Train Hard, Have Fun!

   Train Hard, Have Fun!

May 15, 2015

By Chris LeGates, TCS Co-Host

Mark and I had Brian Reynolds of Thunder Sports and Fitness on the podcast last week and we heard a lot of great information about strength and conditioning as it applies youth athletes and student-athletes. In the last decade, we have seen the explosion of sports specifications in the field of training and strength and conditioning. 25 years ago (ugggggh) when I played college soccer, the training regiments were ambiguous and geared more toward football and baseball. Success was based upon how big you got, or if you could run 3 miles in less than 18 minutes. However, sports have specific training needs and players in those sports need to be trained in different ways to achieve maximum performance. So much so, that a goalkeeper in soccer is now trained differently from the other players on the team because their needs for optimal performance varies from the field players. More and more college teams and club programs employ strength and conditioning people to work with their programs, while individual athletes are hiring strength and conditioning coaches to workout with privately.

Where was winning? Winning was 48th on the list of reasons to describe playing sports.  What was number 1?  Trying your best!

Brian told us that he has worked with athletes as young as 8 and 9 years old. He currently works with older student-athletes either in, or, approaching college. I certainly raised an eyebrow when I heard 8 and 9-year-olds, however, we are seeing tryouts for “elite” sports teams at 6 and 7-year-olds. As I have mentioned before, I help run a premier soccer program in Connecticut and I have seen first hand how the rigors of overtraining and win at all costs mentality hurt participation at younger ages – and soccer is not alone. We now have data that shows us that by the age of 13, roughly 70 percent of children involved in organized club sports end up quitting. The main reasons have to do with the sport not being fun anymore, or, that the intense pressure makes the child lose interest. A recent article at thecoachingjourney.org cited a study done at George Washington University where kids were asked why they played sports. Over 90 percent said they participated because it was fun! However, the meaning of fun was vastly different amongst the group surveyed – 81 different definitions and explanations were given. Where was winning? Winning was 48th on the list of reasons to describe playing sports. What was number 1?  Trying your best!

Training now has become a supplement to an already crowded schedule for children. As Brian said, if youngsters at 8, 9 or 10 are going to start resistance training, it needs to be an expert. For the older groups, strength and conditioning is something that is definitely a necessity for those who aspire to play higher levels of their sport. Athletes that are in their high school years should be incorporating some degree of sport-specific strength and conditioning into their regiment. With that said, Brian pointed out two elements that are critical as a precursor. Number one, make time for REST!  Rest is something that is constantly overlooked and is a major contributor to those players who end up leaving their sport. Psychologically, players now find practices, workouts and even competitions as a chore, and not something that they want to do or something they will give their best effort towards. Physiologically, Brian told us that rest is critical for an athlete’s nervous system to recover, hormonal changes to take place and for the regeneration of tissue.  Number two, LISTEN TO YOUR BODY! Athletes have so many matches, practices, and tournaments now as well as supplemental training that it becomes imperative that they listen to their bodies. If you have knocks and nagging injuries, are you taking care of them? Are you resting when your body is telling you that you are tired? Are you communicating with your coaches or training staff when injuries or fatigue come up?  If you listen to your body when these things come up, it will ensure that you will be able to perform at peak performance. By doing this, you will be able to give your best – and at any age, trying your best is always fun!

As always TCS is here to help. Please feel free to contact me at info@tacklingcollegesports.com with any questions or comments. On Tuesday, May 19th, we will be releasing TCS podcast 007 with Dan Gaspar. Dan is presently the assistant coach of the Iranian national soccer team (which he helped guide to the 2014 World Cup) and was the assistant for Portugal in the 2010 World Cup. Prior to that, Dan was the head coach of Division I the University of Hartford, and, associate head coach of Division I Central Connecticut State University. Dan will talk with us about the college recruiting process, his journey from a player in Hartford, Connecticut, to being on the bench for two World Cups and what it was like working with Cristiano Ronaldo. We hope you tune in and share with your friends!   

Good Luck and always #BeYourBest

Chris