1. Long-term Athlete Development
Growth & Development
Success is a journey not a destination and it is important that no parts of that journey are missed
This is about achieving the correct training, competition and recovery throughout a young athletes career and is important in relation to the growth and development of an athlete and LTAD provides a framework within which sports plan their training and competition programme

2. LTAD Principles Athlete centred approach
Makes full use of the critical or sensitive periods of adaptation (growth spurts)
Focuses on the need to develop PHYSICAL LITERACY in all young people
Recognises Training – Competition – Recovery ratios
Takes 10 to 12 years training to reach elite level
Some sports require early specialisation

3. Five Stages of Development
FUNdamentals – Childhood
(Basic movement literacy)
Swim Skills – Late Childhood
(Building Technique)
Training To Train – Adolescence
(Building the engine)
Training To Compete - Early Adulthood
(Optimising the engine)
Training To Win - Adulthood
(Maximising the engine)
Fundamentals – Male 6 – 9 and Female 5 – 8
Swim Skills male 9 – 12 female 8 – 11
Training to train Male 12 – 15 female 11 – 14
Training to Compete male 15 – 18 female 14 – 16
Training to win Male 18+ female 16+

4. LTAD Key Issues
“The critical, fundamental phase is often overlooked by coaches, teachers and parents, who focus on competition and winning rather than the acquisition of basic skills and fitness”.
Balyi, I. (2001)

5. Chronological Age: Male 6-9 years & Females: 6-8 years
FUNdamentals
Chronological Age: Male 6-9 years & Females: 6-8 years
FUN, participation and child centred “playful environment”
Focus on general overall movement skills development
ABCs of Athleticism – Agility, Balance, Co-ordination & Speed
Own body strength games/exercises
Semi-structured programme
Physical activity 5-6 times per week
Understanding Simple rules and ethics of sport
Develop skills from participation in a range of sports
This is the start of development of endurance and stroke patterns and also an introduction to the simple rules and ethics of the sport as well as the understanding the need for rules and structure. So they should be taking part in a well sructured programme with proper progression.
5 – 6 sessions of sport a week between 30 – 60 minutes

6. Swim Skills Focus on Optimising Training and Refining Skills
‘Its all about technique’ Chronological Age: Males 9-12 years & Females 8-11 years
Focus on Optimising Training and Refining Skills
Specific Technique building
Skill Development
Specific Training
Athlete Learning
Training and Competition
A Vital Stage of Development!!!
Due to the development of the nervous system at these ages there are rapid improvmeents in co-ordination in movement skills and therefore this is the optimum preiod in which t o learn how to train and develop sport specific skills – working on developing excellent technique in all four strokes and starts, turns, underwater and finishes. Also a multi stroke appraoch helps to prevent injury.
Discuss early specialisation of stroke
During this stage swimemrs should be identifying good practice with warm up and cool down, post training sstretching, hydration and nutrition and recovery and relaxation
Over competing is to be avoided
Competition should be a test of skill refinement under pressure
75% training to 25% competition
This is an important phase of development to achieve full potential, easier to develop correct skills at a younger age rather than change skills as swimmers get older. Also too much emphasis on competition at this stage instead of taking full advantage of training can prevent a swimmer from achieving their full potential late in their career. 4 – 12 hours per week

7. Training to Train
Chronological - Biological Age:
Males years & Females years
Gradual loading of training volume and consolidating sport specific skills
Major window of opportunity for development opportunities e.g. aerobic & strength gains (‘Critical period of trainability’)
Further develop basic Ancillary Capacities, tactical and mental skills
Introduce technique based free weights toward the end of phase
13 years for girls and 14 for boys is the peak critical point for trainability in terms of skill development and building the engine. If the engine is not built at this stage it cannot fully be recaptured at a later time
The emphasis is still on Individual medley and training not competing.
Discuss late developer early developer too much recognition too early effects later and not enough early re late developer more difficult t motivate to say in the sport – no emphasis on winning
Swimming is an endurance sport – apart from the 50f/s all Olympic events are swum for more than 45 seconds and we have nothing that compares to the 100, track, therefore the training that we do at a young age has to have an endurance base, this is why the training volumes thorugh this stage increase and swimemrs should be training for between 12 – 20 hours a week with 2 – 3 hours land training and that should include flexibility, use of own body weight, swiss ball, med ball
Increased knowledge and understanding of swimming, warm up, swim down, stretching, nutrition, hydration, mental prearation. Towards the end of this stage swimmers would start to learn the skills of how to lift wieghts correctly wthout having any resistance, may be practicing with a broom stick
Again if insufficient time is devoted to this stage a young swimmer is unlikley to reach their full potential

8. Training to Compete Sports specific training all year round.
Chronological - Biological Age:
Males years & Females years
Sports specific training all year round.
High volume, increasing intensity.
Period of peak strength development.
Compete in range of events (strokes or distance).
Emphasis on optimum preparation by modelling training and competition.
Develop individual strengths and weaknesses.
Competitive swimming training is characterised by increasingly high volume to build upon the aerobic base established under the Training to Train phase.
This is the period of greatest strength gain for males.
There should also be an emphasis on technical/tactical preparation i.e. race preparation.
There is a continued emphasis on physical conditioning with the focus still on maintaining high volume workloads but increasing the intensity.

9. Chronological Age: Males 18+ years & Females 17+ years
Training to Win
Chronological Age: Males 18+ years & Females 17+ years
Maximise and integrate all physical and technical capacities
Perfect advanced sports specific technical, tactical and mental capacities
Focus on modelling all possible aspects of training and optimising performance
High volume, variable intensity
Perfect recovery / regeneration
Ancillary capabilities eg nutrition, warm up, taper working effectively
This is where everything should come together with refinements made to stamina, strength, speed, skill and suppleness.
The division of the training year (periodisation) becomes important with an interplay between volume and intensity.
Preparation for competition should be specific towards the needs of the swimmers and the events undertaken.

10. Competing Licensed meets Competition at all levels
Short Course – Long Course
Competition to compliment a training cycle
Competition away from home
At least one event at a higher level
County, Regional, National, Internationall Level 1 is aimed at National qualifiers
and swimmers close to National
qualification looking for opportunities
to achieve National qualifying times.
These meets will have qualifying times
for entry, which will be just below
the national times (see section on
Qualifying Times and Upper Limit
Times).
l Level 2 is aimed at Regional
qualifiers and swimmers close to
Regional qualification. They have
qualifying times and upper limit times.
Access to the asa ranking information
can be used to enable meet organisers
to verify entry times submitted by
swimmers fall within the stated range.
l Level 3 is for Club swimmers who
seek County qualifying times. They
have qualifying times and upper limit
times set at an appropriate level.
These meets will provide a programme
throughout the year to support the
requirements of swimmers below
Regional level.
l Level 4 is for Club swimmers and
those beginning to enter individual
open competition.