In a recent Blog from last week I stated the following…LTAD, or Long Term Athlete Development, involves a step-by-step plan to best develop the “total athlete” BEFORE deciding to specialize in a particular sport AT THE APPROPRIATE AGE.
YPD, or Youth Physical Development, is a step-by-step model of development that was presented by R.S. Lloyd and J.L. Oliver in the 2012 Vol.34, #3 edition of Strength and Conditioning Journal. I will attempt a brief outline of this well researched model to give parents and coaches a better idea of the proper base building activities that need to be taught and the most appropriate “windows” of opportunity for male and female children to be introduced to these various activities.
The YPD defines four, distinct developmental stages of both FMS and AMSC. These are: 1) EARLY CHILDHOOD (ages 2-4 for both boys & girls), 2) MIDDLE CHILDHOOD (ages 5-11 boys/ 5-9 girls), 3) ADOLESCENCE (ages 12-20 boys/ 10-19 girls), and 4) ADULTHOOD (21+ years for boys/ 20+ years for girls).
Although the above age ranges or stages of development are listed by chronological age, selection of motor activities and specific athletic competency training for Adolescents should take Maturation and Growth Rates into account.
In childhood, changes in performance of fundamental motor skills and athletic motor skill competencies are primarily due to nervous system development and cerebral maturation that takes place from 2 to 10-11 years of age. These specific improvements involve motor unit recruitment, firing frequency, synchronization of motor units and neural myelination that accounts for the refinement of neuromuscular performance through repetitive performance of motor skills. This naturally occurring refinement of motor control programming is the main reason childhood is seen as the best time for developing correct movement patterns (FMS), athletic motor skills (AMSC) and inter-muscular and intra-muscular coordination.
During Adolescence, both growth and sex hormone concentrations are greatly increased, with the result being physical adaptations such as increased muscle mass, changes in body composition, neural system maturation and changes in other systems throughout the body allow for natural adaptations in physical competencies such as speed, strength, aerobic endurance and muscular power.
It must be noted that Biological Age, not Chronological Age, is the best determinant for appropriate skill and exercise programs for children. It has been shown that children of the same Chronological age can differ in Biological age by as much as 4-5 years (Pediatric Exercise Science, Vol.17,#1,2005).
What can parents and coaches take from all this? Simply that all movement skill education for children between the ages of 2 to 11 for boys and 2 to 9/10 for girls should focus on the development of both FMS and AMSC development through a variety of loosely structured activities!
Specific Sport Skills (SSS) training should be avoided until ages 12-21 for boys and 10-21 for girls. This is NOT to say young athletes should specialize starting and 10 (girls) and 12 (boys). IT MEANS THAT THE STRUCTURED TRAINING OF SKILLS THAT ARE SPECIFIC TO ONE SPORT SHOULD NOT BE EMPHASIZED on a year round basis.
Research Data collected by Orthopedic Surgeons has shown alarmingly high percentages of young athletes whose athletic careers have been greatly compromised or ended due to overuse injuries of the shoulder (examples: swimming, volleyball, tennis, baseball), foot/lower leg (examples: distance running, jump training), elbow (examples: tennis, baseball) and ankle (basketball, volleyball).
An alarming sign of the times of Early Specialization are the skyrocketing numbers of athletes from Adolescence to Early Adulthood who have already required “Tommy John” surgery for the elbow, ACL and PCL reconstructions and shoulder surgeries for a variety of overuse factors.
My next Blog will list the various AMSC skills that need to be developed concurrently or soon after FMS development has begun. All of these skills/ movement patterns, etc. should be introduced and mastered through a wide variety of fun, safe and varied methods of training these skills BEFORE attempting to specialize in specific-sport skills. There is an African Proverb that wisely reminds me of the importance of thoroughly developing FMS and AMSC patterns during the early childhood years when they are most easily acquired...."It is better to build bridges than walls."
Until my next Blog, read Aussie Kelvin Giles' thoughts on Early Specialization! Engage, Emote, Empower!
THOUGHTS
ON EARLY SPECIALIZATION
I have been following Vern Gambetta’s recent thoughts on early specialization
and he, again, makes many valid points in his commentary – “In the whole athlete development process we are very
aware of the dangers of early specialization and even over specialization in
young developing athletes.”Others have also made comment that we should all consider when dealing with the developing athlete: “While associations between early specialization and expertise development are highlighted, much research also suggests early specialization is associated with a range of negative consequences affecting physical, psychological, and social development. Baker et al 2009.”
“With the exception of select sports such as gymnastics in which the elite competitors are very young, the best data we have would suggest that the odds of achieving elite levels with this method are exceedingly poor. In fact, some studies indicate that early specialization is less likely to result in success than participating in several sports as a youth, and then specializing at older ages.” DiFiori, 2013
I have no intention of joining the argument just for the sake of an argument or to take a particular stance for no good reason. We can all keep arguing and yet little gets done. I happen to see things a little more from the athlete’s point of view. By some influence young participants get ‘drawn’ to a sport. These influences range from teachers, peers, parental involvement, and the media and are powerful reasons for participation for those who choose.
The first reaction to this should be one of joy. They have decided to opt out of a sedentary existence and get active. What happens next is the key issue. Regardless of how young they are when they get ‘hooked’ on the sport we should nurture this interest and, at the same time, make decisions that guard against the negative effects of ‘early-specialization’. Let us not forget that the negative elements of this phenomenon are seen when the adults get it wrong – not when a young athlete gets in wrong. We, as adults, have the opportunity, regardless of the age of the athlete, to get it right – and in many cases we fail.
Getting involved early in a sport is not the problem. It is inappropriate, biased, unbalanced coaching and teaching that causes the problems. If you only focus on the outcomes of the contest; or the exercises you choose from your toolbox are only the sports specific movements and postures; or you only train at the game intensity; or you only coach by formal instruction with little or no experimentation taking place; or you coach only those who can win games for you; or you do everything based on a fixture list – then YOU are the problem.
Far smarter people than me have argued the pros and cons of this issue and although I tend to be on the side of the ‘generalists’ I do understand that there are many aspects to the argument. One is the young person – and they must always be considered. Plenty of young people fall in love with a sport quite early in their lives and it would be foolish of us to fight against this.
Certainly our task as a teacher or coach is to be inclusive of all children and create an environment of learning where all can progress and stay engaged – BUT – we cannot also ignore those who are committed quite early. I am not endorsing the ‘over-committed’ parent or coach here, who pushes young children to inappropriate levels of work and intensity for their own foolish gain. I am talking about the young person who simply loves a certain sport.
While we argue about the do’s and don’ts of early specialization keep in mind that as a teacher or coach you are not forced to be a specialist with this young person – you can be a generalist in what and how you deliver to the young person in front of you. It is you that chooses the content of each session you deliver.
You can get it right if you choose to, although in many cases the education you have been exposed to can be your downfall. If all you have been taught is sports-specific technical stuff then the chances are that is all you will ever deliver.
Take the FIFA document ‘For the Good of the Game’ – Part One – General Part – Chapter 10 – ‘The Player of Tomorrow’. Here the world Federation lays its cards on the table as to how we should treat the developing player. In the section titled BASIC TRAINING – Children’s football 8-12 years of age, they state that one major unit of development is ‘The development of coordination (psychomotor skills)’. They go on to say that the vehicle for this is – “The introduction of technical work can help to train basic movement skills (e.g. coaches can work on balance, on footwork, on differentiation and on rhythm.” They then go on to list page after page of technical drills with no mention of movement efficiency, consistency and resilience. No wonder many football coaches appear to be technical / tactical specialists with little understanding of the whole movement process.
My reaction to these statements is that we don’t just need ‘help to train these basic movement skills’ – we need them placed at the very center of things – taught consistently and correctly as the major stepping stone to sports-specific progression later on. By paying but ‘lip-service’ to the current physical literacy problem, FIFA are doing a dis-service to their own sport and the millions who want to play it. There are even some nations that have excluded all developing players from using gymnasiums during their journey as part of the push to technical and tactical development.
Now we are closer to the problem. The idea that simply repeating the sports-specific movements of the sport will develop the all-round movement vocabulary required for future success is a mistake. The key to these early stages is that of being a ‘generalist’. Your job is to ensure movement efficiency and precision in every joint, in every plane, amplitude, direction and speed – and not just the sports-specific actions and postures.
You should embrace a range of teaching styles that allows the full spectrum from solving movement puzzles through to explicit teaching processes. You should know what the ‘keystone’ movements are and how they should be taught and progressed towards a wide and deep movement vocabulary.
If all you do is offer a watered down adult version of the sport or focus solely on the technical and tactical elements or offer only the sports specific actions and postures then there will be a problem with early specialization. And the problem is you – not the young athlete.
Every coach has the opportunity to offer a holistic approach to the developing athlete in terms of the manner of their coaching and the exercises they select during the journey.
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The above commentary by Kelvin is surely something for all of us to think about and re-examine what role we are playing as coaches/teachers.
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