Youth, Sports performance Training
written by Dmitriy Chernov, doctorate student, studies in kinesiology, original research article review.
Physical activity is essential from a very young age, and safety must be taken in consideration. Thus, the safety of these young athletes is the priority no matter what kind of sports they are in. Another factor in performance training is the skill that must be achieved through safe training. Mostly, children move from sport to sport. They do not spend enough time in their sport to develop certain sport-specific skill characteristics when selecting sport, so individual qualities are not considered (Opstoel et al., 2015, p.1). However, throughout any type of training some results by these young athletes should be achieved and safety fact is crucial. Therefore, a person's overall health depends on their level of physical performance. However, it is critical to proceed with caution when it comes to teenage or juvenile athletes because their bodies are still developing (Behm et al., 2017, p.1). Keeping in mind that these young athletes are still in their growth stage, coaches must also provide results that their young athletes achieve. Therefore, many elements must be considered when planning a training program to achieve a maximum performance outcome. These elements are gender, age, and resistance training versus plyometric training. The study by Peits et al. compared the results between the resistance and plyometric groups. The plyometric group showed greater effectiveness in enhancing young athletes’ physical fitness through altering the pace and force of various exercises to increase muscle power (2018). One of the goals of Opstoel et al. research article was to see if school-age children who were already participating in sports showed sport-specific features in terms of anthropometry, physical fitness, and motor coordination (2015, p.3). Also, research aimed at gathering the data for the purposes and analysis of training performance in young athletes. The research team thinks that an athlete's character and physical condition is formed during training (Opstoel et al., 2015 p.6). Another goal of this research was to “…construct sport profiles based on 17 performance measurements and to compare them in children with a low, moderate, and high training volume” (Opstoel et al., 2015, p.3). This study has had 620 young participants, boys, and girls who participated in one or two sports, and anthropometric measurements were gathered. Data was evaluated for the body height, body weight, body fat percentage, and body mass index (Opstoel et al., 2015). After careful evaluation, this study found that, on average, children of a young age lack sport-specific physical traits versus the children who train frequently. Another finding is that the children with the greatest physical fitness and motor coordination qualities train the most hours each week, regardless of sport.
This research has some advantages and disadvantages, and it's unclear whether the nature-nurture theory applies to sports involvement at a higher level. Future research should look into what degree children need to select a sport that matches their individual characteristics and if the chosen sport was based on parental influence. The current study's strength is its vast sample size and diversity of sports. Furthermore, regardless of their level of participation in sports, the “..focus was on the anthropometric, physical fitness, and motor coordination features…” (Opstoel et al., 2015, p14) of young participating in a variety of sports. In future studies scientist should concentrate on a single sport rather than a group of sports so we can be presented with more precise data. Consequently, that valuable and unique data can be used by the coaches team to develop a sports-specific training program for young athletes participating in their individual sports.
written by Dmitriy Chernov, doctorate student, studies in kinesiology, original research article review.
References:
Arazi, H., Asadi, A., Mahdavi, S. A., & Nasiri, S. O. (2014). Cardiovascular responses to plyometric exercise are affected by workload in athletes. Postepy w kardiologii interwencyjnej = Advances in interventional cardiology, 10(1), 2–6. https://doi.org/10.5114/pwki.2014.41 458
Behm, D. G., Young, J. D., Whitten, J., Reid, J. C., Quigley, P. J., Low, J., Li, Y., Lima, C. D., Hodgson, D. D., Chaouachi, A., Prieske, O., & Granacher, U. (2017). Effectiveness of Traditional Strength vs. Power Training on Muscle Strength, Power and Speed with Youth: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Frontiers in physiology, 8, 423. https://doi.org/10.3389/fphys.2017.00423
Opstoel, K., Pion, J., Elferink-Gemser, M., Hartman, E., Willemse, B., Philippaerts, R., Visscher, C., & Lenoir, M. (2015). Anthropometric characteristics, physical fitness and motor coordination of 9 to 11 year old children participating in a wide range of sports. PloS one, 10(5), e0126282. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0126282
