More kids played high school sports this year than at any point in high school history. This is the fifth straight year of growth and an all-time high for both boys and girls, according to the NFHS high school athletics participation survey. Girls' flag football participation grew almost 50% in a single year, girls' wrestling grew 20%, and girls' basketball just snapped a two-decade decline. With all of these new athletes joining, we have to ask, ‘has the foundation been laid’?
If you're coaching right now, you can't assume these kids walked in with a base. That assumption is where injuries start. You've got a wave of first-time athletes and first-time sports parents walking in. Many of these athletes are participating in sports that didn't exist at this scale five years ago. You can't coach them the way you'd coach a kid who's been in the sport since age six and already knows the basics.
Here's what brand-new athletes need:
Leg strength: lunges and squats, with or without added weight. Technique first, load second.
Single-leg exercises to build balance and single-leg strength.
Upper-body strength: push-ups, pull-ups.
Rhythm and coordination: A-skips, jump rope.
When the foundation is skipped, it's no different than building a house on quicksand. This leads to injuries and leaves performance on the table. That's the key focus of our training.
Typical training for sports teams consists of learning plays and technique, a lot of redirection, and — let's be honest — a lot of herding cats. Our training doesn't look like that, because we work as a complement to the training athletes already get with their team. That means all of the foundational work I called out above. This work breeds longevity and improved confidence, because the athlete understands how to execute movement.
That stat up top is a flood of untrained bodies walking into gyms and onto fields right now. This list is how you keep them on the field instead of on the bench with an injury. Got questions? Reach out and let's talk.
Lorraine Eloms | Top Speed Athletics & Mental Performance and Life Coaching — helping young athletes develop the mental and emotional tools to compete, grow, and thrive.
