Chronological vs Physiological Age

These two volleyball athletes are 2 years apart in age and grade (senior and sophomore), yet they are worlds apart from the standpoint of physiological development. One can stand and place his hands above the 8 ft net; the other (last name Hercules--no kidding!) can just about walk under the net without ducking. But even Chris (aka The Thin Man) doesn't have to shave very often yet. He's just starting to go through major hormonal changes; though tall, he still has a great deal of physical development left. The opportunity to red shirt at USC will benefit him greatly.

Our current hodgepodge system of sport in the US tends to reward early physical maturation and forget about those that reach their physiological prime a bit later in life. All young athletes deserve and need fundamental movement skills and physical competencies. All deserve to learn the fundamental skills of a sport, rather than be pigeon-holed into one position at age 13 because we have no idea where they might fit into the puzzle at at 18 and especially age 24. And what about intangibles like leadership, tenacity, drive, the ability to thrive under pressure? Size matters, but it isn't always the best predictor of athletic success or even best sport choice later in life.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks Tracy, an excellent reminder. It's easy to slip into thinking that a developing athlete is the one in that 12 - 14 year old age group. Your post today is such a good reminder that development is an intrinsic process. It also makes me think about the challenge Malcom Gladwell raises in thinking about how well or how poorly we do at capitalizing on the human potential in our communities. We really shoot ourselves in the foot with shortsighted practices and systems. Thanks for the post

Tim Clark
9:15 AM
Howard Gray said…
The early vs. late specialization is such a good debate. I say debate, but really, when looking at the long term facts and science, it really isn't much of a debate. Sadly we live in a "short term results" world which seems to satisfy the parents and coaches (the ones looking to make a buck).
Best of luck to "The thin man" at USC - I don't really know much about Men's Volleyball but will keep an eye on his progress as he develops.
Always a pleasure to read your blog Tracy.
9:25 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's About Preparing People, not Preventing Injuries

ACL injuries do not happen in a void. People sustain injuries when their infrastructure is unable to manage a specific set of physical circumstances. To describe the mechanism of the injury without the context of the person and their level/type of sport, is to miss valuable insight. In sport, we prepare the person, to the best of our understanding, to meet the physical demands of that sport. We do not just work to prevent one particular injury; we prepare athletes to navigate the total sport physical environment. By "we" I mean the coaching and support staff -- specifically the athletic development staff.  Athletic development (AD) coaches prepare athletes through the development of physical literacy and movement competencies via movement progressions. It is more than strength, power, agility; it is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, abilities and behaviors to manage themselves within the entire sporting environment. At the higher levels of sport, AD coaches coordinate wit...
Read more

Form and Function

Image
Way back in 2002, I scanned these images by Howard Schatz from Sports Illustrated (October 14, 2002). A fascinating array of elite female athlete physiques, heights and weights, eh? These are some of the women featured in his book Athlete --a very cool pictorial essay that celebrates athletic form and function.
Read more

Strength: Overcoming Tradition & Assumptions

Image
The term "strength" comes with many images and stereotypes. The most common stereotype usually includes intimidating men who look like action figures, in spaces that look like iron jungles. Strength is associated with mass gain, limb girth increases, muscle hypertrophy and maximal force production against an external load. With regard to lower body strength, we speak in terms of multiples of bodyweight (BW), with the ratio of 2x BW historically viewed as necessary and desirable. We have historically trained in terms of 1 RM. There has been a trend recently to adopt a VBT (velocity based training) approach, as we know 1 RM changes on a daily basis and technology now allows us to more finely tune things with velocity as the target within each set. These things can be helpful as we initially learn to measure and document progress. But I think it is important to step back from this narrow outlook, because this view of strength does not serve all of us well, in either the rehab or...
Read more