Listen to award-winning coach Matthew C. Krause apply lessons from 22 years in Major League Baseball to training law enforcement officers on the NSCA Coaching Podcast.

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.

In the first of a two part series, this article will briefly highlight the main components of a needs analysis and apply it to the context of soccer.

This TSAC Report article examines the primary risk factors contributing to shoulder pain in tactical athletes and provides evidence-based rehabilitation strategies. Visit NSCA online to learn more about exercise research for tactical athletes.

The purpose of this article is to discuss the gray area that should be considered when it comes to implementing weightlifting exercises.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) 63rd Annual Meeting was held in Boston, MA, May 31 – June 4, 2016. The number of TSAC presentations continued to increase, compared to the last few years, when the Federal Government sequester severely affected attendance.

This is my story of how a strength and conditioning coach influenced not only one of Pakistan’s up and coming cricket team’s approach to fitness and lifestyle, but also that of the wider community.

Brice Long, Director of Human Performance Experience at O2X, talks to the NSCA Coaching Program Manager, Eric McMahon, about O2X’s holistic approach for fire, police, military, and federal agencies. Topics under discussion include the value of training as a firefighter, physical tests and assessments in the National Guard, and being diverse in your skill sets as a coach. Find Brice on Instagram: @o2xhumanperformance or Twitter: @o2xhp | Find Eric on Instagram: @ericmcmahoncscs or Twitter: @ericmcmahoncscs

In addition to standard health, fitness, or sport assessment guidelines, several guidelines exist for the fire service. Since each agency is different in its preferences, capabilities, and philosophies, applying a standard recommendation may not be possible. This article introduces basic decision-making considerations for fire service assessment batteries.

This article looks to explain why law enforcement recruits have higher incidences of lower extremity bone stress responses and stress fractures. It also explores injury mitigation pathways to increase the graduation rates among law enforcement academies.