The potential of an athlete is closely related to his training as a minor. It is undoubtedly the best time to teach the technique and movements necessary for any sport: football, basketball, tennis, gymnastics, weightlifting, etc. It is good for your children to seek a sport since they are young to grow up healthy and learn what discipline, effort and competitiveness are. If there is one thing I regret, it is for not having started earlier, without a doubt. So, you, as a parent, would be good if you instill in your children the value of sport in life and help them achieve their sporting goals. Here’s a guide to what an underage athlete should master.
When an athlete reaches the college level, a coach expects them to already master certain movements. I mean bodyweight exercises, running, jumping, jumping… things that six-year-olds can do without blinking.
When I stopped coaching college and started working with the younger athletes, I realized where it all begins. College students don’t possess those skills because they haven’t been taught as they grow up. We put more time and effort into teaching a child how to throw a stronger baseball, when, however, they lack the strength, mobility, and flexibility to really get it right.
While it is true that this list could probably be much longer, these ten exercises should be mastered by young athletes (at least 10 years and older):
- Self-weight squat: The squat is one of the most basic movements for fitness and strength. It is also a precursor to other movements such as jumping, hopping, and bouncing. Young children who are learning to walk pick things up off the ground doing a perfect squat, however later we do not give importance to this quality.
- Running by raising knees : it is a fundamental basic motor pattern that must be mastered. It teaches the relationship between the opposite arm and leg and needs a little coordination. Not to mention that he uses the basic movements necessary to walk, such as propping himself on the balls of his feet and following appropriate arm mechanics.
- Pushups: While this is on the list of all the father, “things that make your child to stay ahead of the game” (NDT: US is normal for parents to encourage them to do this kind of exercises your children with motivation that they can always play) can get out of hand if not done correctly. I have seen many children who say they do push-ups every night, yet they are poorly done. No matter how you start doing them, whether on the plank, incline or any other variant, young athletes have to learn the correct body position.
- Pull-up / hanging from the bar : Apparently this is part of most kids’ physical fitness test… however, when I ask kids how often they do it in PE class, they say never. Hmm… that’s another conversation for another day. Again, there are a million ways to help kids learn to do a pull-up or hanging push-up, but I think we can all agree that it is a fundamental skill (mastering their body weight) that everyone can do. children must have.
- Jumping rope : I am amazed at how many children do not know how to jump rope. Rocky would be ashamed of us.
- Bending hips: hip flexor (NDT: There is no exact translation for this movement, is knowing bending his back and legs straight, as in the exercise “good morning”), keeping the spine straight, is extremely difficult for most young athletes to understand. Most just lean forward and round the back. This is the key position to teach them spinal stability.
- Lunge or lunge : Another basic movement that not only works more difficult strength movements, but can also be a great stability movement.
- Landing : learning how to perform a landing position and absorbing forces through the body is another key point to teach young athletes. They need to know how to keep their posture in the correct position (not to let the chest “look” at the ground), and have a soft landing.
- Jump and Jump : While many coaches argue that a child must know how to land before he can jump higher (and I agree), basic jumping skills must be mastered. Again, the synchronization of the arms with the legs and the total control of the body are the basic pillars. And with jumping, again, I’m amazed that most kids don’t have the control of their body and the strength to jump on one foot.
This is not an exhaustive list, if I even include lifting exercises. This list could be applied to children from eight to college age.
I asked other well-known trainers in the industry the same question, and they all had similar responses to my list of nine. Some even include weight training exercises like the bench press and deadlift, which I agree with. And I also believe that if an athlete knows how to squat and bend the hips correctly, they will also be able to understand deadlift technique quickly.
As a 1st division strength coach, I saw many (very many) college rookies who lacked at least 50 percent of the movements above… many times even more. Some of the coaches I spoke with said that I preferred athletes to put nothing in before reaching them, to teach them everything properly from the start and not have to correct bad habits. Although I agree to a certain extent (after all, we trust ourselves more than anyone else, right?), It is not practical. If you are a high school or college coach, it is more than likely that the athlete has gone through one or two coaches before they have been instructed in these exercises.
Therefore, hopefully if we continue to do our job well, all coaches will be instructed in the correct execution of the exercises. Push-ups, squats, and jump rope aren’t just conditioning exercises for 50 kids to do as fast as possible. When done correctly, they build a good athlete from the ground up.
Written By: Julia Ladewski for EliteFTS
Translated by: Arturo Cantarero
