Seven.
That’s the percentage of high school athletes who will go on to compete at the collegiate level.
This means that many young athletes with aspirations to play in college, and maybe one day the pros, are looking for more than just a place to work out.
They’re looking for a competitive edge.
The training and coaching you provide athletes are pivotal aspects of their development, but how do you convey that value to them and their parents? How can you show them, not just tell them, that they are improving?
It all comes down to tracking their progress.
Every athlete’s goal is a little bit different, but regardless if they’re aiming for the Olympics or to live a healthy, active lifestyle, athlete progression tracking will help validate the work they are putting in, their progress toward their goals, and their investment in your brand.
Here are 5 reasons why you should be tracking your athletes’ progress.
Results keep people coming back. Being able to show proof of progress motivates your clients to stay committed to their goals. One of the biggest reasons for athlete progression tracking is to show that improvement over time. You’ll be able to establish a baseline, set a goal, then set up milestones and training progressions to tackle along the way. Without a plan to track athlete progress, it becomes harder to objectively recognize improvements.
By tracking an athletes’ training, you’re able to see changes in their output, and identify when to push forward and when you might need to scale back. Monitoring an athlete’s movements and improvements empower you to detect potential sources of injuries or setbacks – before it’s too late. This will ensure your athletes have positive experiences with their sport, and continue to progress toward their goals.
Especially as you grow your brand, your programs will reach a wide range of clients. To individualize group training sessions, or to efficiently schedule high numbers of private lessons, athlete progression tracking can help you break down your workouts and programs into different tiers. As athletes master certain skills or reach a certain benchmark, they can progress to a more advanced training level. Likewise, if an athlete still has room to improve, they can remain at a certain weight, rep count, or drill. This allows your training to become more valuable, and provides flexibility without creating additional work in program planning.
We’ve talked a lot about giving athletes feedback and evaluations – how can this translate into progression tracking?
Many athletes lack the self-awareness of their technique, form, or even in-game execution. Tracking progress allows for feedback on performance, specifically how certain movements have improved an athlete’s speed, endurance, strength, and more. As you bring attention to both strengths and areas of improvement, you will reinforce positive behaviors, and appropriately make adjustments to address weaknesses.
Not only does athlete progression tracking have benefits for your athletes; it can also help you as a coach or trainer. As we’ve mentioned before, results keep people coming back. Tracking your athlete’s progress will empower you to show documented results that will build your reputation. This will help you continue to grow your brand and expand your reach. And, once you begin tracking the progress of your athletes, you’ll become more in-tune with your coaching, programming, and the value of your offerings.
Read more about how you can utilize software to manage your youth sports training business!
Growing rapidly in popularity, the membership-based business model has dominated the consumer space. Is it right for your business? The critical first step is to reflect on your business and current offerings. Start by asking yourself these questions (and answer honestly)…
There are many challenges when coaching and managing youth sports. Not only do you coach the future generation of athletes, you spend hours facing challenges such as planning programs, communicating with parents, scheduling practices and games, collecting payments, and the list goes on. However, there are tools and practices that make these challenges well, less challenging.