Physical Literacy, early sport specialization, multi-sport involvement, and recommendations

Question 1

Physical and Health Education Canada defines physical literacy as:

Answer 1

“Individuals who are physically literate move with competence and confidence in a wide variety of physical activities in multiple enviroments that benefit the healthy development of the whole person.”

being confident in one sport can usually translate into confidence in other sports (soccer to basketball to tennis, etc)

Question 2

Long Term Athlete Development (LTAD)

Answer 2

● The LTAD promotes physical activity for all based upon a developmental progression.
● Encouraging a positive physical activity experience at a young age through active play and games (i.e. Active Start)
● Foster the development of a variety of well-structured activities that develop basic skills (i.e. FUNdamentals)
● Tennis Canada example:** Slower balls, smaller courts, right sized racquets.** (modify the game -> increase success to make the game easier and more fun for little kids)
● We need to remove barriers to participation and performance, and help make sport systems more effective:

Examples of shortcomings (why sometimes the coaches don’t follow):
Athlete preparation is geared to the short-term outcome - winning - and not to the development process

Question 3

Early Sport Specialization leads to:

specializing a kid into one sport at an early age (ex. training for olympics)

Answer 3

• more overuse injurie (doing the same skills all the time)
• higher rate of physical inactivity as an adult (resent toward the sport)
• burnout due to stress
• lack of motivation
• less enjoyment
• drop out (70% by age 13)

Question 4

Benefts of mult-sports involvement:

Answer 4

• better overall skills and ability
• smarter, more creative players (using experience from other sports)
• most university athletes come from a multi-sport background
• 10,000 hours is not a rule
• Free play equals more play time (coming up with your own game rules)
• There are many paths to mastery

Question 5

Recommendations prior to age 12

Answer 5

• Prior to age 12:
  80% of the time should be spent in deliberate play and in sports OTHER THAN the chosen sport!
• Deliberate play:
  1. is intrinsically motivated
  2. it maximizes fun and enjoyment
• Deliberate play increases:
  1. motor skills
  2. emotional ability (social skills, negotiate with other kids)
  3. creativity

Question 6

Recommendations age 13-15

Answer 6

• 50/50 split between a chosen sport and other athletic pursuits

Question 7

Recommendations for age 16+

Answer 7

Even when specialization becomes very important, 20% of training time should still be in the non-specialized sport and deliberate play.