4 ms·

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 A

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.
  - mym1990 4y ago
    I know Roger Federer and Nadal were both soccer players until late, and chose to specialize in tennis later down the road. I bet there is some survivorship bias, but a non-negligible number of kids end up hating a sport because of the insane schedules these days and parent oversight. My sister played tennis from the age of 9 until the end of college, and I am not sure she wants to pick up a tennis racquet ever again. I started playing tennis in college, and I am absolutely in love with it, and will be for the rest of my life.

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.
- mym1990 4y ago
  I know Roger Federer and Nadal were both soccer players until late, and chose to specialize in tennis later down the road. I bet there is some survivorship bias, but a non-negligible number of kids end up hating a sport because of the insane schedules these days and parent oversight. My sister played tennis from the age of 9 until the end of college, and I am not sure she wants to pick up a tennis racquet ever again. I started playing tennis in college, and I am absolutely in love with it, and will be for the rest of my life.