Home Blog How to M.O.L.D. Young Athletes for Success

How to M.O.L.D. Young Athletes for Success

Written on June 8, 2010 at 9:27 am, by Eric Cressey

Today’s guest blog comes from Brian Grasso, the director of the International Youth Conditioning Association.


The Slow Cook Way to Young Athlete Training

The long-term approach to youth fitness and sport training is an essential ingredient and critical component of understanding how to work with clients in this very sensitive demographic.  Fitness Professionals must learn to appreciate that with young clients, the goal is not to ‘lose weight’, ‘increase speed’ or ‘gain strength’ – it is to enhance skill.  Increases in all biomotors (strength, speed, flexibility and cardiorespiratory) will be secondary benefits that occur naturally and as a result of quality, skill-based training systems.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with legendary strength coach, Joe Kenn, about this very issue.

Coach Kenn is as qualified, respected and ‘in-the-trenches’ smart as they come.  He’s served for more than 20 years as a premier strength coach in U.S.-based Colleges and has worked with a litany of past and current stars from a variety of sports.

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During our conversation, he offered this advice to parents, coaches and fitness professionals when working with young athletes:

“Cook ‘Em Slow”

Although a rather funny way of saying it, Coach Kenn’s point cannot be ignored.  Training young athletes isn’t about focusing on making them better right now – as I’ve mentioned, the biomotors will increase naturally when proper skill-based teaching is applied – what’s critical is to not char them in the process of making them better.  Don’t ‘fry them’ on a high temperature.  Don’t “barbeque'”them until they’re crispy.  Don’t try to “grill” them to a golden brown.  Instead, think of training young athletes as heaping them in a crock pot with a bunch of other savory ingredients and then setting the temperature on low.

Let the flavors meld and the ingredients come together in their time.  By the end, you’ll have a mouth-watering dish that contains flavors and layers of “yummy” that you can’t get through any of the “quick cook” methods.

What Do Young Athletes Really Need

Sometimes, it’s beneficial to be given sample programs of what to do with young athletes in certain situations.  Other times, it’s better to understand a philosophy of training.  I have found in my career, that appreciating the concept of what to do with young athletes is tremendously more important than the former.

Sample programs allow you to see a system and implement it, but without necessarily understanding why it’s been created that way.  It’s akin to being given a fish versus being taught how to fish.  One allows you to be satiated for a day or week, while the other allows you to keep yourself satiated indefinitely.

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With young athletes, knowing the “why” behind the “what” is terribly important.  Moreover, understanding the universal laws of development that govern all human growth – and how they are applied to programming for young athletes – will allow you to create specific programs that are compatible with your given situation.

When working with young athletes the acronym “M.O.L.D.” provides a perfect backdrop for understanding what, specifically, are the musts of training this particular demographic.

Movement is Critical for Young Athletes

“M” stands for one of the most important tenants governing young athlete training – Movement Must Dominate.

Although this seems like an absolute ‘no-brain’ reality, I am constantly amazed how many times it is breached within the fitness and sport training world with respect to young athletes.  Kids and teenagers don’t belong sitting on strength training machines producing force.  And they certainly have no business performing ‘cardio’ on static pieces of machinery, either. This is true for so many reasons.

Just watch a young person in their natural environment.  They move.  Constantly.  This desire to play, run, skip, hop, throw things and climb is not a product of “ants-in-the-pants” or any other form of contemporary “illness” as defined by modern society (ADD for example).  The neurology of human growth and development shows that during the young periods of life, the CNS is in constant “gathering” mode.

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As young people, we are learning.  Our bodies, governed by our CNS, are wired to explore movements, environments and situations.  Kids don’t mean to ‘get into things’ – they are being instructed to by an ever-changing, always-learning CNS that is requiring continual input.  Not only should this reality be honored and respected, it MUST be enhanced within the training systems of young athletes.

If your training program for young athletes involves moving and producing force through an unregulated and free manner, then you are most assuredly on the right track.  Run, jump, throw, kick, hop, skip…that kind of stuff.

Young Athletes…. The Key is Communication

The second letter in our acronym, “O,” stands for simply this – Open to Communication Variances.

The “Lombardi-style” coaching system doesn’t work.  You can’t just bark orders and think that every young athlete you train is going to be listening.  With coaching, one-size DOES NOT fit all.  Just like physical ability, size, relative strength and potential, the way a young athlete needs to be communicated with is specific to that child or teen.

Now, I’m no fool.  I’ve spent nearly 15 years in the trenches and know full well that when you have a group of kids (say 20 six-year-olds) getting to know them well enough and being able to provide individual attention to them is challenging to say the least.  But that doesn’t mean individualized communication isn’t possible.  It just takes a system.

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Over my years working with kids, I have found that every one of the young athletes I’ve trained fits somewhere into the following category:

1.       High Motivation/High Skill

2.       High Motivation/Low Skill

3.       Low Motivation/High Skill

4.       Low Motivation/Low Skill

A brief overview of the template that shows how to communicate with each of these young athletes is as follows:

1.       Delegate – Look to get this young athlete involved in the training and planning process.  Have them lead warm-ups for the group.  Have them create the warm-up within the boundaries of your system.  If they are older, have them help you co-coach your younger groups.  Keeping this young athlete engaged is a critical part of keeping them excited about the training process and provide a perfect communication scenario.

2.       Guide – This young athlete doesn’t require more motivation – they need to enhance their skill.  Rather than trying to incite them positively (because they’re already incited!) slow them down and guide them through the process of skill increase slowly.  Breakdown complex exercises into specific stages and teach them in a whole-part-whole method.  Communication will be automatically improved.

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3.       Inspire – This young athlete is great at everything, but lacks the necessary motivation to produce consistent effort (likely due to pressure from other coaches or their parents).  Don’t “ride” them or even ask them to work harder – they will tune you out quicker than you can say TRX!  Instead, talk with them about what inspires them.  What gets them excited?  We all have a switch on the inside that can turn on when the situation is a quality and inspiring one for us.  Find where there switch is and help them turn it on.

4.       Direct – Don’t put this young athlete on the spot – even in a positive manner.  They crave autonomy and the ability to just “blend in.”  So give it to them.  Provide instructions for the group at large and then quietly be sure that they know what is expected of them in the up-coming exercise or drill.  Once they realize that your communication with them will be non-threatening, they will deem your training environment a “safe” one and start to open up.  That’s where the fun will start!

How Do Young Athletes Learn?

“L” brings us to learning.  Just like with “O,” we must understand that young athletes learn in different ways and at varying speeds.

Quick and easy rule of thumb – Explain what the exercise is.  Demonstrate it.  Explain it again.  And then ask them to explain it to you.

This equates to a “Tell, Show, Tell, Converse” method of teaching and dramatically accelerates the learning process.  It also provides a divergent way of instruction so that all the young athletes in your group can learn in the manner that best suits them.

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Young Athletes…. Why Training is WRONG

Sounds funny doesn’t it?

Don’t train young athletes.

But it brings us back full circle to where we started…. “Cook ‘Em Slow.”

The most important thing you have to remember is that your job is not to make young athletes better – it’s to enhance their skill.  When quality skill exists, it can be build upon to introduce and produce even more skill over time.

And just a quick word to those who may be concerned… If a coach or parent asks you if their young athlete will get faster or stronger with your “slow cook” method of training, your answer is YES!!!

Just because we aren’t focusing on enhancing the biomotors doesn’t mean they won’t improve.  As I’ve mentioned already, kids get faster, stronger and more flexible automatically with skill-based training.  Human growth and development as seen to that for us.

So that’s it.  An easy philosophy that covers what you need to know about training young athletes.

No more excuses…. The training effects and increases will come.  Just be sure to keep the temperature gage locked on “low!”

Brian Grasso has trained more than 15,000 young athletes worldwide over the past decade.  He is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association – the #1 certification for Youth Fitness and Youth Sports Performance.  For more information, visit www.IYCA.org.


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7 Responses to “How to M.O.L.D. Young Athletes for Success”

  1. Chris Bathke Says:

    Thank you for the excellent information. Grasso is as good as they come.

    I think there is much carry over into training adults as well. We all know body comp and fitness improves as the person’s movement quality improves.

  2. Jon Says:

    Good article…Hopefully not too many parents out there saw Bryce Harper talk about how he was playing 170 games/year at 13 years old! There will be pitchers out there throwing 200 innings before they get to J.V. ball.

  3. Kevin Says:

    Great article! This style of trainiing for Youth is sorely needeed up here in Canada. Kids are playing Hockey all year long!

  4. Carson Boddicker Says:

    Excellent protocol for teaching exercise. The “have them repeat it back” idea has been very effective with a number of our athletes (even adults). Once they have the awareness, we can quickly bring it around to second nature without too much of a problem if all of the roadblocks are cleared.

    Regards,
    Carson Boddicker

  5. Kevin Anderson Says:

    Great article! I’ve got two kids. My boy is a high skill low motivation and my daughter is high motivation low skill. She will let me coach her and listen to everything I say. She works through adversity, including school work. My boy is talented but gets frustrated easily. He is young but I’ve learned that I can’t force him to do anything be it hit a bucket of wiffle balls or play soccer with me in the street. The inspire thing works for him. He sees me playing baseball and soccer and the next thing I know, here he comes with his glove and ball. After reading the “How a soccer star is made” article the other day in the NYTimes that chronicles the AJAX youth development program, I have to admit I started getting a little crazy about things. As a parent I have to keep myself in check but it really makes you start to question whether or not a kid should specialize in a sport or play lots of sports. For life, lots of sports makes more sense but if you want to have a chance at being a professional, specialization may be critical. I played lots of baseball growing up and by the end of the summer season I was burned out. I don’t want that to happen to my kids but I don’t want to miss an opportunity either.

  6. Jon Says:

    Kevin, look almost all professional athletes today…not many specialized early! They were all studs in multiple sports. You might enjoy a book called Nurture Shock also. In it, the author talks about how many kids who are told how talented or great they are at an activity, develop this mindset that it’s a “gift” and either they have it or they don’t. Then, when they can’t do something well the first time, they don’t see the point in working at it…really interesting stuff

  7. Kevin Anderson Says:

    After reading the reviews, I’m going to buy that book. Thanks for letting me know about it. I’ve actually given the topic of praise some thought before but ideas, even important ones, can get lost in the mix.


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