Sport Diversity - The Application Behind The Theory
By Brian Grasso
Multilateral development is a theory which urges young athletes to
participate in several sports over their childhood and adolescent
periods prior to specializing in one. The basis is that varied
athletic stimulus will serve to broaden the
youngsters' 'warehouse' or 'portfolio' of general athletic ability
and develop a thorough or expansive base on which to build and
eventually specialize. While the concepts are well known and the
research citing success far reaching, it is still not an embraced
reality within North American youth sports.
By examining elite athletics, you can most certainly see the
impact that multilateral development can have -
- Michael Jordan - played baseball and football as a youth
- Dave Winfield - a multi-sport phenomenon drafted by the NBA in
addition to MLB
- Gary Roberts - an esteemed NHL veteran, played lacrosse at a
high level as a youth
- Kurt Browning - 4-time world figure skating champion was an avid
hockey and baseball player
While these are just a few examples, the reality is that elite
athletics is dominated by individuals who participated in more
than one sport as kids. By no means am I suggesting that
excelling in more than one sport is important, but actively
participating in a variety of athletic endeavors as you grow
physiologically and psychologically is key. These realities
extend beyond just developing good athletic ability. In fact, one
of the problems I've encountered and often explained to parents
and coaches in youth training seminars is that there is more than
just a physical burn-out associated with specialized sporting
endeavors.
The obvious key is that specialization will result in a decreased
amount of overall athletic ability which will inevitably become a
hindrance as young athletes mature. In my experience, the
athletes with the most diverse athletic history are often better
equipped to learn and develop skills at the higher ends of a given
sport once specialization has been determined. Above and beyond
that however, there is also a mental stimulation component to
athletic development. If baseball is a 12 month sport, for
example, at what point does a 9 year old begin to lose interest?
To answer that question, just think about the average 9 year olds
attention span in general. That's not to say that your 9 year old
isn't truly enjoying every second of playing baseball throughout
the year, but inevitably, he will be 'enjoying' the game
and 'focusing' on it more at certain points and less at others -
that's the nature of being a kid. It's in these down times that
bad and lazy habits can be developed. Keeping a youngster truly
energized and excited about playing and learning new skills is a
key component to athletic development that is very often
overlooked.
Another overlooked feature of why multilateral development remains
the best option for young people is the tactical aspects
associated with sport. Even if your son engages in numerous other
informal modes of athletic stimulus, he is only being truly
challenged with the tactics and game speed of baseball. Baseball
is a notoriously slow game, especially at the youth level.
Developing optimal 'quick-wittedness' and 'game smarts' may best
be done via participation is several sports. My point here is
that the arguments either for or against multilateral development
are typically waged on the physical spectrum. In reality, the
successful development of a young athlete is also heavily
influenced by items such as mental and emotional perspicacity and
tactical (sporting) smarts.
While the multilateral development versus early specialization
debate tends to wage endlessly in North America, other nations
have adopted its concepts and applied its principals, due to both
practical success as well as scientific research.
Dr. Michael Yessis in his wonderful book, "Secrets of Soviet
Sports & Fitness Training", offers this input -
"Sport scientists. have found that athletes benefit from
participating in sports other than the one in which they
specialize. By doing so, the can tap a broader array of
physiological skill, as well as take advantage of a psychological
relaxing diversion. It's common for (Soviet trained athletes),
for example, to play twenty minutes of basketball as part of a
warm-up of their day-to-day training sessions, (even if they are
wrestlers).
.(In the west), the tendency is to believe that the way to become
a good runner, for instance, is to run, run and run some more.
The Soviets, however, know that during certain periods of the
training program, there are other sports that can be used to help
make a runner quicker and more flexible, thus developing the all-
around physical qualities needed to be a champion".
The former Soviet Union and other members of the Eastern Bloc are
not the only nations that adhere to developmental principals.
Australia is perhaps the best current day example of the power of
a strong, national development system. Guided by the Australian
Institute of Sport (AIS), a National Talent Identification and
Development program has been institute country-wide and in
conjunction with state and territory governments. The Talent
Search, as it is referred to, is a coordinated effort to search
for the sporting talent in Australia's young people. The program
is designed to help sports identify talented athletes (ranging in
age from 11 - 20) and assist in preparing them for domestic,
national and international competition. Young athletes are guided
through developmental programs which facilitate giving them the
best opportunity to realize their sporting potential.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the United States lead all
nations in total medals won with 199. In fourth place,
Australia's athletes collected 115 medals.
With a population of 19, 546, 792 people, Australia has 271,280,
551 fewer people than the United States. With 14 times fewer
people, they won only 84 medals less than the United States.
Developmental strategies work.
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