YOUTH ATHLETIC DEVELOPMENT Rick Howard, MED, CSCS,*D, USAW
CORE TRAINING FOR YOUTH
AT THE CORE OF THE DEBATE
Core training remains a hot topic in the strength and conditioning industry. Everyone has an opinion as to the relative importance of incorporating core stability and strengthening exercises. Too often, programs that are intended for adults or taken from another discipline are automatically applied to youth with the same enthusiasm, but perhaps without the academic rigor required for implementation. When programming core training for the youth population, it is important to remember that programming decisions should be evidence-based from reliable peer-reviewed resources. When judging topics related to youth training, any research study you review to make your informed decision on the efficacy of any training modality or program design needs to match the youth population and be applicable to either one subpopulation (e.g., youth athletes) or across the youth population as a whole, depending on personal interest and youth population served. or lack of transferability to sport skills (7,8). Both issues deserve attention from all coaches and trainers. Youth coaches typically do not have significant periods of time to spend with aspiring youth athletes. It is important for the program they choose to have maximum benefit for the amount of time spent. If the effort does not transfer to developing the integrated fitness that leads to athleticism and sport skill, alternative methods that meet the program goals need to be implemented. There is not a strong relationship between core stability, functional movement, and performance. Okada, et al. found no significant correlations between core stability and Function [[?[Y[???Y[?[??
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