Applying Strength and Conditioning Practices to Young Athletes

The notion of training young athletes for sports is not novel; however, over the past couple of decades there has been a significant rise in the interest surrounding the systematic approach to physical development of both children and adolescents in an attempt to optimise the overall training response. Despite this growing interest, practitioners should remember that young athletes are a unique population and that their exposure to sports training and strength and conditioning will coincide with growth and maturity related changes in a range of physical, physiological and psychosocial qualities. Thus, in addition to a strong grounding in coaching skill and pedagogy, it is imperative that practitioners understand fundamental principles of paediatric exercise science in order to optimise the long-term development of athleticism.