WORKING WITH YOUTH ATHLETES BY COACH KABUYE

Working with Youth Athletes

Coach Kabuye Timothy  is a sprints and hurdles coach, is a strength and fitness coach at Uganda Christian University. He works with a number of youth at school and individual level.He has by far produced the best and natured atleast 90% of the top Sprinters in Uganda.Including the likes of Tarsis Orogot ,Namahunge Jacent ,Wesonga Ivan,Okot Benson ,Inya Lazarus,Akena Geoffrey,Latigo Kassim,Mary Zawadi,Oroma Williamson and a bunch of honerable mentions.

Coach Kabuye Timothy

Part 1

The youth age group 13 to 17 years is a suitable period to present and introduce the different sports, training methods and exercise since the body at this time is still soft clay when the kids have just left the kennel and anything thrown to them their bodies are still flexible enough to hold anything that will eventually be holding firm when finally out of the potters furnace. In most cases what they learn and practice here, fortunately or unfortunately cannot be unwind. This may not only be true with the technical but also psychological as well. It is therefore the foundation for future athletic and psychological development and this requires competent coaching that can direct these young sailors in a bare sea. 

Training young athletes can present a number of challenges including high motivation to become like their sports idols which can lead to overtraining and injury altogether leading to early dropout out of frustration, pressure from ignorant parents and coaches who are after a plastic trophy with short term gains without consideration of long term repercussions. Handling relationships and school work with sports training at the same time. The list includes a young and maturing body or structure that seems delicate especially the growth plates, physiologically they are unable to handle high-end energy system development methods especially metabolically. 

As a youth coach I have done some mistakes that I would not want to see another coach do. I have also seen other coaches prematurely ending carriers of promising youths due to a number of avoidable mistakes. These mistakes cut across the spectrum; on the field, on the track, in the weight room, on the turf/court; psychologically and even socially

It is against that back ground that I have come up with a short list of some of the main points I have noted working with youths in African school and under knowledgeable youth coaches based abroad that have and continue to mentor me both as a youth coach and as an aspiring high performance coach. I have categorized them according to the common five (5) bio-motor abilities and then Socially and Psychologically.

Concerning Strength (resistance) training

 I start with strength not only because of the myths surrounding strength training and the youth but it is also the area where most mistakes, concerning structural preparation, are done in as far as loading and technical progressions are concerned.

Resistance training if well programmed cannot negatively affect the growth of a youth, in fact the opposite happens; there are a number of physical, neuron, and hormonal adaptations that happen which enhances sports performance and overall growth. Strength and strength endurance improves, increase in testosterone levels, etc.

In training the youth one should observe the somatotype and overall physical, specifically muscular, development of the athlete to be trained before embarking on a program, this is because the body appearance gives information concerning the physical history of the athlete. There are those that are inherently strong whereas others have been exposed to physical activities at a younger age for example if a kid grew up on a farm, In the African setting children take goats to feed which involves pulling a rope with a resistant animal the other end having to drug it to the field, running for water and carrying it back in most cases up the hill since wells are in the valley, having to run 2-3 miles to school, growing up in a hilly country side, even getting exposed to winter sports can all develop a childs physical ability. 

1- Body weight exercises

With the youth starting with general strength exercises is highly advised with a lot of attention given to the core muscles, this is because a) the earlier these muscles are developed the better this is due to their stabilizing role in athletic activities for example the holding a proper sprint position; b) most general exercises are dominantly body weight exercise and therefor easy to learn and perform; c) general strength develops the soft tissues like tendons and ligaments in a safe way and therefore lays a platform for future intense strength training; d) body awareness is simply developed in general strength because the athletes learn to carry and control their bodies as opposed to external loads; e) since these exercises are mostly performed in a circuit they help to develop strength endurance without using a large facility.

When the athlete demonstrates readiness to move to the next level of training, by having a reasonable level of strength for example 15-20 push ups, 1-3 chin-ups, 50 sit ups, etc. they can move to the next level of strength.

2- Light external loads

 This involves the use of medicine balls, core bags, chains, isorobic ropes, elastics, sand bags, the training partner offering resistance and harness. These light external load serve as introduction to external resistance, which gradually metamorphose into the use of heavy bar and disc. This type of equipment is usually safe and easy to use and does not place too much stress on the body. However even with the ease in performing them there are progressions to follow; easy to complex drills, short lever to long lever, single movement plane before twisting maneuvers, holding before throwing and catching drills, throwing and running before jumping with external loads. 

Another advantage would be the horizontal nature of the way these forces are applied, like pulling a harness that does not stress the delicate body structure. It is also during this time that an introduction to standard weights is done through a parallel teaching of the basic techniques of the core strength exercises to be used in future for example, using light dumb bells, broom sticks, unloaded bars to teach the basic movements of the Olympic lifts, and other complex pulling and pressing exercises. 

The added advantage in using these light implements is comradeship which is a very essential aspect in youth training; at this stage working out in groups or with a partner adds to the fun in teaching the FUNdamentals since there are activities like medicine ball throws, partner resisted movements using elastics and body limbs etc. All these enhances a good and exciting learning environment that is void of boredom and staleness in the training theyre by promoting maximum work out put gains. 

Light implements are affordable to most youth and they can be purchased and used even in the home backyard, which can help in minimizing on lost training days and time. 

The fact that they can be carried anywhere makes their use much easier and therefore may not require special training times as in the normal gyms which makes it convenient for use. 

The flexibility with light implements means that they can also be used in enhancing specific sport movements, which may not be the case in the normal gym training, for example resistance bands and harness are widely used to re enforce certain sprint stride phases and race phases like providing dynamic resistance out of the blocks and the acceleration phase; the use of elastic bands in reinforcing arm actions for volley ball, tennis and swimming movements, etc. 

All this provides a polished technique with enhanced neuromuscular work in a safe way in the shortest and easiest time possible, which is EXACTLY what is needed to train a youth. There can be no other better way of starting off a youth strength program without using lighter implements.  

3- Working with standard weights

This dominantly involves the use of a bar and weights (disc), some times dumbbells, heavy sand/core bags, heavy balls or spherical objects and machines. Most of the injuries happen when using these implements because they are heavy and usually have cornered edges and therefore hit hard when they fall these are usually injuries to the outside but in some cases may affect the bones and muscles. 

However, much as the above injuries also pose a threat to an athlete, this paper is not going into details discussing that, but how to avoid structural and central nervous system (CNS) overtraining through teaching proper technique, using logic and knowledge in progressions and loading planning, and then minding the surface where lifting is taking place.

a) Progression of technique

Technique is paramount and there will be no need to keep adding the load without first learning the proper technique of the prescribed exercise. So the first step here, after a successful strength program using body weight and light implement exercises, as mentioned above, while developing strength of a young athlete is to teach proper movement and handling technique. These different levels or layers of strength development do not have exact deadlines and borders to the next level but they gradually intersect; as an athlete is working on a proper push up, handling a medicine ball or sand bag is introduced; then a light bar is or broom stick is used to teach the dead lift as the athlete is improving his sand bag dead lift etc.

Any attempt to increase load without proper technique will prove futile because, not only that injuries will halt the progress, but even the amount of weight that can be handled, especially at high loads, will be limited.

Secondly weight training is part of specific strength development for movement ease of a given sport, meaning that precision through proper technique has a carry over to the sport technique. Therefore if proper movement techniques while weight training is not taught, the overall outcome of the strength work program will be diminished and deter long-term progress.                                                                No session should ever be wasted.

Example: Progressions I use to teach the clean

N.B. A coach may vary this according to their own experience and the kind of athlete.

Step 1  Go through all the progressions of a proper squatting movement!

Step 2 – Go through (by now few) steps of a proper dead lift.

Step 3  Front Squatting

Step 4  Dead lift followed with a shrug (full extension at ankles and elbows)

Step 5  Shrugging followed by a vertical upright row or clean pulls

Step 6  Performing an upright row with a slight bend in the knees (1/4 squat). Get into a ¼ squat as the bar moves up from the knees.

Step 7  Practicing the receiving movement with emphasis on high shoulders and elbow speed. The cues here are shoulders to ears & punch with an elbow

As seen from above most of the movements are done from a standing position and that's where we start the exercise from and then we gradually get into the whole movement, which takes us to the floor when fair technique is observed. These progressions take months and the speed of learning depends on the athlete but in most cases athletes who have had a solid background with light implements tend to learn faster. This stage needs patience and involves an extensive use of the bar alone and a number of wrist, elbow and shoulder special movements most of which I learnt from friends doing weight lifting.

All exercises must follow some kind of progressions, the more complex the more the steps needed to get to near perfection of the movement. According to the example above, it may not be safe to start with such Olympic lifts, especially with bar and disc, it is good to start with easier to complex movements; squats, a push movement, is usually a good introduction to most of the pull exercises! This takes us to the next method progression.

b) Progression by Movement technique

This may sound confusing with (a) above, however with (a) it is progressing an exercise itself whereas with (b) it is about progression based on the category of movement (action) of different exercises. Under category we have Push like the Squat, Pull like Olympic lifts, Press like the bench. As stated earlier I like starting with teaching the Push category, which in most cases have a carry over to the other exercises because they happen on the floor.

Legs drills Progression

i)  Squatting progressions

ii) Dead lifting progressions 

iii)  Lunges progressions

iv)  Glute bridges

This does not mean exhausting every drill there is in that category, but its advisable for the athlete to display confidence and efficiency at a good number of exercises in a given category, preferably five that are most specific to their sport, before they progress to the next level.

Next in line would be the pressing category like the bench and shoulder actions, which offer a lot of stabilizing benefits in the upper body and give an athlete a foundation to perform the more complex movements like Olympic lifts

Finally pulling exercises where we have rowing exercises, Olympic drills snatch, clean and jerk, which are more complex. This approach works in line with the principle of simple to complex in as far as progressions are concerned

c) Progression by muscular action

Concentric movement dominated exercises, Isometric exercises are safe to start with because they do not create much damage to muscular tissue, however advanced training methods that involve manipulating the eccentric movement may not be suitable for beginners because they usually involve heavy loads yet the soft tissues and stability when carrying these loads is usually insufficient which put young athletes at risk of structural damage.

d) Progression by number of Limbs

It is advisable to start with double leg (bilateral) drills before moving to single leg (unilateral) drills. Bilateral support gives more stability while working out whereas unilateral offers a challenge on rotary stability at the hips.

e) Progression by range of Movement (ROM)

In some special cases a young (new to training) athlete may find it difficult to perform a standard deep squat yet find it easier to perform a proper half squat. Full ROM challenges the stability, flexibility and sometimes even the strength of the core or abdominal area and the back. For example a weak individual in the will struggle to perform a heavy deep squat or rack pulls bellow the knee. A floor bench press is easier to perform than a power flat bench, a muscle clean is easier than a squat clean, and the list goes on.

f) Progression by speed of performance

Most athletes would find it exciting to perform speed squats or fast dead lifts but until proper form and a good strength base, including stability through a high volume of core exercises, has been laid; high velocity movements should be avoided. For example, proper squats before jump squats, proper bench press before bench throws, hip thrusts before kettle bell swings, and the list goes on.

g) Progressing the loading

After laying down proper foundations for technique through progressions we get to the real loading of the athlete for purposes of increasing strength, power and consequently speed. Loading the beginner we should note that:

i) Beginners tend to increase muscular strength faster mainly because they are still fresh however; this rate of adaptation slows down as they mature in the program. The coach should know that the improvement is mainly due to nervous response (motor path ways) but structure wise (soft tissues) there are inadequacies 

ii) Beginners tend to improve on any program as long as it disturbs homeostasis! The coach should therefore have the bigger picture with the end mind and design the first progression of the desired goal not just throwing any thing to the athlete because some of the results will give a false impression that it's a good program yet its just a response from an unadapted trainee.

iii) The rate of adaptation and improvement keeps diminishing as the trainee improves and adjustments need to be done to keep them adapting, interested and improving. It is wise to keep varying the exercises or drill, the sets, the repetitions, rest intervals and the bar speed, where possible even the equipment used

iv) Closely related to the above, the need for training complexity keeps increasing. The trainer or coach should adjust the program for individual suitability and it is in this phase that the trainee can be classified; whether one is strong and slow or fast and less strong, this helps the athlete to train at strengths vs untapped potential. This is the stage the Coach decides the correct amount of load and monitors recovery and decides when the next loading should take place. When the training is directed in a more logical manner we shall see predictable, good results.

When the basic or core exercises of pulling, pushing and pressing have been introduced and well learned through proper progressions other accessory drills can be considered these include all forms of curling, raising, etc. However the coach should try as much as possible to use drills that enhance the performance of the basic exercises through selection of multi joint exercises as opposed to isolation exercises. There is an exception where the trainer has a large group of athletes, in this case the exercises selected should be presses and squats and avoid the Olympic lifts like the snatch because they need special equipment and also need close supervision from the trainer at an individual level. These drills are performed fast with little chance of observing the errors whereas the squats and presses are slow in performance, which minimizes error. When training with beginners we are looking for safety, time saving, and all inclusiveness yet at the same time building an excellent strength foundation.

 Setting up a training program

With all that has been mentioned in consideration. It is now the time to set up a training program for our youth athlete. A mesocycle of about 4 weeks using machines in the gym would not be a bad idea where machines and cables are available. But in case a coach or trainer has to go direct to free weights then a start of simple sets and repetitions will suffice. 

The start is not a good time to do serious strength work that is to say, heavy weights with 3-4 sets using 2-3 repetitions. What a young athlete needs is to first build some localized muscular endurance via a light load of 3 sets of 20 reps for about 1 mesocycle and then advance to a moderately heavy weight with 5 reps of 4 to 5 sets. This kind of lifting is good for strength gaining and preparing and athlete for advanced training in the future. This method builds muscular hypertrophy without creating too much fatigue, which usually leads to technical break down.

Frequency

For most beginners three day a week is a good starting point, which provides a day of recovery in between (48 hours) and it also helps the coach not takeover an athletes life by scheduling too many days.

Loading

 Regardless of ones history, somatotype and strength level, beginners need to first feel the bar alone for purposes of warming up and also providing more teaching opportunity for the coach to correct any flaws which is usually a challenge with heavy loads. At this point low weight with better technique is the best work. As long as homeostasis is disrupted with sets of the bar, then 5 x 50%, 55%, 60%, 65%, 70% there will be improvement already. Loads are kept fairly light to avoid soreness after 24 hours!

N.B. These percentages are based on perceived effort from the athlete and the coachs intelligent logic through observation of the athlete and experience.

The metabolic effects dictate workouts that the work out is intending to achieve; hypertrophy, power, strength all have different loading styles. For every work out there should be a small increase in the loading and improvements should be seen over a long time before another adjustment is needed. However the load should be altered using volume and intensity for proper monitoring to avoid over training. The volume may increase as the intensity decreases and vice versa. This can be performed within the week or over a month by changing work out load using weeks (see example below)

When starting a days programme it is good to:

a) Start with a warm of simple cardio like jogging, rope jumping, stepping up on box. This would be about 10-15 minutes including stretching.

b) Bar work. About 1-2 sets with a heavy bar going through the motions of the exercises followed by 3 warm up sets of about 40% -50% of the days intended load.

c) Set 1 of the core exercise on the programme is then performed

d) Accessory exercises

e) Rehab or asymmetry correction exercise

Example of decreasing volume with increasing intensity

Perform the warm up and Warm up sets first

Day 1  Squats, Bench press, bend over rows

Day 2  Dead lift, Chin-ups, High pulls from dead lift position

Day 3  Squats, Floor press & Incline bench, Romanian dead lift 

Week 1  5 sets, 5 reps at 60%

Week 2  4 sets, 5 reps at 65%

Week 3  3 sets, 5 reps at 70%

Week 4  4 sets, 4 reps at 65%

The same work out can be used backward for decreasing intensity with increasing volume.