Training and Other Dangers for Young Athletes

It is the time of year when ALL athletes, whatever their ages, ask themselves why they are doing it. It's dark when they get up and dark when they get in at night and life generally is much less pleasant than it is in summer or in Los Angeles. For young athletes there are particular problems however. I'll have a look at some of them and if anyone wants more, then just ask me or email me.

First is the frequency of training. I have had Under 20 middle distance runners doing six sessions a week being selected more than once to race for Britain. Other guys doing twice a day were not selected at all. I have discussed the question of 'how often?' withe many of the country's top coaches and the general feeling is that it should start with twice a week for Under 11 and Under 13 athletes and up via three or four times a week for Under 15's and four or five times for Under 17's. The difference is because there are big physical differences between children (I remember Robert Emmanuel on the start line against Des Roache in an Under 15 race where Robert was barely at the level of Des's shoulder!) It also reflects the different points of entry into the sport: a 13 year old who has been running for a year or so beforehand could easily do a day more a week than one who is fresh into the sport with no background. Beware those who say that there are very strict rules for all children of a particular age!

Type of training - well it should be based on aerobic running at all ages. Note the following points though - it is often more important for girls of all ages to do the aerobic aspect (ie steady or longish runs), especially after a lay off for whatever reason because they lose the aerobic capacity more than boys do. No young athlete should do work with a short recovery because of their heart size and functioning. IF they do any hill running, then they should either walk back down or go for a jog of 600 or 800 metres after each rep. A wee story:-

When Seb Coe was wee, then his Dad would have him run up hills on his training runs, then get him in the car to run downhill. This was because the joints at knee and ankle were too soft and liable to damage to run hard downhill. Too often you see guys locally (I've seen it in two local clubs but never in our own) say that they can walk uphill so long as they go down the other side hard! Don't run hard downhill.

A Final Point (for now). Alex Naylor, former National Coach and GB Junior Coach, used to ask the question "But where do you get the animals?" The animals were the athletes. All coaches are always on the lookout for good runners/jumpers/throwers. The answer for too many coaches is to get O.P.'s - other peoples athletes. When Graeme Getty went to London, he was told by a coach from Newhan and Essex that he would run better if he strengthened his left leg because his stride was lop sided; another told him that he should take relaxation classes because he was too tense and if he joined Belgrave they would sort it.... He joined Shaftesbury! The same is particularly true of young athletes and young coaches. The coach without a good athlete spots a good youngster and the tells him that he can improve him; he points out an area for improvement (often that he is training not often enough or too often) and then gradually works his way into the child's confidence by speaking to him or his parents at every meeting. The answer to this kind of approach is to ask the coach in question what athletes he has, what they are doing now as far as times, etc are concerned. It is also appropriate to speak to the club secretary of the coach's club and let them know of the approach. If I as a coach had concerns about the training a child was doing I would first speak to the athlete's coach rather than sow seeds of distrust or mistrust possibly wrongly.

So coaches/parents of young athletes should look at frequency of training, the appropriateness of training to the age, sex and event of the runner and beware other coaches unless you know them.