Over the past decade, the complexity of athlete development has increased, and sport science has become enthralled with metrics and genetics. While an abundance of information has emerged, there is still a lack of practical guidance on how to integrate this information with training to help athletes achieve their potential. Developing the Athlete: An Applied Sport Science Roadmap for Optimizing Performance brings much-needed clarity, providing a proven blueprint for bringing together the many fields related to sport science via an athlete development team that navigates the day-to-day development of each athlete. Developed by a team of renowned authors—including William Kraemer, one of the most prolifically published sport scientists in history—Developing the Athlete: An Applied Sport Science Roadmap for Optimizing Performance is the first resource of its kind. It explains the integration of sport science through the development of an athlete development team, implementing a process of testing, evaluating, assessing, and monitoring athlete training and performance. You will learn how data generated by the athlete development team are translated into training programs that promote the physical and psychological development an athlete needs to compete and succeed at every level of competition. You will also find step-by-step explanations of how to create a testing “fingerprint” unique to each athlete, as well as case studies and success stories that demonstrate how the concepts in the book have been experienced in real life. Get a better understanding of how the use of sport science can improve the skills needed for long-term athlete development. Developing the Athlete: An Applied Sport Science Roadmap for Optimizing Performance will help all types of sport performance professionals prioritize and apply the three Cs—credentials, competence, and commitment—so you can tap into known scientific principles and practices to develop a path for success for all your athletes. Earn continuing education credits/units! A continuing education exam that uses this book is also available. It may be purchased separately or as part of a package that includes both the book and exam.

Long-Term Athlete Development describes how to systematically develop sporting excellence and increase active participation in local, regional, and national sport organizations. This resource describes the long-term athlete development (LTAD) model, an approach to athlete-centered sport that combines skill instruction with long-term planning and an understanding of human development. By learning about LTAD, sport administrators and coaches will gain the knowledge and tools to enhance participation and improve performance and growth of athletes. This text offers the first in-depth and practical explanation of the LTAD model. Long-Term Athlete Development integrates current research on talent development and assessment into practice to help sport leaders plan athletic development across the life span or design detailed programs for a particular group, including those with physical and cognitive disabilities. Authors Balyi, Way, and Higgs—pioneers and veteran LTAD facilitators—critique current talent development models, discuss the limitations of the LTAD model, and demonstrate the benefits of LTAD as a new approach. By integrating knowledge of these models, readers are able to analyze their own programs and take steps to improve sport and coaching philosophies and reach adherence and performance goals. Explanations and visuals of concepts help readers understand the state of knowledge in talent identification and long-term athlete development. Chapter-opening vignettes offer examples of how the LTAD model can be used to alleviate common issues. Listings at the end of each chapter offer sources for further study, and reflection questions guide readers in applying the content. The text offers a logical presentation of current research: • Key factors that guide and shape the LTAD model, such as physical literacy, the differences between early- and late-specialization sports, and variations in trainability across the life span • Information on the time needed to develop excellence in sport and how periodization of training is related to the developmental stage of the athlete • The seven stages of LTAD, from development of fundamental movement skills to training for elite competition and the transition to lifelong physical activity • Considerations in the development of optimal programs for participants passing through each of the seven stages Long-Term Athlete Development is an essential guide to improving the quality of sport, developing high-performance athletes, and creating healthy, active citizens. It offers parents, coaches, and sport administrators a deeper understanding of the LTAD model, helping them create an enjoyable, developmentally appropriate environment for both competitive athletes and enthusiastic participants.

In Implementing Student-Athlete Programming, scholar-practitioners provide an approachable and comprehensive overview of how to design, implement, and sustain best practices in the growing area of student-athlete development. Exploring research approaches and critical frames for thinking about student-athlete programming while covering topics such as the current context, challenges, programmatic approaches to support, and trends for the future, this resource also highlights programs that are effective in supporting students to success. This book provides higher education practitioners with the tools they need to effectively work with student-athletes to not only transition to college, but to develop meaningful personal, social, career, and leadership development experiences as they prepare for the transition to life after sport.

This book provides a broad and multidisciplinary review of psychological aspects of sport participation that are important to consider in young athletes. It discusses the many psychosocial benefits of sports, describes common mental health and body image issues pediatric athletes may suffer from, explains the psychological effects of injury and surgery on young athletes and the importance of mind-body connection, and advocates for safe sport participation and a multidisciplinary approach to the care of young athletes. This is the first text to discuss the psychological implications of sport participation in young athletes – a critical topic in today’s sport landscape that is often underappreciated and understudied. Bringing together contributions from prominent sports psychologists, sports medicine physicians and surgeons, coaches, and pain management specialists, Psychological Considerations in the Young Athlete combines the most up-to-date research, and serves as a valuable resource for clinicians, therapists, and athletic trainers who serve pediatric and adolescent athletes and sports teams.

The Athletic Skills Model offers an alternative to dominant talent development theories in the form of holistic broad-based movement education, focusing on health and wellbeing. It places the emphasis on ‘physical intelligence’ – including attributes such as agility, flexibility and stability – through adaptable and varied training programmes, creating a skilled athlete before introducing sport specialization. The book sets out the scientific underpinnings of the ASM before going on to offer practical guidance on the content of the programme, how to adapt and vary the programme, and how to apply the approach to different age groups and sports. The ASM’s application in the youth development programme at AFC Ajax is explored in depth, before a future of talent development with an emphasis on athletic, rather than sport-specific, expertise is imagined. The Athletic Skills Model introduces an important and timely challenge to conventional wisdom in talent development and is a fascinating read for any upper-level student or researcher interested in youth development, skill acquisition, motor learning or sports coaching, and any coaches wanting to refresh their approach to talent development.

The Athlete's Guide to Sports Supplements is for athletes, coaches, and trainers seeking information on safe and legal performance-focused supplements. Listed alphabetically, each of the 120 supplements has a detailed description of what it is and how it works, facts on performance benefits, current research, recommended dosages, and health concerns.

Training and Conditioning Young Athletes, Second Edition, is the authoritative guide for maximizing athletic development through proven programming and more than 200 of the most effective exercises to increase strength, power, speed, agility, flexibility, and endurance

Strength and Conditioning for Young Athletes offers an evidence-based introduction to the theory and practice of strength and conditioning for children and young athletes. Drawing upon leading up-to-date research in all aspects of fitness and movement skill development, the book adopts a holistic approach to training centred on the concept of long-term athletic development and the welfare of the young athlete. While other textbooks focus on a single aspect of youth trainability, this book explores every key topic in strength and conditioning as applied to young people, including: talent identification motor skill development strength, power and plyometrics speed and agility metabolic conditioning mobility and flexibility periodization weightlifting myths overtraining and injury prevention nutrition. Written by a team of leading international strength and conditioning experts and paediatric sport scientists, every chapter includes programming guidelines for youths throughout childhood and adolescence to show how the latest scientific research can be applied by coaches to optimize young athletic potential. This is an essential resource for all students of strength and conditioning or paediatric exercise science, as well as any coach or athletic trainer working with children and young people.

The Youth Athlete: A Practitioner's Guide to Providing Comprehensive Sports Medicine Care includes topics that provide the most comprehensive and holistic understanding of the youth athlete. The foundation of the book focuses on the growth and development of the athlete from child to adolescence, balancing their physical, mental and emotional needs. The middle sections expand on this foundation, concentrating on common injuries and illnesses as well as unique topics (e.g., Female, Athlete Triad, Sports Specialization). Final sections emphasize specific sports (e.g., Soccer, Basketball, eSports), allowing the reader to synthesize the previous information to assist with return to play decision-making. Written from a scientific perspective and incorporating evidence-based medicine into its content, this book is perfect for health care practitioners of varied specialties. The complete and comprehensive structure of the book will clearly distinguish it from all other textbooks on the market. - Covers diverse topics that reflect our current understanding of youth athletes and issues related to their care - Incorporates evidence-based approach, highlighting the latest state-of-the-art information and research - Written by global content experts throughout the sports medicine field