Basquetbol

LONG-TERM ATHLETE DEVELOPMENT: TRAINABILITY IN
CHILDHOOD AND ADOLESCENCE
Windows of Opportunity, Optimal Trainability
By Istvan Balyi, Ph.D., National Coaching Institute British Columbia, Canada
and Ann Hamilton, MPE Advanced Training and Performance Ltd. Victoria,
B.C., Canada
Scientific research has concluded that it takes eight-to-twelve years of training
for a talented player/athleteto reach elite levels. This is called the ten-year or
10,000 hour rule, which translates to slightly more than three hours of practice
daily for ten years (Ericsson, et al., 1993; Ericsson and Charness, 1994,
Bloom, 1985; Salmela et al., 1998) Unfortunately, parents and coaches in
many sports still approach training with an attitude best characterized as "peaking by
Friday," where a short-termapproach is taken to training and performance with an overemphasis on immediate results. We now know that a long-term commitment to practice
and training is required to produce elite players/athletes in all sports.
"It takes 10 years of extensive training to excel in anything"
Herbert Simon - Nobel Laureate
Introduction
A specific and well-planned practice, training, competition and recoveryregime will
ensure optimum development throughout an athlete’s career. Ultimately, sustained
success comes from training and performing well over the long-term rather than winning
in the short-term. There is no short-cut to success in athletic preparation. Overemphasizing competition in the early phases of training will always cause shortcomings
in athletic abilities later in an athlete’scareer.
This article discusses trainability during childhood and adolescence. Coaches worldwide
currently design long and short-term athlete training models as well as competition and
recovery programs based on their athletes’ chronological age. Yet, research has shown
that chronological age is not a good indicator on which to base athlete development
models for athletes between the ages of 10to 16. There is a wide variation in the
physical, cognitive and emotional development of athletes within this age group.
Superimposing a scaled down version of adult athlete training and competition models is
not a good alternative either. Ideally, coaches would be able to determine the biological
age of their athletes and use this information as the foundation for athlete development
models.Unfortunately, there is no reliable procedure to identify biological age noninvasively. So what can be done to remedy this situation?
One practical solution is to use the onset of Peak Height Velocity (PHV) as a reference
point for the design of optimal individual programs with relation to “critical” or

“sensitive” periods of trainability during the maturation process.
Prior to the onset ofPHV, boys and girls can train together and chronological age can be
used to determine training, competition and recovery programs. The average age for the
onset of PHV is 12 and 14 years for females and males respectively. The onset of PHV is
influenced by both genetic and environmental factors, including climate, cultural
influences, and social environment.
The onset of PHV is a referencepoint that provides valuable information for training the
athletes’ energy systems and Central Nervous System (CNS), regardless of chronological
age. Using simple measurements, PHV can be monitored and training can be related and
optimised to exploit the critical periods of trainability. This approach can enhance the
development of short and long-term individually optimized training,competition and
recovery programs such the optimal window of accelerated adaptation to stamina
(endurance), strength, speed, skill and suppleness training – or the Five S’s of training
and performance.
It should be pointed out that all energy systems are always trainable, but during the socalled “critical” periods accelerated adaptation will take place if the proper volume,
intensity and frequency of...