Strength training among the young is a topic that has already been thoroughly researched. However, it still often happens that professionals of sports coaching train a young football player in the same way they train a senior football player. As a result, I suppose that we could lay the blame on the lack of adequate qualifications of formally qualified professional experts. Unfortunately, mistakes, occuring during the youth football training programme, are quite difficult to correct and make up later on in life.
The herewith thesis is divided into two parts. The first part was intended to introduce a theory, covering a general guide to strength training and strength training for the young football players, especially as far as the U-13 age group is concerned. The fact is that this issue is highly important due to the fact that it is in the above mentioned age group where significant differences among individual children are detected. It cannot be denied that some young football players go through pre-puberty at this time, while others have already started puberty. As a result, professional coaches thus work with young football players of the same human body's chronological age, but at the same time there can be significant discrepancies detected because of their biological ages among them. It is highly important to master in detail the principles of strength training that are adequate for the young football players during this period.
In the second part of the thesis we explored issues in evaluating coaching strength training knowledge coaches are supposed to have. As a consequence, we were thus able to get an insight into their general knowledge and into the way this knowledge could be used in practise as well.
The diploma work is primarily aimed at all football coaches who work with young football players. However, since the physical and mental development of children is the same in all sports, this work could be certainly considered as an added value and at the same time an important contribution to all the others who teach, train and are connected with children and their training practices in any way.
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