Strength and conditioning professionals who incorporate a properly designed and supervised training program can help their young athletes train, compete, and reduce the likelihood of injury.

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.

Strength and conditioning coaches should strive to teach athletes in a way they can understand: by hearing, seeing, and practicing. This article describes some techniques that a coach can use to accomplish this.

This article breaks down youth training. To develop athleticism for youth, coaches should follow the C.O.R.E. principles: context in which to apply movement patterns, opportunities to develop proper movement, recognition of physical attributes required, and environments in which youth explore movement.

In the second of this two part series, this article will discuss program design with an emphasis on integrating lower limb plyometric training into soccer training to enhance power actions, as well as, consider high school athletes’ biological characteristics and long-term athletic development (LTAD).

Both unilateral and bilateral training should be used to optimally develop basketball players. This article compares single-leg and double-leg training options and provides considerations and potential implications for training basketball athletes.

A fundamental training program at a young age gives the athlete the opportunity to develop many skills needed to succeed. The implementation of agility and coordination training can help reduce the risk of injury and elevate a young developing athlete.

This article aims to explain why integrating multiple tests such as Anaerobic Speed Reserve (ASR), Intermittent Fitness Test (IFT), and Maximum Aerobic Speed (MAS) can provide a comprehensive evaluation of soccer players’ fitness levels and help to design effective training programs tailored to their individual needs.

Strength and conditioning coaches with knowledge of the exercise principles for youth and the specific demands of basketball can design effective integrative neuromuscular training (INT) programs based on the individual needs of youth athletes.

This NSCA Coach article examines strength and conditioning strategies for collegiate distance runners to build performance for outdoor competition. Visit NSCA online to read about sport science.