Every coach, every sport has different seasons.

They have different lengths
Some have weekly competitions, some twice a week
There are sports that last six weeks and sports that last a year.
Some coaches have a lot of control over the athletes
And some coaches have almost no control.

Planning varies by sport, …

This years World Cup has brought a soccer fever to the US. More people are watching it and talking about it than ever before. I’m wondering if it will have a boost on US youth soccer programs (probably) or professional soccer attendance (probably not).
What has …

I play basketball on most Saturdays. Today was pretty brutal with lots of running and jumping with a bunch of guys who are younger, faster and more skilled. It’s frustrating but always fun and a great workout.
I like to observe myself during the game. My …

When I watch youth sport teams such as football, basketball, and baseball workout, most teams do a lot of running.
They run a warm-up lap, then they typically do sprints at the end of practice.
The kids are encouraged to go fast and compete. But I don’t …

Yesterday’s post was about different types of strength training that can be used in a youth sports program. I believe that all youth sports teams should do some type of strength training and so should PE programs. It’s needed not only for the success of …

Recently, I’ve been experimenting with doing different types of strength training on myself.
When I started lifting weights in high school and college, a typical workout was a basic body building workout. It was pretty much taken from Muscle and Fitness and it looked like:
1. A …

Sprinting is an integral part of most youth sports. Being able to run fast is crucial for football, baseball, basketball and soccer.
Even in volleyball, sprinting is important, though it’s not part of the game.
And long distance and cross-country runners need to sprint. And swimmers need to …

At different stages of my coaching career I would have said different things for how practices should be.

At 19 I would have said practices need to be tough.
At 25 I would have said practices need to be instructional.
At 35 I would have said practices should have …

I’m a big fan of dryland programs for swimmers of all ages. Swimming is a great sport but not all athletes get the benefits from it. If kids don’t have the skills to press on the water or the core strength to stay aligned then …

Some coaches think that being able to catch is a genetic skill; you either have it or you don’t.
Or that if you just throw the ball enough, kids will improve and be able to catch. I disagree.
I believe that catching a ball (specifically, a football though …