This is so interesting, informative and valuable to me, as a parent of a 13 yo sports-mad boy who seemingly is also very capable in almost everything he does.
Thank you.
So, the sports he has sampled are as follows.
Swimming, gymnastics, judo, football, cricket, tennis, field hockey, rugby and golf.
He has settled on judo, cricket, hockey and golf at the moment; all played at a very high level (except golf) and which he enjoys.
My question is about early/late specialisation regarding tennis, football, cricket and golf?
They, particularly, seem to require mastering and honing of many skills.
There is a lot of pressure for kids to commit early to focused high level training; and if not able you fall by the wayside.
My observation is that the truly greats of these sports specialised at an early age and certainly by 10. Think... Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz; Messi, Ronaldo; Tendulkar, Kohli; Woods, McIlroy etc.
They were identified as 'talented' at an early age, specialised and groomed and seemingly achieved their potential in due course.
Of the top athletes you mentioned the only one I know anything about his early years is Tiger Woods. His father taught him the game when Tiger was very young, which, in terms of youth sport talent identification, is probably why he was identified as talented in the first place. He was far better than others his age because of the early exposure to instruction. And he stuck with it leading to one of my favorite phrases, "The rest is history." But this doesn't mean that someone else who starts early would have the same success, or that starting early is the key to success. There are so many factors involved in achieving elite sport status it's not helpful to try to narrow it down to early specialization.
Participation in early activity is, in my opinion, the key to tapping sport potential. It doesn't matter what sports they participate in while young; building athleticism is the key. Your son has sampled more activities than the average person and has probably developed a significant amount of athleticism, which will serve him well no matter what sport he eventually specializes in. Gymnastics is my vote for the "one sport to rule them all". It's an athleticism gold mine. Gymnasts have a much better body control, thus they are able to learn new athletic skills much faster than their peers. Youngsters may never become elite gymnasts but because of their gymnastic participation they have a head start in other athletic pursuits.
This is so interesting, informative and valuable to me, as a parent of a 13 yo sports-mad boy who seemingly is also very capable in almost everything he does.
Thank you.
So, the sports he has sampled are as follows.
Swimming, gymnastics, judo, football, cricket, tennis, field hockey, rugby and golf.
He has settled on judo, cricket, hockey and golf at the moment; all played at a very high level (except golf) and which he enjoys.
My question is about early/late specialisation regarding tennis, football, cricket and golf?
They, particularly, seem to require mastering and honing of many skills.
There is a lot of pressure for kids to commit early to focused high level training; and if not able you fall by the wayside.
My observation is that the truly greats of these sports specialised at an early age and certainly by 10. Think... Djokovic, Nadal, Alcaraz; Messi, Ronaldo; Tendulkar, Kohli; Woods, McIlroy etc.
They were identified as 'talented' at an early age, specialised and groomed and seemingly achieved their potential in due course.
What are your thoughts please?
Of the top athletes you mentioned the only one I know anything about his early years is Tiger Woods. His father taught him the game when Tiger was very young, which, in terms of youth sport talent identification, is probably why he was identified as talented in the first place. He was far better than others his age because of the early exposure to instruction. And he stuck with it leading to one of my favorite phrases, "The rest is history." But this doesn't mean that someone else who starts early would have the same success, or that starting early is the key to success. There are so many factors involved in achieving elite sport status it's not helpful to try to narrow it down to early specialization.
Participation in early activity is, in my opinion, the key to tapping sport potential. It doesn't matter what sports they participate in while young; building athleticism is the key. Your son has sampled more activities than the average person and has probably developed a significant amount of athleticism, which will serve him well no matter what sport he eventually specializes in. Gymnastics is my vote for the "one sport to rule them all". It's an athleticism gold mine. Gymnasts have a much better body control, thus they are able to learn new athletic skills much faster than their peers. Youngsters may never become elite gymnasts but because of their gymnastic participation they have a head start in other athletic pursuits.