In the first post of our Athletic Development Series, we introduced the WVABBTS philosophy and its focus on developing the whole athlete. Now, we are taking a closer look at the foundation of that philosophy: general athleticism.

The WVABBTS athletic staff views development as an ordered pyramid consisting of physical conditioning, technical and tactical skiing skills, and mental preparation. Before athletes can consistently perform complex movements on snow, they need a strong physical base.

That base begins with physical literacy, participation in multiple sports, and exposure to a wide variety of movements. How those elements are developed changes as athletes grow.

Ages 8–12: Learning How to Move

For athletes ages 8–12, the focus is on developing basic athleticism, physical literacy, and motor skills. Athletes are encouraged to participate in multiple sports without specializing in one particular sport.

At this age, athletes benefit from opportunities to run, jump, balance, rotate, climb, throw, catch, skate, and move in different directions. These experiences help establish the foundation for future balance, coordination, flexibility, endurance, speed, strength, power, and explosiveness.

Athletes begin to:

• Move and remain balanced in different athletic situations
• Develop body awareness and alignment
• Practice mobility from head to toe
• Build endurance through different sports and activities
• Learn proper jumping and landing mechanics
• Use body-weight exercises to begin developing strength
• Understand how conditioning relates to athletic performance

The priority is not highly specialized training. It is helping athletes become comfortable, confident, and capable movers.

Ages 12–13: Strengthening the Foundation

At ages 12–13, athletes continue building physical literacy and basic athleticism. This remains an important period for participating in multiple sports and developing a broad range of movement skills.

Training becomes more intentional. Athletes begin combining balance, coordination, flexibility, speed, endurance, and strength in increasingly complex movements.

They may begin to:

• Understand the importance of pelvic stability and alignment
• Develop aerobic endurance through activities with changing speeds
• Perform movements through a full range of motion
• Improve jumping, sprinting, and explosiveness
• Use resistance bands and tubing
• Learn proper lifting techniques
• Recognize how physical preparation effects on-snow performance

This is a critical age for developing aerobic endurance, but variety remains important. The goal is still to build a well-rounded athlete rather than specialize too quickly.

Ages 14–15: Adding Structure and Challenge

Athletes ages 14–15 remain in a stage of multilateral development. Learning a variety of movements across different sports and situations continues to be important, even as conditioning becomes more structured.

At this stage, athletes begin to understand different types of training and how each contributes to their development. They may:

• Perform more challenging balance and coordination exercises
• Maintain alignment through different starting and stopping positions
• Use running, cycling, or swimming for aerobic training
• Learn and refine sprinting and plyometric mechanics
• Develop strength through body-weight exercises, resistance bands, isometrics, and weight training
• Begin learning Olympic lifting techniques
• Use stretching and mobility routines more independently

Athletes are not simply completing workouts. They are beginning to understand why they are doing them and how physical preparation supports their technical and tactical skiing.

Ages 16–17: Taking Greater Ownership

By ages 16–17, athletes are expected to take greater responsibility for their physical preparation.

They begin to understand concepts such as periodization and how training changes throughout the year. They should also have the body awareness to monitor their form and make corrections.

Development at this stage may include:

• Completing body-weight exercises on dynamic surfaces
• Maintaining alignment through different positions and speeds
• Sustaining longer aerobic efforts
• Training at different intensities
• Developing quickness, anaerobic power, and speed endurance
• Performing loaded strength exercises and Olympic lifts
• Managing warm-ups, recovery, and daily physical preparation

The goal is to prepare athletes to understand and eventually contribute to their own training plans. They should know what their bodies need and how conditioning connects to their performance.

One Foundation, Different Stages

Although the training becomes more advanced with age, the foundation remains the same. Athletes need balance, coordination, flexibility, endurance, speed, strength, and the ability to move effectively in different situations.

Physical development is also individual. Athletes grow and mature at different rates, so conditioning and on-snow volume must be balanced according to each athlete’s age, experience, development, and needs.

The goal is not to rush athletes toward the next stage. It is to give them the physical tools they need to benefit from future training and continue progressing over time.

For parents, the most important takeaway is that development may appear in many forms: greater balance, better coordination, increased strength, improved endurance, more confidence, or a growing ability to understand and manage training.

These gains may not immediately appear on a results sheet, but they are essential building blocks for long-term success.

In our next post, we will explore the relationship between free-skiing, technical development, and tactical skiing, and why time spent outside the course is essential to success inside them.