Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is based on sport research, coaching best practices, and scientific principles. LTAD expresses these principles, research, and practices as 10 Key Factors essential to athlete development. 

To optimize the development of our athletes, we need to take advantage of the best sport science and best practices in coaching and training. Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) does this by codifying important elements of sport science and coaching practices into the 10 Key Factors of LTAD:

1. Physical Literacy
2. Specialization
3. Developmental Age
4. Sensitive Periods
5. Mental, Cognitive and Emotional Development
6. Periodization
7. Competition 
8. Excellence Takes Time
9. System Alignment and Integration
10. Continuous Improvement - Kaizen 

Along with sport science and coaching, the 10 Key Factors include broader principles behind the way we organize and manage sport.  For example, competition scheduling to optimize athlete development, organizational alignment of different groups and agencies that make up the “sport system”, and the philosophy of Continuous Improvement so we always work to make our science, coaching, and system of athlete development better.