Velocity Sports Performance Official Website

The world of youth sports, in San Diego and around the country, has advanced dramatically in the last ten years.  Today’s young athletes have specialized athletic training facilities at their disposal; a service that used to be exclusive to professional athletes.  These sports training facilities can be extremely beneficial to the development of young athletes that no longer participate in developmentally specific physical education or who play year around at a highly intensive level of competition that increases the risk of injury absent quality training.   The key to taking advantage of this new opportunity is identifying which facilities can provide the injury prevention and improvement that young athletes need.  Here are a few tips that will help you make an educated decision when choosing a facility:

• What is the background of the coaches?   If you are going to trust and pay a coach, you have the right to ask about their qualifications.  Look for facilities with degreed and certified coaches.  You want a team of experts who have made performance training their full time profession and who are dedicated to staying on top of the latest research and training techniques.  You also want to make sure the coach has experience with youth and high school athletes.  Training pros does not qualify you to teach high school players.
• Where does the training protocol come from?  Be wary of companies who do not have a consistent methodology or training protocol.  Just like an academic tutor, an athletic training program should follow a proven curriculum.  A trainer should be able to tell you exactly what he or she intended to accomplish with the day's training session.
• Is technique priority number one? – Don’t worry about how much weight your athlete is lifting, worry about the technique they use.  Good performance coaches always have athlete safety on their mind and an exercise done improperly is not worth the time spent doing it.   Small training groups are also important.  Perfect practice makes perfect so make sure your athlete is in a group that is small enough for his or her individual performance to be evaluated.
• Are the training groups age appropriate?  There are signficant developmental milestones that young people go through.  Athletes should train with their peers to ensure that training is developmentally appropriate. 
• Do they have a system for measuring results?  Each company should have an objective way to show you gains made during their training program.  Athletes use this data to gauge their own improvement and performance coaches use this data to measure the efficacy of their training curriculum.  Athletes should train at facilities who test their progress consistently.
• Are the coaches smiling?  Good coaches are role models for young athletes.  Positive reinforcement and feedback should be used at facilities that train youth athletes because a positive environment fosters learning. 
• Is the staff accountable? Training is an investment, and as with any investment, you have the right to ask as many questions as you want.  Make sure that your questions are answered.  Any expert should be able to demonstrate their own expertise.

Remember, the goal for young athletes is to develop sound movement fundamentals and the strength needed to prevent injuries.  When exploring sports training facilities, make sure they take the time to explain their methodology and training system and to get to know you and your child.  If that time isn't spent up front, before you've made the investment, it's unlikely you will get that personal attention down the road.