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Medical News Today are reporting: Children With Delayed Physical Development May Grow Up To Be Better Athletes
10 Dec 2006
Quote:
"The difficulties faced by children who develop slower than their peers may provide them with advantages as they age. They may grow up to be better soccer players," posits Dr. Yuval Chiger in his doctoral thesis in the field of education. Dr. Chiger has worked with talented, young soccer, basketball and tennis players for a number of years. His research followed the development of 301 young soccer players and found that the difficulties of the children who develop at a slower pace provide them with an advantage later on.
"Parents and coaches can help improve the self-image of adolescents who physically develop later than their peers. They should not be sent home; they need to be nurtured and offered a blanket of support. It is these youngsters that may turn out to be the best soccer players," Dr. Chiger stated. "During adolescence, there are biological developmental gaps. There are youngsters that develop early and those whose physical development begins relatively late. I originally speculated that those children who developed more slowly would have disadvantages and difficulties with sports. I never imagined how these difficulties would actually benefit them in the long run."
Dr. Chiger found that children who developed more slowly had a tendency to drop out of sports at the beginning of adolescent development, regardless of their talent. The research found that coaches were often responsible for children leaving organized sports; they preferred to nurture children who were perceived as stronger, meaning those who developed earlier and faster.
Dr. Chiger's research stressed that children who develop earlier may have a physical advantage, but the gap closes as the peer group develops. Early developers do not acquire the same coping mechanisms as their smaller peers.
"The children who developed later and continued with physical activities were actually the ones who stayed with sports longer, having enhanced the cognitive abilities unique to sports. They developed psychological capabilities that gave them tremendous advantage in competing for excellence," continued Dr. Chiger. "At age 18 they can integrate their talent, their physical abilities, and their mental strength. At a relatively young age, they have experience coping with difficulties that gives them an advantage over children who developed more quickly," he noted. Dr. Chiger stressed that experiencing a period of difficulty in life was to his subjects' advantage and further proposed that this formula be used to bring about excellence.
Re: Development delay, may become a better athlete
Absolutely! Read a few biographies of famous soccer players, Beckham to Buffon, Keegan to Keane, Zizou to zino, all thought they'd never make it because they were small at 16. Beckham is 6 ft, Buffon 6'4". There is a theory I read that boys still have 22% to grow at 17, whearas girls are fully grown in height. Thanks for posting. Carole
Re: Development delay, may become a better athlete
Quote:
Originally Posted by carolethecatlover
Absolutely! Read a few biographies of famous soccer players, Beckham to Buffon, Keegan to Keane, Zizou to zino, all thought they'd never make it because they were small at 16. Beckham is 6 ft, Buffon 6'4". There is a theory I read that boys still have 22% to grow at 17, whearas girls are fully grown in height. Thanks for posting. Carole
Carole:
In general, males do continue to grow in stature at a later age then do their female counterparts. However, this is a very individual thing with some boys ending their growth at age 15 and others continuing to grow well into their early 20s. However, it is unusual to see girls continue to grow in stature after the age of 18, with most achieving full height by age 15-16.
Having been around athletes all of my life, the idea that the best athletes mature later is just not true. Indeed, there are some "late-bloomers" who mature later and then become the star athletes, but I personally know many very gifted athletes that matured at a normal or early schedule also.
One must remember that the factors that are important in an individual becoming a great athlete are related as much to the individual's physical capabilities as to the individual's genetics (were parents athletes also?), personality type, social setting, parental financial support, the country they live in, and avoidance of serious injury, to name a few. I would put the age of full stature achievement very far down on the preceeding list of what factors are most important at producing the best athletes.
The research by Dr. Chiger is interesting but not surprising. It supports the fact that children that develop slower may be good athletes or may drop out early. I have seen both these scenarios numerous times. Over-motivated and intense coaches and parents are probably the worst thing for many children-athletes with many parents especially killing the love of sport within the child. So many factors affect the athlete. Only a few athletes survive to make it to the top and they all have different stories of how they got there. It is not all about the rate of maturity development in childhood.
__________________
Sincerely,
Kevin
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Kevin A. Kirby, DPM
Adjunct Associate Professor
Department of Applied Biomechanics
California School of Podiatric Medicine at Samuel Merritt College
Re: Development delay, may become a better athlete
Quote:
Early developers do not acquire the same coping mechanisms as their smaller peers.
They developed psychological capabilities that gave them tremendous advantage in competing for excellence,"
I think this is the take home message from the article.
IMHO & from what I've seen in junior sport, the kids who are fast / talented in the early years, are the worst winners and losers. They're more likely to quit a sport when others start catching up and beating them. (bat, ball, home scenario)
Development delay, may become a better athlete
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