Recently I have been asked to help deliver a Long Term Athletic Program to the kids I coach at a Private Primary School in Weybridge, Surrey. This is a hot topic with Kelvin Giles recently presenting a lecture at the UKSEM on how the physical has gone out of Physical Education. Peter Twist of Twist Conditioning is another champion of Youth Training and it is clear from both practitioners that the youth athlete of today is playing too many sports and games before being taught the correct movement skills to play them. The Youth Athlete of today is more sedentary than ever before, for example; fewer walk/bike to school, most kids spend 40 hrs sitting a week, Wii’s + Playstations are the choice of play.
Yet these same kids are expected play more sport and games than before. Put simply the kids of today are being set up to fail, by ignoring teaching the basic primal movements, squat, lunge, push, pull, carry, multidirectional movement, body awareness, coordination, speed, agility and quickness, we are failing the kids of today. How can we expect them to fulfill their potential and reach the top if this part of physical education is ignored.
Another important fact is that the 3 greatest causes of injury are
- Velocity
- Deceleration
- Direction Change
If you think about it this is exactly what the kids are exposed to every day in games and club lessons without the prior training of movement skills. Not only are they being set up to fail they are being set up to get injured and hurt!
The following are some great guidelines adapted from the Canadian Sport for Life Department:
Canadian Sport for Life
# Fundamentals (age 6-9) focus on physical literacy, gross motor skills
# Learn to Train (age8-12) learn overall sport skills
# Train to Train (age 11-16) consolidate sport skills + tactics with physical abilities
#Train to Compete (age 15-23) sport specialization, increase training intensity
#Train to Win (age 18+) focused, dedicated, competitive
In conclusion kids must learn to have movement literacy through correct teaching and planning rather than just playing games. This will lead to better sports performance and a reduction in the chances of non contact injuries.
Elko's Blog 