Rider:
One of two pathways towards elite performance in sports
An interesting and useful way of thinking about the development of the young athlete has been proposed
by Jon Hellstedt. Because it is impossible to look at the development of the young athlete without also taking
into account the changes experienced by the parents and siblings, Hellstedt looks at the development of the
young athlete as an issue for the entire family.
In the model Hellstedt has developed, he describes three main stages of athletic development for the
typical family with youth athletes: Phase One (Exploration or Sampling), Phase Two (Commitment or Specializing), and Phase Three (Proficiency or Committment).
Phase One (Exploration/Sampling)
Overview
- Most important stage of the athletic family's development, usually occurring between ages 4 and 12
- Child tries different sports, explores his or her skills
- Ages are only guide
- In some sports, like gymnastics and figure skating, children tend to be very young when they get involved competitively and begin to specialize;
- In other sports, like cross-country skiing, athletes are usually much older when they reach a competitive level
- Child may experience several cycles of development in different sports (e.g. play soccer at 5, tennis at 7, track at 13).
Benefits
- an early sampling pathway may lead to a longer playing career
- enhanced peer relationships as college athletes
- increased physical capacity and motor skill base
- increased ability to transfer motor and psychological skills to other sports (research suggests that skill transfer might be the most compelling argument that can be made for athletes to engage in sport sampling, especially at a young age).
- increased motivation, confidence, and self-direction.
Problem Areas
Bad experiences with sports at an early age can turn an individual away from sports involvement forever. The two
main culprits leading to bad experiences for children are:
- Overemphasis on competition. The best way for a good young athlete to progress is not to
introduce him to competition as soon as possible. Competition can hinder talent development because at in higher-level
competitive leagues, children often to have to sit on the bench to allow other children to play. The child cannot learn
and develop from sitting on the bench and would be better served by participating in activities that keep him involved.
- Bad coaching. Studies show that critical to the development of elite athletes is quality coaching, even at a young age. The better coaches have the ability to motivate and encourage young athletes and keep them interested in a sport.
Children are more likely to keep playing for good coaches. There is no chance for a gifted athlete to develop her
talents if she drops out of a sport. Good coaches promote talent development by promoting continued participation.
Guidelines For Parents
- Introduce your child to a variety of sports: There are many sport and physical activities beyond
traditional sports. Consider a variety of choices for children A diversity of sports experiences paves the way for
young people to find activities they will enjoy throughout life.
- Emphasize fun and skill development: it keeps children involved and active. Encourage intrinsic
motivation at an early age. Will your child continue to be fit and active as an adult? Bad experiences with sports
at an early age can turn a child away from sports involvement forever.
- Nourish the dreams of the child, not your own; to do that, you need to communicate with
your child.
- Minimize competition. Children are not emotionally and cognitively ready to compete at this age.
Work on building skill development; look for programs that support this philosophy.
- Ensure good coaching for continued participation and skill development. Be proactive in finding
good coaches who share your values.
Phase Two (Commitment/Specialization/)
Overview
- Increasing commitment of young athlete to her chosen sport.
- Extent of commitment is major issue faced by family, especially for the talented athlete.
Problem Areas
- Excessive conflict
- Parents, and sometimes coaches, may have a different set of expectations or goals than the athlete,
which often leads to conflict.
- The athlete has to have, or rediscover, his own personal reasons for
playing sports. In other words, she needs to see that participation has intrinsic, personal value.
- Only the strongest and most confident children have the skills to resist expectations of their parents and to fight for their own dreams.
- Burnout
- Where the child gives up on her own dreams and adopts the goals of her parents or coach, she is
doomed to failure and burnout often results.
- When the external reasons for playing (to get a scholarship, to win a game, to impress a scout, to please
a father) predominate over the intrinsic reasons (what I call the externalization of sports) burnout becomes likely.
- If athlete feels in control so that he views participation as part of his self-development, then sports can be a
healthy part of growing up. If the athlete feels controlled, and feels that he is not making the decisions or
developing as an individual, burnout is more likely. A study of fifteen adolescent athletes, who had been
age-group champions in their sport but had then quit, found that the way high-level sports were organized
contributed to the their decision to quit: they felt little control over their own lives, and felt that they had little
identity outside of being an athlete. This lack of control and restricted identity cause a great deal of stress,
and the sport ceased to be fun.
- Under-Involved Parents
- When parents display no interest whatsoever in the sporting activities of their children, it is very difficult for
the young athlete to become committed to a sport. This can place a great burden on the coach, who often feels
for the athlete and tries to make up for the parents' lack of support.
- When parents are not involved in their child's activities, the few coaches who are likely to abuse a young
athlete have an increased opportunity to engage in such abuse. This is why I encourage parents to form a good
relationship with their child's coaches, and why I encourage coaches to be open to parents who want to know
what goes on at practices and on trips to tournaments.
Guidelines For Parents
- Encourage participation. Promote your child's interest in physical activities. This can be a challenge
during a time of a child's development when there are many competing demands on a child's time.
- Don't push. Tap into your child's natural love of physical activity and play. Unfortunately, many
youth sports programs turn children off by being boring, repetitive, overly demanding, or insensitive to their needs.
Look for "child centered" programs that emphasize fun and skill development.
- Provide emotional support: As your child deals with competition, be there with emotional support.
Focus on helping your child learn valuable life skills.
- Involve your child in decision-making regarding sport choices. This is the age for the child to learn
to be self-reliant.
- Reinforce and support your child's decisions and commitment. This is the time to learn about
perseverance, commitment and delayed gratification.
- Recognize likely shift in influence. Your child will start looking more to peers, teachers and coaches
for guidance.
- Communicate with coaches. Keep building good communication with coaches; teach your child to do
likewise.
Phase Three: Proficiency/Committment
Characteristics
- Athletics become the central feature of talented athlete's life. When an athlete is talented and
strives to develop that talent to the fullest, this phase requires long hours of training, intense coaching or studying of
the sport, and participation in very competitive events. The athletic role becomes a central feature of the young
person's life.
- Goal setting becomes important for the average athlete. For most athletes, however, this phase
involves becoming good enough to reach one's goals, whether that goal be playing on an intramural team or being
good enough to make the high school junior varsity.
Problem areas
- Unsupportive parents. Parents who are critical of their child's efforts, who react negatively to
continued participation, and who express doubts about the potential for success can be an obstacle.
- Overly competitive youth sports programs. Instead of promoting mass participation, most focus
on a talented few (often failing them as well) and ignore the needs of the rest. Such programs turn young people
away from sports in huge numbers. Limited resources and facilities deny many youth athletes opportunities to
participate. Children will stop dropping out youth sports programs if the programs meet their needs. If adults stop
organizing these programs on the basis of their own needs, great changes are possible. Perhaps such changes can
also begin to permeate our high school and colleges. Can you imagine what such institutions might be like if sports
programs were developed for all
students, not just for an elite few who provide entertainment for the rest?
Guidelines For Parents
- The goal for a healthy young adult is personal competence. Support the emotional and financial independence
of your child.
- Provide continued emotional support and a refuge from the pressures of competition
- Accept the authority of the coach and become less prominent in the decision-making. Focus on parenting
rather than coaching. An effective parent sets limits and expectations.
Common Principles
Some fundamental principles apply, regardless of the phase. The most basic is the notion that the young
individual must be supported to gradually assume responsibility for making her own decisions and setting
her own goals. If parents, coaches, or administrators impose their own goals and ignore what the young
athlete wants, problems are sure to follow. Responsibility must be taught and modeled during the exploration
phase, encouraged during the commitment phase, and supported during the proficiency phase.
Teaser title:
Three Stages of Development for Youth Athletes
Teaser text:
There are three main phases of development for the youth athlete: Phase One (Exploration), Phase Two (Commitment) and Phase Three (Proficiency). While the developmental stages are issues for the entire family, some fundamental principles apply, regardless of phase.