Part 3 - Development and environment

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From the course by University of Florida

The Science of Training Young Athletes

174 ratings

University of Florida

The Science of Training Young Athletes

174 ratings

Seventy percent of kids drop out of sports before their high school graduation. Only 15% leave because they feel they are not good enough. Almost 70% leave because they were not having fun, or due to problems with the coach. Injuries cause 30% to give up sports. This course is packed full of practical sports science information that provide youth coaches and parents with the practical pediatric sports science insights to successfully retain young athletes and develop their sport potential while avoiding injury and overtraining. We begin by examining the multidimensional nature of coaching, the relevant sport motor performance abilities, the impact of growth and development on motor skills, the gene versus practice controversy, and briefly overview the body structures strengthened through training. Then we explore the athlete's energy supply, where this energy comes from, and how it matures along with the athlete. Finally, we examine the development of strength, power, anaerobic capacity, coordination and flexibility through the life span. The optional text manual for this course is available at: http://www.learnitez.com/HighPerformanceScience/manuals/

From the lesson

Week 2: Strategies for maximizing the athlete’s potential

Many factors can positively and negatively impact the young athlete’s ability to optimize their sports potential. In this section we examine strategies for ensuring the athlete’s systematic long-term sports development and how to mold the correct sport-specific phenotype.

Part 1 - Introduction to critical training periods1:58

Part 2 - Ontogeny7:59

Part 3 - Development and environment6:39

Part 4 - Motor circuitry development5:40

Part 5 - Periods of accelerated growth6:58

Part 6 - Key points of critical training periods3:57

Meet the Instructors

Dr. Chris Brooks
Instructor
Coaching Science Coordinator for USA Track and Field

Now the concept of critical and sensitive periods provides insight

into what might be happening during the phases of acceleration and

regression of the child's sport performance.

Contemporary child development theory suggests that neural circuits controlling

critical organ systems, such as breathing and heart rate and reflexes are prewired.

However, other neural circuits are rudimentary, and

their formation depends on the child's environment.

If neural connections are not activated or

are only weakly activated they will be pruned and

the well used neurons become integrated into the circuitry of the brain.

It is this existence of the rudimentary pathways that are of

particular interest to us in terms of developing athletic potential.

All your athletes will have been exposed to different movement experiences and

therefore their rudimentary circuits will be wired and

mature in slightly different ways.

Even identical twins are wired differently

because their movement experiences are not identical.

Two streams of research help us understand how rudimentary circuits

become fully wire and integrated into brain functioning.

In one stream of research relates to the effects of exposure

the child has to enriched environments.

And the other, relates to the timing of this exposure to these environments.

And this is where the notion of critical and sensitive periods become important.

Most of our knowledge about the environmental effects of rudimentary

nervous system pathways come from studies comparing the brain

structures of animal raised in two different environments.

One was at deprived environment and the other was in enriched environment.

Animals in the enriched environments are given the opportunity to

interact with toys and treadmills and obstacle courses.

Now animals placed in the enriched environments had larger brains with more

synaptic connections than animals raised in the deprived environments,

where there were no toys.

And this research illustrates the importance

of the environmental stimulation on overall brain development.

Extrapolation of this research to the sports setting suggests that

exposure to various forms of movement

will have an impact on the development of the athlete's brain.

And possibly affect their sports potential.

Animal research also instigates that there are critical periods and

sensitive periods for exposure to the enriched environments.

Now, the two critical period, refers to stages in the child's movement

development with certain type of movement exposures appear compulsory for

optimal development of a particular sport skill later on.

Lack of exposure during the critical periods could permanently affect

the child's ability to perform that skill effectively later on in life.

The cortical areas allocated for

a particular skill do not adapt in the correct way.

And no amount of remediation can completely make up for

this lack of adaptation.

The research on vision and

lack of exposure to language has consistently shown the importance of

early exposure for optimal development of both vision and language.

And the notion of the existence of critical periods in a growing child's

life is the driving force behind intervention programs,

such as the government sponsored Head Start programs.

However, the research does become a wee bit fuzzy

when we start examining the development of motor behaviors.

While missing the appropriate stimulus during a critical period

can negatively affect future abilities,

missing a sensitive period merely delays the development of that ability.

In the case of motor abilities missing a sensitive period makes it more

difficult for the child to learn the skill and learning can take much, much longer.

However, the skill can still be learned to a fairly proficient level.

Now from the perspective of maximizing sport performance, what impact

does this animal research on enriched environments, the critical and sensitive

periods have all now understanding of motor skill development for sport.

Does this really suggest that a child's ability to reach their genetic ceiling for

a sport will be permanently impaired?

And these remain largely unanswered questions and still are very,

very highly debated.

The long term development of the athlete in many countries though is founded

on the notion of enriched environments in conjunction with

the existence of these critical and sensitive periods.

Although the distinction between critical and

sensitive periods becomes rather muddled.

Long-term athlete development researchers talk more in terms of

optimizing the individual motor development and

tend not to discuss the possibility that missing a critical or

sensitive period leads to permanent damage.

Instead the belief is for now anyway that the hypothetical

windows of opportunity narrow but do not completely close.

So with this background we will now discuss the windows for

motor ability development.

And will only refer to sensitive periods and

ignore the possibility that critical periods exist.

If we just focus on sensitive periods, we're assuming that the window of

opportunity can narrow or even possibly, close.

But the skill can still be learned, albeit at a much slower and more difficult rate.

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