Universal Drills: Choosing the Right Drills and Mastering Foundational Movements

Inspired by our book, Coaching Better Athletes

Part 3 of a 3 part series

See our previous post here

In this post, we will dive into drill application and talk about how to choose appropriate drills for athletes of all ages. Training stimuli start to become important as early as age 7 because muscle adaptations will occur as a result of the challenges they face. Any coach working with athletes 7 and up has a responsibility to train athletes appropriately for both peak athletic performance and safety purposes.

We’ll share some foundational movements that every athlete should master to help build strength, power, and coordination. Whether you’re a coach, parent, or athlete, this post will give you the tools to begin building better athletes.

Choosing the Right Drills

Not all drills are created equal. To pick the best ones, consider:

• Training Age: It sounds like a no-brainer, but don’t overcomplicate things for beginners. They need simple drills to master, while advanced athletes can utilize simple drills to sharpen their footwork, but can also attempt to master complex movements.

• Chronological Age: Younger athletes (ages 7–12) need a fun variety of drills to help them stay engaged while developing strength, power, and coordination. Older athletes (13+) can have some fun too, but their drills can be more “sport-specific” as they seek to really fine-tune some of their skills.

• Physical and Psychological Maturity: Drills should challenge but not overwhelm. A drill that’s too advanced can frustrate or injure an athlete. However, a drill that’s too simple can be boring and not engaging.

For example, a 7-year-old might start with a variation of jumping jacks to build coordination and develop power, while a 15-year-old could progress to multi-directional single-leg hops and box jumps for the same purpose.

Progression and Safety

Dr. Istvan Balyi, a sports science pioneer, emphasized progressive training for young athletes. He recommends a gradual increase in complexity as skills improve. Here is a summary of guidelines for various developmental stages:

• Ages 7–9: Focus on fun, fundamental movements like crawling, squatting, and hopping. Take note that running for distance is a fantastic activity, but it is no better at conditioning than repeated sprinting. Do a little of both here at this age because you never know where athletes are headed on their athletic journey.

• Ages 10–12: Introduce more coordination and balance (e.g., single-leg hops and altitude drops). Keep up with the mixed running approach at this age.

• Ages 13+: Add more difficult explosive drills (e.g., split drops to a sprint). Athletes who are focused more on strength and power sports should begin to sprint more often than jog at this age. If they are endurance athletes, like cross-country runners, going for distance is a great training approach. Remember, all athletes can do some of both, but they should begin to have a focus at this age.

Safety is critical. Coaches must master the ability to teach technique effectively while ensuring drills and equipment (e.g., hurdles) are age-appropriate. Attention in this area prevents injuries and maximizes athletic benefits.

Foundational Movements for Every Athlete

Here are 10 universal movements to build strength, power, and coordination:

1. Squats

2. Push-Ups

3. Various Crawls

4. Body Weight Rows

5. Lunges

6. Step-Ups

7. Hip Hinge (RDL)

8. Jumping Jacks

9. Crossover Jacks

10. Pogo Jumps

In our book, Coaching Better Athletes, we add a few more movements to this list and even offer up some resources that will help a coach teach them properly. These movements are scalable for all ages and form the foundation for more advanced skills. Once these are mastered, an athlete should explore complex movements tailored more towards sport-specific skills.

Why Start Early?

Exposing young athletes to a variety of drills taps into neuromuscular plasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt and learn new movements. This early foundation sets the stage for elite performance later in life. At all ages, individuals will do better athletically if their brain is programmed to be more plastic. When a brain is more plastic, it is more malleable and able to adopt new skills more easily. 

What Now?

Pick one or two of the 10 foundational movements and practice them 2–3 times a week with one or several of your athletes. You may find that even the older athletes struggle with some of them. Focus on form, and progress slowly through the list to fully master it all. 

Universal drills are a powerful tool for developing athletes, but they must be chosen thoughtfully based on age, skill, and sport. By starting with foundational movements and progressing strategically, you can build a strong, versatile athlete ready to wade fully into the waters of more complex drills. The more movements an athlete can master, the more athletic potential they will possess.

Be on the lookout for our bonus Universal Drills post that will give you some universal drills and an example program to run your athletes through. Be on the lookout for our book if you want all the information we have on the subject.