Long Term Athlete Development: A Comprehensive Approach to Youth Hockey, Slides of Decision Making

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LESSON WORKBOOK

DR. STEVE NORRIS

AGES 12 AND UNDER

Long Term Athlete

Development

Long Term Athlete Development

• Long term athlete development (LTAD) is a process that takes many years. It is non-linear and highly individualized.
• LTAD is also an ongoing process that focuses on continual development of skills and continual understanding of the game. Coaches in this process are ultimately preparing players to move up to the next stage of development.
• Children are not miniature adults. A 6-year-old is not half of a 12-year-old or 1/3 of an 18-year-old. The overall aspect of gathering experience over time is an important part of the developmental steps.
• A great challenge for coaches is to understand how difficult this process is. Athletes are dealing with massive changes such as brain function, skill levels, social interaction capabilities and communication styles. The coach has to manage all this in stride, while stressing hard work in a positive and encouraging environment. Learn to Train Stage
• This is a crucial period of time for physical development, skill development and enhancement of fundamental movement skills. Individual development within the team setting remains a major focus.
• Complementary sport participation is important while off-ice training plays a bigger role. Specializing or limiting to one or two activities at this young age may actually limit the ultimate outcome and potential of the athlete. In late specialization sports, most high performers do not specialize until the age of 14 or 15.
• Overall athleticism (agility, balance, coordination, speed) will support hockey-specific skills. By the end of this stage, physical literacy should be developed allowing a seamless move to more advanced forms of training.
• The use of age-appropriate equipment and playing surfaces should continue. Playing on a smaller surface will lead to improved decision-making skills, increased speed of execution and development of spatial awareness.
• Time on task is very important for sport-specific (hockey) skills. Think about how much time your players are active during a session. They need to be working with the puck and making decisions on the ice. Encourage creativity while allowing your players to experiment with the puck.
• Gender differences become more pronounced during this stage of development. The gender split is related to growth and maturity. Although rapid growth will occur in both genders, females are developmentally ahead of males. Age Group Coaching
• The coach has a huge influence on athlete development.
• Encourage players to become better problem solvers. Player creativity through unstructured play can play a large role.
• Think of the analogy of a skateboard park. There is often no coach and the main focus is fun. There is no standard curriculum. o There is heavy peer influence and the athletes learn through mimicry and peer demonstrations.
• Athlete development is about raising standards across the board for everyone involved. o Program content is constantly being revised and enhanced. o There is a high standard of athlete competency and rate of progress. o Coaches are held to a high standard in delivering the proper messages. o Parents should be educated accordingly. o We all must raise our game!

Long Term Athlete Development

Rationale Behind the American Development Model USA Hockey started with a review of research that has taken place in child and athletic development around the globe. Elite performance studies from multiple sport bodies, governments as well as other endeavors such as music and the arts were evaluated. Through the review of current research, it was quickly concluded that to truly address player development, a completely new way of looking at USA Hockey’s structure must be undertaken. Critical development begins at a very early age. As children mature, they each progress during the same developmental stages through the growth and maturation process. Along this path, certain aspects of these stages must be addressed at the appropriate time intervals. Without developing skills and certain physical and mental attributes at the proper time, the long-term prospects of becoming a truly elite athlete are diminished. Research has shown that we cannot just focus on a few older players; an encompassing strategy must be followed. As we evaluated the current research, variations of Istvan Balyi’s long-term athlete development (LTAD) principles are being employed around the globe by more than 100 government health ministries and sport National Governing Bodies. Within hockey, there is no doubt that countries like Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic produce high- end NHL players. Their numbers are especially impressive when one considers the populations and player numbers from those counties. In each of those countries, long-term athlete development principles are at the core of their development model. Long-term athlete development is a generic, conceptual framework for athlete development in sport that can be used as a basis on which to ‘re-align,’ or make more consistent, existing systems and structures. It has been developed by Istvan Balyi, an internationally recognized coach educator, and is based upon a consensus of evidenced research about how young people develop sporting ability, linking more closely the coaching and development of players to their physical and psychological growth.

Long Term Athlete Development

The ADM is a long-term athlete development plan for the sport of ice hockey. It takes into consideration the guiding LTAD principles that are widely accepted around the globe. Consistent with LTAD, the ADM:

1. Integrates training, competition and recovery programming with relation to biological development and maturation
2. Offers equal opportunity for recreation and competition
3. Is participant/athlete centered; coach driven; and parents, officials, administration, sport medicine & sport science supported It should be recognized that much of LTAD is nothing new. The majority of the research on which it is based is widely accepted, and has been used to underpin physical education teaching for many years. The difference that LTAD brings is a ‘packaging’ of this theory for mass understanding and a mechanism for applying the theory to better integrate whole sports development systems (i.e. coaching, training, playing, competition, etc). It is also important that our USA Hockey membership understand that it is not just our hockey people that endorse a LTAD plan, but that sports science and development experts from around the globe endorse this model and are adopting this methodology for their own sports. All young people follow the same pattern of growth and development, although there are significant differences between individuals in the timing and magnitude of these changes. In relation to physical activity, there are seven key phases of growth and development. The relevant ‘stage’ of the LTAD hockey model for each phase of growth and development is described below. Early Childhood Active Start Males & Females 0-6 years Late Childhood FUNdamentals Males 6-9 & Females 6- Adolescence Learn to Train Males 9-12 & Females 8- (Early Puberty) Adolescence Train to Train Males 12-16 & Females 11- (Late Puberty) Early Adulthood Learn to Compete Males 16-18 & Females 15- Early Adulthood Train to Compete Males 19-23 & Females 18- Adulthood Train to Win Males 19+ & Females 18+ LTAD Foundation of Research, Principles and Tools Long-term athlete development has at its foundation 10 different elements of sport science and child development research. When considering the structure of any athlete development program, these elements must also be considered. 10 Year – 10,000 Hour Rule It takes years of organized practice to become an expert performer. Research shows this is true of developing any skill, such as learning to play an instrument or playing sport. This is sometimes referred to as the ‘10 year – 10,000- hour rule’ relating to the need to practice for three hours a day for 10 years. Many researchers believe this is just a minimum. The bottom line is that it takes an enormous amount of work and time to become an elite athlete. This is done through a diverse sports movement and sports skills background. Once this foundation is laid, it takes years of deliberate practice to develop an elite performer at the highest level.

Long Term Athlete Development

Windows of Optimal Trainability There are identifiable stages during a child’s physical and psychological development that offer optimum opportunities to develop particular attributes, such as basic movement skills (agility, balance, coordination and speed), basic sports skills (running, jumping, throwing, skating and striking) and physical capacities (flexibility, endurance, and strength). Missing these optimum opportunities has been shown to significantly affect a child’s ability to reach his or her full potential. In our current system, training in early years focuses on outcomes (winning) rather than the developmental process (optimal training). As Balyi states, “Damage done between ages 6-10 and 10-16 cannot be fully corrected (players/ athletes will never reach their genetic potential) and national training or sport centers receiving mediocre athletes, regardless of funding and expertise, cannot recover from the ‘damages’ of earlier training.” Elite player development and a sound structure at the 12 & Under level for broad-based skill development are not mutually exclusive. What do we currently produce in the U.S.? We have an over abundance of average players and very few truly elite players at the highest levels (NHL), especially when our numbers are taken into consideration. This is due to a lack of the proper focus on training through the appropriate ‘windows of optimal trainability.’ Diagram 8-1 illustrates windows of optimal trainability for male and female athletes. These critical windows provide accelerated adaptation to training and, if skipped or missed, decrease a child’s chance to reach his or her full potential. It must be kept in mind that all systems are always trainable, yet with smaller degrees of adaptation to training over time. In our current system, the window of opportunity on skills development (9-12) for male players is missed through over-competition and under-training.

Long Term Athlete Development

These critical periods vary between individuals as each child is unique in his or her genetic makeup. While these critical periods follow general stages of human growth and maturation, scientific evidence shows that humans vary considerably in the magnitude and rate of response to different training stimuli at all stages. Some players may show potential for excellence at age 11, while others may not indicate their promise until age 15 or 16. Consequently, a long-term approach to player development is needed to ensure that players who respond slowly to training stimuli are not ‘shortchanged’ in their development. The five trainable physical capacities and windows of optimal trainability are:

• Stamina (Endurance) : The optimal window of trainability occurs at the onset of peak height velocity (PHV). This is more commonly known as the adolescent growth spurt. Aerobic capacity training is recommended before athletes reach PHV. Aerobic power should be introduced progressively after growth rate decelerates.
• Strength : The optimal window of trainability for girls is immediately after PHV or at the onset of the menarche, while for boys it is 12-to-18 months after PHV.
• Speed : For boys, the first speed training window occurs between the ages of 7 and 9 years and the second window occurs between the ages of 13 and 16. For girls, the first speed training window occurs between the ages of 6 and 8 years and the second window occurs between the ages of 11 and 13 years.
• Skill : The window for optimal skill training for boys takes place between the ages of 9 and 12 and between the ages of 8 and 11 for girls.
• Suppleness (Flexibility) : The optimal window of trainability for suppleness for both genders occurs between the ages of 6 and 10. Special attention should be paid to flexibility during PHV, due to rapid growth. Additional capacities have been identified that must also be considered throughout an athlete’s development and, in addition to the five physical capacities, make up a holistic approach to training.
• Structure/Stature : The height of a person before, during and after maturation can be utilized by a coach or parent. Tracking growth as a guideline for developmental age can allow for planning to take advantage of the critical ‘windows of optimal trainability.’
• Psychology : Sport is a physical and mental challenge. The ability to maintain high levels of concentration, yet remain relaxed with the confidence to succeed, is a skill essential to long-term performance in sport. This skill also has the potential to transcend sport and affect our everyday lives. To develop the mental toughness for success at the highest levels, training programs are required that address the specific gender and LTAD stage of players. The training programs should include key mental components identified by sport psychologists: concentration, confidence, motivation and handling pressure. As a player progresses through LTAD stages, the mental training aspect will evolve from having fun and respecting opponents; to visualization and self-awareness; to goal setting, relaxation, and positive self-talk. To master the mental challenge of sport, these basic skills are then tested in increasingly difficult competitive environments. Ultimately, the planning, implementation and refining of mental strategies for high-level competition will have a large impact on elite performance. Consequently, the mental training program is critical at all stages of LTAD, as dealing with success and failure will determine continuation in the game and physical activity in general.
• Sustenance : This category refers to all aspects of replenishing the body for sports and general health. It covers a wide range of topics from nutrition and hydration to rest and recovery. Fatigue, whether it comes from a single practice/competition or builds up over time through a lengthy schedule, can be combated through a proper lifestyle. Whether our children become elite athletes, or we look for better performance in school or just to lead a healthier life, we will all thrive with better education and following a plan that replenishes our physical and mental needs.

Long Term Athlete Development

“Training Age” refers to the age at which athletes begin planned, regular, serious involvement in training. The tempo of a child’s growth has significant implications for athletic training because children who mature at an early age have a major advantage during the Training to Train stage compared to average or late maturers. However, after all athletes have gone through their growth spurt, it is often later maturers who have greater potential to become top athletes provided that they experience quality coaching throughout that period (see Diagram 8-3). Not all players have the potential to become elite players. The American Development Model recognizes this by offering two levels of content from the Train to Train stage forward. The high performance content is aimed at those players who have been identified and who choose to attempt to be potential elite performers, while the standard content offers a reduced level of commitment more appropriate to the majority of players who will form the basis of club teams of the future. The split between the levels of content at the early part of the Train to Train stage are relatively small as it is deemed to be such an important stage in developing a broader base of potential elite players. However, the differentiation between hockey and other sports may necessitate the divergence at this stage. It is important to note that research suggests that there can be numerous players who follow the standard track through the Train to Train and into the Train to Compete stages who will have the potential to become elite performers. This is especially true if they have a diverse sports movement background through playing multiple sports during the FUNdamemtal and Learn to Train stages.

Long Term Athlete Development

Periodization Periodization is the practice of segmenting the calendar year into appropriate time intervals for preparation, competition and rest and recovery. Athletes at different stages of their development require different training plans to optimize their development through their growth and maturation. The science behind periodization has been used on the international stage with great success in many, many sports. Unfortunately, sometimes a sport’s traditions are placed in front of the athlete’s needs when planning a periodization schedule. This has an impact on maximizing the player’s development. The Great One’s Message to Parents: Let Your Kids Have Fun “In youth hockey, in most cases, it’s really important for kids to play other sports, whether it’s indoor lacrosse or soccer or baseball. I think what that does is two things. One, each sport helps the other sport. And then I think taking time off in the off-season - that three or four month window really rejuvenates kids so when they come back at the end of August, they’re more excited. They think, ‘All right, hockey’s back, I’m ready to go.’” — Wayne Gretzky. Gretzky was a multi-sport athlete himself growing up, as he also excelled in baseball and lacrosse, quoted from “Great One’s Message to Parents: Let Your Kids Have Fun” (Globe and Mail, 9/26/2008 – Eric Duhatschek). Training to Competition Ratios Through a child’s growth and maturation, the athletic development model needs change through different stages. The appropriate training-to-competition ratios need to be adhered to in order to maximize a player’s time and potential. When a heavy emphasis is placed on competition at an early age, two situations occur. First, ice time is directed toward games, which reduces the amount of quality deliberate practice time. And second, the focus becomes more outcome based (winning) and less process driven (learning the game). There are all kinds of arguments put forth as to why we must allow the imbalance in our training-to-competition ratios to continue, and certainly the one-to-one ratio has its place within the recreational Hockey for Life track. However, for our Tier I, Tier II and high performance players that are part of our elite development path, the correct ratios must be adhered to at the appropriate ages. System Alignment The framework for long-term athlete development is influenced by many factors. We have clubs, schools and ice arena facilities all with varying interests. To maximize a player’s development needs, it is important those entities work together and become mutually supportive as each has its part to play in advancing our game. Players will best develop in a system that is clearly defined, logically structured and based upon consistent principles. We need a structure that is athlete centered and looks at the individual player’s development. In a team sport, it is appropriate to look at the collective whole and to provide the direction and lessons that only a team sport can provide. However, we must always consider that each individual is at a different point through the stages of his or her development (early maturer or late maturer, for example). The goal is to define our sports system with a pathway that addresses the needs of each individual and maximizes their development as they progress through our system. The LTAD principles show us that at the earlier ages, both the Hockey for Life group and the ones that end up as high-performance player, should initially be held to the same pathway. Our current sport system mistakenly allows for the separation of the perceived Hockey for Life group and the perceived high-performance group before any reliable determination can possibly be made. To maximize each player’s potential, we need the major parties to re-evaluate current practices and base new practices on current legitimate research instead of

Long Term Athlete Development

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