During the USATF level 2 youth specialty certfication, we went over Canadian, US, UK and various other models for developing an athlete.
This Canadian development program is a great read if you are a parent, athlete and coach.
As a sprint coach I find this especially interesting and have circled the focus for speed development. As a club coach it is important to focus on the windows of optimal trainability. This doesn't mean that you can't develop your speed after these windows. If you have the right sprint coach they can continue to teach the technical skills, form you need to run fast and focus your training based on sports science.
If high school coaches looked at this image, they might realize that if their programs want to have fast kids, that they need good clubs, elementary and middle school PE teachers/coaches to develop the speed before they get to high school...
When I showed this diagram to my son (Anthony Smith - UW Freshman Sprinter) he said that this diagram made total sense in his development as a sprinter... At Speed Unlimited we believe in developing the athlete and teaching the proper techniques of sprinting / running to run/throw/jump efficiently. We also believe in athletes doing multi sport and not specializing too early. The earlier an athlete is introduced to track and field the better they will succeed in track and field and their other sports.
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