The key is aptitude training
Brian Grasso explains his approach to teaching a movement skills to young athletes.
In the initial phases of training with a young athlete
(technically referred to as General Preparatory or GPP), the undeniable key and
focus (outside of fun) should be aptitude development. This aptitude should
transcend to both movement-based skills in their basic elements (balance,
jumping, throwing, linear and lateral motion progressions, etc.) as well as
strength-based exercises. I have always firmly believed that basic squatting
techniques, for example (squatting variations and unilateral
efforts), should be introduced into the training sessions of young
athletes.
How does one begin the process of teaching movement habits?
When working with young athletes (6 to 7 years old), one needs to
adopt a progression template within which to work. No template can ever be
applied to 100% of your athletes 100% of the time - that is the beauty of
coaching; understanding what to apply, when and for how long (i.e. knowing when
to progress or regress on an individual basis).
After ten years of working with young athletes, I have reached one
undeniable conclusion - the more I learn, the more I realize I do not know, and
the more I want to change my methodologies. Let us look at
how I progress the teaching of movement skills, e.g. the "lateral
deceleration". Firstly, break the key points of the movement into skill sets that
are easy to remember so that kids can recite them to you and themselves
(this makes teaching and cueing much simpler). I have four points I require my
young athletes to learn/know/commit to memory for the "lateral
deceleration" movement skill:
- Bend your knees and drop your hips
- Be on a flat foot or slightly on the ball of the foot
- The toe/foot of the decelerating leg should be square to the
angle of the body (i.e. not out)
- The foot placement should be outside the box (the 'box' is a
reference to an invisible line drawn from the shoulder to the floor). Any
placement outside of that line is good; within or too close to the line will
result in poor deceleration and potential injury.
Once the young athletes understand each of these points
individually and in conjunction with each other, I then progress the learning in
three phases - statically, dynamically, and randomly.
Statically
Have the athletes assume an athletic position or stance. From
here, they will 'hit' the decelerating position upon command. Be patient with
this step and make sure all your athletes are comfortable and competent with
the motion. Add fun to this by calling out different legs unpredictably.
Dynamically
When you feel your athletes are ready, have them perform one or
two moderately paced side shuffles before 'hitting' the decelerating
position. The side shuffles should be slow and easy. At this point, you will
begin to ascertain if further teaching is necessary (it will be). With
the additional movement before the deceleration, a common mistake you will
see is athletes not planting their foot outside of the box far enough. This
results in poor alignment and a less than satisfactory deceleration (even at
these slow speeds). My colleague, Lee Taft, calls this a shoulder sway (because
the shoulders lean towards the decelerating leg rather than sitting back in a
'braking' type position). I love this term and reflects what the actual concern
looks like.
Randomly
Now that the athletes are comfortable with the motion create
games and situations within which they react to a particular signal and move
(unpredictably) in different directions. On your 'point' for example, the athlete
will take one or two moderately paced side shuffles and then 'hit' a
deceleration. Have them hold the position so that both you and they can
ascertain what is right and wrong with their posture.
Article Reference
This article first appeared in:
- GRASSO, B. (2006) The key is aptitude training. Brian Mackenzie's Successful Coaching, (ISSN 1745-7513/ 30 /March), p. 6-7
Page Reference
If you quote information from this page in your work, then the reference for this page is:
- GRASSO, B. (2006) The key is aptitude training [WWW] Available from: https://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/scni30a5.htm [Accessed
About the Author
Brian Grasso is the President of Developing Athletics, which is a
company dedicated to educating coaches, parents, and youth sporting officials
throughout the world on the concepts of athletic development. Brian can be contacted through his website at www.DevelopingAthletics.com