Recently the father of a young athlete called to inquire about some sport-specific coaching for his daughter.I asked him about her goals. And if she had any previous injuries. And what she was currently doing, strength training-wise, to achieve her goals.And he said nothing because he was too busy. Otherwise he could just do it himself.Now I had never met this parent before. I don't know what his educational background was, what type of training credential he held (or previously held), if any, and what experience he had training himself or others.I just asked the questions, listened and made notes.Then I asked if his daughter was small, average or tall for her age? And he said she was small.I then asked how old she was and explained that based on her chronological age (candles on a birthday cake), developmental age (how close to an adult she was in terms of development) and her sport would determine how we would approach her training to ensure it was safe, appropriate and effective for her goals.There was then a long pause at the other end of the line.So I had to ask 'are you still there?'. To which he answered 'Yes. I never knew any of that so it's probably a good thing I didn't get started trying to help her.'No problem I said. That's why we're here.Obviously safety is priority number one when working with young athletes. We take the time to make sure our athletes understand the proper way to warm up. We make sure they learn optimal technique for all lifts. We make sure they can read their program and understand the acute variables such as reps, sets, load, intensity, tempo and rest periods. And while we want to make sure the process is enjoyable we demand that the athletes that...