coaching

I have a big problem in my practical sports lesson! But we have an even bigger problem in this county!

Too many kids lack the fundamental skills required to play sports.

As a sports lecturer in further education (16+ years) I see this at first hand. Our college is small and we have a small number of students, but the students we have work hard in class. However when it comes to sports practical we run into a few problems.

Nearly all of the 25 students, lack the fundamental skills in balance, co-ordination, flexibility, strength, etc. to carry out practical lessons to a high standard – a standard that would equal their academic side.

What is going wrong?! Why are they struggling so much to perform a volley, dig or serve in volleyball? Why can’t they even get near performing a lay-up shot in basketball?

What has happened to the time when kids were good at a range of sports?

“So what!?” You might say. They struggle to perform a lay-up shot in basketball, big deal! However, this issue goes deeper than what it would seem on the surface.

We all know about the obesity epidemic we are facing and we all know about the fuss the government are making about the 2012 Olympics leaving a legacy for future generations.

Big issues and great ideas, but throwing the answer “we need to increase participation levels” is not enough for me.

Creating opportunities isn’t necessarily going to create athletes. Pushing kids into sports at an early age only leads to the problems that I see in my classes. There are some good footballers, some decent rugby players and hockey players but none are great and none are what I would call athletes!

Quizzing the students I asked if they had played these sports and non other since they were young and they answered “yes”. This is not bad per se, but what happens is these kids get good at the skills in these sports and coaches pay very little devotion to fundamental skill development. Consequently, the crossover in skills from sport to sport is poor.

So if the fundamental skills in the groups that play sport are poor, they are even worse in those who didn’t play sport. This leads to all kinds of problems. The kids who feel they don’t have the skills, don’t play sport because they don’t achieve and they don’t have fun. So what happens? They give up sport. They lead an unhealthy lifestyle. They have an increased risk of health complications.

Obviously the situation is far more complex than I am eluding to here and the idea I am about to put forward to help here is clearly not the most important or the be all and end all.

But what we need to do is stop all this specialisation. Stop pushing kids into a single sport at the age of 8 and burning them out. What we need to do is to develop their fundamental movement skills in a fun environment offering the kids chance to challenge their selves with an emphasis on mastering skills rather than winning games and scoring points.

I’m not saying that kids have to stop playing football or rugby and just learn fundamental skills, it should be the coaches responsibility to embed these skills in the sports they coach.

Very simply this method would quite possibly increase the number of elite sports performers and increase participation levels in sport! A double whamey!

It would also stop me from having to teach the basic skills of an underarm volleyball serve for 6 weeks in a row!

If your interested in improving coaching young athletes then there’s an excellent organisation run by excellent people. The International Youth Conditioning Association (IYCA) message is simple; to educate as many coaches as possible so that young athletes will be cared for and prosper in the manner which they deserve.

Take a look at the IYCA now and whilst your at it take a look at how you coach young athletes or how you want your child to coached. You could already begin to make a difference to the young people of this country.

http://www.iyca.org

Yours in speed

Alan Ruddock MSc, CSCS, YCS

	Author:	alan_ruddock (alan_ruddock's profile, alan_ruddock's blog)
	Posted On:	Tue, 2007-11-20 18:10
	Tags:	coaching
	Comments:	1 comment, go to comments