This excerpt from Developing Agility and Quickness provides a needs analysis for field hockey and possible program design options for optimal performance outcomes.

Elite sport often gets more attention, but youth training gives strength and conditioning coaches an earlier chance to build athletes’ competence and confidence. Kelli Brightwell specializes in youth development and brings more than a decade of sports training experience, including four years at Michael Johnson Performance. Brightwell defines peak height velocity as the period during which height increases fastest. She then explains why its timing can differ among teammates of the same age. So what should strength coaches test, and what do the results mean? The answer changes with each athlete’s maturity and training experience. Brightwell addresses the growth-spurt “awkward phase,” when familiar movement patterns can break down as an athlete adjusts to a changing body. She also considers how sport sampling can expand children’s range of physical skills and help them discover what they enjoy. Learn how maturation can affect movement, testing, and programming — and why young athletes need foundations before specialization.

This article applies LTAD principles to guide the process of generating an athletic profile (part 1) and sample program design (part 2) for a middle school athlete and a high school athlete.

This article discusses practical tests to measure physiological responses to practical military task training.

This article will examine the physical demands of soccer players and discuss why repeated sprint ability (RSA) is considered highly important in the performance of these athletes.

This excerpt from the NSCA’s Essentials of Sport Science, discusses some of the benefits and validity of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) data.

This book excerpt provides examples of quickness drills that may improve the ability to identify a specific stimulus and to respond quickly and appropriately.

This NSCA Coach article explores how combining strength and plyometric training can improve volleyball hitters’ vertical jump and power. Visit NSCA online to read more on athletic performance and sports science.

This excerpt from the book Developing Endurance, published by Human Kinetics, presents a sample 5K training plan for runners.