WELSH ATHLETICS RESOURCE 029 2064 4870 offi[email protected] @WelshAthletics WELSH ATHLETICS COACHING RESOURCE WELSH ATHLETICS COACHING RESOURCE PHYSICAL PREPERATION PAGE 1 1 | PAGE 2 | 2 FOREWORd AbOUT THE CONTRIbUTORS LONG-TERm ATHLETIC dEvELOPmENT 1 CHILdREN ARE NOT ‘mINIATURE AdULTS’ 3 YOUTH PHYSICAL dEvELOPmENT mOdEL 4 TECHNICAL COmPETENCY 6 7 9 E x A m P L E A N I m A L S H A P E S CWARM-OUP ACTNIVITIES T E N T S 11 12 ExAmPLE bOdYWEIGHT mANAGEmENT SHAPES BExOADmYWPLEEIG bHOTd TYRWAEIINGIHNTG m A N A G E m E N T P O S I T I O N S 15 ExAmPLE bOdYWEIGHT mANAGEmENT SPORTS ACRObATICS 16 kEY TAkE-HOmE mESSAGES 19 22 25 WARm-UP ACTIvITIES APTLYHOLmETEITCR MICO ATbOIRL ISTKIEILS L C O M P E T E N C I E S 27 LOWER bOdY bILATERAL 29 LOWER bOdY UNILATERAL 31 LOWER bOdY HINGING 33 UPPER bOdY HORIzONTAL PUSHING 33 UPPER bOdY vERTICAL PUSHING 34 UPPER bOdY HORIzONTAL PULLING 35 UPPER bOdY vERTICAL PULLING 35 CORE CONdITIONING 37 38 kEY TAkE-HOmE mESSAGES 39 GLOSSARY REFERENCES 41 43 44 Coaching athletics in the 21st century requires a multidisciplinary approach to training prescription and competition preparation at all levels. A great deal of our time is spent studying and programming the event specific components of training, often with a particular emphasis on performing the event itself. However, potential limiting factors to performance can be attributed to a lack of general athleticism or FphysiOcal prReparaEtion WthroughOout tRhe varD ious stages of A significant coaching related kPI (key Our guiding principle is to prescribe training that apenrf oartmhalnecete in’dsi ccaatorr)e foerr s. uccess is navigating is both appropriate and progressive relative to the athletes through the youth and junior age groups individual athlete’s age and stage of development. into the senior ranks, the success of this process is To produce high level performances in our sport, largely a coaches responsibility. Our aim is to it is essential that an athlete is physically produce senior champions capable of representing competent to cope with event specific demands Wales at the Commonwealth Games and ultimately by producing force, in the correct direction within to win medals. This process starts in the youth and a given timeframe. junior age groups by laying appropriate performance foundations. The coaching challenge is to become highly effective movement coaches and great generalists All events in track and field require the athlete to with an event or event group specialism. All possess some unique physical capabilities, coaches are required to teach movement, develop however all sport specific movements are skill and provide well planned and appropriate advanced derivatives of fundamental motor skills training for athletes. This is a challenge we urge and movement patterns. At Welsh Athletics we coaches to accept and one that Welsh Athletics is believe in the mastery of fundamentals from an proud to support. early age and that maintaining these through an athletes developmental years will minimise the We are pleased to have teamed up with Sport risk of injury and provide a platform or foundation Wales and Cardiff metropolitan University to from which event specific demands can produce physical preparation coaching resources be tolerated. and workshops to help coaches successfully nurture the current and future generations of Welsh athletes. Welsh Athletics Coaching and Performance team WELSH ATHLETICS COACHING RESOURCE 1 | Rhodri S. Lloyd, PhD, ASCC, CSCS*D is currently a Senior Lecturer in strength and conditioning and Chair of the Youth Physical Development Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research interests surround the impact of growth and maturation on long-term athletic development and the neuromuscular mechanisms (Lloyd et al., 2016; bergeron et al., 2015). underpinning resistance training adaptations in youth populations. The notion of adopting a long-term approach to the development of ABOUT THE aLthleOticismN in yoGuth is- supTportEed byR leadiMng auth orities around the Jon L. Ol iver, P hD is currently a Reader in applied paediatric exercise science at world Whether an individual Cardiff Metropolitan University and an Adjunct Professor at the Sport Performance enters a long-term athletic development pathway from an early age CONReTsearchR InstituteI NeBw ZealanUd (SPRINTZ) at AuOckland URniversityS of Technology. ATHLETIC His research interests surround the natural development of physical fitness and during childhood or transitions into a pathway later in life (i.e. during how growth and maturation interact to influence the responsiveness to training in adolescence), it is imperative that coaches provide the foundations of youth populations. pDhysicEal fitVnessE to suLpporOt theiPr safeM particEipatioNn in sTports and Central to the philosophy of long-term athletic Coaches working with young or novice athletes pdehveylsopimcaenl t aisc tthiev eitayrl. y mastery of fundamental should never seek short-term improvements in motor skills and the development of base levels of performance at the expense of the health and Jason Pedley, MSc, ASCC is currently a Lecturer in strength and conditioning at muscular strength. The ratio nale for this emp ha sis well-being of the individual, but instead aim for Cardiff Metropolitan University. His research interests surround injury screening is that, irrespective of the sport or event an logical, sequential and progressive advances in a and effective training and coaching interventions to reduce the likelihood of individual participates in, they will be required to range of physical qualities. Additionally, despite musculoskeletal injury in young athletes. both produce force and absorb force. To do this sports and/or events having unique characteristics, safely and effectively, the individual requires a it is important that coaches attempt to develop strong and robust system (muscle strength) which athleticism in a well-rounded, holistic and moves in a technically correct and fluent manner athlete-centered manner. (fundamental motor skills) when faced with any John M. Radnor, MSc, ASCC is currently an Associate Lecturer in Strength and physical challenge. Strong and technically (Lloyd et al., 2014a) Conditioning at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He is undertaking a PhD in applied competent athletes will be better placed to express paediatric exercise science alongside his coaching responsibilities with Welsh Rowing. power, speed and agility, while also being more His research interests include speed, agility and plyometric development in children economical when utilising various forms and adolescents and the trainability of youth athletes. of endurance. Sylvia Moeskops, MSc is currently a Technician Demonstrator and Associate Gymnastics Lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University. She is undertaking a PhD in strength and power development in young female artistic gymnasts, alongside delivering strength and conditioning support to these athletes through the Youth Physical Development Centre. WELSH ATHLETICS COACHING RESOURCE PHYSICAL PREPERATION 3 | | 4 Throughout childhood and adolescence, all systems within the body C(e.g. nHervouIs,L musDcular,R skeleEtal, eNndocr inAe) wilRl deveElop a t different rates and in a non-linear manner. Biological maturation is the process of progressing toward a mature state, and varies in magnitude (extent oNf chanOge), Ttimin g ‘(oMnset ofI chNange)I anAd temTpo (Urate oRf chaEnge) dbeeptewndeenetn o nd tihfefseer vearniatb lseys,s ytoeutmh csa ni nbe the bodWyh ailen edx ebrceistew pereescnri pintiodni wvildl aulmalosst always be cA(LlalsosiyfiedDd east baiollU.o,g 2ic0al1ly 4L“abh)e. aTd of” (eSarly ’ driven by technical competency of the individual, maturer), “on time” with (average maturer), or coaches should be aware of the influence that “behind” (late maturer) their chronological age. growth and maturation will potentially have on the This inter-individual difference in biological training responsiveness, relative risk of injury and maturation is often clear when comparing a squad resiliency of athletes. of young athletes of the same chronological age who may differ markedly in terms of maturation. Within sports, including athletics, it is often the case that early maturing athletes (especially boys) are selected ahead of late maturing peers simply as a consequence of the absolute physical advantage that early maturation provides (e.g. greater levels of strength and power). PHYSICAL PREPERATION | 6 (Lloyd and Oliver, 2012) The Youth Physical Development model was designed to provide a contemporary view of the trainability of youth of different stages of maturation for both males (left) and females (right).The model shows that all components of fitness are trainable at all stages of development; however, within the model, the larger the font size, the more important and responsive to training the fitness quality will be during the developmental stage. During early childhood, FMS and muscle strength are prioritised as these qualities will aid the development of of well-controlled movement skills, which also underpin other fitness qualities. YOUTH PHYSICAL CHRONOLOGICAL AGE CHRONOLOGICAL AGE 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21+ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21+ Y(oYEAuRtS) h Physical Developement (YPD) Model for Males Y(oYEuARtS) h Physical Developement (YPD) Model for Females EARLY EARLY AGE PERIODS MIDDLE CHILDHOOD ADOLESCENCE ADULTHOOD AGE PERIODS MIDDLE CHILDHOOD ADOLESCENCE ADULTHOOD DEVCEHILDHOOD