Should I Let This Person Train My Susceptible Child?
Tony Reynolds, MS, CSCS, YCS II
My wife's brother sent me an email today asking me about hiring a personal trainer for their 13 year old son.  This email comes to me shortly after I nearly lost it over them taking him to one of those ever so popular "biomechanically" named chain athlete mills that seem to be popping up beside every Curves.  After hearing about the over speed treadmill training they were doing to improve his HOCKEY game, I had to say something!!! 

Anyway, he asked me a very simple question.  If I want to hire somebody, what questions should I ask or what should I be looking for? I thought I would post this for several reasons.  1st, if you are a good coach who embodies the positive side of the 7 questions below, you can print this off and use it to sell your services.  Lets face it, you are a rare breed and this should help you set yourself above the competition.  This will help you tell prospects why they should be working with you not the Vector down the street (a little biomechanical whit for you if you caught it).  If you do not fit the bill, this may give you an idea of areas where you may need to place some focus.  If you are a parent, these questions and answers will give you some very powerful tools to use to make sure that your kids are in the right hands. 

Below was my response. 

A good strength coach/personal trainer can positively influence every aspect of a young athlete's performance (and health) for the rest of their life.  Unfortunately, a bad coach/trainer can cause irreparable damage.  The typical personal trainer has no formal education on the developmental necessities of a young athlete and the later case tends to be the majority of what you will find.   Here are some quick questions you can ask a potential coach/trainer prior to paying them a penny to work with your child.  If you are unsure of their answers, do not hesitate to contact me for clarification.

• 1) What is their formal education-A degree in a fitness related field is a minimum, a masters degree in Kinesiology or Sports Biomechanics is usually best. I would not hire somebody who has not had 4 years of structured education in the field. 

• 2) What type of certification to they have?  Does their certification provide them with the appropriate "tools" to work with young athletes?  There are dozens upon dozens of certification that almost anybody can get.  Some require a small fee and an open pamphlet test. Others require a degree in higher learning just to sit for the exam. Some are great certifications for working with adults, but provide zero information for working with children.  Although this is not a complete list of decent certifications, here are two good certs I look for:

• •     International Youth Conditioning Associations "Youth Conditioning Specialist (YCS)"- Yes I am partial because I am on the board of directors, affiliate panel, and I helped write their textbook and create their exams.  However, this give me insight into the inner workings of the educational directives. I can tell you that it is unmatched in the industry when it comes to learning to work with children.
  •     National Strength and Conditioning Associations "Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS)"-Although this certification is geared more toward working with older athletes (college and older high school) it is considered THE certification for those who specialize in training athletes.

• 3) What is their philosophy on training young athletes?  This sounds silly but is very important.  If they do not have a philosophy, or if their philosophy lacks substance, they have no focus and simply have not put thought into what it is they are doing...or...they just do not have enough knowledge or experience to be able to apply a working understanding to the cause and effect of their training paradigm.  If they do have a philosophy, it should involve a "whole-istic" approach including things such as improving body control, increasing motor programming, developing a warehouse of athletic skill, developing dynamic (athletic) strength, etc.

• 4) Ask if they assess or test their athletes before the do anything else. More importantly focus on their answer regarding assessment and less on testing.  Here is why: a test tells you nothing more then how "much" or how "fast" (ie How much can you squat, how fast can you run)...It tells you nothing about WHY you are weak or WHY you are slow...just that you are.  If you are deficient, testing does not tell you anything about why or where you are deficient.  At a young age nothing is more important then developing rock solid form and technique, and this starts by focusing on WHY.  Therefore any and all programs should first focus on the improving lifting technique, running and cutting techniques with a focus on proper deceleration mechanics (before acceleration mechanics), appropriate landing technique (not jumping technique).  This will insure safety, and optimize performance and  progression.  As a parent, it is your responsibility to make sure that whoever is training your  child understands these concepts and focuses on "learning" before all else.    CUT AND DRY, if they do not assess or test, do not hire them.  They cannot create an appropriate program without knowing where the athlete is deficient, weak, sore, injured, slow etc.  They would only know this if they do an assessment.

• 5) Ask if they use weight lifting machines with their young athletes.  If they say yes, I would probably steer clear.  It is my well voiced opinion that no athlete, especially a young one, should EVER be on a machine.  They should be doing free weight/body weight/ type exercises that involve the athlete learning to control their body/implement while producing force in a dynamic environment...after all...that is the essence of sport!!!.  Machines control path of travel, provide added stability (which is undesirable), tend to have unnatural loading curves, and typical are not designed to fit anybody, let alone a young gangly athlete.  Eventually they will start to develop troublesome imbalances that WILL lead to injury.  Furthermore, they should never put him on a treadmill.  If they do, they are using up valuable time that should be spent doing more multidirectional type conditioning.

• 6) Ask if you can stay and watch and ask questions as they train him.  If they so no, there is a problem!!! If they say yes, take advantage it.  While you watch, ask the trainer/coach WHY as frequently as you can.  Why do you have them do this? Why do you have them do that?  If the person cannot answer WHY, there is another major problem.  Additionally, the answer to why should make sense to you! If not, call them out on it. You are paying them for a service, they are "molding your child," they should be required to answer your questions.

• 7) Last but not least...do they offer a guarantee?  If they will not put their money where their mouth is they are not confident in the quality of their service.  I have found that only people who provide a poor quality product are scared to put it on the line. 

I hope this will help you in your decision making process.

Tony