What is LTAD?
LTAD (Long-Term Athletic Development) is a model that divides the sporting development of children and young people into stages, aiming for lifelong healthy activity and the realisation of true potential rather than short-term success. Its core idea is to match training to the child’s stage of development: teaching the right thing at the right time. The model reflects the shared framework of much sport science (Balyi, Lloyd & Oliver’s Youth Physical Development model, and the views of the NSCA and IOC).
At the heart of LTAD lies one understanding: a child is not a small adult. Each developmental stage has its own priorities, and skipping those priorities harms both development and safety.
Developmental stages
The model typically consists of these stages: Active Start (ages 5–6) — meeting movement and play; FUNdamentals (roughly 6–9) — fundamental movement skills (running, jumping, throwing, balance) and broad-based play; Learn to Train (roughly 8–12) — the golden window for skill acquisition; Train to Train (roughly 11–16) — building the engine and managing the growth spurt; and Train to Compete (16+) — sport- and position-specific performance.
Because girls enter puberty earlier, the age ranges of these stages shift by sex. What matters is not calendar age but the child’s level of maturation; so the stages are not rigid age boxes but phases that flex with development.
Managing the growth spurt
One of LTAD’s most critical emphases is the growth spurt (PHV) period. In this window the bones lengthen faster than the muscles, coordination is temporarily disrupted, and injury risk rises. The model recommends that around the spurt (circa-PHV) the total and impact load be temporarily reduced, with the emphasis shifted to movement quality, balance and trunk control.
This “brake” does not slow development; by preventing injury, it makes uninterrupted development possible. After the spurt (post-PHV), strength and power development can safely be accelerated. So measuring the child’s height regularly to catch the onset of the spurt is a practical part of applying LTAD.
Why not early results?
LTAD warns against locking onto a single sport at an early age and against constant competition pressure. Although early specialisation brings results in the short term, it raises the risk of overuse injuries, burnout and dropping out early. Instead, the model recommends trying different sports throughout childhood (sampling), building a broad base of movement skills, and delaying specialisation.
Research shows that a significant proportion of athletes who reach the very top played more than one sport in childhood. LTAD therefore charts a “slow but steady” path: first a healthy, all-round athlete; then a specialist.
The role of family and coach
LTAD is an outlook that not only coaches but families need to embrace. Judging a child’s development not by early results (trophies, selections) but by long-term health and skill acquisition; prioritising enjoyment and participation over pressure — these are at the heart of the approach. Rather than building a “winning team” at an early age, an environment where every child gets playing time, can make mistakes and can develop produces more — and healthier — athletes in the long run.
In practice, families can pay attention to the following: keeping the child’s weekly total load (training + matches + school) reasonable, respecting rest days and yearly breaks, taking signs of pain and burnout seriously, and making room for them to try different sports. On the coach’s side, age- and maturity-appropriate goals, correct technical teaching and load adjustment during the growth-spurt period are the priorities. LTAD can be thought of as a developmental contract that puts everyone on the same page.