Kid’s Don't Need to Train Like the Pros!

Every parent wants to give their child the best opportunity to succeed.

So when they watch elite athletes, it's natural to think:

"If this is what the best in the world are doing, shouldn't Johnny be doing the same?"

That's exactly where youth sports have gone.

And in many ways, it’s exactly where they’ve gone wrong.

Kids are on more teams.

They play in more tournaments.

You pay for more private lessons.

And the family spends vacations traveling to, “play better competition.”

For many middle and high school athletes (and their families) there isn't an offseason anymore, which is insane considering even the professionals have one!

But here's what most kids and parents don't realize.

They're watching what professional athletes are doing now, but not considering what those athletes were doing when they were 13, 14, or 15 years old.

In other words, your kid doesn't need to train like a professional, but rather like today's professionals trained when they were middle and high school athletes.

You're Copying the Wrong Chapter

When we watch elite athletes, we see the finished product.

We see the endless skill work, extra practices, and year-round competition.

What we don't see is the foundation they built first.

The best athletes didn't become elite simply because they practiced their sport more than everyone else.

They developed strength, speed, coordination, balance, and resilience that allowed their skills to show up when the game got faster.

Patrick Mahomes credits baseball for developing the creativity, vision, and arm angles that make him one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

Joe Burrow has said basketball helped shape the footwork and vision he relies on every Sunday.

Aaron Judge believes playing football helped develop the power and athleticism that define his game today.

The examples go on and on, but this is still the chapter that most young athletes are skipping.

High Skill. Low Athleticism.

We see it every day.

Athletes today have better sports skills than ever before at even younger ages.

They look great doing drills before games and crush it at practice but struggle once the pace of the game increases.

They can't create separation.

They lose physical battles.

They fatigue quickly.

Or worse, something starts hurting.

That’s rarely a skill problem.

They're lacking the physical capacity to express that skill at game speed.

In other words, they're becoming over-specialized and under-generalized.

The Missing Piece

A quality strength and conditioning program isn't about replacing sports.

It's about supporting and elevating them.

When athletes progressively build strength, improve coordination, learn to sprint, jump, land, decelerate, cut and move efficiently, everything else becomes easier.

They become stronger, faster, more explosive, and more resilient to the overuse injuries that are becoming increasingly common in youth sports.

Most importantly, their skill level finally has the physical tools to show up when it matters most.

Less Can Actually Be More

I know I have a vested interest in beating the strength and conditioning drum, but there's another benefit that often gets massively overlooked.

Training helps athletes stay fresh, physically, mentally, and emotionally.

When every week consists of more practices, more games, more tournaments, and more private lessons, it's easy for even the most passionate athlete to start feeling like their sport is a job instead of something they love.

Two or three hours each week in the gym spent becoming a better athlete provides a mental break while still moving them closer to their goals. They return to practice refreshed, energized, and often more motivated to improve.

And they come back with a bigger engine to power the skill set they’ve already built.

The reality is that so many young athletes today have developed impressive sport skills but shockingly poor general athleticism. It's become surprisingly common for a high school male athlete to struggle with 10 quality pushups or 5 strict chin ups.

Many also struggle to jump and land under control, skip efficiently, or even perform a cartwheel.

That's why two or three hours each week dedicated to athletic development can provide a greater return on investment than simply adding two or three more hours of sport-specific practice.

Once the technical skills have been learned, the greatest opportunity for improvement is often increasing the body's ability to express those skills with more strength, speed, power, and resilience.

You don't need more hours in your sport, but you need more from the hours you're already spending there.

Build the Athlete First

The benefits of training extend well beyond sports.

Kids learn that improvement comes from consistency, that hard work pays off, and that confidence is earned by building on small successes over time.

Those lessons create better athletes, but more importantly, they create more resilient young adults.

Whether your child dreams of playing at the next level or just making the varsity now, don't make the mistake of copying what professional athletes are doing today.

Help them build the same foundation those athletes built years ago.

Build the athlete first.

Everything else gets easier after that.