Author Login | Popular Articles | RSS Feeds | Sitemap

Home | Sports-and-recreation


Flexibility for Young Athletes- Q & A with Chris Blake

By: Brian Grasso

Chris Blake, MA, LATC, CSCS, YCS


What is the difference between Flexibility and Mobility?
Flexibility can have two definitions:
1.) The ability of muscle to lengthen during passive movements.
2.) Range of motion about a joint and surrounding musculature during passive movements.

Mobility can also have two ways of being defined. The main definition is the state of being in motion. But this state of motion can be looked at within certain joints (subtalar mobility) or as a physical whole (moving from one position into the next during a run).


Are both important to young athletes or is one more important than the other?
This is a great question. Both are important for the older athlete (ages 14-18+) as athletes within this age group tend to show more restrictions with both flexibility and mobility, often times once you take care of the flexibility then you improve mobility. But with the younger athlete (ages 13 and under) I wouldn't place much importance on either one unless there has been a certain injury that limits each.


Are there different kinds of Flexibility, or is 'bending over to touch my toes and stretch my hammy' what all young athletes should be doing?
There are seven different ways of going about flexibility:

Ballistic stretching
Dynamic stretching
Active stretching
Passive (or relaxed) stretching
Static stretching
Isometric stretching
PNF stretching
I use dynamic stretching (more like an active movement series of stretches) with most of my youth athletes from as young as 6 years old.


When should young athletes train Flexibility?
As I stated, I use dynamic stretching with most of my young athletes. But my goal is not to improve flexibility with the younger athletes because I feel that this is not appropriate. If anything, most children are too flexible until their bones lengthen. I would have athletes start to work with flexibility around 14 years of age for males, 12-13 for females. But again I feel that at that point in time dynamic movements and warm-up periods are ideal for flexibility.


When should they train Mobility?
Global Mobility should be an ongoing part of your everyday programming along with movement preparation.


What is the single greatest mistake or myth people make when it comes to Flexibility training?
There are actually two mistakes or myths that come to mind. One is that everyone needs to do static stretches to avoid sustaining a muscle injury. To date there has not been any substantial evidence through research or scientific literature that suggests stretching prevents injuries.

The second part that is more of a mistake than anything is having children perform static stretches before athletic contests or games. The contractile properties of a child's musculoskeletal system does not work well with static stretching. But knowing this and then seeing groups of young athletes stretching the way that their coaches did "back in the day" just does not make any sense. And yet this is still taking place in every youth athletic league throughout this country. Clearly we still have some work to do to make changes.

Article Source: http://www.articlesnatch.com

About the Author:
Known as 'America's Youth Fitness Coach', Brian Grasso spends all his time training young athletes, children with disabilities and those encumbered with body weight concerns. He has authored two books on the subject and was recently featured in Newsweek magazine for his work in youth fitness and sports training. He has also been named as one of the 'Top 100 Trainers in America' by Men's Health magazine. Brian is the Founder and CEO of the International Youth Conditioning Association and can be contacted through his website - www.DevelopingAthletics.com

| Print | Ezine Ready | |

Recent Sports-and-Recreation Articles

  • Need Great Paintball Playing Tips? By: EdwinPutnam - Preparing for War or Just Having Fun? Often, the sport of paintball is criticized as advocating violence. Undeniably, paintball is meant in some ways to simulate war. Most people who play, however, enjoy the sport for the pleasure of working cooperatively as a team to achieve a goal rather than the thrill of the hunt. Just like any other competitive sport, paintball athletes will train for competitions, plan out strategies, and study their opponents in order to gain victory.
  • Pieces of Advice to Sharpen or Adapt Your Paint Ball League Savvy By: EdwinPutnam - Developing your Paintball Target Exercises You can vastly improve your paintball game by consistently involving yourself in target practice. Exercises for target practice can be as simple as setting up soda cans a long distance away and knocking them down one by one. When practicing, it is better to start simple and gradually grow more complicated. To get used to hitting a target accurately with your paintball gun, practice shooting at one target while standing or kneeling.
  • Giants Stadium Tickets and Honda Center Tickets and Seating Arrangements By: Todd Daono - The Giants Stadium entire field is always occupied to the brim and this means that admission takes a different course and people end up having to stand. This is to be evidenced in the forthcoming three sets for Bruce Springsteen shows to be held in the giant Stadium. From an Izod Center website, information was retrieved and it indicated that the September 30th and October 2nd and 3rd, the Springsteen shows for which Ticketamerica will be selling for will be held.
  • Pieces of Advice In Order to Remake and Adapt Your Paintball Group Techniques By: EdwinPutnam - Developing Accuracy as a Paintball Player Accuracy is, without a doubt, one of the most important skills that a proficient paintball player needs to possess. The simple truth of the matter is that no matter how fast you are and how great your strategy is, you can never accomplish your goal if you are always missing your target. Fortunately, this is one area where consistent practice can help anyone become truly skillful.
  • Fenway Park Tickets and Yankee Stadium Tickets and Seating Arrangements By: Todd Daono - The official home for the Boston Red Sox is the Fenway Park. It was inaugurated in the year 1912 and is one of the oldest stadiums of the main league venues. The stadium is situated near Fenway district at Boston. Fenway Park stadium is situated in a strategic place and it offers some fun and unique styles among them are the green monster.
  • four Abundant Suggestions In Order to Sharpen or Restyle Your Own Paint Ball Team Abilities By: EdwinPutnam - Company Paintball There are many occasions in which a game of paintball can be a great activity. Not many people would think about holding a paintball competition as a business strategy. This idea is actually one that is beginning to grow in popularity. Companies have long recognized the value of fun events to boost morale as well as increase employee business skills.
  • The Incredible Striped Bass Fishing Experience By: Tim Stokes - Striped bass fishing is one of the many types of bass fishing that has become very popular in the last ten or fifteen years. Fishing for these incredible animals is both challenging and fun. Being that there is such a broad realm within the bass community, striped bass is in a category all its own.
  • A Couple Mind-blowing Tips In Order to Challenge or Adapt Your Paint Ball Club Crafts By: EdwinPutnam - Video and Paintball Games: Are They Mutuallly Beneficial? There are a lot of video games that focus on sniping, or single shooting. The question on the table is whether or not these single shooter type games help your strategy and effectiveness on the paintball field. In a single player game, one could argue that the computer does most of the action footwork and aiming.
  • Softball Drill – The Basic Key to Win By: Marc-Olivier Dagenais - There is this great rule in softball that you should never underestimate your opponents. If you are a coach in a softball team then it is very important that you should not be laid back. You might be surprised in the end because the team that you expected to be the worse became the best and just won the game. As the mentor of the team, it is necessary that you set some benchmark for your team.
  • Wimbledon - Federer, Roddick and Murray advance to semis; Djokovic upset By: A. Nolan - Wednesday was a very competitive day at Wimbledon; the men’s singles quarterfinals were very interesting having great matches such as Federer against Ivo Karlovic, Novak Djokovic against Tommy Haas, Lleyton Hewitt against Andy Roddick and Andy Murray against Juan Carlos Ferrero. Roger Federer got to his 21st consecutive semifinal on a major tournament by defeating Croatian Ivo Karlovic in straight sets 6-3, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Still can't find what you are looking for? Search for it!

Custom Search

Submit Your link to the Open Link Directory Project

Copyright 2005-2008 MJE Sales, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Proud member of the ArticleCkr Search Network Search Network!
ArticleSnatch.com is free for both publishers and authors to use and is supported entirely from advertising revenue.
Use of our service is protected by our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.