Your athlete’s first visit is free.
A 30-minute evaluation with a coach: jumps and sprints on the force plates and timing gates, a look at how they move, and a plain-language plan. You sit in. No sales pitch, no commitment.
- 01Book a 30-minute slot online
- 02Come in together — the evaluation takes place on the floor
- 03Leave with numbers, a plan and the next step
What You're
Really Asking.
Most parents who call us aren't asking about sets and reps. They're asking whether their kid will get hurt, whether it's worth it, and whether whoever's coaching them actually knows what they're doing with a 13-year-old. These are the right questions. Here's where we stand.
Is weight training safe for youth athletes?
Yes, when properly supervised and age-appropriate. Resistance training for youth is strongly supported by sports science research. The risk of injury is significantly lower than most youth sports themselves. Our programming reflects the evidence.
Will this specialize my child too early?
No. Early specialization is one of the leading drivers of youth burnout and overuse injury. Our youth program deliberately trains general athletic qualities. Sport-specific emphasis only increases as athletes mature.
What qualifications do your coaches hold?
All Onyx coaches hold nationally recognized certifications (CSCS, NSCA) and are specifically trained in youth athletic development. Our youth program follows LTAD principles developed by leading sports scientists.
How do you track progress in youth athletes?
We conduct baseline movement and strength assessments, and retest every 4–6 weeks. We report results to both the athlete and parent in plain, clear language.
What ages do you train?
Ages 10 through 18. Athletes are grouped by developmental stage rather than age alone, because two 13-year-olds can be years apart physically. Athletes moving into college or adult competition transition to our Athlete Training program.
How do we get started?
Book a parent consultation. We meet you and your athlete, review sport, schedule, training history, and goals. Then we run a baseline assessment on force plates and timing gates before the first training block.
Long-Term
Athlete
Development.
Youth training at Onyx follows the Long-Term Athlete Development model, the framework used by national sport federations to develop athletes over years rather than weeks. In practice, it means training content is matched to the athlete’s developmental stage. A 10 year old and a 16 year old do not need the same program, and at Onyx they never get one.
FUNdamentals
Agility, balance, coordination, and speed trained through structured drills and games. Athletes learn to sprint, skip, jump, land, and change direction with control. Strength work uses bodyweight and light implements with a technique focus. No specialized loading.
Learning to Train
Structured training begins. Athletes learn the squat, hinge, push, pull, and carry patterns under close supervision before load is added. Sprint mechanics and landing technique are trained every week. Baseline force plate and sprint testing starts here.
Training to Train
Progressive overload is applied to established technique. Power development expands, and programming reflects the demands of the athlete’s sport and competitive season. Testing tracks force production, jump height, and sprint splits across each block.
Training to Compete
Advanced periodization built around competition calendars. Athletes transition into the adult Athlete Training program carrying a full testing history, established technique, and years of measured development.
Every Sport,
Trained for Its Demands.
Youth speed and agility training at Onyx is organized around what the athlete's sport asks the body to do. The foundation is the same for every athlete. The emphasis shifts by sport.
Soccer
Soccer athletes train acceleration, repeat sprint capacity, and change of direction. Deceleration mechanics get specific attention because most non-contact injuries happen while slowing down, not speeding up.
Baseball
Baseball athletes train rotational power, sprint speed, and the ground force production that underpins throwing velocity. Shoulder and hip mobility work supports the throwing and hitting patterns.
Basketball
Basketball athletes train jump height, landing mechanics, and lateral quickness. Repeat jump capacity and controlled deceleration prepare the knees and ankles for a full season of games.
Football
Football athletes train acceleration, first-step power, and total body strength. Change of direction work emphasizes body control at speed for every position group.
Volleyball
Volleyball athletes train approach jump power and landing mechanics for a sport built on hundreds of jumps per week. Shoulder strength and lateral movement round out the program.
Track & Field
Track and field athletes train sprint mechanics, maximum velocity, and force production. Timing gates and force plates make this the most directly measurable sport we train.
Tennis
Tennis athletes train lateral change of direction, rotational power, and repeat deceleration. Footwork and hip strength support movement in every direction on the court.
All Sports
Multi-sport athletes and athletes in any other sport train the same general base: speed, strength, coordination, and mobility. General athletic capacity is the foundation every sport draws from.
What a Session
Looks Like.
Youth sessions run 60 minutes in small groups with a coach on the floor for every segment. The structure stays consistent so athletes always know what to expect. The content inside each segment changes with age, training phase, and where the athlete sits in their sport season.
Warm-Up
Mobility, activation, and movement prep specific to the session focus. Athletes learn a warm-up they can run themselves before any practice or game.
Movement Skills
Speed, agility, coordination, or reactive drills placed early while the nervous system is fresh. Sprint mechanics, change of direction, and jump and landing technique live here.
Strength Work
Age-appropriate resistance training with a technique emphasis. Every working set is supervised, and load only increases after movement quality is established.
Conditioning
Energy system work scaled to age, sport season, and athlete capacity. In-season athletes get less volume here so training supports competition instead of competing with it.
Recovery
Cooldown, mobility, and a brief debrief. Effort is logged and reviewed so the next session builds on this one.
How Progress
Is Measured.
Youth athletes train in the same lab as our adult athletes, with the same measurement tools. Testing gives parents something most youth programs cannot: objective numbers instead of a coach's opinion.
Force Plates
Every youth athlete tests jump height, force production, and left-to-right asymmetry on force plates. Landing forces are tracked too, because a young athlete needs to absorb force as well as produce it.
Timing Systems
Sprint splits are measured with electronic timing gates. Acceleration and top speed are tracked separately because they develop at different rates and respond to different training.
Plain-Language Reports
Athletes retest every 4 to 6 weeks. Parents receive the results in plain language: what was measured, what changed, and what the next training block targets.
See The
Progress.
Athletes and parents both get access to Onyx Performance OS. It records every jump height, sprint split, and test result, and shows how they change between the retests we run every four to six weeks. Parents can see whether the training is working instead of taking our word for it.
Scholarship Funds
Work Here.
Onyx Performance Lab is a registered Step Up for Students provider in the Physical Education and Sports Lessons categories. Florida families can use scholarship funds for youth training at Onyx.
Parents,
Start Here.
Book a youth consult. We'll walk through your athlete's sport, current development stage, goals, and any history that matters, then recommend the appropriate LTAD pathway. No commitment, no pressure.
Let's Talk
About Your Athlete.
20 minutes. We'll hear where your athlete is, what you're trying to build, and whether Onyx is the right fit. No pitch, no pressure.