It is incumbent on all youth coaches to provide youth with the very best opportunities to succeed and develop to the best of their potential. The 10 pillars of long-term athletic development and recommendations provide coaches with the information they need to help all youth reach their potential.

In recent years, youth strength training and models of athletic development have become hot topics thanks in part to a shift in youth sports from leisure activities to year-round commitments. In order for strength and conditioning professionals to help the athletes of tomorrow achieve their performance and fitness goals, it’s imperative to develop safe, effective, and balanced programming for the youth of today.

In this session from the 2015 National Conference, Brian Brabham provides ideas for improving the overall athletic ability of youth athletes, a better understanding of injuries sustained by youth athletes, methods to help prevent those injuries, and practical examples of training programs that can be effective options.

Rhodri S. Lloyd, lead author of the LTAD Position Statement, provides an abbreviated look at what long-term athletic development is and how strength and conditioning professionals can implement effective training strategies into programming to improve health, well-being, and growth.

This continuing education opportunity explores a variety of topics as they pertain to training the youth population. To earn your CEUs, it will be necessary to review several articles and pass a 50-question quiz. Please note: this quiz awards 1.0 CEU (10 contact hours). Articles 1) Effects of Balance Training on Physical Fitness in Youth and Young Athletes: A Narrative Review 2) Seven Pillars of Prevention: Effective Strategies for Strength and Conditioning Coaches to Reduce Injury Risk and Improve Performance in Young Athletes 3) Navigating the Complex Pathway of Youth Athletic Development: Challenges and Solutions to Managing the Training Load of Youth Team Sport Athletes 4) Energy and Macronutrient Considerations for Young Athletes 5) Assessing Athletic Motor Skill Competencies in Youths: A Narrative Review of Movement Competency Screens

Providing a safe and effective youth strength and conditioning program is only the foundation of their long-term athletic development.

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.

High school coaching is a rapidly-growing area of strength and conditioning, and can be an exciting career choice for strength and conditioning professionals who want to have a lifelong positive impact on young people.

In the second of this two part series, this article will discuss program design with an emphasis on integrating lower limb plyometric training into soccer training to enhance power actions, as well as, consider high school athletes’ biological characteristics and long-term athletic development (LTAD).

The “five Ss” of trainability and performance are critical periods of development that all youth strength and conditioning coaches should consider when creating a training program. Coaches should take advantage of each window to maximize a youth athlete’s potential and help ensure a long athletic career.