The Stupid People Are Taking Over

Hey ,


Stupid people? 

Or just people who should know better but aren't using basic
common sense?

There was a fantastic 2-part question posted on the IYCA message
board a couple of days ago.

It was in reference to 'sport specialization' and the relative age a teenager should be before becoming focused on one sport
exclusively.

At what age should young athletes specialize and does it depend
on the sport?

For example, the poster offered:

"If everyone waited to specialize until around age 15, how would
that affect certain sports?  Two that come to mind are figure
skating and gymnastics"

Now, and this is important, the person who posted this question
isn't being 'stupid' at all.  He asked a great question.

In fact, no one in particular is being stupid per say, but as a
society, we are using absolutely no common sense when it comes
to training and coaching young athletes.

Here was my reply:

"Absolutely fantastic question.

"Sport specialization and sport exclusivity are two different
things - and very much confused in the modern day world of youth
sports.

"Certainly, there are some sports that require an early
specialization period.  Gymnastics would be one of them due to
the stature of the athlete being a considerable issue related to
success or competency.

"Figure skating is contentious and one that I tend to disagree
with.  Having worked in high level figure skating, I can tell
you that rule changes and a modernization to off-ice training
have served to alter that sports early specialization variable.

"Take the 2006 Olympics.  The gold, silver and bronze medalists
in the women's division were 25, 22 and 27 years old
respectively (with gold medalist Shizuka Arakawa and silver
medalist Sasha Cohen both considered not in their primes).

"The men's division by the way, had medalists of 24, 22 and 24
while the pairs division was won by teams with an average age of
31, 27 and 22 respectively.

"That being said, the difference in specialization and
exclusivity are vast.

"Sport specialization infers that one's *primary* competitive
efforts are within the context of a particular sport.  That does
not mean that physical training and even recreational
participation in other sports is shunned or avoided.

"Training an athlete to 'make them better in a sport' does not
mean (but is often confused with) that every athletic experience
by, or presented to the athlete has specific application to the
specialized sport.

"General physical preparation and even technical learning and
adherence still must remain a vital part of training a young
athlete (15 - 17 years old) even though they are now
'specializing' in one particular sport.

"With high school, collegiate and even professional athletes,
I routinely play balance games (with progressive work on
unilateral strength etc) and teach/breakdown elements associated
with movement and movement economy.

"Certainly, biomotor skills are progressed and ascended into more
'sport specific' efforts, but the basis of general physical prep
should always be there... especially with teenagers who,
although may be specializing in one sport, are still kids and
developing neurally, structurally etc.

"Sport exclusivity is the action of participating, training and
being results-oriented towards one sport and one sport only.

"It is the vice that currently plagues modern day sports.

"Think of sport specialization like you would academics.

"The basis for eventual success in one area of study is grounded
in an all-encompassing and foundational exposure to the basics
on a wide spectrum.

"Even as students progress through high school and know that
their area of specialty will eventually become mathematics,
they are still required to learn and comprehend what we call
'general areas of study'.

"In college, while majoring in mathematics, their are still
standard 'general education' credits that must be obtained in
order to graduate.

"The point is that we seem to understand the need to have a
well-rounded intellectual capacity with respect to academics,
but as a society, have had a collective lobotomy when it comes
to understanding this concept as it relates to sports and
athletics.

"Successful athletic careers are had by those who have a virtual
warehouse of athletic intelligence - and the pursuit of that
wide-spread knowledge cease only once the athlete gets to their
'post secondary schooling' (elite level collegiate or beyond).

"Until that point, it's all about a progressive exposure to the
basics that lead to eventual mastery...

"... Just like in school"

I STRONGLY encourage you to let me know what you think about
this subject by posting a response on my free blog:

http://www.developingathletics.com/wordpress/

'Till next time,

Brian