If you didn’t already have the occasion to do so, I strongly suggest that you read Daniel Coyle’s article in the New York Times magazine, ‘Play’, entitled 'HOW TO GROW A SUPER-ATHLETE'

You can access the article here

The article is a wonderful portrayal of youth athletic development as it looks in Russia at the world famous Spartak Tennis Academy.

The article discusses the unique blend of non-specific athletic training, the keys to nervous system enhancement and the incredibly involved technical development that each young athlete goes through as they ascend to either sporting success or a functionally fit life...

... Interestingly enough, if you have been paying attention over the years that is EXACTLY what I have been telling you regarding the optimal development of a young athlete!

My next couple of newsletters will be some thoughts, opinion and considerations regarding a few of the points Daniel mentioned in his article:

In discussing the differences between the way Russian kids and North America kids are trained and developed, Daniel points to the cultural variances as the reason why this slow, technically-sound style of developing a young athlete wouldn’t work in North America.

Here are my thoughts on the matter -

Although I understand that many people feel as though the apparent cultural differences between Russia and the United States in terms of adopting a 'skill-based' developmental structure to youth sports, is what accounts for our inability to create such a worthwhile system, but to me, it has less to do with societal factors and much more to do with coaching talent. European coaches (especially in places like Russia) are vastly superior to U.S. coaches in terms of understanding nervous system plasticity, talent identification, multilateral development and pedagogical science. More over, the best and most talented coaches in North America, almost 100% of the time, work with our more elite athletes - this leaves volunteer Mom's and Dad's to work with our most precious athletic commodity; children. Current governing bodies do not work to reverse this reality, and certainly don't work to provide a practical look at how to develop young athletes properly - this is the crux of the problem.

That is not an indictment of the volunteer Mom and Dad - bless their hearts for donating so much of their time!  But in the absence of proper training and education in the realms of coaching science, human development and technical execution, they are often left with little more than their own experiences as an athlete to draw upon when designing practice plans etc.

I emailed Daniel Coyle with some of my thoughts and he responded in kind... I will post his comments next time!!

In my next newsletter...

Is EARLY SPECIALIZATION actually a good thing for kids and have North Americans been right the whole time???

You don’t want to miss that one!

Brian

Surprise Seminar Announcement!

I have been asked to present a 1-day seminar in Fairfax Virginia at the end of this month -

Saturday March 24
9am - 3pm

Topics will include:

- Programming For the Young Athlete

- Concepts in Long-Term Development

- Coordination Development & the Key to Long Term Success

- Strength & Flexibility Training for Children & Teens

I don't have a website to direct you to in order to register... this really was a last minute offer!

Space is limited, and the capacity is alreasy 2/3 full... If you are anywhere near the Washington DC or Virginia area, do not miss this event...

It is my LAST live seminar event in North America for the rest of 2007!

For all the details, email me directly at grasso.brian@yahoo.com or call my office - 847.885.0493

Hope to see you there!

Youth Training Resources for
COACHES & TRAINERS

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