the critical sensory skills that allow young athletes to process information quickly and create an...
Age-Related Training Goals for Young Athletes (Part 1: The Long Build)
In this 4-part series we answer the question about the optimal ages young athletes should learn the skills that will translate into better movement, coordination, sports skills, and overall physical literacy. This guide will make the case for a strategic, progressive...
Improving Vertical Jump with Young Athletes
Gravity does it’s best to hold athletes down to the ground. The ability to jump well is a serious advantage in most sports. Not only does this skill move athletes closer to the clouds to hit, catch, or shoot, it helps with other skills like first step quickness...
Are We Missing the Point? Simple Success Tools for Young Athletes
As parents, we’ll do just about anything to give our kids a leg up on their future. As a matter of fact, it seems that parenthood now is mostly ferrying kids from one private teacher or coach to another - all in the name of giving them a leg up on their future....
How Physical Activity Grows Young Brains
"Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity" - John F. Kennedy It seems that even without the mountains of supporting research we have access to today, people have had...
An “On Field” Guide for Strength: The Foundation of Athletic Confidence in Kids
The ultimate reward for a youth coach is the sweaty smile we see when our young athletes experience success. This could come in the form of conquering a previously-difficult challenge; it could be a hard-fought win. Ultimately, it could come from a genuine enjoyment...
10 Simple Ways to Make Drills More Challenging for Young Athletes
Faster, Further, Heavier.... When an activity becomes easy or routine for a young athlete, coaches immediately default to one of the above interventions to make the activity more challenging. After all, each makes the activity harder. The body and brain respond to...
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