Our knowledge and advice on working with young athletes is built by years of experience and time in the sport. Time spent around runners, coaches, teams, philosophies and witnessing first hand the impact that mistakes can lead to…Remember, young athletes are just that, young people. Not small adults. The training load their body can handle, adjust to and then respond to is very different.
The question I ask other coaches, and athletes when I see training plans is “is there room for growth”. How will this training progress over the next year, 2 years, 5 years. I hear a lot about 10, 11, 12 year old athletes training 6 days a week, full focus on running development, 3 hard sessions a week… and I’m shocked…what’s the next stage in this training plan? Double day’s? Harder days? More miles? I see and hear about a lot of athletes and coaches who are all in with their training and desire to be the best at a young age.
Rankings, age graded times, records and this desire or commitment is brilliant but has to be balanced with a programme that accommodates growth and setbacks, allows talent to shine through for as long as it can and acknowledges the fact that maturation rates vary dramatically in young people…(You can see that on any start line, for any under 16 race across the country).
In short, encourage young athletes to be just that. Coach the fundamentals of movement, training structure, healthy habits with exercise and competition, discuss with parents the long term plan and how winning at a young age is not “everything”, set limits with training days and insist parents stick to them, ignore what others are doing- don’t be tempted to copy someone’s plans or sessions if they don’t look right, get to know your athletes- many will and should do other sports- whilst they may only see you once a week they may be doing 3 or 4 other training nights in other sports…..and finally, encourage them to have fun and look forward to training sessions- they can work hard but still enjoy it!
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts”
Coach Phil ⚡