Are Youth Athletes Overskilled?
I would have to say that 90% of the youth athletes that I have met would be defined as “over skilled”. I know it sounds absurd since most feel that some aspect of their game needs work, however, when you really understand how the human body functions and best adapts you will see what I mean. First, though, I need to explain the OPP.
The Optimum Performance Pyramid (OPP) was first introduced to me by Gray Cook, a well known California based Physical Therapist and strength coach. It is probably the best explanation that I have come across describing how sport training should be viewed. Gray uses the OPP to explain the 3 distinct levels of performance training, their prioritization and how to best integrate them.
The first, and broadest, level is Functional Movement. Contrary to the current fitness trends, this does not mean standing on a wobbly doo-hicky, looking like you are trying out for the circus. Functional Movement simply refers to developing adequate mobility, body control and movement awareness in order to safely handle higher level movements.
Examples of exercises in this level would include single leg box squats, pistol squats, Bulgarian split squats, single leg deadlift, push ups and their variations, inverted rows and alternating DB shoulder press. Bodyweight and unilateral exercises make up the bulk of this type of training. However, bodyweight exercises are extremely humbling when challenging variations are used. Do not underestimate the power of this type of training.
The Functional Movement level should also address any imbalances in the body, both mobility and strength wise, as they are a huge red flag for a potential injury. An athlete without a strong base built in this level of training will be far more prone to injuries, have a harder time mastering new skills and techniques and generally find that their training efforts yield few and inconsistent results.
The second level of the pyramid is Functional Strength. This level focuses on improving your raw strength and power. In effect, increasing these areas will add to your raw potential. Athletes without adequate time spent on this level will also find that they have a hard time implementing new skills in a strong and powerful way and will probably feel as if they have hit a plateau with their progression.
Examples of exercises in this level would include deadlift, front squat, bench press, military press, weighted pull ups/ chin ups, and DB rows. Compound, core exercises for the main movement patterns make up the bulk of this level.
The last, and smallest, level is Functional Skill. Unfortunately, this is where most training that youth athletes undertake would fall. This includes practicing their sport, sport camps and high level training methods such as speed and agility drills, plyometrics and Olympic Lifts. These methods will only yield the biggest “sport specific” gains if they are used by someone who has spent time developing the base levels of the performance training pyramid. Believe it or not, over use of training methods in this level can actually slow down and stagnate skill development and fitness progression.
So, as you can see, from this point of view most youth athletes spend far too much time and focus on the Functional Skill level of the OPP. A lot of them may not have spent any time working on Functional Movement and/ or Functional Strength. This makes them over skilled, as their sport specific skill and fitness progression is maxed out compared to the base that they have built. This means that a long term approach with an eye on safely progressing through the 3 levels of the OPP is needed for sustainable results. Without it, you are simply leaving a youth athlete’s long term development to chance.
Note: do not confuse “over skilled” from a performance training point of view with having “adequate skill” from a pure performance point of view. Most will never be satisfied with their skill and fitness levels in every aspect of their sport so they will always be looking to get a little better in some aspect of their sport. What I am saying is that at a certain point youth athletes must re-solidify the base of their OPP in order to continue to realize the gains offered by the higher level strategies.
James Wilson
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