TRAINING PRINCIPLES IN SPORT

Preparation of training
All athletic programs should address the physical, technical, tactical, psychological, and
theoretical aspects of training. These factors are essential to any training pr ogram
regardless of the athlete’s chronological age, individual potential, level of athletic
development, training age, or phase of training.

Objectives of training
Training is a process by which an athlete is prepared for the highest level of performance
possible. The process of training targets the development of specific attributes
correlated with the execution of various tasks. These specific attributes include
multilateral physical development, sport-specific physical development, technical skills,
tactical abilities, psychological characteristics, health maintenance, injury resistance,
and theoretical knowledge.
1. Multilateral Physical Development: Multilateral development, or general fitness as it
is also known, provides the training foundation for success in all sports. This type
of development targets the improvement of the basic motor abilities, such as
endurance, strength, speed, flexibility, and coordination. Athletes who develop a
strong foundation will be able to better tolerate sport-specific training activities and
ultimately have a greater potential for athletic development.
2. Sport-Specific Physical Development: Sport-specific physical development, or sport-
specific fitness as it is sometimes referred to, is the development of physiological
or fitness characteristics that are specific to the sport. This type of training may
target several specific needs of the sport such as strength, skill, endurance, speed,
and f flexibility. However, many sports require a blending of key aspects of
performance, such as speed-strength, strength-endurance, or speed-endurance.
3. Technical Skills: This training focuses on the development of the technical skills
necessary for success in the sporting activity. The ability to perfect technical skills is
based upon both multilateral and sport-specific physical development. For example,
the ability to perform the iron cross in gymnastics appears to be limited by strength,
one of the motor abilities. Ultimately the purpose of training that targets the
development of technical skills is to perfect technique and allow for the
optimization of the sport-specific skills necessary for successful athletic
performance. The development of technique should occur under both normal and
 unusual conditions (e.g., weather, noise, etc.) and should always focus on perfecting
the specific skills required by the sport.
4. Tactical Abilities: The development of tactical abilities is also of particular
importance to the training process. Training in this area is designed to improve
competitive strategies and is based upon studying the tactics of opponents.
Specifically, this type of training is designed to develop strategies that take
advantage of the technical and physical capabilities of the athlete so that the chances
of success in the competition are increased.
5. Psychological Factors: Psychological preparation is also necessary to ensure the
optimization of physical performance. Some authors have also called this type of
training personality development training; regardless of the terminology, the
development of psychological characteristics such as discipline, courage,
perseverance, and confidence are essential for successful athletic performance.
6. Health Maintenance: The overall health of the athlete should be considered very
important. Proper health can be maintained by periodic medical examinations and
appropriate scheduling of training, including alternating between periods of hard
work and periods of regeneration or restitution. Injuries and illness require specific
attention and proper management of these occurrences is an important priority to
consider during the training process.
7. Injury Resistance: The best way to prevent injuries is to ensure that the athlete has
developed the physical capacity and physiological characteristics necessary to
participate in rigorous training and competition and to ensure appropriate
application of training. The inappropriate application of training, which includes
excessive loading, will increase the risk of injury. With young athletes, it is crucial
that multilateral physical development is targeted, as this allows for the development
of motor abilities that will help decrease the potential for injury. Additionally, the
management of fatigue appears to be of particular importance. When fatigue is high,
the occurrence of injuries is markedly increased, therefore, the development of
training plans that manage fatigue should be considered to be of the utmost
importance.
8. Theoretical Knowledge: Training should increase the athletes’ knowledge of the
physiological and psychological basis of training, planning, nutrition, and
regeneration. It is crucial that the athlete understands why certain training
activities are being undertaken. This can be accomplished by discussing the training
objectives established for each aspect of the training plan or by requiring the athlete
to attend seminars and conferences about training. Arming the athlete with
theoretical knowledge about the training process and the sport improves the
likelihood that the athlete will make good personal decisions and approach the
training process with a strong focus, which will allow the coach and athlete to
better set training goals.

Principles of training
Multilateral Development

Support for the concept of multilateral development is found in most areas of education
and human endeavors. In athletics, multilateral development, or overall physical
development, is a necessity. The use of a multilateral development plan is extremely
important during the early stages of an athlete’s development. Multilateral development
during the athlete’s formative years lays the groundwork for later periods of training
when specialization becomes a greater focus of the training plan. If properly
implemented, the multilateral training phase will allow the athlete to develop the
physiological and psychological basis needed to maximize performance later in his career.

Comparison between early specialization and multilateral

development

Early specialization Multilateral Development

 Quick performance improvement  Slower performance
 Best performances achieved at improvement
15 to 16 years of age because of  Best performances at age 18 or
quick adaptation older when the athlete has
 Inconsistent performance in reached physiological and
competition psychological maturation
 High incidence of burnout and  Consistent and progressive
quitting sport by age 18 performance in competition
 Increased risk of injury because  Longer athletic career
of forced adaptation and lack of  Fewer injuries as a result of more
physiological development progressive loading patterns and
overall physiological
development

Based on Harre 1982 (46).

Specialization
Whether training on a field, in a pool, or in a gymnasium, the athlete eventually will
specialize in a sport or event. Training for a sport results in physiological adaptations
that are specific to the activity’s movement pattern, metabolic demand, force generation
pattern, contraction type, and muscle recruitment pattern. The type of training used has
a very specific effect on the athlete’s physiological characteristics. Coaches should
carefully plan the ratio between multilateral and specialized training, taking into
consideration the modern tendency to lower the age of athletic maturation. In some
sports, athletes achieve a high level of performance at young ages and thus must enter the
sport at a young age.

Individualization
Individualization is one of the main requirements of contemporary training.
Individualization requires that the coach consider the athlete’s abilities, potential, and
learning characteristics and the demands of the athlete’s sport, regardless of the
performance level. Each athlete has physiological and psychological attributes that need
to be considered when developing a training plan.
Too often, coaches take an unscientific approach to training by literally following
training programs of successful athletes or sports programs with complete disregard for
the athlete’s training experience, abilities, and physiological makeup. Even worse, some
coaches take programs from elite athletes and apply them to junior athletes who have not
yet developed the physical literacy, physiological base, or psychological skills needed to
undertake these types of programs. Young athletes are not physiologically or
psychologically able to tolerate programs created for advanced athletes. The coach needs
to understand the athlete’s needs and develop training plans that meet those needs.

Load Progression
Improvements in performance are a direct result of the amount and quality of work the
athlete achieves during training. From beginners to elite athletes, the training workload
must increase gradually and be varied periodically according to each athlete’s
physiological capacity, psychological abilities, and work tolerance. The training load can
be thought of as a combination of intensity, duration, and frequency of training. The
training load is determined by the degree of specificity of training and the performance
development status of the athlete. There is a complex interaction between the athlete’s
fitness, the training load, and the athlete’s ability to tolerate training.

Exercise:
1. What is the objective of a training?
2. What should be include in training proggram?
3. What are the benefit of multilateral development for the athlete?

References:
Bompa, Tudor, O., & Haff, Gregory, G. 2009. Periodization: Training and Methodology of
Training. Human Kinetics: United States of America.