Why Youth Athletes Don’t Need Sports-Specific Training (Yet): A Guide to Long-Term Athletic Development
“My son needs specialized golf training. He’s 11 and already poised to be an elite athlete.”
“My daughter’s soccer coach says she should work on sport-specific skills. She’s 12 and showing real professional potential.”
We hear these requests way too often. Parents and young athletes come to us eager to specialize, convinced that sport-specific training is the key to athletic success. And it’s often what their coaches tell them too.
Every time we get this request, we tell them: we don’t do that here. Why? Well, no matter how good your young athlete is at their sport, at ages 11-13, they need to build a foundation first. Those sport-specific skills will come later.
Right now, they need to work on long-term athletic development. Here’s what that is and why it’s important:
Understanding Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD)
The Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) model is a research-backed framework that guides athletic development from childhood through adolescence. This model shows us that young athletes need a foundation of fundamental movement skills before specializing in sport-specific training.
What is Peak Height Velocity (PHV)?
Before getting into the stages, we need to understand PHV — a critical marker in youth development. Peak Height Velocity is the period of rapid growth during puberty, typically happening around age 11-13 for girls and 12-14 for boys.
During this time:
This growth spurt dramatically affects how young athletes should train. During PHV, loading patterns and training intensity need careful monitoring because the body is more susceptible to injury.
The Stages of Athletic Development
Before hitting their growth spurt (Peak Height Velocity or PHV), young athletes should focus on:
The LTAD Stages: Building Athletes Step by Step
- Active Start (0-6 years) This is where it all begins — kids learning to move through play by running, jumping, throwing, and catching. At this stage, the focus is on fun, active exploration of movement in different environments.
- Fundamentals (6-9 years) This is a crucial stage where children learn basic movement skills like throwing, catching, and running with proper form. Building these essential movement patterns will serve them in any sport.
- Learn to Train (8-11 years girls, 9-12 years boys) Now this is where young athletes learn how to train and refine those fundamental movements. It’s also where they start developing general sports skills. Ideally, they should participate in multiple sports to develop well-rounded athletic abilities.
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Train to Train (11-15 years girls, 12-16 years boys) This stage coincides with the growth spurt (Peak Height Velocity or PHV) and is divided into two phases:
Pre-PHV:
- Focus on aerobic capacity
- Flexibility and mobility work
- Speed development
- Basic strength exercises with light loads
Post-PHV:
- Introduction to more structured strength training
- FSport-specific skill development
- Continued emphasis on proper movement patterns
- Train to Compete (15+ years girls, 16+ years boys) Only at this stage do athletes begin to specialize in their chosen sport. They can now handle more structured, periodized training programs and sport-specific skill development.
It’s a beautiful, progressive model, where each stage builds upon the previous one. By following it, we create a solid foundation for athletic development.
Think of LTAD like building a house: you need a strong foundation before adding the walls and roof. Rushing through these stages or skipping them entirely is like trying to build a roof without walls — it simply won’t hold up in the long run.
The Problem with Early Sport-Specific Training
Athletes who specialize in one sport during their growth spurt (ages 11-14) can have significantly higher rates of overuse injuries compared to those who maintained diverse movement patterns. This is why loading patterns and training intensity must be carefully monitored.
Here’s a common scenario: Kylie, an 11-year-old soccer player practices 3-4 times per week, plays matches on weekends, and spends hours kicking the ball around with friends. Then she goes to a trainer who has her do more kicking drills with resistance bands.
Now that you know about LTAD , do you see the problem?
Basically, all that kicking means that Kylie is:
Every kid’s body needs variety and balance during this key growth period, not more of the same movement. While Kylie’s mastering that perfect kick, she could be building the foundational strength and movement patterns that will actually make her a better athlete in the long run.
What Young Athletes Really Need
So instead of mimicking sport-specific movements in the gym, young athletes should focus on:
The Benefits of Multi-Sport Participation
It’s important to consider the kind of movement patterns that feature in a specific sport. There are a lot of benefits to adding a complementary sport for optimal development.
For example, a young athlete doing kendo (a linear sport) could benefit from playing baseball or golf in their off-season (and vice versa). Why? Combining a linear sport with a rotational sports provides:
When Should Sports Specialization Begin?
There’s no uniform answer. When sports specialization should begin depends on various factors, such as the sport in question and the individual athlete’s development.
Some sports like gymnastics or figure skating may require earlier specialization, but most athletes benefit from general athletic development until after their growth spurt (typically around 13-15 years old).
According to research from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the ideal time for sports specialization typically comes after:
The Path Forward
Remember: the goal of youth athletic development should be building a foundation for long-term success and enjoyment in sports.
The best approach is to:
- Focus on fundamental movements
- Encourage multi-sport participation
- Build general strength and coordination
- Adjust training based on growth and development
- Save specialization for later
Those parents we talked about earlier? Many of them enrol their kids in our YouthSport program, which is based on the principles of LTAD. Or for more specialized training, opt for our Strength & Conditioning program.
Schedule a consultation with our specialists to create a plan that builds a strong and sustainable foundation for your young athlete’s future.
