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.

Growth rates

The fastest rate of growth occurs in the first two years when 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.

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. This usually occurs between the ages of 13 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 opposite (Adapted from: Rieser P, Underwood L. Growing Children: A Parents Guide. 5th edition, Genentech Inc., 2002.). This growth rate is an important factor in the Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) of a child.

Bone development

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 on the diaphysial border, thus lengthening the shaft. 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

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% (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 make female athletes 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.

Potential growth related injuries

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.

Exercise

Exercise will neither stunt nor promote growth in terms of height but it does 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.

Use of steroids

Anabolic steroid use in young athletes can stunt growth by causing premature calcification of the epiphysial plate (Sharp, 1995).

Strength training

From research 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.

Aerobic and anaerobic development

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. Training for aerobic and anaerobic endurance is best left until the young athlete reaches adolescence.

Skill development

The development of sport specific skills along with agility and co-ordination are important areas to focus on when coaching young athletes.

Training Programs

Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD) is a sports development framework that matches training needs to a child's growth and development.

The following are links to suggested training programs for the:

• Sprint events - 100m, 200m, 400m, 4×100m relay and 4×400m relay.
• Throw events - Discus, Shot, Javelin and Hammer
• Jump events - High Jump, Long Jump, Triple Jump and Pole Vault
• Endurance events - 800m, 1500m, 5k, 10k, Walks and Steeplechase.

Coaching Children

As coaches of young children we need to ensure that every child or young person who takes part in athletics should be 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.

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Associated Pages

The following Sports Coach pages should be read in conjunction with this page:

• Articles on Coaching young athletes
• Coaching Young Athletes
• Long Term Athletic Development (LTAD)

• Training Books
• Training Products

Associated Books

The following books provide more information related to this topic:

• Advanced Studies in Physical Education and Sport, P Beashel et al., ISBN 0 17 4482345
• Physical Education and the Study of Sport, B. Davis et al., ISBN 0 7234 31752
• Essentials of Exercise Physiology, W.D. McArdle et al., ISBN 0 683 30507 7
• Physical Education and Sport Studies, D. Roscoe et al., ISBN 1 901424 20 0
• The World of Sport Examined, P. Beashel et al., ISBN 0 17 438719 9
• Advanced PE for Edexcel, F. Galligan et al., ISBN 0 435 50643 9
• Examining Physical Education, K. Bizley, ISBN 0 435 50660 9
• Sport and PE, K Wesson et al., ISBN 0 340 683821
• PE for you, J. Honeybourne, ISBN 0 7487 3277 2