study group
• Began to specialize at age 14 or older
• Experienced significantly more multilateral training during early development stages
• Practiced tennis more than the control group after the age of 15
• Tended to gain self-confidence as they pro-gressed through training
• Developed more slowly during early adoles-cence than did the control group
• Experienced less pressure for success during early stages of development from parents and coaches
control group
• Began to specialize at age 11, when multi-lateral training ceased
• Experienced significantly less multilateral training during early development ages
• Practiced tennis more than the study group between the ages of 13 and 15
• Tended to lose self-confidence as they pro-gressed through training
• Developed faster during early adolescence than did the study group
• Experienced greater pressure for success during early stages of development from parents and coaches
Adapted from Carlson 1988 (18).
37 mastered her sport, the total volume and intensity of training progressively increase,
as does the degree of specialization. Several authors suggest that the best training adaptations occur in response to exercises specific to the sporting activity and exer-cises that target given biomotor abilities only after a multilateral foundation has been developed (22, 79). The former refers to exercises that parallel or mimic the movements of the sport, whereas the latter refers to exercises that develop strength, speed, and endurance. The ratio between these two exercise groups varies for each sport, depend-ing on its characteristics. In long-distance runndepend-ing, for example, approximately 90%
of the volume of training consists of sport-specific exercises. In other sports, like high jumping, these exercises represent only 40%; exercises that develop leg strength and jumping power make up the rest. When working with advanced athletes, coaches should dedicate only 60% to 80% of the total training time to sport-specific exercise (figure 2.2) and should dedicate the remainder of training to developing biomotor abilities.
Coaches should carefully plan the ratio between multilateral and specialized training, taking into consideration the modern tendency to lower the age of athletic maturation. In some sports, athletes achieve a high level of performance at young ages and thus must enter the sport at a young age (25). Examples of these sports include artistic gymnastics, gymnastics, figure skating, swimming, and diving. However, recent changes to Olympic competition rules may increase the average age for high-level gymnastics performance. For example, to compete in the Olympics a female gymnast must turn 16 during the year of the Olympic Games. During the years 2005 to 2007, the average age of competitors at the gymnastics world championships was about 18.0 (85).
Table 2.1 presents a rough guide for the age an individual can begin to train, the time when specialization may start, and the age when the highest performance is usually reached. Some authors suggest that the optimal age to begin training is
Table 2.1 Age of Starting, Specializing, and Reaching High Performance in Different Sports
Sport Age to begin
training Age to start
specialization Age when highest performance is achieved
Archery 12-14 16-18 23-30
Athletics (track and field)
Sprinting 10-12 14-16 22-26
Middle-distance running 13-14 16-17 22-26
Long-distance running 14-16 17-20 25-28
High jump 12-14 16-18 22-25
Triple jump 12-14 17-19 23-26
Long jump 12-14 17-19 23-26
Throws 14-15 17-19 23-27
Badminton 10-12 14-16 20-25
Baseball 10-12 15-16 22-28
Basketball 10-12 14-16 22-28
Biathlon 10-12 16-17 23-26
Bobsled 12-14 17-18 22-26
37
Sport Age to begin
training Age to start
specialization Age when highest performance is achieved
Boxing 13-15 16-17 22-26
Canoeing 12-14 15-17 22-26
Chess 7-8 12-15 23-35
Continental handball 10-12 14-16 22-26
Cycling 12-15 16-18 22-28
Diving
Women 6-8 9-11 14-18
Men 8-10 11-13 18-22
Equestrian 10-12 14-16 22-28
Fencing 10-12 14-16 20-25
Field hockey 11-13 14-16 20-25
Figure skating 7-9 11-13 18-25
Football 12-14 16-18 23-27
Gymnastics
Women 6-8 9-10 14-18
Men 8-9 14-15 22-25
Ice hockey 6-8 13-14 22-28
Judo 8-10 15-16 22-26
Modern pentathlon 11-13 14-16 21-25
Rowing 11-14 16-18 22-25
Rugby 13-14 16-17 22-26
Sailing 10-12 14-16 22-30
Shooting 12-15 17-18 24-30
Skiing
Alpine 7-8 12-14 18-25
Nordic 12-14 16-18 23-28
More than 30K — 17-19 24-28
Jumping 10-12 14-15 22-26
Speedskating 10-12 15-16 22-26
Soccer 10-12 14-16 22-26
Squash and handball 10-12 15-17 23-27
Swimming
Women 7-9 11-13 18-22
Men 7-8 13-15 20-24
Synchronized swimming 6-8 12-14 19-23
Table tennis 8-9 13-14 22-25
Tennis
Women 7-8 11-13 20-25
Men 7-8 12-14 22-27
Volleyball 10-12 15-16 22-26
Water polo 10-12 16-17 23-26
Weightlifting 14-15 17-18 23-27
Wrestling 11-13 17-19 24-27
Adapted from Stone, Stone, and Sands 2007 (91).
between 5 and 9 (9, 12). During these early phases of training the coach should focus on developing a physical literacy that includes basic skills such as running, jumping, and throwing (9). It is important to develop these skills at the initiation of training because young athletes seem to develop these abilities at a faster rate than more mature athletes. Once the athlete develops the basics skills, he can begin some specialized training for his chosen sport. This generally occurs between the ages of 10 and 14 (9). As stated previously multilateral training is the primary focus until around the age of 14, after which more specialized training occurs.
inDiviDualizaTion
Individualization is one of the main requirements of contemporary training. Indi-vidualization requires that the coach consider the athlete’s abilities, potential, and learning characteristics and the demands of the athlete’s sport, regardless of the performance level. Each athlete has physiological and psychological attributes that need to be considered when developing a training plan.
Too often, coaches take an unscientific approach to training by literally following training programs of successful athletes or sport programs with complete disregard for the athlete’s training experience, abilities, and physiological makeup. Even worse, some coaches take programs from elite athletes and apply them to junior athletes who have not yet developed the physical literacy, physiological base, or psychological skills needed to undertake these types of programs. Young athletes are not physiologically or psychologically able to tolerate programs created for advanced athletes (26, 27, 39, 101). The coach needs to understand the athlete’s needs and develop training plans that meet those needs. This can be accomplished by following some guidelines: