By Ben Shear

Not Made in the USA. Yet. It's, perhaps, why countries with much smaller populations than America turn out a much higher percentage of World Class Athletes: Long-Term Athletic Development.

Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD) is based on various athletic programs from around the world, including Australia, Canada, and parts of Europe. It focuses on the general framework of athletic development with a special reference to growth, maturation and development, trainability and sports system alignment and integration.

More of a total approach to "growing athletes," the system brings together the sciences of pediatric exercise science, exercise physiology, sports psychology, psychomotor learning, sport sociology, and nutrition.

Perhaps, because it's still thought to be a novel approach, LTAD might be too comprehensive to follow all at once. It does, however, provide some very good parameters within which coaches might consider working with their kids. While many American athletes are exposed to cutting edge training, by the time they are ready to hit their stride, they are already burned out.

How should we evaluate potential? When should an athlete be pushed?

It's unfathomable, but true, that Michael Jordan was cut from the freshman basketball team when he was in high school. Obviously, his long-term athletic development would occur years after that, well after most basketball "stars" thought their paths were set.