A Solid Foundation is Key to Success in Sports

Parents will often approach me and ask what their son/daughter can do to get better at sports. Success in sports requires proficiency and eventually mastery of 3 main skills:

1.       Sport-Specific Technical Skills

2.       Athleticism

3.       Tactical Understanding/IQ

Of course, there are other elements at play, but the systematic development of these three skills will drive a player’s success in sports.

In this country, I don’t think we do a particularly great job developing any of these skills at our youth levels. I’m going to use soccer as an example because it’s the sport I’m most comfortable with, but the concepts apply to all team-sports.

If we want to develop mastery of these three skills, we must start by building a strong foundation.

For technical skills, this means starting with mastery on the ball. Young kids should spend the majority of practice with a ball on their foot. The more touches they get at an early age, the more comfortable they will get, the more confident they will become, and the more success they will have as they grow and develop higher-level skills.

For athletic skills, our focus should be on developing fundamental movement skills through play. With early specialization running rampant and physical education continuing to be cut from schools, this responsibility now falls on the sport-coach. Every practice, kids should be jumping, skipping, hoping, crawling, balancing, rolling, and developing the foundational skills they will need to have future sporting success.

Lastly, tactical skill development comes down to practice design. Drills should be designed in ways where kids develop foundational tactical skills while developing their fundamental technical skills. For example, simply having players dribble in space while playing red light/green light rather than dribbling through cones will teach players how to find open space, become aware of their surroundings, and react to a constantly changing environment, just like they will have to in the game.

If you are a parent who is coaching your child’s soccer team, and would like help designing impactful practices that will build a strong foundation for the players, email us and we’ll set up a time to chat.

Train Kids Like Kids

I was training a private soccer client this weekend when I observed something that stopped me in my tracks. While my client and I were getting our workout in, a family of 3 came sauntering down to use the track. The kids must have been between the ages of 5 and 8. I figured they’d be coming down to play, ride their bikes, or even sit on the turf while Dad got a workout in. To my horror, I watched the dad take these young kids through a high-school level track warmup, followed by a full-fledged running workout that included technique coaching and harsh criticism. I was appalled. To make matters worse, about half way through, another family with a kid around 8 years old popped in to join them. While the Dad’s caught up, I observed the children run away and start playing with the equipment that had been left out on the turf. When the Dad’s finished catching up, they were unable to get their kids to return to the workout.

I don’t tell this story to chastise or belittle the parents in this situation, their hearts and intentions are in the right place: they want their kids to be active, happy, and healthy. This story does, however, highlight the importance of my philosophy to training kids:

Kids Need to Train Like Kids

This means training kids in a way they enjoy, with plenty of games, friendly competitions, and challenges that are within their ability to overcome. Why put kids in sprinting lines when we can create games that force them to sprint? Why have young kids lift weights when we can develop obstacle courses that challenge the same muscles? Why would we make training boring for kids when with a little bit of creativity, we can make it the most fun they’ll have that day? The answer to all these questions is obvious, we shouldn’t and wouldn’t.

Training kids like kids not only develops their fundamental athletic skills that will help them succeed in sports and life, but it also develops their confidence, love for activity, and helps them develop a positive relationship with movement and exercise that will carry forward the rest of their lives. Imagine the kind of experience these kids would have had if they came down to play, and just happened to get a workout in.

Training kids like high-level athletes dramatically increases the risk of injury, burn-out, and helps them develop a negative relationship with activity. Even at elite-level developmental academies, such as European Soccer or Scandinavian Hockey, the kids do not train this way. They develop their athleticism by playing multiple sports (mandated by the academies) and “training” their athletes like kids.

If you want your kids to safely and effectively train in the way they are supposed to, then give our Little Athlete Academy a shot. We train kids like kids and develop their fundamental athletic skills in a way they absolutely adore. Learn more by clicking here.

3 Ways to Develop Athleticism in Kids

When we talk about athleticism in kids, we are mostly referring to their coordination and physical literacy. Kids need the physical competence to play outside with their friends, ride their bikes, go for a swim, etc., normal kid activity. Every parent wants their kid to have the ability and confidence to do these things. Further, every parent wants their kids to succeed in their sporting endeavors, and these same physical skills are the foundation to success in sports.

With that, here are 3 ways to develop physical literacy and coordination in kids:

1.       Go play outside with them. Catch, hide and go seek, tag, kickball, basketball, soccer, it doesn’t matter. All these activities help to develop athleticism in kids, and you being out there actively engaging with them will make them happy and help them develop a positive relationship with activity.

2.       Try a new sport. Pick any sport your kids haven’t tried yet and sign them up for a league, camp, or clinic. Playing a new sport will expose them to new movement stimuli that their body hasn’t been exposed to yet, and will help them develop new physical skills. If you’ve tried every sport, try an active hobby like ice skating or rock climbing.

3.       Sign them up for one of our programs. We help kids develop these underlying physical skills so that they can live normal kid lives and have success in sports, while developing a positive relationship with activity. Many say it’s the most fun they have all week, and by participating, they are setting themselves up to thrive in every aspect of their lives.  

That’s it, 3 ways to develop physical literacy and coordination in kids so that they can live happy, healthy, and active lives. If you want to leave it us, take a peek at all of our upcoming programs.

Sports Should be Fun for Kids

Life should be fun for kids. In my realm, that means creating positive sporting, movement, and athletic experiences that allow them to develop the physical skills they need to live happy, healthy, and active lives.

In order to accomplish this, kids can’t be trained like mini-adults or elite-level athletes with boring repetitive exercises. Frankly, I don’t even do this type of work with my high-level soccer players because this type of work doesn’t actually translate to success on the field.

Instead, everything should be gamified. This means creating fun and engaging games, challenges, and competitions that allow kids the freedom to explore movement, solve problems, and naturally develop their physical competency and athleticism.

Training in this way will create a generation of kids who are:

1.       Physically competent

2.       Less likely to get injured

3.       Love activity

Do you want these types of sporting and movement experiences for your kids? Check out our current programs and sign them up to watch them play their way to physical literacy, confidence, coordination, and a positive relationship with activity.

What is Youth Athletic Development?

Youth athletic development is the deliberate and systematic development of physical skills in children, specifically children K-8th.

Youth athletic development serves three main purposes:

1.       Provide children with positive movement experiences so they begin to develop a positive relationship with activity.

2.       Develop physical literacy, coordination, and fundamental movement skills in children so they can have future sporting success and live happy, healthy, and active lives.

3.       Develop their physical skills during critical windows of opportunity when children are highly adaptable and those skills can be maximized.

To develop these skills, children should be trained like children, not mini-adults. Children do not need repetitive training programs targeting specific body parts or muscle groups, they need games, friendly competition, and fun challenges that holistically develop their physical literacy, coordination, and fundamental movement skills.

Thankfully, our Little Athlete Academy is designed with these goals in mind. Our programs are fun, safe, and effective, allowing our athletes to play their way to physical literacy, coordination, and future athletic success.

You can see for yourself at the following link: https://www.instagram.com/p/CoOTQCYui_9/

The Problem with Early Specialization

One of the many problems facing youth sports today is early specialization. Youth sports were originally designed to be fun, expose kids to a variety of athletic/movement stimuli, and give them positive movement experiences so they can develop a positive relationship with activity. Unfortunately, the model has shifted to one of extreme intensity and competitiveness, putting more pressure than was ever intended on young athletes to perform, succeed, and win. This has led to the need for kids to practice, develop, and specialize in one sport way earlier than they were ever intended to.

This is a problem because being exposed to many different sports is one of the best ways to develop the foundational movement skills they need to be successful in sports and life later down the road.

Beyond that, early specialization also leads to:

·       Boredom

·       Increased dropout rates

·       Missed critical windows of opportunities to learn other skills

·       Increased risk of injury (due to the repetitive nature of one sport and the lack of a well-rounded athletic foundation)

Thankfully, our Little Athlete Academy is designed to combat early specialization and put the fun back in youth sports. Our athletes balance, grapple, jump, tumble, throw, kick, react, dodge, climb, and play their way to physical literacy and coordination.

Don’t believe us? Check out this short clip from a previous program and see for yourself: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn8HArCvbNS/ 

Three Tips to Improve Balance in Children

Last week, I explained why balance is so important to youth athletic development. If you missed it, then you can check it out HERE. This week, I want to give you three tips to develop balance with your kids.

1.       Stand on one foot while brushing your teeth (or doing any other mundane/daily habit such as watching tv or doing the dishes). Challenging them to incorporate balance into their daily tasks are simple to implement and will pay huge dividends in the long run.

2.       Try a new sport or hobby. New sports and active hobbies bring new movement challenges and new balance requirements. Trying a novel movement activity will force the body to adapt to these new stressors. Some less-common sports that really challenge and improve balance are:

a.       Hockey/Figure-Skating/Ice-Skating

b.       Dance

c.       Martial Arts

d.       Rock-Climbing

e.       Gymnastics

As a side note, these five sports are some of the best to develop physical literacy, coordination, and athletic development in children as they challenge the body in ways that align with deliberate youth athletic development. In our Little Athlete Academy, we pull the best aspects from all of these sports and combine it with our own movement-principles to provide young athletes with everything they need to develop optimally and live happy, healthy, and active lives.

3.       Get them off the screens and playing outside. All of the games you and I played as kids helped us passively develop our balance, and unfortunately, kids no longer play the same games. Tag, hide and go seek, kickball, pickle, catch, relay races, and simply exploring outside are all activities that passively develop balance.

There you have it, three tips to develop balance in your children to prepare them for future athletic success and set them up to live happy, healthy, and active lives.

If you are interested in a more deliberate approach, check out our Little Athlete Academy, where we provide young athletes with the best-possible training experience. It may be the best decision you ever make for them.

The Importance of Developing Balance in Kids

Balance is probably the most important physical attribute that needs to be developed in kids. Balance is so important because it’s the foundation of future athletic development. Every athletic movement requires balance. Running, skipping, jumping, throwing, cutting, sprinting, shuffling, and all other athletic movements require a tremendous amount of balance. Even exercises that enhance athleticism like split squats and single-leg dead lifts require a tremendous amount of balance. As children get older, faster, and stronger, their balance demands will increase exponentially. Without developing a solid base as a child, athletes will be left behind on the field of play and struggle to reach their athletic potential.

Even if athletics aren’t your thing, balance is a key factor to living an active and healthy life. Deliberate balance training reduces the risk falling and sustaining an injury. One of the first things adults lose as they age is the ability to balance. Years of developing a solid foundation will lead to a slower decline and will set children up to live happy, healthy, and active lives.

The beauty of balance is it can be (and should be) developed both deliberately and passively. Kids can deliberately train their balance through systematically designed programs and exercises. In our Little Athlete Academy, balance is at the forefront of everything we program. We start every training session with deliberate balance development and get kids moving in ways that greatly develops their balance. Kids can also develop their balance passively through play. Trying a new sport, playing games outside, or taking on a new active hobby will all passively develop balance in kids.

If you are interested in setting your child up to develop their balance, maximize their athletic potential, and live a happy, healthy, and active life, explore our Little Athlete Academy. It may be the best decision you ever make for them.

Three New, Fun, and Overlooked Activities Your Kids Will LOVE this Winter (And you will too!)

With the new year behind us and winter in full-swing, if you’re like most parents, you may be struggling to find new, fun, and engaging activities for your kids this winter. Snow brings sledding, snow-angels, forts, snow-men, and skiing/tubing/snowboarding if those are your things. Winter, however, also limits many common outdoor activities that kids enjoy, and not only is snow required to take advantage of those aforementioned activities (and if you live in New England, sadly, we hardly get snow anymore), they also get old and stale fast, with kids foregoing them in favor of more stimulating screen-time. With that in mind, I wanted to share 3 New, Fun, and Overlooked activities that your kids will LOVE, and you will too because it gets them moving, laughing, and having the time of their life. Fun Fact: if you choose to participate, they will love these activities even more because they secretly yearn for you to participate with them.

1.       Laser Tag. Cheap, easy, and unbelievably fun. Laser tag is SO MUCH FUN. I had the chance to play this summer for the first time in my life, and couldn’t believe how much fun I had. I played three fifteen-minute games, and each game felt like it was 90 seconds. Beyond that, it’s also one heck of a workout. Forty-five minutes of constant moving, cutting, crouching, and reacting to other players will leave you sweaty, smiling, and sore. Jump in with your kids for a great workout, a fun time, and a happy child.

2.       Indoor Rock Climbing. Another activity I just recently took up, rock climbing is one of the three best activities (outside of our Little Athlete Academy) that kids can participate in to maximize their underlying physical literacy and coordination. The body movements used while climbing (hanging, pulling, pushing), are some of the fundamental components of our Little Athlete Academy programming. Beyond the physical advantages rock climbing provides, it also builds fearless and resilient kids, teaching them how to persevere through failure and experience genuine gratification when they do succeed.

3.       Ice Skating. Grab the skates, head to the local rink, and go for a twirl on the ice. Not only does ice skating challenge kids’ balance, coordination, and stamina, it also opens the door to winter sports like hockey or figure skating. New to skating? No problem. Most rinks will have tools to make it easier to balance while learning that can slowly be taken away as your/your kid’s balance improves (kind of like training wheels on a bike!).

There you have it, 3 new, fun, and overlooked activities that your kids will LOVE this winter that gets them out of the house, away from the screens, and moving in a way that develops their physical literacy.

Interested in maximizing their athletic development this winter? Check out the following link to learn more about our Little Athlete Academy and set them up for future athletic success: Little Athlete Academy