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When it comes to the box squat, there is no gray area in the field of strength coaching. You either love it or you hate it. The athletic fitness training company Bigger Faster Stronger (BFS) loves it, and their coaches have taught the exercise for 44 years in over 10,000 clinics, covering every state of the country. Having worked for BFS, I can tell you why they believe this exercise has value for virtually all athletes, not just those involved in the Iron Game.

Let’s make it clear that BFS does not claim to have invented the box squat, although there is debate about who did. There is a good case that 1946 AAU Mr. America Alan Stephan created it, while others say that Polish athletes were taught it in the mid-1900s. The answer may be that several people came up with the exercise at the same time, not knowing about others who were also experimenting with it.

Many strength coaches believe that box squats have little value for athletes because they’re performed through a partial range of motion. If partial range exercises are so bad, why do these same coaches have their athletes do bench presses? The arms don’t come together at the top of the movement, so the pectoral muscles can’t fully contract, and the barbell stops at the chest, preventing a full stretch of these muscles.

The truth is, partial range exercises provide many benefits. We’ll get into a few of these in this post.

Background on Bigger Faster Stronger and Box Squats

The inspiration for the BFS workout that includes box squats began about 50 years ago when BFS coaches studied the training of several of the best throwers in the world. These men were impressive not just because they were big and strong but also due to their athleticism, speed, and jumping ability.

Many throwers weighing over 270 pounds could run the 40-yard dash in under 4.6 seconds and had a vertical jump of 35 inches or more. In fact, in the ’60s and ’70s, coaches from the former Soviet Union would visit the United States to study these physical phenoms. Need more convincing? Table 1 highlights some of the strength and jumping performances of several top shot putters.

Two US throwers who were especially impressive—and whose training methods inspired the development of the BFS training system—were Jon Cole and George Frenn. Cole and Frenn toured Europe as members of the USA Track and Field squad and often trained together. These powerful giants were multiple-sport athletes and the closest thing you could find to Marvel superheroes at the time.

Cole threw the discus 231 feet, put the shot 71 feet 4 inches, and threw the javelin 241 feet. Weighing 258 pounds, he ran the 100-yard dash in 9.9 seconds in a sanctioned AAU event, threw a baseball 435 feet, and kicked a football 68 yards.

In powerlifting, without the supportive gear used today, Cole became the first man to total over 2,300 pounds. His best official lifts, performed in 1972 with only elastic bandages for his knees and a weightlifting belt, include the following: squat, 905; deadlift, 885; bench press, 580; and total, 2,370. In weightlifting, Cole competed in the 1972 Olympic Trials and made the following bests: Olympic press, 430; snatch, 340; clean and jerk, 430; and total, 1,200.

Frenn was a hammer thrower who competed in the 1972 Olympics, just missing out on the 1968 team when he placed fourth in the trials. He had a personal best of 232.5 feet, established world bests in the heavier hammers, and was one of the few field athletes to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Equally impressive was Frenn’s strength, which enabled him to break world records in powerlifting. At a bodyweight of 242 pounds, Frenn officially squatted 853 pounds, deadlifted 815 pounds, and—although he didn’t emphasize the lift because he felt it didn’t help his throwing much—a 540 bench.

Cole’s athletic accomplishments convinced the BFS coaches that virtually all athletes could benefit from focusing on a combination of powerlifting and weightlifting exercises, but it was Frenn who sold BFS on the box squat.

Since these were the days before the Internet, BFS learned about Frenn’s training from first-hand accounts of a BFS coach who watched him train as well as articles Frenn wrote and those by other writers in the Iron Game. In one article, Frenn said he would squat on Tuesday and Saturday and perform two types of box squats: the high box squat and the low box squat.

Frenn performed his high box squat on a 20-inch tall box. This height enabled him to use considerably more weight than his competition best. He reportedly used over 1,000 pounds with this exercise. His low box was 14-inches tall, forcing him to use weights below his competition best squat. Of course, Frenn said that for anyone who wants to try these exercises, the exact height of the box depends upon the height of the athlete.

Box Squat Variations and Safety

George Frenn performed a variation of the box squat where he rocked back on the box, lifting his feet off the floor before slamming them down hard as he drove upward to the finish. For safety reasons, BFS doesn’t recommend this advanced variation, especially when working with large groups of young athletes. That said, if a coach can competently teach this method and can adequately supervise their athletes, there is little cause for concern. As is often said in the field of coaching young athletes, “There is optimal training, and there’s reality!”

As for the risk of injuring the spine with the box squat, consider that BFS once consulted with Dr. Greg Motley, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in arthroscopic procedures at Southeastern Sports Medicine in Asheville, North Carolina. Motley’s athletic career caused him to have six surgeries and left him with two degenerated disks, “So I would know if there was increased pressure on the lumbar spine,” Motley said.

Not only did Motley perform the box squat with no pain, but he also ended up endorsing the exercise. “I went up pretty heavy that day, a lot heavier than I thought I could go—and I hadn’t squatted in 10 or 12 years. I think that it’s critical with the box squat—with all squats—that you have good technique and alert spotters. That being said, I think the box squat is a very, very good exercise.”

Before describing how BFS teaches the box squat, I must mention Westside Barbell’s Louie Simmons. Frenn was a member of the original Westside Barbell club run by Bill “Peanuts” West, and Simmons took on the name as a tribute to this Iron Game pioneer. Simmons advocates the box squat but promotes a wide stance variation designed to reduce the work of the quads while increasing the work the posterior chain muscles. If you want to learn the Westside box squat technique, you should go to the source and check out the material produced by Coach Simmons.

Powerlifters often perform wide stance squats (with the bar low on the back and a large forward lean), so the box squat with a wide stance has a better carryover to the sport of powerlifting. There is a case to be made for athletes to occasionally perform wide stance squats, as often in sports the legs are positioned outside the shoulders.

Why Box Squat?

From a BFS perspective, the most important reasons for doing box squats are to get stronger during the season and to stay fresh for competition. As a bonus, the squat helps motivate athletes to use heavier weights and set personal records. Let me expand on these benefits.

The reality of high school strength coaching is that many coaches fear the weight room. They’re afraid their athletes will get sore from lifting and not be able to practice hard or compete well. I’ve learned from working with high school coaches in my area that some coaches (not all) believe there’s little value in having sprinters lift at all. Here are some typical comments I’ve heard from sprint coaches, from the first meet to the last during the indoor season:

• Got the first meet of the season, and we want to show we mean business this season. Back off a bit with the weights.
• Got the first invitational meet of the season. There’s FAT timing, and college scouts will be checking us out. No legs on Thursday.
• Got an important dual meet coming up, and we need those team points. No lifting on Thursday.
• Got a dual meet against our school rival—we really need this. No lifting the entire week!
• Got the Class A Championships. Go light.
• Got the Division Championships. No lifting on Thursday.
• Got finals this week. Workouts are optional.
• Got the State Championships. No lifting.
• Got the New Balance Indoor Nationals. No lifting.
  

After their last meet, coaches want their athletes to take a few weeks off before starting back for the outdoor season. Translation: no lifting! And when the outdoor season starts, we’re back to the same recommendations (but focusing on the New England Championships). Again, they’re afraid of the weight room, and some coaches see no value in weight training. In fact, a local sprint coach bragged on social media about how one of his athletes broke a personal record in the 100m without touching a weight.

High school sprinters will spend two-thirds of their school year getting weaker or, at best, maintaining. Share on X

Even if you can convince a coach to allow their athletes in the weight room, the second workout of the week will nearly always have to be light, and it’s difficult to make strength gains with these restrictions. Putting it another way, sprinters will spend two-thirds of their school year getting weaker or, at best, maintaining. Knowing these problems, where does the box squat fit in?

The box squat doesn’t create the fatigue of a conventional squat because it stops the eccentric motion of the lift and is performed through a partial range of motion. Yes, this type of movement increases the concentric muscular work of the quads (because much of the energy stored from the descent dissipates and the stretch reflex is inhibited), but a concentric contraction doesn’t produce the amount of soreness of an eccentric contraction.

Box squats let athletes lift heavy before a competition without adverse effects on performance. Athletes get stronger & stay fresh for competition. Share on X

Thus, an athlete can lift heavy the day before a competition, or even immediately before a hard practice, without the workout adversely affecting performance. BFS has also found that the second workout helped athletes to get stronger during the season.

Another benefit of performing heavy squats through a partial range of motion is the mental preparation for achieving personal records. Let’s say an athlete’s best squat is 200 pounds, and they regularly perform box squats with 250-275 pounds. When they attempt a new personal best, such as 210 pounds, this weight will feel lighter when they place the bar on their shoulders, giving them the confidence to “go for it!” Using heavier weights also takes advantage of post-tetanic potentiation (PTP).

Box squats mentally prepare athletes to use heavier weights and set personal records. Share on X

PTP states that we can achieve a more powerful muscular response if a strong muscular contraction precedes it. For example, if you lift several heavy boxes and then immediately lift a lighter one, the lighter one will feel especially light (and may even fly out of your hands) because the same fast-twitch fibers needed to contract when you lifted the heavy boxes remains recruited.

To take advantage of PTP, you can have an athlete perform box squats and then immediately do box jumps. Coaches at BFS clinics have an athlete perform a vertical jump, do a box squat workout, and then perform another vertical jump. Without fail, the second jump is always higher.

There is also the concept of sport specificity as it relates to first step quickness. Some activities in sports start from a motionless position without involving the stretch reflex, such as when a sprinter starts or a football lineman jumps into action after the ball is snapped. A box squat teaches the athlete to initiate movement quickly.

Finally, there is the mental benefit. Having an athlete start a competition knowing that the day before they lifted a monster weight in the box squat reinforces their belief that they are strong—brutally strong. This gives the athletes confidence. At least, more confidence than they would have if the day before they reduced the amount of weight they used in half. Or, worse, didn’t train at all.

I should note that the box squat is not a mandatory exercise in the BFS program. If a coach wants their athletes to perform another squat variation, even the Bulgarian lunge, that’s fine.

BFS Box Squat Technique

What follows is the BFS method to teach the box squat. First, BFS recommends that athletes perform the box squat inside a power rack with the safety supports set high enough so the athlete can easily dump the weight forward without the bar moving more than a few inches. You can see this set-up in the first video below.

Next is the issue of what type of box to use. Although a sturdy wood or metal box is acceptable, it’s better to have some cushioning on the surface. BFS found that with wood and metal surfaces, athletes tend to plop down, causing the spine to flex and possibly cause injury. Having some cushion gives the athlete feedback so they can settle down on the bench. Also, adjustable boxes are a good investment when training large groups of athletes.

The height of the box is determined by how much weight the athlete will use. Set the box so that the top of the thighs are slightly above parallel. A good general guideline is to start with the thighs 1-2 inches above parallel. When an athlete can use 100 pounds over their best regular squat, lower the box slightly.

Video 1. The set-up for the BFS box squat.

Spotting is the next issue. BFS prefers using three spotters, one on each side and one in back. The spotters keep their hands on the bar at all times to ensure that the weight is secure on the shoulders and to help remove and replace the bar on the supports.

To perform a box squat without spotters, use a power rack with the safety supports set just below the lowest position, so the barbell reaches the bottom position. If the athlete fails, however, they would have to lean forward to allow the bar to rest on the supports. For some people, this action places adverse stress on the spine.

Video 2. How to spot the BFS box squat.

Many injuries in the squat occur when removing and replacing the bar on the supports and not during the lift. If you’re using bands, a back spotter is especially important because bands decrease the stability of the exercises. Squatting with bands is an advanced method that needs to be supervised by an experienced coach. Chains are better for large groups of athletes because they provide more stability, and athletes are less likely to be thrown off balance.

The start position of a box squat is the same as a regular squat; we want the strength developed with this exercise to transfer directly to the regular squat. The athlete positions their feet on either side of the box, bends from the knees and hips, and slowly sits down on the box, being careful not to plop down hard.

When the athlete touches the box, they shift back slightly to reduce the compressive stress on the spine. Keeping the back tight, they shift slightly forward from the hips and then drive up explosively. A useful cue is the BFS 3 S’s: down slow, sit, and settle. Check out the final video to see a demonstration.

Video 3. Performing the BFS Box Squat.

Finally, BFS does not recommend learning how to box squat from reading an article or watching a video—there is no substitute for hands-on teaching from an experienced coach.

It’s been said that all things being equal, the stronger athlete usually wins—so why train your body to be weak? Instead of hopefully using a lifting program to maintain an athlete’s strength, use the BFS box squat to get stronger—from the start of the season to the finish.

Lead photo from Waterloo High School courtesy BFS.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF

References

Frenn, George. “Conditioned Legs Break Squat Records,” (1972), reprinted in The Tight Tan Slacks of Dezso Ban, July 13, 2016.

Shepard, G. and Goss, K. Bigger Faster Stronger, Human Kinetics, Inc.; Third Edition, July 31, 2017, pp. 66-67.

Siff, M. and Verkhoshansky, Y. Supertraining, 1999, 4th Edition, Supertraining International, Denver USA 1999, (1^st edition, 1993), pp. 271-275.

Swinton, P.A., et al. “A biomechanical comparison of the traditional squat, powerlifting squat, and box squat.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2012 July; 26(7), pp. 1805-6.

Verkhoshansky, Y. and Verkhoshansky, N. Special Strength Training Manual for Coaches, Verkhoshanky SSTM, 2011, pp. 110-113.

The social media landscape today is crowded with a bevy of accounts that complicate youth development and training. Whether their young clients are on the pitch, on the rink, in the outfield, on the court, or on the course, their skill work is far from simple. Youth soccer players tap their feet through ladders while dribbling the ball. Youth lacrosse players juke through agility rings while tied to a resisted cable. Embellished with fancy equipment, an assembly of cones, ladders, hurdles, and bands, and hype music as the backdrop, the content makes followers “ooh” and “ahh.”

Gone are the days when we see a trainer break down the intricacies of pitching form over and over again, so a young athlete truly learns the motor skills behind it. Gone are the days when we see a trainer break down soccer shooting technique with repetitions on both the dominant and non-dominant foot. Gone are the days when people are out there in the trenches, coaching their tails off and being instructors of skills. While there are many coaches who still do this, we simply do not see it. What we see is a circus, and instead of making kids players of their sports, people are making them puppets of social media.

The beautiful simplicity of sports is waning, the good old-fashioned art of coaching is being lost, and the craft of teaching is becoming the art of marketing. While everyone provides an exuberant and electric atmosphere in their training sessions, they fail to develop the physical and technical piece for their players. Kids are becoming worse at their sport and more susceptible to overuse and compensatory movement patterns due to social media sensationalism.

For youth development and training on social media, I do not want to see something sensational—I want to see something applicable, says @fitsoccerqueen. Share on X

To that end, I do not want to see something sensational. I want to see something applicable. I urge people to sit back and observe, to ask questions, and to inquire why kids are being put through certain drills. This is not to say that everything you see on social media is “wrong,” but it is fair to ask what the purpose of a training session is, and what skill is being taught to a child athlete.

None of this is to say that complex skills training is not valuable. To progress athletes, skills training does have to be done in a spontaneous and uncertain environment, especially under defensive pressure. When kids progress to higher levels, fancy, creative, and sharp moves become paramount, but we need to allow kids to focus on just the skill first so their nervous system learns it, can apply it, and can execute it in a game setting. This means the added noise of the gym equipment has to go.

Alas, coaches and parents who truly want their kids to learn the game, and optimize the physical and technical pieces, should know that it is critical to separate the two. Truly, the physical component is also a skill, and it takes a trainer to break it down with painstaking detail in a separate gym environment.

What does physical training encompass?

• Speed
• Acceleration and deceleration
• Change of direction
• Strength
• Power
• Mobility
• Stability
• Flexibility

More often than not, the physical components happen off the ball, and these are some of the most magical moments of sports. This could be making a diagonal run onto a through ball, jumping for a header and scoring off of a corner kick, transitioning up the court as fast as possible, performing a rapid cut to get open for a teammate, or making a fast crossover step to steal a base.

Even when the ball, puck, bat, or club are involved, the technical skills are not optimized unless the athlete has the strength and power beneath them. Not only does this allow for a cleaner and smoother execution of the skill, but also a more powerful and explosive one.

Shooting in soccer, for example, is part technique, part leg power and strength. If the athlete cannot use the hip flexor muscles through their full range of motion, stabilize their core, extend their posterior chain, or balance the plant foot, then technique will suffer. It does not matter how many shooting clinics a young athlete signs up for, how many repetitions they do on their net in the front yard, or whether they have the best shooting trainer in their area, they need the strength to give all of this a boost.

Having a strong follow-through for a shot in lacrosse is similar. Without the chest and shoulder strength, the shot won’t be the strongest it can be, and if the hips are not tied together with the anterior core and upper body, a lacrosse player does a disservice to their technical follow-through on the shot.

Pitching in baseball is another one for which people exclaim, “You just need more pitching training!” While we cannot discount pitching technique, as it is one of the most meticulous skills that needs coaching, we have to remember that pitching speed does not increase from constant wear and tear due to endless repetitions. Rather, the speed is a result of shoulder mobility, arm strength, and rotational power through the core.

Video 1. Rather than athletes repeatedly practicing sport-specific skills, they benefit from strength work such as these med ball slams, which help develop rotational power through the core.

Too many are still not convinced and will say that athletes need to load their sport-specific skills to a faster pitch, a stronger shot, or a more powerful swing. Whether this is tying a resistance band to a pitcher, giving a soccer player a weighted soccer ball, or making a tennis player play with a heavier racket, this all becomes problematic for motor learning.

The issue with adding load to skill-specific work is it trains the neuromuscular system to not go through full range of motion and technique, and it can cause the compensatory movement patterns that lead to the overuse injuries in young athletes today.

Adding load to skill-specific work trains the neuromuscular system to not go through full range of motion and can cause the compensatory movement patterns that lead to overuse injuries. Share on X

Please spare the kids the resisted shooting drills and get them in the gym to work on strength, power, balance, and mobility as a separate piece. For starters, exercises like single leg deadlifts, Pallof presses, medicine ball throws, and split squats will ensure kids develop their kicking power, and polish technique as a nice by-product.

Video 2. Exercises such as the goblet split squat help athletes develop their kicking power, and they also help polish technique.

Video 3. For a skill like lateral power, athletes need to develop the foundation of frontal plane strength with proper posture, core stability, and hip mobility in the gym.

An athlete can’t home in on any of this if the ball or skill work are in the picture. Truly, strength and power training are pieces that must be hammered home with attention to detail and form. Once gym work is done, over time the skill piece organically becomes more robust.

Video 4. This is an example of how lateral strength and power contribute to the soccer-specific skill of 1v1 jukes and fake

Building strength requires loading the body over time and progressing under a plan that tweaks sets and reps each week, so kids raise the intensity over time. To that end, a youth athlete can only perform lateral plyometrics over and over again until the volume is too much wear and tear on their body. A young athlete can only perform ladder drills over and over again until the repetitive movement of small steps is not enough to really teach acceleration and sprinting mechanics.

Taking the conversation further, what about skills like speed and acceleration? People are right when they say kids must learn these with sports skills because these do happen with the ball, and this is something we should be cognizant of when programming training sessions. Even beyond speed and acceleration, game-specific conditioning is important if we want to add the cognitive piece to training. This can be done through the programming of small-sided and large-sided games, various pitch dimensions, and work-to-rest ratios to elicit a game-like conditioning effect.

People are right when they say kids must learn speed and acceleration with sports skills because they do happen with the ball, says @fitsoccerqueen. Share on X

However, speed and acceleration without the ball are totally separate skills than with the ball, and we must be aware of this, too. In team sports, players do work both on and off the ball, so we have to address both separately.

For something like acceleration, without the ball, players drive their knees up higher for a more explosive “first step,” extend their rear leg further for aggressive steps, and throw their arms back aggressively for optimal acceleration to occur. If you are still skeptical, Video 5 showcases the vast difference between acceleration with and without the ball:

Video 5. Acceleration with and without a ball are two totally separate skills for an athlete to learn.

My guess is that coaches of team sports want their players to move fast off the ball, too. In soccer, players have the ball at their feet for a major percentage of the game, so it is these moments we want to prepare our athlete for. Wins are decided by these dynamic actions, and these are the plays off the ball that make team sports so exciting.

A skill like acceleration can only be optimized if worked on as its own piece—from the technique to posture, arm action to foot placement, total body strength to force production.

Take one of my middle school athletes on her first day of training, for example. She had never been in a physical training environment in her life. For her first session, we went through a detailed session on acceleration form, and I had to break down all facets of the skills. All I accomplished with her that day was teaching her how to coordinate her body properly. If I had thrown her into a multitude of fancy drills with extra balls and equipment, it would have been a disservice to what I was trying to teach, and it would have elicited an awkward neuromuscular response from her with ipsilateral movement patterns.

Video 6. This middle school athlete’s first day of training focused solely on acceleration form so she could learn proper body coordination. I did not confuse her by adding in balls or extra equipment, or even by introducing technique and posture.

Expounding further, we did not even get to the acceleration technique and things like posture, knee drive, or rear leg position. If this does not show how detailed coaching this skill must be, I do not know what does. Throwing the ball in a session like this would have taken away from truly teaching her contralateral coordination, arm position, and how to move her body in a smooth manner.

Eventually, for a skill as meticulous as acceleration, I would take it further once coordination is mastered, and begin to work on posture, ball-of-the-feet loading, and arm placement. And of course, underneath all of the acceleration technique is a strength training program that progresses posterior chain strength in the hamstrings and gluteals.

It is important for coaches to be clear about the purpose of their sessions, what skill they are training, and what type. Is it physical or technical? Is it fast dribbling? Is it first touch? Is it shooting? Is it throwing? If physical, is it strength? Is it linear change of direction? Is it acceleration? Is it athletic stance and change of direction?

Simply telling an athlete how to get into athletic stance will not necessarily fix the skill if they do not have the strength to move into the position, says @fitsoccerqueen. Share on X

Athletic stance is another physical component that, once nailed down, only boosts sport-specific skills, like cutting, jumping, and landing. Alas, just like the other physical parts, it needs to be taught with painstaking cues, and built in the gym with quadriceps, gluteal, hamstring, and transverse abdominus strengthening movements. Simply telling an athlete how to get into athletic stance will not necessarily fix the skill if they do not have the strength to move into the position. As an example, a teenage female athlete with “knock knees” will need to strengthen her gluteus medius, hamstring, and quadricep muscles to get into a better ankle, knee, and hip position.

Video 7. Players can translate an athletic stance within their sport to be able to absorb force (for injury reduction) and produce force (for speed and acceleration production).

Once athletic stance is taught, athletes can learn the “hip turn” for better retreating and changing of direction to recover from a play. Learning dissociation of the hips is a complex skill that requires full attention and focus from the athlete—awareness of their body, their directional step, and their stance and posture to produce an efficient and fast outcome. Adding on, it requires separate gym training to build their core stability so that their hips have more mobility. Defenders especially benefit from learning a skill like this because they do not have the ball on them, and they need to learn how to retreat as fast as possible when someone blows by them.

Another skill to teach with the underpinnings of athletic stance is lateral acceleration and deceleration—skills that, if not taught properly, can increase the risk factor for an ACL tear. To ensure athletes have stability in their knee, are coaches breaking down form so the ankle, knee and hip joint are together? Are they loading and recruiting the posterior chain enough? And please get rid of the skill work, the added equipment and bells and whistles, so you can address all this with painstaking observation and instruction.

Video 8. Shuffling is a fundamental skill that translates to lateral acceleration and deceleration in team sports.

Coming back to acceleration, doing this in a totally separate session not only allows for the proper breakdown of the skill, but also the proper dynamic warm-up and enhancement of the athlete’s movement quality during the session. This requires an extensive, yet quality, session, instead of a tossed-together session with no purpose.

I urge players, parents, and coaches to continue to ask questions when it comes to player development and to question the idea of “sport-specific” skills training.

The best way for players to get better at their skills is to play more of their sport, spend more time with just the ball and some pressure, focus in on skill work and master it with repetition, and have a coach who breaks down technique into detail.

True mastery comes from tuning into the skill, owning it, and avoiding the distractions. This is possible with an instructor who says no to the social media flash and glitter and simply coaches because they know that is why they are there. Good old-fashioned coaching is one of the best ways to provide our young athletes with the development they need in the technical and physical aspects of a sport.

It is worth reiterating that these are optimized if done separately and, truthfully, by coaches in their respected areas of expertise. Dribbling at speed with the ball is a totally different skill to be taught by the team or technical coach. On the other hand, sprinting at maximal speed on the balls of the feet, knee drive, and fast ground contact are to be taught by the strength and conditioning professional. In order for kids to acquire a skill, specialty teaching is critical, as well as repetition. Sessions do not need to be all over the place for the sake of variety and novelty.

It serves us well to ask these questions if we truly want to work on physical development and skill development:

• What is the purpose of the training?
• What skill am I teaching?
• What is the best drill to accomplish all of this?
• What is the best progression to this drill once my player masters this skill?
• What does my young athlete need?

The last question is an important one because, at the end of the day, we have to give our young athletes what they need—not what the social media world needs nor what our followers need, but what the kid needs to be their most robust and resilient self.

Since you’re here…
…we have a small favor to ask. More people are reading SimpliFaster than ever, and each week we bring you compelling content from coaches, sport scientists, and physiotherapists who are devoted to building better athletes. Please take a moment to share the articles on social media, engage the authors with questions and comments below, and link to articles when appropriate if you have a blog or participate on forums of related topics. — SF