Foundation

If you are going to build a strong, long lasting stable structure you must build a sound foundation. You are thinking, well that is obvious. Well if it so obvious why do we persist in fast tracking our athletes, specializing them early without giving them the proper foundation? If the building materials we use to build the foundation is of poor quality or an ingredient is omitted it will show up later as deficiencies in the final structure. Look at it from the positive side; great athletes who have flawless technique and are injury free have foundations built on fundamental movement skills and basic physical conditioning. Nothing fancy, just the basics well taught and mastered. Without this foundation sooner or later the structure built on the weak foundation will fail. Most often it will fail under stress. The stress can be increased training load or tougher more frequent competition, but failure is inevitable.

The message is clear, build a solid foundation made up of good construction material. Develop fundamental movements so that the athlete has the movement vocabulary to progress when appropriate to basic sports skills. The same with physical conditioning give the athlete the basics of strength, speed, endurance and flexibility and then progressively build on that. No need to be in a hurry, move step by step, insure mastery of each step before proceeding to the next step. As part of the foundation teach good training habits and routine. Encourage learning through discovery. Time and effort dedicated to building a strong stable foundation will insure the probability of  long success.