I read a blog post the other day from Barry Marenberg, a youth coach in my state. He mentioned there is acutally a debate among parents and coaches about whether a youth athlete should focus on one sport year round or mutiple sports.
To me, there is no debate, and I posted that at the end of Barry’s article. When developing the young athlete, multiple sports are clearly the best way to go. This is exactly what the International Youth Conditioning Association preaches. The IYCA is the authority on the issue of training and developing the young athlete.
But if you still think a kid can’t make it to the highest level of lacrosse, let’s look at the background of some professionals. Matt Striebel has been known to play both soccer and lacrosse at Princeton. Jesse Hubbard played football in HS. Adam Doneger played football. Brett Hughes was recruited as a linebacker. Conor Ford was an all-state soccer player. Greg Peyser even tried out for the NY Dragons of the Arena Fooball League. And these are guys I know of off the top of my head. I’m sure there are many others.
So if you’re child would like to play another sport, or two, let them. In the long run, it will help their athletic development.
Mike Boyle has released his new Functional Strength Coach DVD set. As you know, I’ve been following Mike and his methods for quite some time now. I appreciate how he continues to evolve. He’s able to change or tweak his programs simply because he found a better way of doing things. Sometimes this might go against long held beliefs. Check out this video for an example.
The updated position statement on youth resistance training was recently released from the National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA). The paper revealed the risks and benefits to resistance training for young athletes. In a nutshell, here are the guidelines presented:
I got an email from Keith Scott the other day. Keith is a fellow athletic trainer/strength coach from South Jersey. He has a great perspective on corrective exercise and rehabilitation. There doesn’t seem to be a chronic pain that Keith can’t lick. Anyway, in his email he announced the release of his latest product, Unbreakable.
Keith includes a full self-assessment section, corrective exercises for each major joint in the body, detailed and targeted soft-tissue work, and something called “plug-ins.” For these “plug-ins,” Keith took the corrective exercises and categorized them so that they can be integrated into any training program to ensure that folks are taking care of their issues while still continuing on their current plan.
I got a question the other day at asklacrossestrength.com regarding core training for young athletes. So I decided to do a quick video to address this.
Dr. Brian Paris, of Performance Lacrosse, is back with his next installment of Multiplanar Training. This particular article has a few pictures, so I thought it would be best to post the PDF for you to download. Enjoy!
By Brian Paris, DC, NASM-PES
Performance Lacrosse
Rockville, MD
Lacrosse is a sport that requires training in all planes of motion. This article aims to
teach the reader some tips on enhancing lacrosse performance in the sagital, frontal and
transverse planes of motion. Also the reader will learn about the importance of including
the nervous system in training.
Although we classify movement in three planes of motion when training, one must also
be aware of the six degrees of freedom in movement. For example, sprinting forward
would be considered movement in the sagittal plane and so would sprinting backwards.
The same goes for the frontal and transverse planes. Such as, laterally shuffling to the
left or laterally shuffling to the right, or diagonal running to the left or diagonal running
to the right. Training for lacrosse must have a focus on training for these types
movements not solely muscles. Training the muscles to get bigger and stronger only
does not train them to move more efficiently. If you want to move fast on the lacrosse
field you must train fast. This is how the nervous system works. Just like ‘you are what
you eat’, you perform how you train.
(Kip Turner of the Boston Cannons and Performance Lacrosse trainer Colin Cooley.)
Movement preparation must also be done in all three planes of motion. This better
prepares the nervous system for the demands of the game. Keeping your nervous system
in tune for efficient movement requires flexibility and good joint mobility. This allows
the best feed-back and feed-forward of information resulting in stability. If a player has
tight hips he will be unable to get lower while changing direction. This also puts more
abnormal strain on the knees and ankles leaving them more susceptible to injury.
Your core (everything except your arms and legs) is best trained in all planes of motion.
If you were on the lacrosse field in the same position you are when doing crunches then
chances are you just got leveled. Crunches were designed to make the abdominal
muscles bigger in one plane of motion (sagittal) so they look good when you are static
(not moving). Think about the complexity of all the movements that occur while playing
lacrosse. Full body actions during training that combine planes of motion best prepare
the core to integrate movement between the upper and lower body. This will help the
athlete avoid injury and perform optimally.
I read the recent Inside Lacrosse article with an open mind, and going through the list of players and trying to see how it will affect some of the guys I worked with in the past. I guess I should start with being disappointed with the contraction of my old team, the New Jersey Pride. I wasn’t sure where they would end up, but I was hoping to see how these young guys came together. I would have followed them, watched them on TV. Now, we’ll never know. I’m not saying it wasn’t the right thing to do. I’m not sure, only time will tell. But I am being a little selfish, I know.
Now, I don’t know if any of these guys are actually going to play for the teams they are assigned, but I do have some thoughts just based on the list. More on Major League Lacrosse 2009: My thoughts.
