270: James Baker on Strength, Plyometrics, and Movement Variety in the Process of Long-Term Athletic Development

Today’s show is with athletic performance coach and long-term athletic development expert, James Baker. James is one of the co-founders of the LTAD Network and is currently a Strength & Conditioning coach and Performance Support Lead at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar. James has a unique blend of skills and experience as an S&C coach, PE teacher, sports scientist, and researcher. So many times in sports performance, and particularly in the sub-set of speed and power training, we look to focus on the most high-intensity methods we can possibly utilize to achieve adaptations in athletes. Or perhaps, we inquire about the optimal technical or tactical methods for the sport in front of us. Unfortunately, we don’t tend to look much at the entire, long-term process of an athlete achieving their best possible result in a sport, as well as being well-balanced outside of their sport-specific ventures. To give athletes the best training experience, we need to have a thorough understanding of how they might respond to various training methods at different points in their athletic journey. Look at the long-term process; look at the love of movement and play outside of one’s specific sport, and better understand the entire umbrella of what it means to be both human and an athlete James Baker's Topics of Discussion On today’s show, James will discuss the difference between early specialization and early engagement, and the need for athletes to love and appreciate other forms of movement and play as their sport career unfolds. He will also take on free-moving sports like parkour in relation to ball sports, and then deliver some great ideas on progressing plyometric and strength training means over the course of an athlete’s development. For those of you who don’t work directly with growing athletes, realize that by learning more about how young athletes develop, you can learn a lot more about the mature athlete in front of you, and the process that led him or her there. Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster and Lost Empire Herbs. For 15% off your Lost Empire Herbs order, head to www.lostempireherbs.com/justfly View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. Timestamps and Main Points 5:02 – What key changes James feels could help young athletes as they go through the levels of sport without burning out 8:49 – The importance of athletes learning to love and appreciate other forms of movement practice outside of their primary sport 14:23 – James’ thoughts on early specialization versus early engagement in a sport 22:05 – Thoughts on early specialization and mental burnout in sport 24:44 – James take on using other/alternative sports in the course of a traditional sports training program 31:01 – When to incorporate, and then intensify strength training in young athletes 34:23 – Standards to “earn the barbell” in the training of young athletes 40:00 – How an athlete’s peak-height-velocity timing will impact whether or not strength training will be helping them to benefit explosively as an athlete 46:45 – How athletes who have less muscle mass may respond less favorably to strength training to improve speed and power outputs across a full spectrum of age ranges 48:07 – How peak-height-velocity will impact an athlete’s reactivity and ground contact times 51:06 – Plyometric progression ideas for young athletes in regards to pogo hops and depth jumps James Baker's Quotes “The danger of athletics is kids wrap up their identity with being a sportsperson” “If anything needs to change, it’s the support network around those kids (that don’t make the next level) and helping them transition” “I think it’s a case of early engagement versus early specialization (especially in “high skill” sports)… getting them in front of good coaches early, but not having that be the only thing they do” “(Regarding how early success does not correlate heavily with later success in “physical sports”) The physical qualities create a big advantage to those that have matured earlier in the teenage years, but they are not necessarily the ones who go on and progress…. Myself I played a high level of rugby, I didn’t pick up a rugby ball until age 15” “The trick is getting early engagement without having an athlete specialize in that sport” “You are going to gamify training a lot more with younger kids… gamification is still important but has a much less amount of time allocated to it at the professional level” “Strength training can be started at any age, but it’s important to understand what the most appropriate starting point is…. It’s about earning the right to progress by demonstrating technical competency” “Sometimes these younger athletes have the capability to do some of these (strength training) movements with load, but they don’t tolerate doing these things with frequency” “Pre-PHV (Peak Height Velocity), what they showed is that it is the plyometrics and the speed work at improving outcome measures like sprint time and jump height, compared to strength training in that younger group…. It was a combination of plyometrics, strength and speed work post-PHV that was most effective (do they have the hormone profile to adapt)” “From pre-PHV to circa PHV there is an increase in the average ground contact time (of a 5 jump test)” “Pogo jumps become intensified naturally by the athlete… it’s always constrained by their own ability” About James Baker James is a coach, educator, and researcher that is passionate about helping people achieve their potential as athletes and coaches. He is one of the co-founders of the LTAD Network, previously known as Performance Strength & Conditioning, and brings a unique blend of skills and experience as an S&C coach, PE teacher, sports scientist, and researcher. He is currently a Strength & Conditioning coach and Performance Support Lead at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar. Alongside his coaching responsibilities, he is leading a research project on the impact of growth and maturation in youth track and field. In 2020, he received the Australian Strength & Conditioning Association’s Senior Research Award on behalf of the Aspire Academy research team. Prior to arriving at Aspire, James established a number of school-based LTAD programs in the UK, including St. Peter’s R.C. High School in Gloucester. He created and integrated a 7-year LTAD pathway into the state school Physical Education curriculum, redefining what could be offered by state secondary schools in terms of support for “Gifted and Talented” pupils. In 2017, James was awarded the United Kingdom Strength & Conditioning Association’s S&C Coach of the Year Award for Youth Sport for his work at the school.