Are Justin Verlander and Calvin Johnson elite athletes
because they were lucky enough to have the right parents? Or are they superstar
athletes because they were exposed to an ideal environment that afforded them
the opportunity to develop their talents?
I recently heard an interview with Joe Baker, PhD Applied
Exercise Science at Queens University (Canada), an expert in the field of talent
identification and research.
I came away from the interview with several points that all
young athletes, coaches, parents and youth sport organizations should pay close
attention to.
As coaches we need to focus our efforts on the factors that
we can control or influence within the training environment. While genes are
important Dr. Baker says “forget about them because you have no control over
that part of the equation.”
Research clearly
demonstrates that genes are not deterministic. Further, because of the
complex interaction between the genes you are born with and the training
environment that you are exposed to we won’t even know whether a person has the
right genetic make-up to become an elite athlete until they’ve already been
through the optimal training environment.
This is good news for coaches because we can dramatically
improve our young athletes’ chances for future success IF we concentrate on
creating an optimal training environment for kids to develop athletically while
also providing them with high-quality training. This also means the kids can
stop blaming their parents for their apparent lack of athletic talent at least
from a genetic perspective (environment and training opportunities are well
within a parents control).
What exactly is the ideal/optimal training environment? By
now I am certain you have heard of the “10,000 hour” rule. It has become popularized in the media
and is the subject of many books, most prominently in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. [1] The theory is that in
order to become an expert in any field (athletics) you have to devote 10,000
hours of specific practice/training to one domain (sport). Too much focus has
been placed upon an arbitrary number and the real message has been lost. The
culture you practice in and the quality of the training are much more important
than the sheer quantity of time spent devoted to deliberate practice.
If I shoot 10,000 basketball jump shots a week for 5 years with
lousy technique I would likely be a very flawed and inconsistent shooter. On
the other hand if I were to shoot just 1000 shots a week for 5 years with very
strong fundamental technique along with great effort and concentration I would
become better and a more consistent shooter than the athlete who “lives” in the
gym but never seems to improve or perform when the pressure is on. Plus, I
could spend all my extra time improving my speed and endurance while the other
guys is clanging away on the court.
It’s not the amount of time you devote to a task but the
quality of that time that determines how well the skill will be developed and
honed.
That said, to serve all athletes and ensure we are providing
the coaching they need all sport development should be based upon long-term
goals. Coaches need to implement developmental systems within their sport that
will allow them to break down each season with developmentally appropriate
goals for the team as a whole and for each individual athlete. Then you
schedule and build out your practices to lead the team/athletes where you want
them to be at the end of the season.
Other environmental factors that must be considered are the
culture that you are developed in as well as your birthplace. From a cultural
perspective if you want o be a football player America is the place to be,
soccer in Europe and hockey in Canada are also examples of how the culture
influences sports development. Certain sports depending on the country or
region/state (baseball in the South and Southwest, Lacrosse in the Northeast)
you are developed in are better supported through the availability of
facilities, better coaching, and even tradition (football Alabama, lacrosse
Duke, basketball Kentucky).
Where you are born also affects future success. Smaller
suburban centers are more likely to produce elite athletes. Just 1% of the U.S.
population resides in cities between 50,000 and 100,000 residents, yet cities
of this size produce 16.8% of Major League Baseball players, 11% of PGA golfers
and 17.2% of American born National Hockey League players. [2] The best way to
explain these demographics may come down to accessibility. If you are a young
athlete in Toronto, Canada finding ice time may be difficult because of the
demands on facilities. Ice time is likely booked months ahead of time and with
higher demand for their space a facility will charge more squeezing out certain
athletes because they can’t afford it. This also excludes many kids that may
just want to try the sport or just play for fun.
So in this scenario athletes are eliminated from the talent
pool strictly due to financial constraints or lack of opportunity. It is then
reasonable to suggest given this information that athletes with the most
long-term potential may never even get an opportunity to compete.
If where you are born can make a difference what about when
you are born? Currently, most athletic training and competition programs are
based upon chronological age much like our academic system. However, athletes
of the same age between 10 and 16 can be 4 to 5 years apart developmentally.
Though the use of chronological age may be easier to manage it shouldn’t be a
reason to perpetuate a system that is clearly flawed.
Consider the following evidence:
Of the 28 members on the U.S. Boys U15 National Soccer Team
(all with birth year of 1998), 17 were born in the first 4 months of the year
and only one of the athletes was born after September. [3]
Of the 66 members on the U.S. Girls U15 National Select
Soccer Team (birth year 1998), 30 were born in the first 4 months of the year
and only 11 after September. [4]
Of the 18 members on the U.S. Boys U12 National Select
Baseball Team (all born in 2001 except for one born in ’02), 11 were born in
the first 4 months of the year and only 3 after August. [5]
Of the 54 members on the Men’s Junior National Hockey Team
(born in 1994 or ’95), 20 were born in the first 4 months of ’94 and only 6
after July of ’95. [6]
It is highly unlikely that there are fewer athletes with
long-term potential born in the last quarter of the year than in the first
quarter but upon inspection of national select team rosters the early births
are disproportionately represented. Have you ever heard of a “late bloomer”?
With this set-up you’ll be hearing that term a lot less than ever before
because if you are unlucky enough to be born at the tail end of a league or
programs “cut-off” date you are at a huge disadvantage. The current system for
developing and selecting athletes in this country rewards early-maturing
athletes who may not have the ability to be elite performers. Late developing
athletes are excluded, cut, and consequently leave the sport or are segregated
to recreation program that limit training opportunities and instruction from
advanced coaches. These late developers may have substantial long-term
potential but they are eliminated from the talent pool prematurely.
Another key component of creating the optimal training
environment is the concept of deliberate practice versus deliberate play. The
current youth sporting culture in the U.S. has this backwards to a large
degree. In the early stages of athletic development (6-13 years of age)
deliberate play must dominate their sport/athletic exposures. Rigorous play
over practice early in life is more effective because this is a period of
discovery. Kids are forming their attitudes (likes/dislikes) toward sports and
fitness and with unstructured play they aren’t constantly hammered with
negative consequences (losing, getting cut, yelled at by coach) that could
deter them from long-term participation.
At this stage kids are and should be more intrinsically
motivated (fun, being with friends) and we want to fill their emotional buckets
so they keep coming back to the “physical fitness” well. They don’t require nor
do they need much in the way of “feedback” from coaches, who just need to
create an environment where kids feel that it’s safe to take chances and
experiment with movement. This is the proving ground from which elite athletes
are molded.
Deliberate practice on the other hand offers highly specific
and rigorous training. Kids start to train like adults and that brings along
with it plenty of social consequences and pressures. Kids at this point are motivated
more by extrinsic factors such as winning, scholarships, awards, trophies and
recognition. A little bit of the joy begins to leak from those emotional
buckets as they begin to sacrifice time with friends and family because they
feel pressured to take sports more seriously now that the aforementioned
extrinsic factors are at stake. If too much emphasis is placed upon those
extrinsic factors we run the possibility of depleting them emotionally. With no
joy or passion the drive to excel will also be vanquished.
So beyond this complex mish-mash of environmental influences
what are the essential cogs, the “holy grail” for developing elite athletes?
It must start with kids that are intrinsically motivated and
the process must be encouraged rather than dominated by coaches, i.e. the coach
can’t want “it” more than the athlete does. The essential cogs to the athletic
development machine are commitment and motivation from the athletes. They must
be driven by their desire to master the task and the willpower to persevere
through the inevitable ups and downs inherent in sport.
From a coaching perspective it is essential that we match
the environment to the needs of the performer, in other words we have to meet
them where they are. As an example you may have skilled athlete that fatigues
easily and his/her skills deteriorate at the end of games or even a competitive
season. The answer is not additional skill practice but rather we must improve
their stamina and endurance in order for that athlete to express their skill
consistently throughout an entire game/season.
Coaches also need to maintain the delicate balance between
being comfortable and uncomfortable. We want the athletes to succeed and build
confidence by exposing them to things they can handle but we also have to (when
the time is right) encourage them to test themselves on that uncomfortable edge
so they can continue to improve, being mindful not to overwhelm them.
Finally, all coaches must firmly comprehend that talent
development is not a linear process. Kids bodies are always changing; they can
literally be a different person from day to day due to the maturation and
growth process. Emotional and social development is also a factor that must be
considered. Kids are experiencing many things for the first time when
everything in their life is in a constant state of discovery, experimentation
and formation. Often your “outstanding” 12 year-old may hit a wall and lose all
sense of coordination, often times without explanation. But this “regression”
may be just what that athlete needs to make the next leap forward in their
development. These factors are largely outside of our control but we do have to
understand them so that we are prepared to handle it in order to adapt the
training environment to meet the current needs of that athlete.
From an athletic standpoint it is critical that our athletes
be highly adaptable. This means they must have robust and broad athletic
exposures during the developmental years. Athletes who posses a large
foundation of non-specific athleticism can cope with predictable and
unpredictable situations and are able to succeed in any environment.
As an example the International Track and Field Association
recently introduced a change that involved when the athlete had to release the
pole when they go over the crossbar. That may not seem like a drastic change
but those athletes had spent their entire careers training one way. If a change
is introduced in your sport how well will your athletes adapt to it? Will they
be able to handle the change? Without highly adaptive athletic ability it would
be very difficult and could result in a significant drop in performance. Sports
rules are always subject to change especially given the increased attention
paid to player safety. Prepare for the unexpected in sport change is
inevitable!
In summary, athletes have yet to reach their ultimate
ceiling of potential where the perfect genetic profile is a prerequisite for
future success. The ability to indentify a single gene (or sequence of genes) that
is responsible for sports performance (say a baseball pitching gene) is just
not possible. And if and when it does become a reality we still won’t know for
sure until they have proven themselves to be an elite athlete. And this would
only be possible after the developmental process has been “lived through.”
Genetics should not be a consideration when developing young
athletes because it is a factor that lies well outside of our influence and
would be rather pointless to pursue.
Kids have enough trouble getting adequate sleep, eating enough fruit and
vegetable, and gaining a diverse athletic foundation outside of a
sport-specific environment. Once these areas have been addressed then we can
start to tackle more advanced concepts like post/pre competition nutrition,
examining genetic profiles and addressing an individuals’ fast-twitch muscle
fiber composition. But in reality, most kids will never get to that point
during their school years (K-12). Leave the advanced stuff alone until college
where the universities have the personnel, resources and facilities to
adequately address them.
Our time is better spent meeting the kids where they are by
improving the environment and overhauling a developmental infrastructure that
has become strikingly flawed! When these areas are adequately addressed then we
have a better chance of providing those that do have the essential cogs (mental
durability and the will to master their craft-intrinsic motivation) for
athletic success to reach their ultimate potential.
Reference:
[2]
Joe, Baker and Steve Cobley. Talent Identification and
Development in Sport: International Perspectives. New York: Routledge,
2012. Print.
[6] http://worldjuniors.usahockey.com/page/show/842465-2013-u-s-national-junior-evaluation-camp-roster
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