Why do most college girls burn out by their soph year of college?

Git yo girly quicker wit Slits malt licker!

I appreciate the discussion you all have brought. I am aware of the Q angle, and I can see how that could have an adverse effect on biomechanics.

so what to do? it seems to me that there are a variety of reasons for athletes (guys included) who do not continue to compete after their freshman year. A few questions:

1. For the girls who are continuing to compete, and are struggling with the physiological changes, how do you coach them to run well?

2. What would a college coach do to make a wise recruiting decision when recruiting girls? Obviously, a large scholarship for a girl that cant perform would be a costly error.

though no one theory is applicable to all girls/women runners, 2 things seem to be 'different' than on the men's side:

1) women (runners), seem to be able to compete at the top levels at a much younger age. You will see 9th graders beating good seniors; something you rarely see on the men's side.

2) when a girls body changes sometimes the changes are enough to ruin the women's career. Not many good runners with 34cs or J-lo butts.

3) they get burned out and lose interest.

no cool handle wrote:

1. For the girls who are continuing to compete, and are struggling with the physiological changes, how do you coach them to run well?

- Carefully control distance and intensity and build slowly to give ligaments and tendons time to adjust

- Focus on core stability

- Limit the amount of racing - especially in track

2. What would a college coach do to make a wise recruiting decision when recruiting girls? Obviously, a large scholarship for a girl that cant perform would be a costly error.

- Its always going to be a bit of a crap shoot, but focusing on girls who have matured, have good attitudes and eating habits, (and this is more my opinion) are good all around athletes is a good way to minimize risk

follow the trends... wrote:

though no one theory is applicable to all girls/women runners, 2 things seem to be 'different' than on the men's side:

1) women (runners), seem to be able to compete at the top levels at a much younger age. You will see 9th graders beating good seniors; something you rarely see on the men's side.

2) when a girls body changes sometimes the changes are enough to ruin the women's career. Not many good runners with 34cs or J-lo butts.

3) they get burned out and lose interest.

yes on the 1st 2; but on #3; it happens to many guys too.

Not sure but I'm glad I was 16 when I started running and was doing other sports before, it seems girls doing this seem to have fared better.

It always appeared to me that the girls on the team had a much more relaxed approach to running. Where most of the guys had running ranked #1 on the priority list, the girls had it way down at #3 or #4.

So many of the guys I ran with had most of their identity wrapped in being an athlete, where the girls seemed to fine if they were not identified as a "runner." It just wasn't as important.

Maybe that goes back to competitive nature of men vs women, and I'm sure that is totally different when dealing with national class women.

no cool handle wrote:

I've been observing this phenomenon for quite a while. why is it that girls at 20 years old can't run as well as they did at 16-17? I'm coaching a girl now who is averaging between 6:50-7:05 mile pace for 5 and 6k races, but was running 6:20 pace as a junior. I started coaching her in february of this year and she took some time off, but i thought that after 9 months of Lydiard-esque training she'd start to come around.

I've seen the same thing in other girls: the 3 b's at 16--boobs, butts and boyfriends. but why do some girls continue to run well in college? someone like sara hall for example. she ran well all through HS and college and now beyond.

You ask three questions in your post, including the title. The first two are loaded questions, which is to say they include or imply a false premise. Hence they are not worthy of a response. As for the third question, "...why do some girls continue to run well in college?", it is because they have enough talent to do so, and work hard enough to develop it,(an obvious answer). As you expect your runners to be the best that they can be, which is not necessarily their particular goal, you need to continually learn how to be a better coach, which begins with being able to motivate and establish a rapport with your charges. You can't do that holding on to some of the assumptions and biases that are evident in your post.

eating disorders

Wow, you're a dick. That comment is just uncalled for.

no cool handle either wrote:

The real question is why do people have a hard time understanding that women really don't like competition. I've only really seen them compete with their looks. Few actually enjoy sports and/or competing in them.

Most girls don't even make it to college competing.

we should give them more guys scholarships. then they will be more competitive ofc.

Runningart2004 wrote:

Most women simply are not built to run. The hips are too wide, and the Q-angle (angle of knee to pelvis) is too great. Eventually these structural problems get the best of most women.

Your best females runners are those who have put mother nature on hold. They are physically immature. This could be said for a lot of active women who do not menstruate regularly. They develop mild or severe amenhorrea, which leads to bone loss, which leads to stress fractures, which leads to reduced training load, which leads to less success.

The first two "b's" are fairly accurate. Girls go through another growth spurt in the mid to late teens and develop excess areas of fat in two major areas: chest and glutes. This is not made for optimal distance running.

Alan

Alan surely the wide hips argument is another B.....Bullshit.

The best women runners come in all shapes and sizes and that includes hip width.

Yes it's true that running is a sport where those with low bodyfat excell. However in my observation, there are two main reasons why girls lose theire competitive edge in late teens. Number one, there social life which previously had running as a major pivot becomes more inclined to having a good time as it does for most people of that age. And number two, they dont' train and race as seriously as they previously did.

wellnow wrote:

The best women runners come in all shapes and sizes and that includes hip width.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

wellnow wrote:

Number one, there social life which previously had running as a major pivot becomes more inclined to having a good time as it does for most people of that age.

yeah, cause guys hate having fun and NEVER go get drunk or stay out all night. This argument doesn't compare male/female

wellnow wrote:

And number two, they dont' train and race as seriously as they previously did.

again, not comparing male/female - you're stating a condition that will OBVIOUSLY deteriorate fitness, not explain WHY - which is what this thread is about

by the way - you really blow at arguing your points

The best women runners come in all shapes and sizes and that includes hip width. (QUOTE)

wellnow, please name one accomplished female runner with child-bearing hips....I'd really be curious to know.

All you guys associated burn-out with physical attributes know nothing about women.

*associating

Part of the issue is coming down to pure fitness. Running is enjoyable when fit, your body feels good and your mind follows. If your in good running shape I truly don't believe puberty will be that cruel, fat deposits are fat deposits. Healthy female runners are slender but still shaped for the most part like women (although some guys here might disagree.) Now the bigger question, why are the girls out of shape. I wish I knew the answer but from observation of friends and personal experience something is happening that some young female runners are not absorbing the training or are training too fast for their base fitness and using up their resources rather than building them. Frustration ensues because they're working hard but they're gaining weight and they're slow. This on top of social pressure to be very good at what you do is the partial cause of women leaving running. It's not necessarily a bad thing though because they may not posses the requirements to reach a high level again as in high school so they weed them selves out. Just some thoughts but this is a way bigger issue with so many factors.

And by successful - let's not say 'got 6th at regionals in the steeplechase'. Let's talk about WC/OLY finalist caliber.

H20 girl thanks for your intelligent comments. It is good to have information from you and other girls/women rather than from male runners.