Youth Development in Sport
The 10,000-hour rule
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers dedicates a full chapter to discussing the 10,000-hour rule. In it, he talks about Bill Gates and the doors that happened to open for him in order for him to be able to spend the perceived 10,000 hours to master computer coding and go on to be the founder of Microsoft. The same was discussed about sport and it being essential to spend 10,000 hours over 10 years to acquire expertise in any field. Gladwell used Ice Hockey as an example. However, the book “The Best, how athletes are made” counters this point with proven examples that it doesn’t necessarily take someone 10,000 hours at a certain sport be it rowing, football or athletics to master it. Being involved in many or other sports can greatly contribute to how a particular athlete takes to a totally different sport and masters it quite quickly based on the hours spent doing other sports.
The best example of which is two-time Olympic Gold Medallist in rowing Helen Glover, she signed up for the Sports Giants scheme in 2008, which looked at finding the UK’s most promising athletes and building them up through the UK sport high-performance programme to compete at the London Olympic Games in 2012. Helen had done sports such as hockey, swimming and athletics growing up, however, had never tried her hand at rowing. When she was put on GB Rowing Teams “Start programme” she was apprehensive as to how it would go, starting a completely new sport with hopes of competing at an Olympics in four years, but first getting to a sufficient standard to qualify for the games. This after only qualifying for the Sports Giants scheme by standing on her tiptoes to pass the height criteria of 5ft 11in when she was 5ft 10in.
By the time Glover won silver in the World Championships in November 2010, she estimated she had only been training and practising rowing for 2,000 hours and by the time she won gold at the London Olympics in 2012 she had rowed in the region of 3,500 hours. This example illustrates two things, one is that not every athlete develops at the same rate and perhaps the 10,000-hour rule is a suitable to target for the majority or mean average of athletes, however, some athletes take to something far quicker, and that can be put down to perhaps genes or how they have developed as they have grown up. Secondly, Glover’s all-round sporty nature in being involved in many sports from a young age undoubtedly assisted with the transition as she had already picked up some of the key skills attached to a sport that was transferrable, coupled with having good coaches growing up. This further gives substance to the understanding that some sports are very important and contribute greatly to the development cycle in others. Gymnastics has been considered a sport that essentially plays a role in every other sport, it teaches you the fundamentals of movement which play a role in every sport. Research has shown that parents enrolling their children in as many sports or activities as possible when they are younger, and allowing them to develop has had a very positive result in later years when they do choose to specialise in a particular sport, rather than picking and choosing or specialise at a young age.
There are three different pathways for sports engagement for children:
· Specialisation
· Diversification
· Early Engagement
Late Specialisation has resulted in a number of sportspeople adapting different shots and plays from other sport they have played previously. England cricketer Jos Buttler credited his ramp shot, hitting the ball over the wicketkeeper’s head to playing hockey. This shows that being involved in a number of sports allows the sportsperson to bring different aspects of another sport into the one they have chosen to specialise in, in order to improve their all-round game. Diversification across sports allows the sportsperson to find what they are best at. While early engagement benefits some sportspeople in being able to focus on one particular sport and master it. However, others like to be kept busy in a number of them at the same time, juggling their schedules and hours to fit everything in.
The family has been found to be a massive contributor to development in sport, the influence of parent undoubtedly contributes to the motivation of their children picking up the sport, and the time in which the parents contribute to their development, through extra hours spent practising outside of the time spent with coaches, assists greatly in their development. The sibling effect has also been found to be a major contributor also, those who have older siblings have been found to develop easier and quicker as they have felt they are at a disadvantage from a young age, they also have to work harder to try to match their sibling, they are engaging in everything they are doing be it playing football or doing athletics and this means that when they are developing and maturing quicker than those of the same age who may or may not have siblings of the same age gap. In has been found that “helicopter parenting” where the parents do everything for their children and rectify their mistakes is not best for their children. Allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them, assists in developing them outside the sporting sphere, but also within the sport. It allows the sports person to build resilience and learning to take adversity in the right way and dealing with it.
The relative age effect is also a major contributor to how a sportsperson. Depending on the sport and when the calendar starts, those born at the beginning of the season are said to be in a much better position to develop than those at the end of the sports calendar, who is said to be more physically and mentally immature. There are twice as many professional footballers born in September than there are in July. The youth football calendar starts in September and mirrors the school year. In comparison to the FIFA underage development structure that runs with the year from January. However, maturing early has its disadvantages also, as those who do are often not pushed hard enough, and they don’t develop all round as they age in comparison to those that are the same age though need to work harder. Those that mature early or grow quicker than others also have the difficulty in being subject to more injuries as they have grown to quickly and some of the muscles, tendons and joints haven’t fully developed as much as those who grow at a slower rate. This, therefore, shows the greater importance of the early maturing cohort to prepare and do the relevant strength and conditioning work to reduce these potential injuries.
The location in which sportspeople grow up and the amenities they have greatly contributed to their development and success. Millfield School in Somerset has produced an Olympic athlete in every summer games since 1956. 26 pupils competed in the Summer Olympics between 2008–2016. In 2016 eight Olympians attended Millfield, more than the entire number of athletes representing Pakistan. This can be put down to the top of the range facilities which the school boasts, offering pupils 27 different sports and employing 44 full-time sports coaches, 5 of which have competed in the Olympic games. The school works to integrate both the educational and sporting aspects together to ensure both can be managed and carried out simultaneously, with athletes on tough intensive schedules that can be of 12–14 hours training a week, however having such quality facilities on site allows them to carry out this training before, during and after school.
Often families that grow up in the country have been found to have a far greater chance of becoming elite than those who come from the city, due to space and amenities they have. However, the quality of air and nature has also been a contributor. Wagga Wagga which lies halfway between Melbourne and Sydney with a population of 50,000 people has developed leading sportspeople across a multitude of sports including Aussie rules, rugby league, union, golf, football, hockey and triathlon. Sportspeople have the ability to play a number of sports simultaneously over a weekend, as they are all scheduled so that they don’t clash, and allowing sportspeople to diversify, as well as having the best facilities and spaces in which to do them.
While importantly as to be expected the country in which sportspeople are born in has the greatest effect. The geographical features, does it have mountains and snow which are essential for winter sports and is why countries such as Norway and those in the Scandinavian region are so good at a sport such as snowboarding, skiing etc. While the sports a country decides to concentrate on funding and develop programmes around decides what options those that wish to engage in sport have. Often athletes from countries that don’t have the necessary facilities or conditions for a particular sport will have to move to a country that does to meet their needs. Lizzie Yarnold, double Team GB Olympic champion in Skeleton at the Winter Olympics, mixed between a dry track in The University of Bath the only location in the UK and travelling abroad for her training.
The urge or motivation for improvement consistently is what drives elite athletes to try to be the best they can. Irish Golfer Pádraig Harrington, is a massive advocate of the importance of data in his game. Even though he is in the twilight years of his career after winning 3 major titles. He will from time to time say that he has found a new angle to his game that will improve him. This shows his character in not settling for the attitude of what will be, will be and instead spends countless hours practising and researching to try to get the small percentage advantage in his game when it matters.
Youth development is a massive area of research and one that an infinite number of topics can be discussed, this post has tried to look at some of the areas without going into too much detail on each. Some of the sources of reference used were:
Malcolm Gladwell- Outliers
Youth Development in Football- Mark Nesti & Chris Sulley
The Best: How Elite Athletes Are Made- Mark Williams & Tim Wigmore
