Q. What are your thoughts about plyometric training for young athletes?
A. If you ask any trainer this question you are bound to get varying responses from those that love plyometric training for all ages to those who think that it is way too advance for young athletes. I think that while some plyometric exercises may be a little challenging and inappropriate for children (i.e. Drop down box jumps from 3 feet), there are many that can enhance and improve body movement at a young age setting the stage for advanced development later in life.
Plyometric training can encompass a large variety of hopping, skipping, jumping, and throwing exercises. Plyometric movements start with a rapid stretch of a muscle, followed by a rapid shortening or contraction of the same muscle. This type of movement is seen almost every day in children on the playground and those practicing their sports. But why stop there? Young children may have the most readily adaptable neuromuscular system for training skilled motor behaviors. A primed system ready to learn basic movements associated with their sport is critical to train at young ages in order to move on to more advanced movements later in life. All to often the window of opportunity passes by several developing children because of cautious parents and trainers. Why? Because many trainers do not take the time to ensure correct exercise technique or assess the abilities of each athlete at an individual skill level before implementing a plan.
At our clinic, after an extensive functional movement evaluation of a young athlete, we start progressing them slowly with basic skill set movements. As part of their weekly routine, a child as young as the ages of 7 and 8 should be using simple hops, throws, and skips to improve their speed of movement and power production. One of our most commonly used beginning exercises to hone the neuromuscular system and improve sprinting movements is the “A” and “B” skip series (searchable on the Internet). Youth coaches can integrate these movements, as well as others, into skilled practice sessions to round out their training.
Alas, while plyometric movements are helpful, children still need to be careful during this stage of progression. One of the most serious mistakes that most trainers make is prescribing training that exceeds a child’s capacity. Injury prevention is always one of our goals with training and it is better to underestimate the physical abilities of a child and progress slowly than to suffer negative consequences.