ASCA Podcast #117 - James Baker

ASCA Podcast

James is currently the Head of Talent Identification & Athlete Development at Elite Sport UAE and a Visiting Fellow at Northumbria University. James brings a unique blend of skills and experience as an accredited S&C coach, physical education teacher, sport scientist and researcher. His current research is focused on the effect of growth and maturation on performance in youth track and field. Previously he worked at the Aspire Academy in Doha, Qatar as the Head of Talent Identification and Development, a senior strength and conditioning coach and performance support lead for Track and Field during his time there. In 2020, he was awarded the ASCA Senior Research Award on behalf of the Aspire Academy research team and James was also awarded the UKSCA’s S&C Coach of the Year Award for Youth Sport in 2017 for his work in the school setting. QUOTES “When I used to speak to the athletics coaches about maturation, I'd say, yeah, he's an early maturer and they were like, so what? How much difference does that make?” “The mean maximum velocity for the approaching peak height velocity (PHV) group is 7.1m/s and the max velocity for the post-PHV group is 8.5m/s… So, in those situations, when you put them on the track, you can imagine how that extrapolates out over 60, 70, 80, 90, 100 meters” “So 87-88% of predicted adult height is typically the takeoff point for the growth spurt and we start to see a big increase in growth with the peak of growth being typically between 91-92% of predicted adult height.” “The best approach is to keep as many athletes as possible in your (TID) programs for as long as possible” “If we're applying these correction procedures to athletes, we're still talking about early maturing athletes that are running 7.5s for 60. They're still not world beaters at this point. They all still need support, but it's not to say we should exclude the early maturer either. We need to keep the people in the pipeline, keep giving them what they need in terms of strength and conditioning, and great coaching.” “Actually, being an early maturer for girls can be a disadvantage because of the fat mass gains that occur post-PHV versus a girl who is pre-PHV who's still relatively lean, not carrying fat. And in my experience, most of the girls will jump their highest CMJs pre-PHV and then it all flat lines” “There's certain sports where if you haven't accumulated training by a certain age, then, you know, the really skill -based sports, it's probably going to be harder to get there to an elite level” SHOWNOTES 1) James’ background in both strength & conditioning and PE teaching and his journey to talent identification in elite sport in the Middle East 2) Why interpreting performance through a lens of maturation is important and how to track physical performance metrics around peak height velocity (PHV) 3) The continuum of maturation in young athletes from pre-pubertal to post-PHV 4) Different methods of predicting adult height in youth athletes and their respective strengths and weaknesses 5) Optimizing talent ID programs to enhance retention and the psychosocial aspects of these programs 6) Correcting track & field performance based on maturation to get closer to be able to compare youth athletes of the same age but different maturation levels 7) Potential differences between boys' and girls' physical performance measures around PHV 8) Strategies for working with sports coaches in the TID space to allow for maturation-based evaluation and adjustments for open skill sports 9) Managing training around PHV to help reduce injury risk and the typical pattern of growth and injury site location in youth athletes PEOPLE MENTIONED Ed Archer Alex Natera Amanda Johnson Marco Cardinale Phil Kearney Craig Pickering Shaun Abbott Stephen Cobley Tom Maher Matt Jordan Mike Young Jeremy Sheppard Dan Baker Boo Schexnayder