In today's culture we've become obsessed with being bigger. We have bigger food servings, bigger strip malls, bigger houses, and bigger bodies. And we've come to equate being bigger with being better. That's obviously not necessarily the case and in terms of athletic training, the assumption should be seriously questioned.
Let's suppose we are training for a contact sport like football or hockey. In both sports, the amount of force I can exert is important. Well, how do we measure force? Force = Mass * Acceleration. It is true that by increasing our mass we will increase the amount of force (cautionary note: that only works if the mass gain does not negatively affect our acceleration gains). Acceleration can also increase force.
Not only does acceleration increase force, but it also allows for athletic moves in a game. If you're too slow, you can't hit very well in football or hockey. There is also a sports-specific gain that comes with acceleration. For every .1 seconds added onto the 40 yard dash, we might be able to state (this is just an example) that a linebacker will make 10% more tackles. So in addition to increased force, more hits will also be made.
We cannot say this for mass! Mass gains may increase force if not offset by acceleration losses (a good program increases both at the same time). Mass gains may also increase the amount of tackles an athlete can make once the opportunity to make the tackle is presented. That is, mass gains don't get the athlete from point A (starting) to point B (point of tackle). Mass gains, in this sense, seem secondary to acceleration gains.
For young athletes this is especially true since they do not have the testosterone to gain much mass. But I'll write more about that later!
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