On every playground, soccer field or baseball diamond, we see kids who lag well behind in the physical skills that are a key component to the make up of a good athlete. Derek Jeter was probably never one of those kids, but what truly separates him from his peers, can be one of several building blocks that the right sports trainer can use to help kids gain much needed ground on the playground.
In alluding to the all-star shortstops sport’s IQ, says Nick Serio of Kombine Sports in Mt. Kisco, “Derek Jeter is in the right place at
As Kombine’s director of Sports Performance and Youth Development, he understands no slight of hand-eye coordination is required. So when baseball smarts puts your sports challenged athlete in place for a game saving backup, confidence rises and the rest of her game starts opening up.
In this case, Mr. Serio’s ongoing conversations about game situations provide a kick-start, while increasing strength and endurance may be the catalyst for another. Now that they are strong enough to hit the cutoff or can always get back on defense, he says, a foundation has been built.
All in all, Kombine offers a variety of fitness and sports specific programs for all ages. In as such, their personal and team training approaches look to optimize athletic potential through various research based methods.
With all that in mind, your kids confidence will need no ceiling as tapping into and honing existing strengths lets them maximize game day ability. For instance, a good trainer understands that speed first needs form and then the specifics that translate to the field. “We’ll do sports like actions,” he says, like reading the pitcher to steal a base or learning how to slide.
Encompassed within all these x-factors, a trainer should also be attentive to improving coordination, which may seem as something that cannot be hurdled – no matter how many blocks there are to build upon. “There’s no such thing as a kid who cannot be an athlete,” he says.
Proprioception, which gives a sense of position of neighbouring body parts, is a key component to coordination and can be improved through balance and stability work. In turn, as the physical hurdles fall, a trainer can get hand-eye and other factors aligning into one working system.
Still, finding the sport that suits them best can take time – especially if it isn’t within the confines of our traditional games. “Allow them to explore other sports,” he says, and once they become comfortable with something, he adds, encourage them through and through.
On the way up, to help them persevere through the trials and tribulations, Mr. Selrio believes it’s important to have the journey follow a script that is common to any athlete’s rise. In the long, medium and short term, he says, have the child set realistic goals. It sounds like a winner.
