DEVELOPMENT OF SKILL OF MOVEMENT IN KIDS - THE EVER PRESENT
PROBLEM
Certainly it is a profound problem, not the one for a short
article on our website, but, nevertheless, I want to touch
upon this subject even if only on a surface level just to
start a topic for much longer and deeper discussions, which
would possibly lead us to a better understanding and more
serious steps in our discovery.
I just returned from the National Basketball Tournament in
Orlando, Florida for kids 14-15 years of age. It was interesting
to see so many talented kids playing together, representing
different states, schools, coaches' teachings and philosophies.
As much I enjoyed watching these games, I was disappointed
by the same mistakes in the performance of different young
players.
No matter where they came from, they had the same missing
elements in their preparation, which I call the school of
movement. It was easy for me to see how these mistakes would
turn into deep errors in their further development of the
skills of movement and how badly they would influence their
carrier, if they choose professional basketball for living.
This example clearly indicates the problem in general. It
is not about basketball or track and field, where I come from,
and where I saw the same problems of missing the fundamental
preparation in movement. All of this leads to the same sad
end of the story - by reaching the adult age these kids will
be out of what they thought they will be doing all their life
and on the top level.
My personal experience of working with the best kids in the
USA Triathlon in 1994-1997 just confirmed the same facts as
we discussed above. From 50 best American hopefuls in 1995,
as I predicted to their parents and my colleagues, their coaches,
only one still survived in the elite triathlon by the year
2002. The rest of them disappeared and I have no idea where
they are now, because I don't see their names in starting
lists of major triathlons anymore.
I could easily continue this description further citing examples
from different fields, but the problem is still there and
should have been already clear to everybody, but unfortunately
it is not the case, and the present system of teaching continues
to produce the "traditional" errors of missing fundamental
preparation in the skill of movement, no matter what sport
or school we are talking about. Only in some sports events,
such as gymnastics, figure skating, diving and some others,
where performance really depends very much on school elements,
teaching goes somehow in the right direction.
When it comes to kids representing "general public"
or majority of the population this problem gets completely
out of hand and becomes a chaotic, sporadic process of doing
something, which we call "physical activity", where
teaching is just a foster child with the least attention,
efforts and time spent.
Why does it happen so? The answer is very clear - we do not
know what to teach and how to teach. Mostly we just train
our kids: kick harder, do more, be tough, be strong, etc.
I heard just recently how one high school track coach taught
his students to run hurdles. He gave them the instructions
literally like that: " Running hurdles is very simple,
just go over them nice and easy". I didn't know what
I was supposed to do: laugh or cry.
If we continue this way, then we'll end up mostly, with some
exceptions, with the situation that our kids will never do
what we think they were born to do. But the question remains:
what are we supposed to do? I would be happy to give you the
answer, but it is not about the 5 best drills, which will
teach your kid to be perfect. And the answer is not about
the drills at all. It is about the way of thinking and perception;
it is about education and culture, it is about our understanding
of who we are as a part of nature, and how we have to live
with nature as one world. It is not an easy task, of course,
but this is what was passed to us from our ancestors as a
philosophy of life and our task is to keep going in the same
direction enriched by modern knowledge about our existence.
Dr.Romanov
Pose
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