For emerging athletes to move properly and develop athletic skills, they must first develop proficiency in fundamental motor skills. The ABCs of athleticism, therefore, must reflect the development of fundamental motor skills first, and specific athletic skills second.

This article briefly describes the importance of training perceptual-cognitive skills for faster performance.

This article presents the shoulder taps, which could serve as a more time-efficient screening tool for tactical operators. Although this article will present the shoulder taps as an assessment modality, it may be expanded upon and prescribed as an exercise for the purpose of improving trunk, hip, and shoulder stability.

This article provides the personal trainer with sample exercise progressions for teaching resistance training movement patterns along with practical strategies for instruction and reinforcement of proper technique.

This article applies LTAD principles to guide the process of generating an athletic profile (part 1) and sample program design (part 2) for a middle school athlete and a high school athlete.

This second article of a two-part series continues the discussion of long-term athletic development (LTAD). This article provides practical application of the LTAD principles by examining two sample programs.

PT 2022

The expression of mechanical “muscle power” and the advanced training methodologies used to optimize it are explained by Duncan French in this session from the 2015 NSCA National Conference. By overviewing training strategies utilized with world-class athletes, this session links science with advanced training techniques designed to augment muscle power.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

NSCA Member Spotlight: Vincent Martins shares how the CSCS helped open his path to lead high school strength and conditioning aligned with LTAD. Read his story.