You Probably Need to Get Stronger (Until You Don’t)

For youth athletes, here’s the truth:

You probably need to get stronger, until you don’t.

And then the game changes.

At that point, you don’t just need more strength. You need to learn how to use that strength — what coaches often call being explosive.

The issue is that most youth training programs get this backwards.

They skip the foundation, strength, and jump straight to the flashy stuff:

• Speed ladders
• Agility cones
• Endless plyometric jumps

Believe me, I get it. 

It looks impressive on social media. It feels exciting in the moment. But here’s the reality:

👉 This approach is a recipe for injury.
👉 It caps an athlete’s potential by skipping the developmental steps that actually build capacity.

And on the flip side, real strength training is often pushed to the back burner.

Why? Because it’s not as fun to watch. It’s slow, controlled, repetitive… and if I’m being honest, pretty boring.

But here’s the thing: those “boring” qualities are what build the tissue and tendon resilience athletes need once things get fast and chaotic.

I’m a car guy, so here’s how I think about it.

Imagine you’re building a race car. If the first thing you did was drop a massive engine into a basic frame and take it to the track… what do you think would happen?

It’ll probably take off like a rocket. But it wouldn’t last.

That’s because what makes a Shelby Cobra (or any true performance car) lethal on the track isn’t just the engine.

It’s the brakes, suspension, tires, and transmission — every system tuned to handle the engine’s power.

All of those parts harness the engine so it can actually be used effectively.

And that’s exactly how athletic training works.

Yes, I want my athletes to have a powerful engine. But more importantly, I want them to control it, to apply it safely, explosively, and efficiently when the game demands it.

That begs the question: How do you know whether your athlete needs more raw strength, or whether it’s time to layer in explosiveness and higher-level performance work?

Assessment.

Every athlete I coach starts with that first step. 

From that, we know exactly where they are in their development, and where the majority of their time should be spent. (Shown above is a sample output sheet.)

No guesswork. No skipping steps. Just the right training, at the right time.

This is why I built my Athlete Development System: to take athletes from foundational strength → to explosive power → to game-ready performance, without missing the steps in between.

Because the goal isn’t just to have a big engine.
The goal is to build the whole car — and teach the driver how to handle it.