Today’s episode features a special roundtable featuring experts Jorge Carvajal, Zach Even-Esh, and Jeremy Frisch. Together, these coaches have over half a century of training expertise, and have worked with a wide sweeping range of athletes. In addition to this, their experience is with many athletes ranging from very young to the professional level, and have also seen the changes sport culture that has come about over the last few decades (if you aren’t aware, those changes have resulted in injury rates magnitudes higher than what was seen in the 1990’s). Today’s topic is the injury crisis in youth sports and the related deprivation of movement and physical literacy of the coming generation.
I was asked a while ago if I had anything special planned for the 100th episode of the podcast (I can’t believe it’s gone so far!). I didn’t have much in mind for it, but I’ve actually saved this recording a few episodes to be 100 since I feel that it checks a lot of boxes on what makes this podcast what it is, and that is the time and willingness of great coaches to be a voice to help other coaches, and ultimately, help athletes reach their highest potential.
I think that the message today that these three coaches bring is honestly the most important one of all, more important than getting an extra tenth off your 40-yard dash, and a higher calling than tacking 2 extra inches on one’s vertical jump. That higher calling is the physical literacy and movement crisis that so many young athletes are facing. It is one that elicits burnout and injury like never before seen, and also feeds into the nature of our educational system itself.
Topics covered on the show include the age an athlete may actually be ready to specialize and when that is appropriate, how local culture impacts which sport a child plays, how depriving students of movement is harming students’ educational and global experiences and how to bring physical literacy back into our culture.
Today’s episode is brought to you by SimpliFaster, supplier of high-end athletic development tools, such as the Freelap timing system, kBox, Sprint 1080, and more.
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Key Points:
- Zach, Jeremy and Jorge’s backgrounds in the field
- The earliest age an athlete should consider specializing in a sport
- How local culture and lifestyle impacts which sports athletes play
- Ways to help bring physical literacy back into our culture
- How depriving children of movement and free play is destroying the educational experience of many
“An athlete specializes when they are really ready, mentally and emotionally”
“It seems to take a lot of years and a lot of skill work to get to a certain level”
“I’ll do another sport as the warmup to build their athleticism”
“I could probably take 99% of little league pitchers, and they couldn’t get themselves across the monkey bars”
“The logistics of parenting make it very difficult to have multi-sport athletes these days”
“Everything is coached and organized, and they are not able to think for themselves”
“What I was able to do with a new athlete 5 years ago, is different than what I’m able to do today, I call it the de-evolution of the athlete”
“You have to stop de-emphasizing PE in school, that’s it, that’s where it starts”
“Don’t run a youth class and train those kids like they are in high school… what is the better thing for the kids? They need the play”
“(Regarding the importance of not emphasizing speed training in favor of free play for children) I get more phone calls from Dad’s about first step quickness than I do about the older kids”
About Jorge Carvajal
Jorge Carvajal is a performance coach and consultant who has worked with elite athletes in multiple sports and the tactical world for over twenty-five years.
He has trained thousands of athletes, at the University of Florida, the University of Nebraska, the U.S. Olympic training center, along with numerous professional athletes from the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, World Surf League Big Wave Tour surfers, and Tactical Athletes in the Fire Service, Law Enforcement SWAT, and SRT, and Military Communities.
About Zach Even-Esh
A leading figure in the strength & conditioning industry, Zach Even-Esh has trained over 1,000 athletes ranging from the youth level to the Olympic level.
Zach founded The Underground Strength Gym and created The Underground Strength Coach Certification, both of which have inspired and educated coaches and athletes from around the world to achieve greater success in both sports and life.
Since creating The Underground Strength Gym, Zach has consulted with Division 1 athletic teams, Olympic Level athletic clubs, Spartan Race, pro teams, and independent coaches and athletes from around the world.
The Underground Strength Gym began from Zach’s parent’s garage while he was a Health and Physical Education teacher in 2002. What started as a summer experiment training a few athletes grew into a full-time obsession and now Zach and his Underground Strength methods have grown into a worldwide movement, inspiring athletes and coaches all around the world in training and life.
Zach’s Underground Strength Coach Certification has attendees traveling from all around the world and range from independent Strength Coaches, active Military personnel, athletic coaches, college coaches, and former Navy SEALs.
Zach lives in NJ with his wife and 2 kids and continues to inspire and educate the world through strength on his web site, through his gym and seminars.
About Jeremy Frisch
Jeremy Frisch is the owner and director of Achieve Performance Training in Clinton, Mass. He is the former assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Holy Cross athletic department. While there, he worked directly with the Crusader men’s basketball team, in addition to serving as the strength coach for Holy Cross’ men’s soccer, men’s and women’s lacrosse, baseball, softball, field hockey, tennis and women’s track & field squads.
Prior to joining Holy Cross, Frisch served as the sports performance director at Teamworks Sports Center in Acton, Mass., where he was responsible for the design and implementation of all strength and conditioning programs. He also served as a speed and strength coach for Athletes Edge Sports Training and did a strength and conditioning internship at Stanford University. Frisch is a 2007 graduate of Worcester State College with a bachelor’s degree in health science and physical education. He was a member of the football and track teams during his days at Worcester State and Assumption College.
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