AKRON, OHIO — It used to be that high school athletes whether they were playing football, basketball, volleyball or any other sport went to school, went to practice, then went home.
How quaint.
For a growing number of kids, that’s just not enough anymore.
After-school team practices are only a part of many young athletes’ training.
The old standbys of weightlifting and wind sprints have been augmented by “sports performance” training that features biomechanical analysis, maximum sustainable power, power-to-weight ratios and high-speed treadmills that reach speeds of 30 miles per hour.
“Basically, I just want to get stronger, get faster and get in better shape,” said Marco Caponi, a Walsh Jesuit High School sophomore. He’s preparing for basketball season with sports performance training at Akron General Medical Center’s Health and Wellness Center North.
After just six weeks, it seems to be working, he said.
Now, even though he has exercised-induced asthma, he’s not gasping for air or reaching for his inhaler while running wind sprints with his teammates.
“I’m running just as hard, if not harder, than I ever have,” he said, “and I’m not getting tired.” Caponi’s approach is a good one, focusing on his overall strength and conditioning. But some worry that the growth in sports performance training, often marketed to children as young as 8, is more proof that society is putting too much pressure on young athletes.
“When parents tell me that they’re looking into sports performance training for their child, I’ll say, ‘You are pushing the envelope a bit. You have to know that,”‘ said Dr. Joe Congeni, director of the Sports Medicine Center at Akron Children’s Hospital.
Provides healthy focus
Not that sports performance training is inherently bad. Much of it is very good, Congeni said, providing a healthy focus on proper technique, conditioning, speed, strength, agility and injury prevention.
The danger is that pushing too hard, too often, can lead to injuries, as well as emotional burnout.
“There are kids thirsting for this. They love it. They love their performance coach,” Congeni said. “Other kids, though, how can they help but be burned out? Practice three days a week. Performance training two or three days a week. There’s not much time left for socialization or free play.
“It can’t be parent-driven. It should be the kid coming to the parent and saying, ‘I want to be a little better.’ Often, though, it’s the parent saying, ‘My kid’s lazy. He’s not doing enough. We’re going to take him to a performance trainer three days a week.”‘
Caponi’s father, Mario, recognizes that. “He loves it. That’s what his interest is; he’s an athletic kid. I’ve never seen him more into something. He’s excited to go. And afterward, he’s excited to tell me what he did as soon as he gets home,” Caponi said. “If he didn’t like it, I certainly wouldn’t force him to do it.”
The sports performance industry has become big business, seeing exponential growth in the past decade, according to Fitness Management magazine.
It’s no wonder. The potential market is massive, with 7.6 million kids between the ages of 7 and 17 playing baseball in 2006, followed by 6.4 million playing football, 5.1 million playing softball, 5 million playing volleyball and 3 million playing tennis, according to the National Sporting Goods Association.
Craig Sowers, director of Akron General’s sports performance program, sees the push for this coming from many directions. He said research began to focus on sports and injury prevention in the last 10 to 15 years.
College athletic scholarships also have become a trophy, both financially and for reasons of prestige.
“Youth sports are becoming a lot more competitive than they used to be,” he said. “Parents want to offer their kids an edge they never had growing up.”
Coaches have less time
Rob Hinton, owner of the HIT Center in Uniontown, Ohio, said coaches don’t have the time to focus on athletes one-on-one, much like a classroom teacher can’t always give one-on-one attention to each student.
“It’s like tutoring. I consider it athletic tutoring,” he said.
“If you start at 12 or 13 years old, when you become a student in high school, you’ll be a step ahead and you can get recognized.”
Marty Teynor certainly hopes so. A senior lacrosse player at Jackson High School, Teynor began working out at the HIT Center about three months ago, and says he already notices a difference in his strength and speed. His hope is to improve his game enough that college recruiters notice.
College aspirations
“If you want to get your foot in the door as a college athlete, this is the way to do it,” he said.
Teynor, who had been working out for years, said performance training is different. “Most of this stuff I’d never done before,” he said.
Sowers agreed, citing weightlifting as an example. Although it’s still an important part of sports performance, he said, “it’s not the muscle-head mentality anymore. It’s not just about going to the weight room and adding 50 pounds to your bench press.
“You want them to be able to jump higher, run faster, be more agile. All we’re about is making them better,” he said.
