Should you let your children sleep in 

on the weekends

Yes as a teacher and a coach I have heard stories and studies of how the children's time clock is different than and adults.  

And I never pay attention to any of them. When I was a child our goal was to get it before our parents and get out of the house.  That meant getting on our bikes and going out to play sports, go explore out in the woods, or go find something fun to do.   Plus it didn't hurt that they couldn't find us for a while when they got up. That was sort of part of the plan we had a chance to play by ourselves and have fun, and start the day off early.

Plus if you have ever lived on a farm or ranch you know very well that you were up at 5 AM to do your chores.  And these are the people and the habits that were formed that helped build our country to what it is today.  In my lifetime I have known many rich and successful people, and I can honestly say I have never met one of them that sleeps in. And in fact the one thing I have found that is common among all of them,  is their high energy level

Now days there are not as many open areas for children to play in and is no longer safe for them to be on their own a lot of the time. That is understood. But if you teach them to sleep in,  then you are forming a habit that will continue as they get older.

And the classes I teach I want my students in before the bell rings and have them start their work immediately. That is a habit that will help them be successful when they get out of school.  I  have lost count of the number of people that I saw fired and penalized for coming into work late when I was working for corporations. It was a habit they formed when they were young and they had a hard time breaking it. 

I hold my practices at 9 AM. But I have already been out on the courts or fields from 7 to 9 playing or working out myself.  So I do not feel sorry for the young athletes to come to hours later.  I feel they are not only increasing their athletic and physical capabilities they are also developing mental toughness and discipline.

These are the habits that will not only ensure athletic success, academic success, but will also carry-on to having a successful life and both their career and with their family

Speed And agility training

I have started training my athletes in writing, agility, and speed drills as early as Kindergarten. Many of them run with students  who are at the high school level and they're able to keep up and run through the drills.

While they may not be able to do the specific skill at the same level as a high school player they can still start to learn to move and stop and start at that level.   And I don't care what sport you play you can never be too fast or too quick. And there's nothing tougher than playing a player that can get back every ball or is constantly on the move from the start of the game till the end of the game

And I believe as long as they're going to run the drills they might as will be catching, hitting, or throwing a ball from their sport at the same time they're doing it.   That way they are getting sports specific skills as well as strength and conditioning at the same time

Train at the speed of your sport

I cannot tell you the number of athletes I have worked with who train incorrectly for the sport they have chosen to play. 

With the advances in strength and conditioning over the past 10 years any athlete must create a scientifically designed workout routine is put together to address the sport they play. 

That means if you are playing tennis basketball or football you do not have and a running routine that has you running in a straight line or distances of a half mile or mile,

You are not going to run in a straight line using a long flowing stride when you play these sports. Instead you are going to be making quick steps, costly changing direction, and pushing off your outside leg to go the other direction as quick as you can. In other words you'll be shuffling moving parallel to your opponent and the quicker you can then change directions and maintain your balance the more effective you will be. 

You are not just born with this movement you need. You must develop it in your workouts. Therefore your workouts must include agility drills where you are constantly changing directions over a short period of space. That means you may run 10 to 20 yards change directions, run another 20 yards, change directions again and run another 20 yards. Whatever the movement that your sport will require is how you should be running when you were practicing.

The three sports I mentioned require fast twitch muscles and explosive movement. Yes you still must have endurance but it be far better development running a series of sprints or you are starting and stopping just like you will be in your sport. 

I like to use cones and my training where we are running forwards sideways backwards and diagonally in between and around those cones. We strive each week to move faster and to have better balance as we do these agility drills. Let me assure you any professional athlete you admire has ran through these cones over 1 million times. 

So if you want to perform at your optimal level I suggest you do to.

Speed versus Distance Training 

So you want to increase your speed for your sport (tennis, football, track, etc). So you go to the track and jog a few laps
with other people who are running there, or you go to the gym and
run on the treadmill with the other gym members beside you, or you
get on the bike or other device at the gym and exercise right along
with the other gym members.
You then go to play your sport and find out that:

1) You are not as fast as the other players you are competing
against.
2) You are tired after a few minutes.
3) You start cramping after a few minutes of competition.

So you are now wondering how can this be happening after all of
the "training" you did.

Well yes, you did train and you did accomplish a level of basic
fitness and health, which is very important starting base for
training.

But you will not be able to compete at any sport requiring speed
while you are running at the comfortable stride and speed that you
jog around the track at, or worked out at the gym at. And those
other gym members you are exercising with are training just to be
healthy, and most of them are not trying compete at any sport.

In sport competition you need to replicate the kind of running you
will do in the sport itself. That means a series of short sprints
intermixed with jogging and walking. You are trying to develop your
fast twitch muscles for these sports, not your slow twitch muscles.
You MUST be able to sprint, rest, sprint, rest, over a period of
time to be successful.

So for tennis you would mark off a 15X15 year area and run sprints
forwards, backwards, side to side and diagonally for period of 20-30
seconds, followed by a rest period of walking for 15 seconds, and
then repeated again, again, again ,etc.

For football the same kind of training would be done except your
would mark of the area for the postion your play ( ex. lineman a 5-
15 year area, linebacker 10-20 year area, receiver 20-45 yard area.
Make sure your run-walk-run-walk for your training period.

The stride you take- the muscles you use- and the balance you need to play a sport that requires speed are very different from the
muscles you will develop by doing a easy jogging stride for distance running.

So whatever your sport is make sure you train at the speed of that
sport. This will ensure you will perform at 100% of your capability
when you compete.

Increase your speed on the tennis court

One of the key components for playing tennis is the ability to get to the ball in time to hit it. 

 To be more precise you need to be able to get to the ball and be in position to hit it correctly. If you get there to late you will either hit the ball out, or hit back a weak return that your opponent will easily put away. In order to get to and hit tennis ball correctly you need to shuffle, your feet while keeping your body parallel to the net. 

This position will enable you to change directions in a instant and immediately be heading the opposite direction in a instant.

If you run in a straight line to get a ball when turning sideway to the net you will need to take least two steps to change direction after you hit it.   and this will slow you down immensely so that you will be out of position for the next ball. 

So always practice your shuffle run while changing direction.   This will build up your speed, agility, and balance.