Survival of the fittest or survival of talent | footblogball

Fantastic article.

https://footblogball.wordpress.com/2015/02/27/survival-of-the-fittest-or-survival-of-talent/

Survival of the fittest or survival of talent

The optical illusion that is early talent identification and the selection philosophy of district teams

According to Darwin's theory of evolution organisms which are better adapted to their environment tend to survive longer. Does the environment we create influence the selection process and favor those that possess attributes that give them a temporary advantage while at the same time disqualifying those who at that moment in time are struggling to adapt?  Adaptive behavior is key to the survival of the human race and specific to soccer, a trait of high quality players. However if the early environment supports only temporary adapting systems ( in this case the young player) then those that are better equipt to adapt in the long run may well be lost to us forever.

Are some systems and structures just counterproductive ideologies that that are in conflict with development (learning & biopsychosocial) and the young player's natural learning process? We should of course remember that struggle is also part of the learning process. What are we doing to help players overcome those struggles that will appear during their development (non-linear)?

The Standard Model of Talent Identification
( Bailey, R.P: & Collins, D. The Standard Model of Talent Development and its

Discontents, Kinesiology Review, 2, 248-259)

In a recent paper, Bailey and Collins introduce one of the most common models used in talent identification, the Standard Model of Talent Development (SMTD)

This is a pyramid structure that is based on erroneous presumptions.

1. Development and performance are essentially linear.
2. Early ability that is identified as talent indicates future ability and performance.

The selection process is done at the cost of the wider group where focus is placed on those who have been identified as talented ( Bailey, R.P: & Collins, D. The Standard Model of Talent Development and its Discontents, Kinesiology Review, 2, 248-259)

Selection: Based on current performance. Identify those as talented as early as possible.

Early specialization is deemed necessary to reach elite performance level in the future.

Early performance and ability is necessary for success in the future.

De-selection: Hard to return to the system. Questionable selection criteria (often based on early physical characteristics)

District team selection often begins at the age of 13/14 and is part of this pyramid. Its influence is felt years before the actual selection process. I recently spoke with a Swedish U17 youth international who said that this process can create and feed a stressful environment. Over a year before the district team selection, every day at school, at training, on social media each match or training performance was put under the microscope of analysis. "How did you play? How did I play?  As well as being physically tired you would be mentally tired as well". The player went on to say "I was lucky because I had an external support structure, family and good adult mentors that really helped me, I don't know how I would have coped otherwise". Competition, failure and struggle are of course part of the sporting experience. They don't have to be negative experiences for children. The problems occur when it is all based on adult demands and values. These adult demands and values are appearing earlier and earlier in our sporting structures. The adult and the child, do they have the same motives?

There is no convincing evidence that most sports require an early investment of training in one activity. In fact, what evidence is available suggests that across a number of eventual elite players, early specialization is negatively correlated with eventual success (Gullich, 2011).

In the paper In the paper The Standard Model of Talent Development and Its Discontents (Bailey, R.P; & Collins, D. ) It is suggested that  "the apparent success of the SMTD is ultimately an optical illusion as there is no way of knowing who might have succeeded through different systems, and who were de-selected from the system but might have (under different circumstances) gone on to achieve high performance".

The paper goes on to suggest risks associated with ill-focused of incorrectly administered pyramids.

1. Early adult like training can lead to over-use injuries. There is a particular high risk associated with intensive training during maturation.
2. Early intensive training can lead to psychological problems. This can lead to drop out and burnout

Development is non-linear, learning is non-linear. Therefore talent is non-linear
Judging early performance during the formative years does have its problems. This is true especially when judging and identifying something that is non-linear using what is essentially a linear model.

1. Miss out on identifying other factors that are associated with talent ( soft skills such as decision making, communication, awareness)
2. Often fails to recognize potential due to a focus on the performance now.
3. Many pyramid structures based on early talent identification discriminate against those born later in the sporting calendar year.
4. Size and strength factors that are identified early contribute to a temporary advantage resulting in short term superior performance. This all evens out after maturity. There is a risk that the player has been used for his temporary advantage (to win) and has not actually learned the game. This player will struggle when growth evens out when maturity is attained.
5. Questionable accuracy with regard to measurement of ability, often affected by gender, ethnicity or socioeconomic background.

Are we judging biological maturation or talent?

Dutch Soccer coach Raymond Verheijen has presented data under the title "Growth spurt study in Dutch Youth Academy soccer". A 12 year study that included 36 professional clubs was carried out in Holland between the years 1997-2009. An analysis of a data base of over 10,000 players was carried out where factors such as height, weight, injuries and date of birth were taken in to consideration. The general idea was that month of birth should have no influence on talent. At the beginning of the study the Dutch schoolboy national teams were selected from August to July. Most players were born in the period August to October (43%) while only 10% of the players were born May-July. This phenomenon is often referred to as the Relative Age Effect (RAE).

Relative age effect (RAE): A bias that seems to favor a higher participation rate amongst those that are born early in the selection period).

Hancock, Adler, & Cote in a study from 2013 suggested that RAE is more than just a physical advantage. The research suggested that there are also some powerful social influences at play.

1. Parents (Matthew effect) – The rich get richer. Those who are perceived to have ability are given preferential treatment and extra support. This in turn increases that ability which leads to more support.
2. Coach (Pygmalion effect) – The higher the expectation placed on people the better is their performance. Those who are perceived to have ability are given more attention. Others feel neglected.
3. Athletes (Galatea effect) – A player may see that she is able to perform better than her peers. This performance can be due to due to early maturation A players opinion about her ability and his self-expectations about her performance largely determine the performance.

During this study the Dutch FA changed the cut-off date for its national youth teams to the Jan-Dec period. The RAE adjusted accordingly. It seemed that the scouting system was primarily based on how old the player was as opposed to how talented that player is or could be. Countries with small populations have a relatively small player pool.

Focusing on winning during the early stages of development just encourages the RAE, in turn making the player pool even smaller. It becomes more about the survival of the fittest as opposed to survival of talent.

The various traits slowly appear and differentiate over time….. infancy, adolescence, and even adulthood will see the latent components undergoing various transformations (Simonton,1999,p442)

In the research paper "Swedish soccer is searching for talent but finding age" Tomas Peterson says why players are chosen in accordance with their physical development is not known "but one may assume that there is a silent agenda dictating that these players will be the most successful in the forthcoming selection steps" from club to district team to national youth team. The material and data collected "indicates that selection on the grounds of physical development is already at work in groups of 5-12 year olds and " and the effect of this process is very clear when these children reach 13 and enter an even harder selection process. It is Tomas Petersons opinion that this is counter- productive to the development "of all the football talent that exists within every yearly cohort of girls and boys. I also believe that its goes against the goals of both the sports movement and the community in general".

Summary
"Assessment of talent at a single or narrow point in time is a flawed approach"- Mark Upton

Many current methods of focusing on early indicators of talent are very static and linear approaches. They ignore the fact that development is individual and that differences in performance can be explained by differences in maturation. Coaches that judge early talent evaluate and focus on the contemporary level of performance where physical characteristics are fundamental factors in the talent identification process. This brings to the surface three fundamental problems that need to be addressed with early talent ID.

1. Coaches gamble on the wrong players- (misuse of resources)
2. Miss out on those with more long term potential
3. Environment problem (development of a non-inclusive environment. No clear pathway back in to the system)

If we want to keep players viable over what is essentially a long, complex and sensitive development process then the aim should be to keep as many as possible as long as possible active within our sporting organization. What are we doing to help certain players overcome struggles that will appear during their development (non-linear)? What role does the environment play in creating these struggles?  We should remember that failure and struggle is also part of the learning process. Our environment should be a place where these failures and struggles can be met head on and dealt with through patience, encouragement, understanding and support.

Does the environment we create influence the selection process and favor those that possess attributes that give them a temporary advantage while at the same time disqualifying those who at that moment in time are struggling to adapt?

Sent from my iPhone

Coaching Association of Canada publishes Long-Term Athlete Development for Parents document | canadiansportforlife.ca

Coaching Association of Canada publishes Long-Term Athlete Development for Parents document | News | canadiansportforlife.ca:

Coaching Association of Canada publishes Long-Term Athlete Development for Parents document

Tuesday, 7 February, 2012

Many parents are looking for answers to explain what is right for their child when it comes to athletic development.  As a coach, you need something that will help explain the facts in an easy, accurate, and user-friendly manner.  The Coaching Association of Canada, in coordination with Canadian Sport for Life, has created the following document: “Long-Term Athlete Development Information for Parents” to help coaches educate the parents of the children in their programs.

This document provides an overview of the LTAD model, describing each of the seven stages in easy-to-understand language.  It gives solid and concrete advice on what parents can do to encourage their child’s current physical, and athletic development and suggests tips to help them assist their child as they move into the later stages of development. This handy tool is something coaches will want to have readily available at all times to share with parents.  We encourage all CAC Partners to share the following link with their Learning Facilitators, member clubs, coaches and parents.

'via Blog this'

http://www.coach.ca/files/CAC_LTADFORPARENTS_JAN2012_EN.pdf

Master Teaching and Coaching from The Talent Code and SoccerNationNews

I love all of Dan Coyle's stuff from The Talent Code. He really breaks down the process of developing into a great coach or player.

The article Coyle is citing is from The New Yorker magazine by Jeremy Denk http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/04/08/130408fa_fact_denk titled "Every Good Boy Does Fine - A Life in Piano Lessons" and is also a great read.

The following article from soccer coach Wayne Harrison outline many of The Talent Code concepts in a concise outline.

from The Talent Code blog:
How to Spot a Master Teacher: A Field Guide « The Talent Code:

In fact, Denk’s teachers turn out to be a beautiful set of case studies for analyzing what qualities master teachers tend to possess. I’ll list a few here:

 1) Master teachers love detail. They worship precision. They relish the small, careful, everyday move.

2) They devise spectacularly repetitive exercises to help develop that detail — and make those exercises seem not just worthwhile, but magical. As Denk writes, “Imagine that you are scrubbing the grout in your bathroom and are told that  removing every last particle of mildew will somehow enable you to deliver the Gettysburg Address.”

3) They spend 90 percent of their time directing students toward what is plainly obvious. They spend the other 10 percent igniting imagination as to what is possible.

 4) They walk a thin line between challenging and supporting. They destroy complacency without destroying confidence. This is tricky territory, and requires empathy and understanding on both sides — particularly when it comes to understanding the moment when it’s time to move on.

5) They do not teach lessons; they teach how to work. As Denk writes, they “ennoble the art of practice.”  (Isn’t that a fantastic phrase?)

I also like how Denk shows what the master teachers are not; namely infallible superheroes. Master teachers are master teachers because they’re good learners, constantly reaching to build the ultimate skill: constructing the talents of others.

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from soccernationnews.com
A Scientific Concept in Soccer Player Development

By: Wayne Harrison	Print
Posted: Tuesday, November 15, 2011 12:16 pm

A Scientific Concept in Soccer Player Development on SoccerNationNews Soccer News:

In my experience, there are three key ingredients for successful skill acquisition and development.

They are: 

1. Deep Practice
2. Ignition, and
3. Master Coaching

These three elements work together within your brain to create myelin. Myelin is the neural substance that adds vast amounts of speed and accuracy to your movement, thoughts and decisions.

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What is Myelin and why is it important to skill development?

Inside the brain information is transmitted through neurons.  Human skill is created by chains of nerve fibers carrying a tiny electrical impulse from the brain to the body through these neurons. Myelin is the insulation that wraps around the nerve fibers in our brains and increases signal strength, speed and accuracy. Myelin is produced by a person thinking about and analyzing skill situations themselves.

All human skills are created by linking the nerve fibers in your brain that send signals to your muscles. Myelin plays an important role by serving as an insulator for these nerve fibers. According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health, “The purpose of the myelin sheath is to allow impulses to transmit quickly and efficiently along the nerve cells” (NLM/NIH: MedlinePlus).

It has been shown that the more insulation – or more myelin – wrapped around those fibers, the stronger and faster the signal becomes as fewer of these electrical impulses leak out. Therefore, skill can now be redefined as “myelin insulation that wraps neural circuits and grows according to certain signals.” The two – skill development and myelin – are married together.

Myelin acts like an elastic band around the nerve fibers squeezing them and forcing the signal through faster. In football (soccer), with each repetition, myelin responds by wrapping layers around the nerve fibers, speeding up and improving decision making and thought processes.  With each additional layer of myelin added, the player increases the ability to process the football specific skill required.

Everyone has myelin and everyone can improve themselves through its production. The more myelin produced; the thicker the sheath, the faster the message; the quicker thinking the player becomes.

How do the “three ingredients” work to help create myelin and improve performance?

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Deep Practice

For his book Talent Code, Daniel Coyle searched out what he calls “hotbeds of talent” around the world, including a soccer field in São Paolo, Brazil. Through his research, he developed a theory of what he calls “Deep Practice” that helps produce amazing success. This means “training on the edge of your capabilities.” Training in this dynamic capacity leads to mistakes being made, which increases the speed of skill acquisition. Players learn through making errors/mistakes and then correcting them. This method produces results 10 times faster than regular practice.

As deep practice is occurring, the player is wrapping even more myelin around each circuit and increasing skill. Simply put: mistakes lead to better skill acquisition. Deep practice is most important for players 6 to 12 years old. Their spatial awareness and ability to understand tactical concepts is still developing and at its height, and they have an unlimited capacity to acquire and develop new motor skills.

Simply put: mistakes lead to better skill acquisition.

Repetition of themes in small sided games is crucial, and especially in the “sweet spot” on the edge of the comfort zonethat produces errors but also teaches skills. This is where futsal comes in to play.

As Coyle explains in Talent Code, “Most Brazilian players learn their skills through futsal, the ssg equivalent of soccer. Futsal uses a half size and much heavier ball that doesn’t bounce; that promotes touch, technical and skill development. Sharp passing is paramount to have success. Futsal compresses essential skills into a small box, puts players into the ‘deep practice zone,’ making and correcting errors, constantly generating solutions to vivid problems. Players touching the ball 600% more often learn far faster, without realizing it, than they would in the vast expanse of the outdoor game.”

Deep practice needs to be on the edge of the players comfort zones, and maintained in game-related skill-developing situations.

Building myelin takes time, and putting ourselves in a position to fail actually helps fix our mistakes. Failing “better” and continuing this process until we accomplish the task is one of the quickest and most efficient ways to build myelin. We talk about letting players make their own decisions, allowing them to think for themselves – to problem solve; to self correct.  Myelin production does just that.

This learning process can boost the brain's efficiency by increasing the speed with which a signal travels down the nerve fibers by up to 100 times. So think about it: if self-correcting could make signal transport over 100 times faster, why would you not want to help build this into a player’s mentality? By commanding the players, by telling them what to do, you are actually restricting this process from taking place.

Therefore, your players will actually think and react and make decisions more slowly and less efficientlybecause of this command style of coaching. Unfortunately, some coaches are still stuck in this old methodology of command coaching and it has to change. It doesn’t work.

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Ignition

Deep practice is a cool conscious act; ignition is a hot, mysterious burst – an awakening.

Ignition is the motivational fuel that generates the energy, passion and commitment of a person from withinto perform deep practice. It is intrinsic motivation where the athlete has a self-willed drive to succeed. This is the catalyst, and it represents a huge level of commitment that can be borne out of a player’s deepest, often unconscious, desires to succeed.                                             

A person’s motivation is not just intrinsic; it can also be ignited by an event in the outside world, such as being inspired to play for your country after watching the skills of the World Cup Champions. In a famous example, Roger Bannister broke the seemingly-impossible four-minute mile in 1954. This ignited everyone’s belief to go for it, and within three years, seventeen athletes had broken what was previously considered a physiologically impossible feat.

An athlete can also be ignited or inspired beyond the intrinsic by Master Coaches.

Master Coaches

Master Coaches are the final piece in the “jigsaw of success,” and can have an immense amount of positive influence on the player. These coaches create a learning environment where the players are actively engaged and are lead by guided discovery methods of coaching. Training should be player centered not coach centered, where coaches only need to step in at the appropriate moments to make corrections.

Real master coaches are like farmers; they are deliberate cultivators of myelin. They are talent whisperers, and can be the difference between success and failure for athletes.

---

In simple terms

1. The more Myelin the person produces the faster, stronger and more accurate the messages are from the brain.
2. Deep Practice ensures myelin is produced.
3. Ignition is the process that serves as the motivation for deep practice. Ignition supplies the energy, and deep practice translates that energy over time into forward progress (increasing the wraps of myelin). Ignition is caused by the inside energy of the person (desire, self belief) and the outside energy of the coach or outside events. Words are the signal most used to trigger ignition.
4. Master Coaches use the words that trigger ignition, which in turn motivates the deep practice that produces the myelin that speeds up and strengthens the decision making signals in the brain of the player. So, the types of words used can influence the player greatly.Negative words can have as much bad influence; as positive words have good influence. Coaches should take note of this important statement.
5. So, working backwards, the formula is: Master coaching creates Ignition, which encourages Deep Practice. Deep Practice – and especiallyspecific practice – enhances myelin production, which produces improvements in accuracy and speed of decision making.

In conclusion

My method of coaching is, as you see, all about inspiring the players to think and make decisions for themselves. We need to encourage them to self determine “where, when, how and why” they need to play a particular way or make a particular decision in a particular situation.

It is encouraging, to say the least, that I have discovered this wonderful work – Talent Code by Daniel Coyle – which supports my work. This book proves scientifically that the way to develop players is to empower them and to give them the reins of thought.

The key is becoming a Master Coach. The Master Coach guides players and steers their path towards greatness. He applies his knowledge and experience to use the “less is more” approach in the right contexts of development. In a way he, is showing them without showing them, guiding them to the light at the end of the tunnel – without showing it directly – until the players themselves find and see it and go through it.

So please, let the players learn for themselves. With guided deep practice and appropriate ignition by master coaches, over time players will develop far better than coaches commanding and demanding and not allowing players to think for themselves.

Related Article: Coach Wayne Harrison's Awareness Training

http://www.soccernation.com/soccer-coach-wayne-harrisons-awareness-training-player-development-cms-1848

Kaizen - LTAD and CS4L (Istvan Balyi) | canadiansportforlife.ca

Dr. Balyi's LTAD approach is IMO as good an overall outline for how sports, physical activity and athletic development should be in this country. And he is right next door. So it's not like we can ignore it or pooh-pooh it because it comes from some god-forsaken communist country. Maybe this time we'll consider the suggestions on their merits more than we consider the source and make some needed improvements "south of the border".

• Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L) is a broad based movement to change the role and function of sport in Canadian society.
•  Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is a structured pathway that follows CS4L principles to optimize the development of our athletes at all ages and stages of their development.
•  Both CS4L and LTAD represent a paradigm shifts in the way we manage and deliver sport and athlete training in Canada.

Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) - Canadian Sport for Life (CS4L):
Kaizen - LTAD and CS4L (Istvan Balyi) | canadiansportforlife.ca:

Kaizen - LTAD and CS4L (Istvan Balyi)

March 12, 2012

 In the spirit of Kaizen, Continuous Improvement, we are looking to improve Canadian Sport for Life and Long-Term Athlete Development. With that in mind I announced new and improved 10 Key Factors and expanding the 5 S’s to 10 S’s at the 2012 Canadian Sport for Life Summit.

 The new 10 Key Factors are:

1. Physical Literacy
2. Specialization
3. Developmental Age
4. Sensitive Periods
5. Physical, Mental, Cognitive, and Emotional Development
6. Periodization
7. Calendar Planning for Competition
8. System Alignment
9. Excellence Takes Time
10. Kaizen 

In addition to the original 5 S’s (Stamina/Enduarance, Strength, Speed, Skill and Suppleness/Flexibility), there are now an additional 5 S’s:

1. Structure / stature

1. (p)Sychology

1. Sustenance

1. Schooling

1. Socio-Cultural

With these additional 5 Ss, LTAD now contribute better to the holistic development of the athlete.

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Kaizen (Continuous Improvement) pdf file:
Canadian Sports for Life (CS4L) Long-Term Athletic Development (LTAD) and Kaizen (Continuous Improvement)



Ten Key Factors:

Ten Key Factors | canadiansportforlife.ca:

Ten Key Factors

Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) is based on sport research, coaching best practices, and scientific principles. LTAD expresses these principles, research, and practices as 10 Key Factors essential to athlete development.

To optimize the development of our athletes, we need to take advantage of the best sport science and best practices in coaching and training. Long-Term Athlete Development (LTAD) does this by codifying important elements of sport science and coaching practices into the 10 Key Factors of LTAD:

1. 10-Year Rule
2. FUNdamentals
3. Specialization
4. Developmental Age
5. Trainability
6. Physical, Mental, Cognitive and Emotional Development
7. Periodization
8. Competition Planning
9. System Alignment and Integration
10. Continuous Improvement

Along with sport science and coaching, the 10 Key Factors include broader principles behind the way we organize and manage sport.  For example, competition scheduling to optimize athlete development, organizational alignment of different groups and agencies that make up the “sport system”, and the philosophy of Continuous Improvement so we always work to make our science, coaching, and system of athlete development better.

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Coaching Association of Canada publishes Long-Term Athlete Development for Parents document | News | canadiansportforlife.ca:

Many parents are looking for answers to explain what is right for their child when it comes to athletic development.  As a coach, you need something that will help explain the facts in an easy, accurate, and user-friendly manner.  The Coaching Association of Canada, in coordination with Canadian Sport for Life, has created the following document: “Long-Term Athlete Development Information for Parents” to help coaches educate the parents of the children in their programs.



This document provides an overview of the LTAD model, describing each of the seven stages in easy-to-understand language.  It gives solid and concrete advice on what parents can do to encourage their child’s current physical, and athletic development and suggests tips to help them assist their child as they move into the later stages of development. This handy tool is something coaches will want to have readily available at all times to share with parents.  We encourage all CAC Partners to share the following link with their Learning Facilitators, member clubs, coaches and parents.

'via Blog this'


LTAD for Parents Document:
http://www.coach.ca/files/CAC_LTADFORPARENTS_JAN2012_EN.pdf

In the News...

from Collegiate Baseball:

in an article by Miami coach Charlie Greene, apparently Little League has finally seen the wisdom of transitioning kids more gently from the 12 year old major league division to the 13 year old division.

Instead of throwing kids from a 46-foot pitchers distance and 60 foot baselines directly to the ADULT, MAJOR LEAGUE distances of 60-foot pitchers distance and 90 foot baselines, Little League will now allow a more age-appropriate field dimensions of 50-foot mound and 70 foot bases.

This will clearly benefit the "late-bloomers" among the 13-year olds and help L.L. to retain more kids in the program. Little League has long experienced upwards of 50% "drop-out" rate when kids were forced to go from the small field to the larger field.

The more "accelerated physical maturer" or "early bloomers" would remain in the program, as the field dimensions were not as demanding on them.

I would give kudos to LL for this development except that the question arises as to why it took so long for them to see the wisdom of this move in the first place. The "drop out rate" problem has been with them for at least one and maybe two decades or more. L.L. in effect denied the problem existed and allowed kids to move to other programs that implemented more user-friendly dimensions.

This IMO led to some of the overuse problems with youth pitchers that we see today as kids migrated and experimented with play on multiple teams and programs. And pitch counts are the solution, right? Sorry, Dorothy, the solution was at your fingertips the whole time, all you had to do is say the word. Now take your dog Toto and get the heck on out of here, knuckelheads. Talk about closing the barn door after the horses have left...


from Baseball America:

Nice story about IL prospect Jake Odorizzi, RHP from Higland IL, who took what appears to be the road less traveled to the professional ranks nowadays.

The Milwaukee Brewers #32 selection in the 2008 draft, DID NOT take the elite, travel ball, showcase laden route that many of his peers and /or their parent felt was absolutely necessary for success.

What's the old saying? "If you're good, they'll find you."

Odorizzi also credited being a multi-sport (three) athlete for helping pave his road to the professional ranks.

"You learn certain things from certain sports. In basketball, you learn quick feet and agility. In football, you have to stay centered and keep your balance", Odorizzi said in the article.

A long-term, athletic development (LTAD) multi-sport approach will win out over an early specialization, one-sport focus any time. Focusing on the process over the results, the long-term over the short term and being ready to peak when it counts over chasing "visibility" when it doesn't really matter.

Odorizzi is now considered a high ceiling, sky's the limit prospect instead of a WYSIWYG prospect (What you see is what you get).

That's what having the right, long-term approach will do for you.

Baseball Training Q&A – Part II

In the second part of this Baseball Training FAQ post, we want to look at some of the common questions and issues that arise as baseball players move from the 12-13 year age group into the high school and collegiate years.

It is in these years that a solid weight training program can begin and more specialized training methods like speed and agility training can be incorporated. Although the training methods become more specialized, the athlete can still compete in multiple sports and resist the temptation to become a victim of sports specialization.

A weight training program that aims to generally strengthen the major muscle groups and targets the posterior muscle chain can begin at this stage.

The four most important areas to develop are:
- the posterior muscle chain
- the shoulder scapulae retractors
- the external rotators of the humerus
- the hip and knee extensors

Exercises such as squats, lunges, rows, chin-ups, pull-ups, push-ups and glute-ham raises are effective for baseball players.

After the athlete acquires a foundation in the basic exercise movements, we have always favored the “Big Three Lifts” – The Bench Press, The Squat and the Deadlift and their derivatives and the “Quick Three Lifts” – The Clean – The Snatch and The Jerk as our fundamental strength and power exercises.

If you employ these lifts within an intelligent periodization plan and practice sound nutritional habits, the sky is the limit. You will reach your full potential as a ballplayer.

Medicine ball exercises that mimic the same movements employed in the gym and on the baseball field. Caber tosses, granny throws, forward overhead (soccer throw-in) passes, basketball chest passes and similar movements help transfer the general strength built via weight training into power. (Strength + Speed = Power)

Kettlebell exercises that are similar to the exercise performed in the weight training area are effective for building explosive strength (i.e. POWER)

Clubbell exercises can be developed to mimic both the bat swing and the throwing motion and develop strength, speed and power throughout the relevant range of motion.

Exercises that build grip strength can be added using old-school tools such as the sand bucket exercises to newer technologies like the weighted agility gloves.

Your training goals and focus should be built around building power rather than absolute strength. Generally speaking, you want to perform exercises that build bat speed and throwing velocity.

In these areas, relative strength is more important than absolute strength. The athlete that can perform more weighted chin-ups relative to body weight has more valuable relative strength than his peers.

The athlete with a higher relative strength in the bench press than absolute strength will correlate better to higher bat speed.

Higher grip strength measures correlate well to improved bat speed as well.

So the measures we are looking to improve are:

- Wtd Chin-Up Strength to BW
- Bench Press to BW
- Grip Strength

Exercises that strengthen the lats and subscapularis will improve speed of movement for the throwing motion.

Exercises that increase the strength of the lats, triceps, knee extensors and hip extensors lead to improved bat speed.

Core exercises that focus on rotational strength are not effective for building speed in the throwing motion or the bat swing.

Recent data suggests that the recent trend to focus on core strength building is actually leading to an increase in oblique muscle strains.

Core strength does not correlate well to bat speed increases because the trunk rotators are not well known to have high potential for increase in strength relative to other muscle groups.

It would be more effective to focus on rotational range of motion than rotational strength in your training. This transfers more effectively to improved bat and ball speed.

Strength + Speed to develop Power.
Relative Strength over Absolute Strength.
Rotational Range of Motion over Rotational Strength.

Some of the following tests can be used to evaluate strengths and weaknesses prior to beginning a training program and as the program continues to assess the overall effectiveness of the program.

Overhead Squat Test:

It is the best test to evaluate the muscular chains and assess for weaknesses.

To assess the length – tension discrepancies of the various muscle groups, the Overhead Squat with a snatch grip can be used.


Backward Overhead Medicine Ball Throw

To test for explosive power and overall athletic ability, this test is probably the best. It displays the ability to generate power and incorporates high neuro-muscular activation, coordination and proprioception, and general ability to move across multiple planes.

The test is an integrated, total body movement that displays key movement patterns that are relevant to the ability to generate power from the lower body, through the trunk and to the upper body.

There is not probably nothing more important to success in most sports that having this ability. It’s the essence of athleticism.

Caber Toss Test

To perform this test, you need three different weighted bats and baseballs. For hitters, we use their game bat and bats weighted +/- about 20% of the game bat weight. For baseballs, we use the game weight baseball of 5 ¼ oz. and weighted baseballs of +/- 20%.

We have adapted this test for throwing and bat speed using weighted balls and bats to assess the player’s ability. You measure ball velocity and bat speed achieved using the various weights.

If the athlete is like most, a 50/50 mix of fast / slow twitch muscle fibers, the difference between the values obtained when testing will be about the same as you move up and down the weight scale. On a graph, the slope is relative smooth.

If the values increase as the weight gets lighter, this indicates a higher level of fast-twitch muscle fiber.

If the values decrease as the weight gets lighter, this indicates a higher level of slow-twitch muscle fiber. They cannot generate speed over the same line of force regardless of the weight employed.

Superior athletes have higher levels of fast-twitch muscles and can generate higher force against lighter loads.

The higher the differential (greater slope on the graph) at the lighter end of the weight scale, the greater potential to generate speed.

In addition to motivation, these graphs can also be compared to other throwers. Some may have a steeper trend than others. A thrower with a steep line is relatively stronger in the lighter implements. This person is probably relatively weaker, but able to accelerate faster. The thrower with the flatter curve may have better countering positions, or may be stronger. Comparing curves may give throwers more insight as to their strengths and weaknesses.

This defines the athlete with the greater potential for success.

Frank Thomas Retirement Press Conference

I heard some interesting tidbits from the Frank Thomas retirement press conference last week here in Chicago. I wish I could find an audio or a transcript of it.

Frank was one of the more outspoken players in his stance against the growing PED issue and was held up, along with Griffey, as one of the top sluggers in the era who did not cheat. He was prodded to comment on the recent McGwire apology and his thoughts on the era in general. While he generally avoided the question he did mention a couple of other issues he said contributed greatly to his ability to develop as a premier power hitter.

First, was his early career development under Sox hitting coach Walt Hriniak. I devoured Hriniak's hitting book and used a lot of his tenets in developing my approach in teaching hitting. I loved the aesthetics of the swing and the results it produced. Hriniak worked with Thomas, Robin Ventura with the Pale Hose in addition to his work with many of the Red Sox hitters of that era. Wherever he went, it seemed as if increased production would follow.

Second, he mentioned baseball's general approach through the umpires of taking away much of the inside part of the plate from the pitchers. The old-school pitchers like Drysdale and Bob Gibson of knocking guys down or sending "message" pitches went the way of the dinosaur early in Thomas' career and hitters were able to crowd the plat and dive into pitches with impunity.

Combined with the improved body-armor technology and the implementation of Questec pitchers literally had no safe haven to pitch to.

Finally, he mentioned how his career really blossomed when he learned how to distinguish between the pitch on the inside corner that he could drive down the line and keep fair as opposed to the one that was maybe a little off the plate and would hook foul.

One part improved pitch recognition plus one part improved hitting mechanics equals one very dangerous hitter.

Sounds like something straight out of the Ted Williams book on hitting.

P.S. - He also did mention that he felt he had an advantage athletically being a two-sport athlete over other players early in his career and this gave him a lot of confidence that he would succeed.

It did seem as if when the multi-sport athletes like Thomas, Bo Jackson, Kenny Lofton and Deoin Sanders among others came into the league it forced other players to up their game in terms of strength and conditioning in baseball.

Baseball Training Q&A

With the Super Bowl in the rear view mirror and the countdown date to pitchers and catchers reporting to spring training dwindling, parents and athletes begin to consider how they can better prepare for the upcoming season.

This blog answers some of the FAQ's I hear from parents struggling to figure out how to get their kids to achieve a higher level of play.

Depending on the child's age, prior experience in sports and skill level, here are some general guidelines to follow:

For Boys age 7-12 and Girls age 6-11:

Initiation stage of development.

These are kids who are still in the prepubescent years of development. Their bodies are still growing and developing. During this stage, there is no training focus on building muscle mass.
Resistance training should be avoided a this stage, especially heavy weight training. Bodyweight exercises like push-ups, chin-ups and sit-ups are examples. Light medicine balls can also be used.

Exercise programs should be focused on a wide variety of athletic skills and exercises involving running, jumping, tumbling, climbing, balancing, catching and throwing. Some believe that up to 90% of a athletes agility is developed prior to age 12, so drills or games focusing on starting and stopping or changing directions and reacting to stimuli should be emphasized.

Children in this age group should participate in a wide variety of sports and games in order to encourage multi-lateral development. Sports that encourage neuro-muscular development such as martial arts or gymnastics are examples.

The intensity level should be kept low and activities should not produce a high level of struggling or frustration at this point. Keep it fun and try to build up interest levels and attention spans.

At this stage, it is a good time to start to develop proper nutritional habits and choices.

The guidelines should be simple and easy to incorporate and maintain.

- Limit snacks and junk foods.
- Avoid sodas and fruit drinks with high levels of sugar.
- Avoid fried or high fat foods.
- Let kids know the difference between protein, carbohydrates and fats and why you need them as part of a healthy diet.
- No dieting at this stage.
- You can "treat" yourself occasionally, generally as a "reward" for good dietary behavior over a period of time.
- A multi-vitamin and perhaps fish oil supplement would be good for overall health.

Kids develop at different rates. If your child is big or small relative to his peers now, that could change. Don't sweat it. You can't control it, so why worry about it.

Don't worry about genetics or things you can't change. Worry more about encouraging, developing and modeling healthy habits.

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For Boys age 13-15 and Girls age 11-13:

Secondary stage of development

This is the optimal time period to initiate a resistance or weight training program.

To minimize injuries or down time and not interfere with the athlete's growth progress, the following factors should be considered:

- The chronological age in years and months.
- The biological age or maturation level of the athlete.
- The training age or experience level in sports and with resistance training.
- The growth spurt or onset of peak height velocity.

During growth spurts bones can become weaker and muscle imbalances can occur. Bones are growing and muscle-tendons are tightening. Athletes experience difficulties in balance and coordination due to these changes. The nervous system is, in effect, being re-wired to accommodate these changes. Athletes adapt to these bio-mechanical changes at different rates.

During these periods, stress levels should be lowered, if possible. This can include reducing training time and/or playing time. The body does not know the difference between playing and training stress.

To maximize the benefits of a resistance training program it may help to seek a qualified strength and conditioning coach to help develop a plan according to the individual athletes needs. The coach will evaluate and assess the current level of training and develop a training program to address the child's current strengths and weaknesses.

Factors to be considered for developing a resistance training program

- Begin with bodyweight exercise.
- Use medicine balls or throwing implements, especially if in a sport that involves throwing and catching.
- Medicine balls are effective for transferring strength to power by developing speed of movement.
- Emphasize the development of the abdominal, spinal, scapular and thoracic muscles.
- Incorporate drills and exercises that stimulate the neuromuscular system and reaction to outside stimuli.
- Avoid heavy resistance and low repetitions. Use a weight that you can handle 8-10+ reps per set with comfortably.
- Train with a partner or coach for assistance and/or motivation.
- Avoid "sports-specific" training at this point. Your goal should be to develop your overall athleticism at this stage.

There will be plenty of time to narrow your training and sports focus after age 15. In the early stages, variety is the spice of life.

Relative Age Effect spotted in Australia...and why it matters

From the blog Sports are 80 Percent Mental

http://blog.80percentmental.com/2010/02/month-of-birth-determines-success-in.html

Here it is again....

The month of your birth influences your chances of becoming a professional sportsperson, an Australian researcher has found. Senior research fellow Dr. Adrian Barnett from Queensland University of Technology's Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation studies the seasonal patterns of population health and found the month you were born in could influence your future health and fitness.

The results of the study are published in the book Analysing Seasonal Health Data, by Barnett, co-authored by researcher Professor Annette Dobson from the University of Queensland.
Barnett analysed the birthdays of professional Australian Football League (AFL) players and found a disproportionate number had their birthdays in the early months of the year, while many fewer were born in the later months, especially December.

The Australian school year begins in January. "Children who are taller have an obvious advantage when playing the football code of AFL," Dr. Barnett said. "If you were born in January, you have almost 12 months' growth ahead of your classmates born late in the year, so whether you were born on December 31st or January 1st could have a huge effect on your life."

...and why it matters.

"Research in the UK shows those born at the start of the school year also do better academically and have more confidence," he said. "And with physical activity being so important, it could also mean smaller children get disheartened and play less sport. If smaller children are missing out on sporting activity then this has potentially serious consequences for their health in adulthood."

Dr. Barnett said this seasonal pattern could also result in wasted talent, with potential sports stars not being identified because they were competing against children who were much more physically advanced than them. He said a possible solution was for one of the sporting codes in Australia to change the team entry date from January 1st to July 1st.

I don't believe that the solution is as easy moving the birth date for the various youth leagues. Maybe part of the answer is to group teams more by size, as I believe youth football does.

Over here in the states, the travel/elite leagues are applying a form of self-selected, early identification system that removes some of the early achievers form the pool of late bloomers. I'm not sure that is the optimal system to have in place, but we are where we are.

TALENT - The Relative Age Effect and Success in Sports - Have a Good Birthday

It is interesting that when we examine issues relating to talent and how it is developed and where it comes from, some very fascinating pieces of information emerge.

Recent studies have shown that factors like birth month and whether a child is born in a relatively warm weather state has a higher correlation to success in sports generally and baseball in particular than ever imagined.

When I was coaching little league baseball, we called it "having a good birthday". It played as much of a role in the selection of players as baseball ability. Although maybe not as much as having a "GLM", but I digress. Now famous authors like Malcolm Gladwell and well respected university professors have put a name on it - The Relative Age Effect.

The theory is that children born only slightly after the cut-off date in age divided leagues by virtue of being older (and presumably bigger, stronger, more mature) than their peers accrue selection and developmental advantages. This effect is found within the educational system as well since when a child enters the system revolves around their birth date. The implication for future success in life is an issue here, just as it is for those involved in youth sports. It may in fact be a more important factor in the educational system (but this is a baseball blog and I am trying to stay on task).

These effects begin early in the sports career and the resulting head start obtained carries over into senior and elite competition. The effects are long lasting and appear to be more pronounced for males than females.

For further discussion of the Relative Age Effect in particular and other that lead to successful development (whether in sports, music, business, etc.) I would recommend:

Expert Performance in Sports by Starkes & Ericcson
Outliers: The Story of Success by Malcolm Gladwell
Talent is Overrated (What really separates world-class performers from everybody else) by Geoff Colvin
and
The Talent Code (Greatness isn't born it's grown. Here's how) by Daniel Coyle

All are exceptional books.

OBTW (which means "Oh, by the way" thereby defeating the purpose of using an acronym) the term GLM means "Good Looking Mom". Most little league coaches know this term and use it in talent identification and player selection at the most junior levels in little league.

As the use and application of this metric was explained to me by a more experienced coach when I first began my foray into coaching baseball - "Charlie, if you're going to lose, you may as well enjoy the view".

WISE WORDS INDEED.

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Summary from Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers: The Story of Success.

According to Gladwell the potential bounty of athletic prowess isn't so much in the genes as it is in a child's birth date.

Consider Canadian junior hockey, in which the cutoff date for age eligibility is Jan. 1.

"A boy who turns ten on January 2, then could be playing alongside someone who doesn't turn ten until the end of the year," Gladwell writes, exploring why a disproportionate number of elite hockey players have been born in January and February. "In preadolescence, a 12-month gap in age represents an enormous difference in physical maturity." The older athletes gain all the benefits of age bias: They're viewed as better because they are bigger, placed on teams with superior coaching and chosen to play in all-star games that enhance their development.

Gladwell finds similar results in U.S. baseball, in which cutoff dates for most youth leagues have been July 31, meaning, as he writes, "more major league players are born in August than in any other month."

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The table below lays out the full month-to-month data. As of the 2005 season, 503 Americans born in August had made it to the major leagues compared with 313 American born in July. . . .

The pattern is unmistakable. From August through the following July, there is a steady decline in the likelihood that a child born in the United States will become a major leaguer. Meanwhile, among players born outside the 50 states, there are some hints of a pattern but nothing significant enough to reach any conclusions. An analysis of the birth dates of players in baseball’s minor leagues between 1984 and 2000 finds similar patterns, with American-born players far more likely to have been born in August than July. The birth-month pattern among Latin American minor leaguers is very different—if anything, they’re more likely to be born toward the end of the year, in October, November, and December.

The magical date of Aug. 1 gives a strong hint as to the explanation for this phenomenon. For more than 55 years, July 31 has been the age-cutoff date used by virtually all nonschool-affiliated baseball leagues in the United States. Youth baseball organizations including Little League, Cal Ripken/Babe Ruth, PONY, Dixie Youth, Hap Dumont, Dizzy Dean, American Legion, and more have long used that date to determine which players are eligible for which levels of play. (There is no such commonly used cutoff date in Latin America.) The result: In almost every American youth league, the oldest players are the ones born in August, and the youngest are those with July birthdays. For example, someone born on July 31, 1990, would almost certainly have been the youngest player on his youth team in 2001, his first year playing in the 11-and-12-year-olds league, and of average age in 2002, his second year in the same league. Someone born on Aug. 1, 1989, by contrast, would have been of average age in 2001, his first year playing in the 11-and-12-year-olds division, and would almost certainly be the oldest player in the league in 2002.

Twelve full months of development makes a huge difference for an 11- or 12-year-old. The player who is 12 months older will, on average, be bigger, stronger, and more coordinated than his younger counterpart, not to mention more experienced. And those bigger, better players are the ones given opportunities for further advancement. Other players, who are just as skilled for their age, are less likely to be given those same opportunities simply because of when they were born. . . .

This phenomenon will not come as news to social scientists, who have observed the same patterns in a number of different sports. The first major study of what has become known as the “relative age effect” . . . determined that NHL players of the early 1980s were more than four times as likely to be born in the first three months of the calendar year as the last three months. In 2005, a larger study on the relative age effect in European youth soccer . . . . found a large relative age effect in almost every European country, though it seems to shrink in adult leagues and is less significant in women’s soccer. . . .

Interestingly enough, the relative age effect doesn’t appear in the two other major American sports leagues. . . .

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"Born to play ball: the relative age effect and major league baseball" by AH Thompson, RH Barnsley,

The website below provides a brief summary of the work and a couple of illustrative graphs showing the effect. The entire report is available via .pdf below.

http://www.socialproblemindex.ualberta.ca/relage.htm#Baseball

PDF of the report available here:

http://www.socialproblemindex.ualberta.ca/RelAgeMLB.pdf

The upper graph (SHOWN BELOW) shows the influence of the relative age effect among Major League Baseball players. However, the magnitude of the effect is much lower than that found among other sports like soccer and hockey (see the soccer results for a graph depicted on the same scale).

In an attempt to understand this, we studied Little League players where the effect was presumed to be rooted. Our analysis of team rosters did not reflect the presence of an effect of any significance. It was only when we compared those selected for post-season play with those who were not selected, did an effect emerge. But as the lower figure shows, the differing trends for these two groups showed neither the magnitude nor the clarity found in other sports . This weak effect among professional baseball players was thus hypothesized to be a natural consequence of its weak development during the formative years of Little League. This, in turn, might be explained by the size of the age-range used by Little League teams - often 4 to 5 years - much larger than that found in other team sports. Thus, all budding baseball players are at a disadvantage when they begin, and all will have an advantage in later years. This may neutralize some of the mechanisms that might be "in play" in other sports.

Sources:
1. Thompson AH, Barnsley RH, Stebelsky G (1991). Born to play ball: The relative age effect and Major League Baseball. Sociology of Sport Journal, 8, 146-151 (for a copy click here)
2. Thompson AH, Barnsley RH, Stebelsky G (1992). Baseball performance and the relative age effect: Does Little League neutralize birth date selection bias? Nine, 1(1), 19-30.