BOOK REVIEWS
DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02284.x
The Elite Young Athlete, Medicine and Sport Sciencevolume 56. Edited by N Armstrong, AM McManus. KargerAS, 2011, 206 pp. VIII +, 19 fig., 22 tab. Hard cover. Listprice € 140, $US 189 ISBN: 978-38055-9550-6, e-ISBN:978-3-8055-9551-3.
In the series Sport Science and Medicine, edited by the well-known scientists Borms, Hebbelinck, Hills and Noakes, anew book has been published, entitled ‘The Elite YoungAthlete’. Among the contributors to the different chaptersare several renowned authors. This book covers severalareas of interest and importance for adults who are in anyway in contact with young athletes training on a competitivelevel. This is an unusual book in some aspects.
Firstly, it has been written to fit an unusually wide audi-ence. The language used throughout the book fits parents,coaches, health care personnel and physical educationteachers and others. A given topic is first discussed thor-oughly from a mechanistic or medical point of view, thenwith treatment or training aspects and then also discussedin terms and words adapted for a lay-person, perhaps a par-ent. Many other books and texts covering this area are writ-ten to be read by one or a few of many professionals. I wasgiven the impression that the authors possess personalexperiences from training young athletes, since the textcombines medicine, coaching, and social factors in aneffortless manner. In my mind, the authors are successful inattempting to reach a variety of readers.
Secondly, it is unusually well updated including many newreferences, and thereby contributing to ongoing debates, forexample the issue on resistance training in children or theprevention of sudden cardiac deaths in young athletes.
Thirdly, the chapters are unusually well chosen to interactas an entity, rather than separate parts. First, the readerfinds a few chapters on general exercise physiology in maleand female elite young athletes, including both basic physi-ology, effects of different types of training and of matura-tion, but also coach related aspects, such as the mechanismsbehind selection into sports. I was a bit surprised by the
underlining of differences between male and female athletesin this age by writing two separate chapters. Both thesechapters are interesting; however the latter on females ismore focused on the negative effects of intense training, andlacks a discussion on the selection process into sports infemale athletes. Further, comments on growth disturbancesas a result of intense training and effects of caloric restric-tion are predominantly discussed in the chapter on femaleathletes and briefly in the following nutrition chapter. Thisbias is not fully necessary, in my opinion.
Then follow well-written chapters discussing aerobic,high-intensity and resistance training young athletes inmore detail. Again, the text is accessible for a non-specialist,although with an extensive reference list. In a chapter onperformance testing, the text is especially focused on thepedagogic problem, when communicating results to ath-letes, parents and coaches, which is warranted due to thelimited available data on how to interpret test results in thispopulation.
The downsides of intensive training, including overtrain-ing, injuries and sudden cardiac death, are further dis-cussed, which are relevant for any one in contact with anintensively exercising youngster. Also two chapters on envi-ronmental issues including temperature regulation areincluded, perhaps somewhat more focused on the interestfrom coaches or team physicians.
Personally, I would not be surprised to find this book in lit-erature lists in higher education, on a physicians¢, physiother-apists’ or a PE-teachers book shelf, or in the hands of a coachdiscussing the issues surrounding elite training in childrenwith a parent. This book will do well in all of these contexts.
Orjan [email protected]
DOI:10.1111/j.1651-2227.2011.02320.x
Alcohol, Drugs and Medication in Pregnancy – The LongTerm Outcome for the Child. Clinics in DevelopmentalMedicine Edited by Preece PM, Riley EP. Mac Keith Press,London, UK, 2011. Hardcover, 256 pp. Price £65.00,
Acta Pædiatrica ISSN 0803–5253
1054 ª2011 The Author/Acta Pædiatrica ª2011 Foundation Acta Pædiatrica 2011 100, p. 1054
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