Developing Skills Under Different Conditions

As Athletes Grow, the Challenge Needs to Grow Too

Over the past few newsletters, we've looked at how young athletes develop movement skills, how training progresses as they grow, and why physical development provides an important foundation for athletics.

As athletes move from childhood towards their teenage years, another change starts to occur.

The skills they have learned need to become more adaptable.

It is one thing to perform a movement when everything is controlled and predictable. It is another to perform that same movement faster, under greater load, when fatigued, or when the environment changes. This is an important part of progressing from a young athlete into a teenage athlete.

First Learn the Movement

When athletes are young, much of strength and conditioning is really about learning how to move. Squatting. Lunging. Landing. Jumping. Hopping. Pushing and pulling. Running and changing direction.

These fundamental movements provide the foundations for more advanced training later. At this stage, bodyweight exercises, medicine balls, light resistance, games and movement challenges can all be forms of strength and conditioning. The objective isn't to see how much an athlete can lift. It is to give them a large movement toolbox.

Then Change the Challenge

Once an athlete understands a movement, we can begin changing the conditions. Take a simple squat. An athlete might initially learn the movement using their bodyweight. Later, we can add a light external load. We can perform a split squat and challenge each leg individually. We can ask the athlete to move more explosively and turn the movement into a jump. Eventually, as they mature and develop an appropriate training history, we can introduce more structured strength training.

The movement hasn't completely changed. The challenge has.

Strength Training Changes as Athletes Grow

This becomes particularly important as athletes transition into adolescence. Growth and maturation bring significant physical changes. Athletes get taller. Their limbs change length. Muscle mass and strength develop, and their ability to produce force can change considerably.

For some athletes, movements that previously felt easy can suddenly feel awkward during a growth spurt. That is normal. It also means training shouldn't progress simply because an athlete has reached a particular birthday. Two 13-year-olds can be at very different stages of physical development. Good strength and conditioning recognises those differences.

What Might This Look Like in Practice?

Imagine three athletes completing a lower-body strength exercise.

A younger athlete might perform a controlled bodyweight split squat while learning balance, posture and coordination. A more experienced athlete might perform the same movement while holding a light dumbbell. A teenage athlete with several years of training experience might use a more challenging resistance while working towards specific strength objectives.

All three athletes are developing strength. But they are doing so under conditions appropriate to their current stage of development.

The same principle applies to jumping. We might progress from learning how to land, to jumping and landing, to repeated hops, and eventually to faster and more demanding plyometric activities.

Progression isn't about replacing the basics. It is about gradually asking the athlete to do more with them.

From the Gym to Athletics

The same progression should eventually connect back to athletics.

A young athlete may first learn how to produce force through a squat or jump. We can then challenge them to produce that force faster through hopping, bounding or medicine-ball activities. Eventually, they need to express those qualities while sprinting, jumping or throwing.

For example, a sprinter may progress from basic strength exercises to jumps and accelerations before learning to apply greater forces at increasingly higher running speeds. A jumper might progress from landing mechanics to jumping, hopping and bounding before expressing those qualities during faster approaches and take-offs. A thrower might develop basic pushing, pulling and rotational strength before learning to produce those movements explosively with a medicine ball and eventually an implement.

The gym develops physical capacity. Athletics teaches athletes how to use it.

Learning to Adapt

Changing conditions isn't only about making exercises harder. Sometimes we deliberately make movements slightly different.

We can change the direction. Change the speed. Change the distance. Change the starting position. Change the equipment. Or introduce a new movement challenge.

This teaches young athletes something incredibly valuable: how to adapt. Rather than only being good at one exercise or one drill, athletes gradually become capable of solving different movement problems. That adaptability is an important part of becoming athletic.

More Advanced Doesn't Always Mean Better

As athletes become teenagers, it can be tempting to assume their training needs to look more impressive. Heavier weights. More complicated exercises. Harder sessions.

But progression isn't about making training complicated. A well-performed squat, split squat, hinge, push, pull, jump or sprint can continue to be valuable throughout an athlete's entire development. What changes is how those exercises are prescribed.

The load might increase. The speed might change. The volume might change. Or the exercise might be combined with more explosive or event-specific work.

The basics don't disappear. They evolve.

How We Approach This at the Centre of Excellence

Within the Junior Development Program at the Centre of Excellence, we want young athletes to build a broad physical foundation before gradually progressing towards more structured training.

For our younger athletes, that means plenty of opportunities to run, jump, throw, land, balance, coordinate and explore different movements. As athletes mature and demonstrate good movement competency, strength and conditioning can become progressively more structured.

The transition towards the teenage years therefore isn't a sudden jump from "junior training" to "adult training." It is a gradual progression. The athlete becomes stronger. The exercises become more challenging. Movements become faster. And eventually, training becomes increasingly connected to the demands of their athletics event.

Final Thought

Developing young athletes isn't about constantly finding new exercises. It is about taking the skills they already have and gradually challenging them in different ways.

Learn the movement. Develop control. Add strength. Increase speed. Change the conditions. Then learn to express those qualities in athletics.

At the Centre of Excellence, we want athletes to enter their teenage years with more than just strength or fitness. We want them to have a broad movement toolbox, confidence in the gym, and the ability to adapt when the challenge changes.

Because as young athletes grow, training should grow with them.