Dealing with adolescent changes and young athletes

Adolescent AthletesCAL Sports Academy specializes in training your young athlete and regards it as a privilege that you trust your kids to our experience. Working with young athletes is so unique due to all the changes in their pre-pubescent and pubescent body changes.

Radical growth spurts during the ages of 11 and 15 can present problems with balance, foot and limb growth can lead to clumsiness, and brain growth along with hormones can leave them just plain confused or frustrated. It’s a delicate time, we know. Suddenly the skills that used to come to them with ease can be fumbled. Suddenly a player who is used to being the tallest on the team has now had a lull in growing. This will cause them to be frustrated, and how they handle this frustration is just as important as perfecting a 3 point shot or an overhand serve. We as coaches need to remember that their athletic awkwardness at this age doesn’t always stem from a lack of effort.

Luckily, as said earlier, we specialize in this age group of athletes. There are ways in which to train these young men and women that is muli-fold.  We always recommend strength and agility training at this age in compliment to the skills training in their specific sport. Performance training will work the core to improve balance, as well as making them stronger to avoid injury. An added benefit to all of this is confidence. When the player feels more control over the changes the body is going through, the more confident they will be when they hit the court.

Again, it is an honor to be a part of your young athlete’s growth and we thank you for partnering with us. If you have any questions or concerns, let’s have that conversation and figure out these issues TOGETHER!

Here’s an excellent article that addresses adolescent athletes in detail:

https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/a-5-step-approach-to-training-during-adolescent-growth-spurts