Today’s podcast guest is Joel Hansson. Joel Hansson is a Swedish sports performance coach and exercise physiologist working in youth development at Hammarby Fotboll. His approach emphasizes movement variability, play, adaptability, and building broad athletic foundations within the sporting environment.
On this episode, Joel Hansson joins me to discuss youth athletic development, movement variability, and the role of play in building adaptable athletes. We explore how physical preparation can be integrated directly into the sporting environment, why young athletes benefit from broad movement experiences, and how coaches can develop speed, coordination, and agility without over-structuring the process. Joel also shares his perspective on long-term development and creating training environments that encourage exploration and problem-solving.
Today’s episode is brought to you by Hammer Strength and the Just Fly Sports Online Courses
All Spetember, the Just Fly Sports mini-courses, Speed ID and Sprint Drills Reloaded are 50% off!
Use the code “LILAJUSTFLY10” for 10% off any Lila Exogen wearable resistance gear. For this offer, head to Lilateam.com
Use code “justfly10” for 10% off the Vert Trainer.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download () | Embed
Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | Android | Pandora | iHeartRadio | JioSaavn | Podchaser | Email | Deezer | Anghami | Youtube Music | RSS
View more podcast episodes at the podcast homepage. (https://www.just-fly-sports.com/podcast-home/)
Topics
0:00 – From Athlete to Youth Coach
7:14 – Long-Term Youth Development
9:06 – Building Play-Based Training
14:46 – Coaching Ages 8–14
18:22 – Keeping Play in the Process
22:36 – Learning Through Exploration
25:17 – Constraints and Creative Training
34:25 – Athleticism Beyond the Gym
41:03 – Multi-Sport Movement Literacy
44:18 – Athlete Creativity
47:35 – Challenge, Risk, and Resilience
56:48 – Testing and Puberty
1:02:43 – Strength Training for Youth
1:08:46 – The Role of the Gym
Joel Hansson Quotes
“Just the importance of having fun in the process of training and creating that relationship. The training from the beginning, I think, is a super important part when you work with these young ages.”
“What gets them going? Where do I get more intent from them? And how can I set up activities which really makes it naturally inviting for them to go at it?”
“I don’t think that desire for the athletes to have fun and enjoy it, that doesn’t lead them: it’s more that we probably strip it away from them as they get older.”
“I would not come into an adult setting and expect me to have a correct solution for each of the athletes, but rather, I think, have an appreciation that they’re all working within their own set of constraints, with their own body.”
“I like to give them some freedom and room to explore.”
“It wasn’t me shouting cues at them, but it was rather them having a lot of repetitions at the movement or at the specific skill and learning more and more about it.”
“It’s about creating this challenge which they find meaningful.”
“The novel piece is really important when you work with the young ones.”
“I think you can build a foundation of strength and also, once again, awareness of your own body.”
“There is sometimes, I think, for myself at least, a need to embrace the chaos of it and not just like it’s not all about control and stability.”
“They’re still 13, 14. It’s still a developed process, and not that they are supposed to be a finished athlete at this age.”
“The gym for me is another place where we sort of, you can say, explore movement and try to learn the skills.”
About Joel Hansson
Joel Hansson is a Swedish athletic performance coach and exercise physiologist currently responsible for athletic development with the U8–U14 age groups at Hammarby Fotboll in Stockholm. His work focuses on long-term athletic development, particularly how movement variability, play, multi-sport exposure, and physical preparation can be integrated into the football environment.
Rather than viewing strength, speed, coordination, and agility as isolated qualities, Joel approaches physical development through the lens of adaptability and movement problem-solving. His work with young athletes emphasizes broad movement experiences, creativity, and giving players opportunities to explore different solutions.
Joel has presented internationally on youth athletic development, including at the NSCA Youth Strength & Conditioning Congress, and is also the creator of The Coaches Playbook, a resource focused on play-based physical development for youth coaches.
Free Speed Training eBook - Velocity 101
Improving speed is one of the most popular topics in the athletic performance equation. Where there are many ideas and thoughts out there, as to particular training exercises, or setups, the more core aspects of speed training often go without mention. These include the fundamental aspects of what makes an athlete fast, specific sprint-power concepts, the relevance of "3D" motion, motor learning and more.
Velocity 101 will help you take a leap forward in understanding of what makes athletes fast, and how to train it effectively