The long-term planning of athlete development is nothing new. Physical educators in the school system have been doing very much the same things with students for many years. Based on sport science research, what is new is that LTAD can honor dual objectives of wellness and excellence using a single unified approach.
The goal is to use research findings to help better outline how young people develop sporting ability over the early phases of development all the way to adulthood. LTAD does what is developmentally appropriate for participants at every stage of their maturation. In doing so, specific curriculum can be devised to meet the needs of participants across each level.
Having this guiding curriculum in place will develop greater consistency in the delivery of the program to the participants and contribute to larger overall gains in performance and satisfaction.
