Know and understand progression. The key to a sound training program is progression. Proper progression prevents poor performance and goes a long a long way toward preventing injury. Don’t confuse protocols with progression; protocols imply a set time frame for completion of tasks, in essence ticking the boxes. Progression demands mastery of each step before moving to the next step. In no way is it linear and entirely predictable. There is huge individual variability in how athlete’s progress at different stages of their career and how they adapt to varied training stimuli.