A Message to Sports Parents---Think before you speak!

The original plan for this blog was to have a continual schedule by which each new topic would be introduced in each previous post prior to the information being unveiled. Unfortunately, while this post was supposed to be about why youth sports are behind the times, I was recently witness to several ridiculous comments that sadly came out of the mouths of parents. These comments were so outlandish, I just had to share them.

I was recently given the opportunity to work with a youth softball team--a group of approximately 13 girls in the 14/15 year-old range. Due to scheduling and other factors, contact with this team will be limited to one hour, one night a week, for the next 9 weeks. Prior to the start of the training session, I introduced myself and the Facility Manager of the training facility I work out of, gave a brief synopsis of our respective backgrounds, learned all their names, and sent them out to the turf to begin their dynamic warmup. While being escorted to the turf, I took the time to address the parents privately while the athletes proceeded on to the field. The objective was to explain to the parents exactly what we are looking to accomplish in the next 9 sessions, what we plan on teaching them, and why it is crucial the program be structured this way.

Now, here is where my anecdote gains some level of substance.
*Each comment is verbatim.

1.) Work them to the point they vomit.
2.) We expect we'll have to carry them to the car afterwards.
3.) Our girls have been trained before...they've done plyometrics for the last two years.
4.) Hopefully next time you'll push them harder (a comment made post-training).

I'd like to take the time to break down these comments one by one.

"Work them to the point they vomit."

---And then what? Beat them with a sock full of quarters?

Disease, stress, excessive alcohol consumption, manually sticking an object down your throat, or any Dan Brown novel will induce vomitting. Training a young athlete should not include any one, or combination of these items to create this undesirable outcome. Furthermore, training parameters become exceedingly limited when the focal point of the regiment is to induce enough stress to ultimately provoke vomitting. When athletes are pushed like this, usually by a parent or uneducated coach/trainer, the athlete will quickly express symptoms of over-training syndrome, subsequently leading to injury in a short period of time.

Lastly, what parent wants to see their child suffer like that? The woman that spouted off this comment was fortunate enough that I have an intellectual backbone to counteract the talionic rage I was about to unleash on her physical well-being.

"We expect we'll have to carry them to the car afterwards."

If I exhaust you child to the point they don't have the strength to walk to the car under their own power, how can they be expected to do their homework that night?

British Sports Scientists have empirically determined that it takes approximately 10 years, or 10,000 hours for a TALENTED athlete to even have an OPPORTUNITY to achieve sport success. Remember that I only have 9 hours to work with these athletes over the next 9 weeks. Abusing these athletes to the point of complete exhaustion doesn't help them acquire any movement or strength skill sets that WILL improve their athleticism and off-set the chance of injury.

Additionally, what kind of message am I sending to these athletes in regards to physical activity if each session leads to vomitting or exhaustion? Youth sport participation rates and childhood obesity rates are directly correlated. A major reason behind the trend is while youth sport participation rates increase, more kids are being introduce to poor coaching, poor programming, and poor reinforcement leading to more kids turning away from physical activity---leading to sedentary lifestyles, obesity, and other adverse health issues.

"Our girls have been trained before...they've done plyometrics for the last two years."

Plyometrics? You mean the most overused, most misunderstood, and most poorly implemented form of development in the United States?

Here is what I have to say about the "plyometric" program these girls have been doing for the last 2 years...it sucks! After two years of training, these athletes showed no signs of any efficient movement skills, couldn't perform simple, bodyweight, strength-based tasks with any technical competency, and were confused as to why we weren't doing static stretching as part of our warm-up activity. They either got the program from a high-school archive, or they had a trainer that was apparently nothing more than a brain stem.

"Hopefully next time you'll push them harder."

This comment was made by a woman who watched training for about 10 minutes before opening her sadly misguided mouth.

The regiment consisted of a half-hour of movement instruction and a half-hour of strength instruction. In one hour, all the athletes were introduced to, and taught a dynamic warmup, running mechanics, lateral movement mechanics, lunge patterns, squat patterns, stability, and a range of motion method they can utilize post-practice. All of these athletes were being introduced to this for the first time with the exception of one athlete who said she had been taught how to squat by a coach---after watching her squat, she was not coached well.

These athletes accomplished all of this but, this parent felt it wasn't enough.

For the parents, please use your head before you decide to speak.

When you were younger, think back to the first car you owned. Is the car you drive now a better one? Better brakes, suspension, maybe a GPS Tracking system---the technology has clearly made significant changes to the automobile that seperates the current versions from much older models.

If technology and information radically changed the look and capabilities of the automobile over the last 20-30 years, how can a parent intelligently rationalize that the athletic development methods they were taught as kids, still hold true today?


Will Haskell, YCS Lev. II, ACE
Athletic Development Specialist