When athletes have positive experiences, they remain engaged in sport longer and develop a life-long love of sport and physical activity. Long-term athlete development (LTAD) seeks to grow the athlete pool to develop lifetime players, future coaches, administrators, and supporters. In short, LTAD will provide:
LTAD establishes a clear pathway from starting ultimate to long-term success and being ultimate for life. LTAD works as a planning tool for coaches, ultimate players, or local affiliates and clubs. Not all affiliates or clubs may be able to implement all aspects of LTAD, but they should serve as aspirational targets with the understanding that an athlete-centered approach will provide an environment for success.
LTAD principles include opportunities for athletes of all ability levels, age-appropriate activities to develop basic and transferable motor skills in a fun and engaging environment, multisport participation, and quality coaching at all levels. When athletes have positive experiences, they remain engaged in sport longer and develop a life-long love of sport and physical activity. LTAD seeks to grow the athlete pool to develop future coaches, officials, administrators and supporters.
LTAD will provide:
1) Athlete-centered model. 2) Opportunities for young athletes to fulfill their potential. 3) Guide for long-term growth and success of the sport. 4) Age-appropriate. practice/training/competition guidelines. 5) Guide to age-appropriate physical and mental development. 6) Long-term outlook for success at the senior level.
There are many pathways for participants to take to achieve their potential; their path is rarely straight.
Participant A might stay in one of their first sport from entry right through to World Championships.
Participant B starts in a different sport or begins their journey later, then during adolescence finds the sport they pursue to the highest levels.
Participant C starts with A having early success in one sport, then focuses on another sport before returning to focus on their first love.
Participant D achieves a high level of success in one sport but then transfers to another sport, which results in having to go back through stages of development before succeeding in their new sport.
Participant E becomes involved in many sports, never pursuing or advancing into the Train to Train stage, but has quality experiences and is active for life.
Participant F becomes aware of opportunities later in life, then through a positive first involvement becomes active for life.
Please note that the stage names used in this graphic differ from those used by USA Ultimate.
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
General | Coaches | Organizers | Parents
Some long-term athlete development models have proposed generic sensitive periods or “windows of opportunity” during childhood and adolescence that are optimal for training general motor abilities such as strength or speed. However, it remains unclear whether these periods exist. This review will therefore critically appraise the rationale behind generic sensitive periods. We discuss several issues with generic sensitive periods and argue that general motor abilities and the associated sensitive periods do not exist. The identified issues with generic sensitive periods question their validity and we therefore suggest that they should not be used to train youth athletes.
Based on Long-Term Development in Sport and Physical Activity
The “Physical Literacy Movement Preparation Session” not only prepares the body for movement, it also improves the way you move, which reduces the risk of injury during physical activity. It also teaches skills that will benefit participation in unfamiliar activities. Movement preparation that’s geared towards physical literacy – focusing on the techniques that improve and incorporate fundamental movement skills and fundamental sport skills can also foster a more physically active and healthy lifestyle.
A Sport for Life poster that highlights dynamics, accelerations, cutting, ladders and core workouts with several different levels of intensity.
A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
The prevalence of adolescent athletes who specialize in sports has increased in recent years. Substantial literature
on youth sports has linked early sport specialization to negative consequences, such as burnout and injury. However, empirical
evidence directly comparing burnout rates in sport specialization versus sport sampling is very limited.