Something for parents
This was sent to me by a buddy.
Talent Transfer
Hockey players and hockey parents are you paying attention to what is going on in the world of sport. Tiger Woods has withdrawn yet again from a tournament due to injury. As golf commenter Brandell Chamblee put it, “Tiger Woods looks like an old man”. What we are seeing is one of the world’s great athletes come apart before our eyes as his body breaks down. This is the result of over training and early sports specialization. Woods is now faced with the task of rebuilding his golf swing once again, or face the possibility of retiring from competitive professional golf. His Father and mentor, Earl was lauded for developing the dominate golfer of the 1990’s and the 2000’s. Earl did a great job, or did he? The injuries that are occurring now are the result of 35 years of specialization. He has retooled his golf swing as many as six times during his career to accommodate the injuries that happened from this specialization. I need to ask a question. In all the time that the world has listened to Tiger Woods and followed his development has there ever been a mention of him playing any other sports growing up with any regularity? I can’t remember any.
Minor Hockey is now approaching the time in the hockey season when parents begin to look at what I call the “Silly Season!” Spring and Summer hockey. To state it mildly, it is a waste of parent’s money and time. Kids are playing in a watered down league that does not aid in the development of their skills and for the most part receiving Coaching that is inadequate from well-meaning individuals. These athletes should be playing sports that help them develop as athletes and as people. Sports like Lacrosse, Soccer, Baseball, and Golf. These are sports where the talent gets transferred from one sport to another. Growing up we all knew friends that were great multi-sport athletes. They were good hockey players, baseball players, and football players. We never asked why, they just were. Now we have an explanation.
A great example of talent transfer happened in 2004 in Australia. The Australian Institute of Sport was asked to identify athletes for the purpose of building a Women’s Skelton Team for the 2006 Olympics in Turin Italy. The scientist’s identified that the first 30 metres of the race were critical. It was responsible for 50% of the variance in the winning time. To satisfy this need they recruited athletes from track, gymnastics, beach racing, and surf lifesaving. All these disciplines involved sprinting and quick efficient movements. To make a long story short they placed an athlete in the top 15 in the Skelton in just 14 months. A great accomplishment and an even greater example of talent transfer.
Michael Jordan was arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Jordan decided to try baseball after he retired from basketball for the first time. Yeah right! Michael could catch, throw, and run pretty well. However, he could not hit minor league pitching. How can such a great athlete not do it all? Well the answer is pretty clear and explains why adults who try an athletic activity later in life face challenges. The neurons in the brain that Jordan needed to learn the appropriate skills to hit the pitching had long gone. They were used up while he was perfecting his basketball skills. The brain is overflowing with neurons when we are born. The ones were do not use in the early part of our lives get pruned away. Those that we do use get strengthen and interconnected. The brain becomes less broadly connected, but more narrowly interconnected. So as a parent of an athlete why would you do this? In the present you may think that you are doing your athlete a favor, but given the statistical probability of an athlete making it to an elite level you are not. Let them play other sports and strengthen their brain and body so when their sport of choice at the moment is over, they have some wiring done so they can play a sport like golf, tennis, or squash that can be a useful tool to them in their chosen profession.
Once a season is finished, the athlete needs to take time off to recharge mentally, physically, and emotionally. Academics, which should never suffer at the expense of sports, but does also, need to be refocused. I do believe that if an athlete shows promise at an adolescent age they should get involved in some short term programs in the off season to help development. These programs should be in the two to four hour range once a week and should not interfere with the off season sport. The transfer of talent from sport to sport has so many positives. The athlete brings a competitiveness, work ethic, focus, and self-management skills. These skills are not only transferable from sport to sport, but to life.
The cost of sport is increasing every year, and families are being stretched. However, why do parents continually waste resources on programs that do not give them a return on their investment? Is it a keep up with the Jones scenario, or if my athlete does not do this they maybe released the next year. The political side of kid’s sports is huge. My children never played competitive sports, but were seasonal athletes. Soccer and golf in the summer, skiing and skating in the winter. The transition from sport to sport was seamless, and they always seemed to have fun. They continue to participate in these sports today. I wish I knew then what I know now about talent transfer, because I could have learned so much more from them.
Well, that’s it for now.
Until next time! Cheers!