Good Coaches Make Youth Sports Healthy
“Youth sports is out of control! We need to go back to the good ole days when everyone played for fun in their neighborhoods!” The old days were good, but they’re gone. Now, issues of safety, distance, parental work schedules, and availability of playing areas make neighborhood games something of a relic. And, I’m sorry. Fantasy […]
Resistance Band Tag: FUN Fitness
Your players have never begged this much to work this hard. Here’s a U14 girls team having a blast playing “resistance band tag.” They dribble, run, pass, strengthen their leg muscles and train their hearts. And they can’t wait to play again. The rules: each player except one secures a resistance band by tying it […]
Dynamic Youth Fitness: Wall Jump
Here’s a look at girls performing the wall jump. They are asked to jump off of two feet using their arms to propel them upwards, and to land quietly on both feet. Then to spring up again. Their verbal cue is to jump “straight as an arrow” and to land “light as a feather.” This is a […]
Dynamic Fitness Video: The Step-Over
Here’s a quick look at the step over drill, also known as the scissor drill. Girls are asked to perform continuous step-overs for 30 seconds over and around a flat cone at their feet. For some, this is a fitness challenge. Their weakness shows in sloppy steps, kicking the cone, or flat-footed stepping rather than bounding off the balls […]
Fit2Finish Will Present ‘Fit to the Final Whistle’ at the VYSA Conference Feb. 3/4
Fit2Finish will be presenting Fit to the Final Whistle to coaches, trainers and athletes at the Virginia Youth Soccer Association Convention in Richmond on February 3 and 4. Coaches want their athletes to stay strong and execute their game plan all the way to overtime – if necessary. But finding time during practice to add conditioning is […]
Interval Train to use Recovery as a Training Tool
Recovery. Every athlete needs it. Suzy Germain says it’s missing from her son’s topnotch team and that’s taking a toll. Wayne Goldsmith, in his January 4th blog post, has a great mnemonic to help us think about how recovery – that is, time off from sport-specific conditioning and training – re-charges the elite athlete so he can go […]
Making Mistakes is A-okay
Many girls, by nature, are tentative. Go ahead. Watch the U7 boys play. They throw themselves into the game, into their opponent, get whistled for rough play. Then watch the girls. They fight over offering the other player the ball. A whole new species. Girls are tentative, not necessarily because they are being polite, but because […]
The “Coach-Athlete” Conversation about Playing Time
One of the hardest issues for kids in today’s competitive youth sports setting is playing time. No one likes to spend time on the bench; the fun is in playing the game. But, the more competitive the team, the more important the win. Coaches whose jobs and reputation depend on fielding a winning team play their starters. Maybe only […]
We Need to Give Kids a Break in the Season
Here’s a riddle: What do you call something you do almost every day, all week, year round? … work, right? What do we call it when our kids do it? … sports. Is anyone laughing? Neither are our kids. They’re paying the price in exhaustion, stress, injury, and burnout. The scenario sounds very much like the […]
Legacy of Joe Paterno: Hold All Coaches to the Highest Standards
If you Google “coach” today, you’ll find the debacle of ex-coach Joe Paterno. But below this (after Coach handbags) you’ll land not on “sport coaching” but on personal or life coaching. These are people who will help you achieve your personal and professional goals. The word, I’m told, originated from the coach or carriage that carries people from one […]