There is no greater tool out there to optimize athletics and life for the developing athlete.
“Sound Strength, Speed, & Conditioning in a highly over-specialized youth sporting world is without question the investment that will yield the highest returns on sports performance enhancement.
2nd place isn’t close.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
It’s about the craziest thing in the world to me that the most important, fundamental element of athletic performance enhancement is overlooked or outsourced haphazardly to the unqualified.
It’d be like wanting to have the kitchen countertops redone in your home and hiring a landscaper who stains decks on the side because he’s cheap and can “probably do it.”
You’d never do that, right?
But with the most important, foundational elements of athletic performance and sustained health and success in sport, we do it every single day.
“We’re too busy”
No you’re not. People undervalue the idea of S&C because it doesn’t “look like sport” so they use the busy blanket to justify not prioritizing it.
And I don’t blame people either because Professionals in the field of S&C are too busy arguing with one another about methodology rather than spending their time educating the unknowing general public of its extreme importance as it relates to athletic health, development, and performance.
“It’s too expensive.”
Before I get into this I want to acknowledge that I understand people have different levels of resources and have every right to prioritize or deprioritize what they want to in their own lives.
But I’ll tell you why this is largely untrue for most people in the youth sporting world we’re in.
Our kids who are in the travel/club ball world are playing too high of volumes of year-round sport.
This isn’t my opinion, this is research backed truth when you factor in injury rates/burn out/and performance returns on time allocated.
What if we reduced their overall yearly sport load by 10-15%? They would still be playing an IMMENSE volume of sport, but also leverage the physical, mental, and financial benefits of just a smidge less.
These resources (time & money) could then be allocated to sound S&C, that will only elevate their performance within their sports.
It’s a win win regardless of how you look at it.
But instead, we buy 200 pounds of cheese, ham, and mustard, but not a single loaf of bread and wonder why we’re left with a mess on our hands when it’s all said and done.
It comes down to understanding the value and prioritizing the most valuable athletic resource.
Our kids are worth the investment that will continue to pay them long after their time playing sports.
