Im not a professional in anything. I am pretty good at some things, but far from what it takes to be a pro. So this is really just my thoughts on sports training for kids. Feel free to read it and tell me how wrong I am, but I still won’t change my opinion.
I see so many families spend a ton of money every year on sport specific training. Usually from an ex pro in the sport, or high level college athlete. They have shooting, hitting, pitching, lineman, and whatever other isolated or position training possible to speaking their knowledge of the game and what got them to where they are. I’m not knocking their hustle whatever you gotta do to make money, have at it. However to me it really is just a hustle former athletes use to make a buck. Few really care about your child’s growth and development.
We obsess about the perfect swing, good mechanics, and try and use whatever new technique or product is out to get results. But to me it’s all a waste if you’re not doing speed and strength training. Those are the foundation of sports. What’s the point of having the perfect swing if you don’t have the power to drive it out of the infield or speed to run out a hard hit grounder.
We live in a world where we want instant results so the art of hard dedicated slow work is dead. So we see players bouncing from team to team, trainer to trainer chasing results. When in reality the results come from consistently working toward the goal over a long period of time.
Before your kid can become a baseball, football, softball, or basketball player. They need to learn how to move like an athlete. Quick, powerful, explosive, functional, with little waste of energy. TRAIN HOW YOU WANT TO PREFORM. Running 3 miles to train for a sport isn’t training for a sport, it’s training to be a car. If you want to get in sports shape. SPRINT rest and do it again.
You want to throw harder develop the muscles to throw harder. All this sports specific training is like building a house and trying to put the roof on before you do the foundation.
Get your kids into fitness classes where they develop explosive strength, learn how the body is meant to move. Then focus on sport specific training. Their on field results might not show the fast results of specific lessons, but long term they will benefit them not only athletically, but also in their overall health.
