Ever since listening to Istvan Balyi in person at a conference in Banff in 2000, sport and movement development for kids into adults and executives and professionals has always interested me.
The topic on general preparation versus specialization has always been a hot one – burned out tennis players at 13, overuse injuries in volleyball males at 14, 50% ACL injuries on field in soccer at 16 years of age for females, etc…etc…
My story reflected a passion for various sports due to the CHANCE of exposure. Where I was from the talent was low, but the opportunity high – therefore from age 4-18 I played competitively in basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, XC running, and badminton in school and soccer, hockey, tennis for the community. Add in hours of street hockey under the lights in winter from age 10-15 to that and there are hours accumulated there. But my story might help initiate a response for development.
I specialized in soccer at age 17 moving away from home to pursue an NCAA scholarship and an eventual chance at EPL overseas. This was stopped short due to an ACUTE injury. I rehabbed it for 18 months at home. In the rehab work understanding what FITNESS meant to me was a life changing moment. It spawned into my academic career into a lifetime career in FITNESS. Years later it made me think about why I loved CrossFit. It was mixed and it included everything. So it made sense.
What pulled me towards this was the initial love for doing a lot of things – the idea of balance I find fascinating. But this idea does NOT go hand in hand with current models of “fitness” for young to old. The path is unclear. We have landed ourselves in decisions for kids and movement locked into this idea that SPORT dictates improvements in health and fitness. Children are “scored” based on their dribbling prowess. This is simply the wrong path for young to old fitness for a lifetime. We get bombarded as kids to have importance on our math homework being done. How many kids are told to go home and make up their own workout and do it and report in on what they did or show proof of that the next day?
Of course as a physical educator I sound ridiculous right? Or am I?
Maybe if we had children learning movement and making solid movement and correct pacing and control for work as the goal and they were marked based on effort – maybe we could transform everyone’s thinking on fitness for life.
As it stands right now, its ass backwards. Fitness is tough. I don’t have time for fitness. It makes me hurt.
All of this due to the fact that its not built in culture like reading or math is.
Do I hold it in the same sentence? YES! Actually I think it’s MORE important seeing what is happening today with youth activity and choices.
There are patterns we can look at that HAVE proven to work in long term athlete models, long term physical development and long term studies on general health measures.
If we were to create a plan of attack for the involvement of children in movement development (with all things being equal), I’m going to suggest this pattern:
2-3 years – swim intro classes once/week, playground access without design 2-3 times/week, rough and tumble with friends/parents 2-3x/week, hand eye co-ordination (HEC) 1-2x/week
Why?
– swimming can build breathing patterns, comfort with movement and body awareness; playground is non-structured play with gymnastics; rough and tumble associates play with hard work and rest/work scenarios
3-6 years – gymnastics class 1x/week, soccer with friends 1x/week, rock climbing 1x/week, swim class 1x/week, hand-eye co-ordination sport (HECS) (not baseball) 1x/week, outdoor pursuit – 1x/week
Why?
– gymnastics is awesome for body awareness, soccer with friends, NOT minor as minor or community – starts the lead-in even at age 3 of 2-3 times per week, then there is peer pressure on parents AND kids to be there “because their friends are”; rock climbing – upper body strength development in a primal pattern and fun way!; NOT baseball – for kids its honestly boring and low in activity; outdoor pursuits area dependent – hike, ski, play…
6-9 years – conditioning play 1.0 (hang, swing, jump, move and lift light), minor soccer 1x/week, HECS 1x/week, swim 1x/week, gymnastics 1x/week, new sport intro (NSI); outdoor pursuits continued
Why?
– these may not be all in one week but can now be cycled into a year with the MAXIMUM visits being 1-2x/week as noted; conditioning play means “fitness” now – can play in adult gym setting with PLAY on ropes, rings, swiss balls, med balls, light db’s; new sport intro exciting here as they can branch and see what is beneficial or interesting to them physically and emotionally
9-12 years – conditioning play 2.0, track and field -1-3x/week (multi sport), triathlon 1x/week (longer bike and swim over run), outdoor pursuits 1x/week (hike + climb + scramble) – seasonal 1-3x/week [summer – swim, winter – school sport(s)], HECS – 1-3x/week
Why?
– 2.0 now indicates possible planning and progression in fitness – with broad Rx’s and FUN before scores; T and F – multiple options for ground reaction forces, speed/agility, power endurance….; triathlon and outdoor pursuits effective for possible enjoyment in multiple sporting choices that are easy to do back to back – think swim 5 min, bike 10 min, run 5 min – NOT race!; outdoor pursuits – exposure now to longer or more advanced complimentary options – i.e. hike and climb
12-15 years – 12-15 years – conditioning play 3.0, pre-specilization recruitment, HECS 1-2x/week, outdoor 1x/week, swim 1x/week, TF 1x/week, triathlon style 1x/week
Why?
– with 3.0 the fitness is quite varied and includes all levels of gymnastics play, weight training basics in principle and cardiorespiratory balance; a youth might have some more initiation towards a specialty now and with physical development, the speed, power endurance and endurance traits will be clear in their essence
15+ years – specialization + fitness
Why?
– at this time the proper balance and ability of all physical skills are developed and investigated
Why?
– because the 10,000 hour thing is a load of garbage when it comes to physical preparation; all parents are holding onto this one; a footballer in Spain from age 10-20 would participate on average 2300 sessions – that’s not even close…and you can’t tell me those sessions were 4 hours long each, they were 1 hour on average max for many years…; when it comes to low CNS things like chess and music it “might” make sense, “might”
Why?
– because in 10 years the GDP of the USA will be 35-38% spent on health care for mainly PREVENTABLE DISEASES like obesity and forms of diabetes…what.the.heck. right?
Why?
– because what in the heck are kids at 14 doing having Tommy John surgery???
Why?
– because variation and play of various levels will allow the chance to NOT develop routines – which can cause high efficiency but low fitness!
Got some thoughts on how the pattern should travel? Let us know what you think in the comments.