5 ms·

Range is kind of a niche book I'm not sure it represents the consensus yet.

by natly 4y ago

alistairSH 4y ago
At a bare minimum, excelling in most sports today requires conditioning in the gym. Weight lifting, plyometrics, coordination drills, etc. Cyclists don’t just ride their bikes. Footballers don’t just kick a ball around. Formula 1 drivers don’t just drive their cars. You can find Nino Schurter’s gym workouts on YouTube (elite mountain biker). Same for some top race car drivers.
- mym1990 4y ago
  This needs more context, otherwise you're just throwing out a very broad opinion. A 12 year old that 'excels' at a sport is definitely not weight lifting, doing plyos, etc... A 15 year old might just be getting into some of those things. Everything you might be doing in the gym is in support of the task you're trying to accomplish, not the other way around, so I really doubt that the gym is 'the bare minimum' for most athletes.
  - alistairSH 4y ago
    Sorry, I was thinking about the author’s statement about specificity… if you want to improve your racquetball game, don’t practice squash. And my own experience studying economics and computer science. The math I was required to take (2 semesters calculus, 1 statistics, and 1 discrete math) was in support of the task I was trying to accomplish (basic competence in those subjects). None at a level I would have considered “advanced” beyond the scope of my degree. Friends that studied history or philosophy did even less math than that - many didn’t take any in college (after testing out based on AP exams or similar).
    - trashtester 4y ago
      I studied particle physics. The math requirements were similar to what you're listing, though I dabbled slighlty beyond that. Today, I wish I'd done a lot more math and statistics before focusing on exclusively physics, even if it'd cost me another 1-3 semesters. I was spending way too much time trying to re-invent the wheel (statistics) in the experimental part, and particle physics really assumed quite a bit more math than what was listed as prerequisites, simply because the university didn't want to delay progression. (To compensate, the bar at the exam was set pretty low.)
  - ABeeSea 4y ago
    I don’t know how much you know about the current state of high level youth sports, but there are many 12 year olds absolutely doing those things. The world of AAU basketball and youth football camps is insane. AAU basketball literally has leader boards ranking the top 6th and 7th graders in the country. And goes all the way down to 3rd grade.
    - mym1990 4y ago
      Okay, my statement was a bit reductive, of course different sports will prescribe different development paths for juniors, but generally speaking, if you're overloading a 12 year old that still has a lot of growing to do, it will end up very poorly(either injury, stunted growth, or burnout). I did not say anything about juniors being prohibited from competing, healthy competition has immense benefits early on.
      - SamReidHughes 4y ago
        Lifting weights and working out as a child doesn't stunt growth.
    - SyzygistSix 4y ago
      That sounds horrific. And I'm all for kids playing team sports. Key word being playing. It helped me learn teamwork and good sportsmanship, which is supposed to be the point.
      - alistairSH 4y ago
        Yeah, it's pretty crazy. When my son was playing youth sports, many of his peers started doing speed/coordination training with a coach in 6th/7th grade. This was usually 1-2x/week and applicable to most sports. Focus was more on first-step speed, running form, and full body movements (jumps, "suicide" sprints/shuttle runs, etc). I thought it was pretty crazy at the time, still do, but at least it was generic. These days, neighbors have kids in with pitching coaches at age 8, playing travel league baseball 3+ nights/week, plus 2-3 games/weekend. 9 months of the year. That is REALLY crazy to me. How about some swim team, or soccer, or anything else? Back when I was in high school (mid-90s), the best athletes were all multi-sport athletes. Football/basketball/track-field was a common combo. No idea if that's true today, but I suspect there's a lot more single-sport athletes at the prep level, which is kinda sad.
- larryett 4y ago
  If you mean at the highest levels of sport though, great genetics will completely overwhelm whatever work the less genetically gifted are doing. This to me is the real problem with over specialization. You have less than gifted parents living out their athletic dreams through their kids but if the parent wasn't that good at the sport there will be correlation with the kid not being that good. Kids shouldn't specialize in sports too young because there is such a great chance they are not in the right sport at 11.
  - kenjackson 4y ago
    At the highest highest levels you need genetics and great training. And it also depends on the sport. Super popular sports like basketball and football require both. Niche sports like fencing, you could probably play at a pretty high level with either. But to play HS sports for example at most schools, either will do the job. And for most people playing the sport they love in high school will be worth it. Even among pro players, their HS experience is often their best experience.
mym1990 4y ago
I think even outside of the book, junior athletic development is indeed moving away from specialization at an early age and towards understanding general body movements and coordination abilities early, while having the freedom to play multiple sports(emphasis on play).

Range is kind of a niche book I'm not sure it represents the consensus yet.

by natly 4y ago

Range is kind of a niche book I'm not sure it represents the consensus yet.

At a bare minimum, excelling in most sports today requires conditioning in the gym. Weight lifting, plyometrics, coordination drills, etc. Cyclists don’t just ride their bikes. Footballers don’t just kick a ball around. Formula 1 drivers don’t just drive their cars. You can find Nino Schurter’s gym workouts on YouTube (elite mountain biker). Same for some top race car drivers.

mym1990 4y ago
This needs more context, otherwise you're just throwing out a very broad opinion. A 12 year old that 'excels' at a sport is definitely not weight lifting, doing plyos, etc... A 15 year old might just be getting into some of those things. Everything you might be doing in the gym is in support of the task you're trying to accomplish, not the other way around, so I really doubt that the gym is 'the bare minimum' for most athletes.
- alistairSH 4y ago
  Sorry, I was thinking about the author’s statement about specificity… if you want to improve your racquetball game, don’t practice squash. And my own experience studying economics and computer science. The math I was required to take (2 semesters calculus, 1 statistics, and 1 discrete math) was in support of the task I was trying to accomplish (basic competence in those subjects). None at a level I would have considered “advanced” beyond the scope of my degree. Friends that studied history or philosophy did even less math than that - many didn’t take any in college (after testing out based on AP exams or similar).
  - trashtester 4y ago
    I studied particle physics. The math requirements were similar to what you're listing, though I dabbled slighlty beyond that. Today, I wish I'd done a lot more math and statistics before focusing on exclusively physics, even if it'd cost me another 1-3 semesters. I was spending way too much time trying to re-invent the wheel (statistics) in the experimental part, and particle physics really assumed quite a bit more math than what was listed as prerequisites, simply because the university didn't want to delay progression. (To compensate, the bar at the exam was set pretty low.)
- ABeeSea 4y ago
  I don’t know how much you know about the current state of high level youth sports, but there are many 12 year olds absolutely doing those things. The world of AAU basketball and youth football camps is insane. AAU basketball literally has leader boards ranking the top 6th and 7th graders in the country. And goes all the way down to 3rd grade.
  - mym1990 4y ago
    Okay, my statement was a bit reductive, of course different sports will prescribe different development paths for juniors, but generally speaking, if you're overloading a 12 year old that still has a lot of growing to do, it will end up very poorly(either injury, stunted growth, or burnout). I did not say anything about juniors being prohibited from competing, healthy competition has immense benefits early on.
    - SamReidHughes 4y ago
      Lifting weights and working out as a child doesn't stunt growth.
  - SyzygistSix 4y ago
    That sounds horrific. And I'm all for kids playing team sports. Key word being playing. It helped me learn teamwork and good sportsmanship, which is supposed to be the point.
    - alistairSH 4y ago
      Yeah, it's pretty crazy. When my son was playing youth sports, many of his peers started doing speed/coordination training with a coach in 6th/7th grade. This was usually 1-2x/week and applicable to most sports. Focus was more on first-step speed, running form, and full body movements (jumps, "suicide" sprints/shuttle runs, etc). I thought it was pretty crazy at the time, still do, but at least it was generic. These days, neighbors have kids in with pitching coaches at age 8, playing travel league baseball 3+ nights/week, plus 2-3 games/weekend. 9 months of the year. That is REALLY crazy to me. How about some swim team, or soccer, or anything else? Back when I was in high school (mid-90s), the best athletes were all multi-sport athletes. Football/basketball/track-field was a common combo. No idea if that's true today, but I suspect there's a lot more single-sport athletes at the prep level, which is kinda sad.
larryett 4y ago
If you mean at the highest levels of sport though, great genetics will completely overwhelm whatever work the less genetically gifted are doing. This to me is the real problem with over specialization. You have less than gifted parents living out their athletic dreams through their kids but if the parent wasn't that good at the sport there will be correlation with the kid not being that good. Kids shouldn't specialize in sports too young because there is such a great chance they are not in the right sport at 11.
- kenjackson 4y ago
  At the highest highest levels you need genetics and great training. And it also depends on the sport. Super popular sports like basketball and football require both. Niche sports like fencing, you could probably play at a pretty high level with either. But to play HS sports for example at most schools, either will do the job. And for most people playing the sport they love in high school will be worth it. Even among pro players, their HS experience is often their best experience.

mym1990 4y ago

I think even outside of the book, junior athletic development is indeed moving away from specialization at an early age and towards understanding general body movements and coordination abilities early, while having the freedom to play multiple sports(emphasis on play).