From the first day a kid starts in school they start with the basics. Learning the letters and numbers, sounds, shapes, and so many other things. When it comes to the alphabet, they start with the letter recognition and the sounds that are associated with the letters. This builds up to putting sounds together and progresses into forming words. Spelling, reading, and defining. Expanding the vocabulary until hopefully the child can eventually read, write, and communicate in almost any situation they are in. As much as people may or may not like and complain about education system, overall kids still have chance to learn and expand their skills in a variety of areas.
Naturally when a kid starts physical activity, you would think this is the same process. And for the most part, from a physical education standpoint it is. There, for me, is some disappointment in the lack of emphasis that is placed on the building and progression of physical activity. You would think (or maybe I just think) that something that has so much importance spanning over the course of a whole lifetime would warrant as much or more consideration for progression as the ability to read, write, and speak.
But, the point of this article is not to beat up the physical education process. I actually give them credit for making the most of what is able to be offered. I just know that by the time a kid grows into an adult, they often (unless learned almost on their own naturally) have nowhere near the same movement and athletic vocabulary as reading, writing, and speech. Go be healthy. Go make active lifestyle choices. Just go do it with fewer tools in the belt.
This only (once again, in my opinion…) get worse once kids start to get into competitive sports. “Why would you think this is worse when they get into competitive sports?” you might ask. They are being more active. They are better athletes. They are better at a sport. And to that I would respond, you are right, mostly… In a way, they are better athletes. Youth now are much better at sports than they were in the past. The level of play. The sports IQ. Believe me, I know. I coach basketball for a high school and the level of play, the speed of the game, and the expectations of skill are much greater than even a decade ago, let alone twenty or more years ago when most of the current parents participated in sports. For our basketball program, the demand of performance is hard for a youth that focuses on that one sport, and it is rare to have the skill to be able to play two sports at the level of play needed to be a high performer in both. I am also the strength coach for our basketball program, so I see it to an even greater degree. We select the best basketball players out of the best athletes that walk into our gym. So, when I say, I think it is worse once kids get into competitive sports, I know it might be confusing.
So, let me explain…
When kids get into competitive sports, the most common current sports model has them participating in that sport for a significant amount of time (the number of games a youth can play between school and club season is really high, but that is an argument for another time). There are hours on hours spent practicing (if they practice) and playing games. In that time, the athlete practices and performs the same movements over and over and over again. Theoretically, the youth athlete gets really good at the repetitive skills they repeat over and over again. The problem comes, and this is where my argument of competitive youth athletes having a worse athletic vocabulary, when the athlete only practices the same skills and does not expand their skills and ability outside what is required for their immediate success in their sport. Their movement vocabulary is very limited. It would be like learning only the first 8 letters of the alphabet. You can form a decent number of words with those letters, but you are far from being a proficient communicator.
Now, why do I think it is worse? My experience in training and rehabbing these athletes when they come into my office is that while they are better at the skills and movements that they have practiced for their sport, they are so underdeveloped with other movements and athletic abilities that they create a much greater chance for injury and poor performance AND the time it takes to improve the underdeveloped skills and abilities takes so much longer to get them to the level needed to be proficient. And if that wasn’t enough, the athlete often has become so reliant on the skills they use already, they struggle to be able to apply anything new and anytime they are placed under stress, until a new movement skill is truly learned, they will always revert back to the more hardwired skill.
Okay… here is my main point. When training youth athletes, make sure to spend time increasing their movement and athletic skill vocabulary (what we call physical literacy). This allows them to adapt and perform more efficiently in a variety of environments and under a larger variety of circumstances. Not only will the athlete perform at a higher level, but they will also set themselves up to be less susceptible to injury.
I understand that it makes sense to look at the necessary skills for a sport or activity and focus on those. As a strength coach that is one of the main parts of my job. Improve the athletic performance of an athlete in relation to their sport and decrease the potential for injury. But I also believe that there is a responsibility and a benefit to expanding the athletic vocabulary of a young athlete. Older athletes will still see value in expanding their athletic vocabulary, but because older athletes are at a stage where a more focused specialization of skills has more utility, they can benefit more from the refinement of the movement and skills over the expansion of skills.
Sports require awareness of what and when a skill should be used while having the ability to transition from skill to skill fluidly. Expanding a young athletes movement skill vocabulary allows them to be able to have the skills to solve movement problems in multiple environments. Improving the athletic vocabulary for a young athlete not only improves their ability to adapt to multiple sports environments, it also can help with the establishing a life-long pattern of physical activity and all the health benefits that come along with that. Improve a young athletes movement vocabulary to set them up for a lifetime of success.