Sports Training goes beyond the gym and is more than just doing bench press and squats. Many general exercises are great to develop strength, speed, power, and explosive movement. However, there is a difference when it comes to sports performance training. All sports are played differently and require different energy and movement needs. And the same goes with positions as well. Regular fitness and resistance training are ok. However, you must make sure the training and exercises your child are doing are not counterproductive. That means is their training translating to the field or slowing them down?

What is Sports Performance Training?

Sports performance training workouts and routines are constructed to prepare your child for their sport. For example, a rower has different training than a rugby and a soccer player. A quarterback does not need to train like a lineman. A soccer player does not need to train like a basketball player. However, if your child wants to be a pitcher, a lineman, a goalie, or a guard, then introducing the correct movement patterns and routines dealing with strength, agility, endurance, and speed are essential. Sports performance training is geared toward the exact motions and exercises with the same motions and actions on the field.

Lets’ take TB12, for example; he trains strictly with resistance bands, not weights. He avoids heavyweights to avoid muscle density. The denser a muscle is, the less range of motion, flexibility, and movement it will have. Also, Tom trains specific movements like a deceleration single leg lunge and resistance band oblique twist, essential quarterback motions. Understanding how your child moves and their position and sport will help you maximize and pinpoint their training to make them stronger, faster, and, most importantly, prevent injury.

Differences between Sports and Regular Training

Sports Performance training is training done with super detail and focus. General training is not. Just like general training has seven basic functional movements you use every day, every sport has its own functional movement skill set. Your child must condition their body to develop the same energy system they will use on the court or field. For example, having a four-cylinder car race a Formula One car does not make sense. Yes, the cars both have motors, but those motors are built to perform differently.

What Makes a Good Sports Performance Trainer

A good sports performance trainer is like an engineer. He will create routines and exercises that mimic your child’s movements they use during their games. The Tom Brady analogy is essential to understand. If your child is building muscle mass with shoulder presses, then what’s the point. Spending time on exercises and routines that create strength but contradict your child’s sport is useless. I am not saying that shoulder presses are wrong, but if you are not focusing on the rotation of the shoulder joint as well, it can be problematic.

This is a problem with doing celebrity or professional athletes routines. Your child must have a routine built specifically for them. It is crucial as they grow because the more efficient, the more proficient their body becomes.

Look for These Qualities in a Sports Performance Trainer.

Let me give you a basic format of what I do and what to look for in a sports trainer.

Firstly, A trainer should first give a functional movement assessment to evaluate your child’s movement on a general level. Also, they should assess how your child breathes too. Incorrect breathing leads to fatigue and adequate strength development. So, think of functional training as the general level, the foundation. If the foundation is not balanced or good, your skills and movements will be compensated and skewed as they advance. And that leads to poor mechanics and injury.

Secondly, a good sports trainer will hone in on your child’s weakness and potential risks to injury and make them stronger, infusing them into strength as a whole. That is an issue when it comes to general training or doing a training program not fit for the sports. It can leave many cracks and gaps in your child’s endurance, strength, and power that can lead to fatigue and injury.

When you have a weak point or link, it must be addressed to advance skills and training to a higher level. Any weak point will collapse under tension when you increase force through movement.

Thirdly, train your child’s sport-specific movement patterns and skills to prepare their strength, speed, explosiveness, and conditioning. The trainer can do this by reviewing videos or watching your child play a game. Depending on what your child needs depends on what course to take.

For example, can your child pitch using the correct movement pattern? Do they have good hand-eye coordination? These are essential questions because you have to build the sequence and understand what is needed to be proficient. For example, what good is throwing a fastball if your child has poor hand-eye coordination? What good is it having a lighting shot on goal if you can’t get it past the goalie?

Fourthly, develop the correct cardiovascular endurance and conditioning routine for the sport. What that means is football conditioning is different than baseball or soccer. The trainer will learn to optimize time during a game as they do in football, for example huddles and get the play going before the time clock expires.

Furthermore, know how to condition soccer players who need interval training. Again, they are two different ways. Many mistakes are to crush your child with high intensity training when it is not required or fail to integrate intensity using their skills and specific movements properly.

Depending on your sport and sports position, your child plays should include the appropriate strength, speed, power, coordination, exercises, etc. Traditional resistance training lacks the detail and focus needed to enhance sport-specific training. Sports performance training should be created around your child’s particular needs to prepare their body to succeed in their sport.