In a previous Coach letter (April 2019), we investigated the pathway to trampoline success. In this article, we observed every world championship result in the past 23 years, looking at the most successful athletes and at their personal pathways to discover if there were any common traits.
We found that most athletes were starting trampolining between the age of 10 and 15 with previous sporting experience. We found research that suggested that starting below the age of 7, significantly increased the chances of dropout before an athlete is old enough for elite representation. We found that athletes who start at 7 years old or older were more likely to continue their participation into their twenties, where they may have a chance at elite representation.
With all this information, what should we do for young athletes? Should we tell them that they are too young and to come back in a few years' time? The following article is a researched based opinion, but it is opinion, nonetheless. My qualifications include a sports science degree, studies in coaching and motor learning, and experience in coaching.
As discussed previously, most athletes in their twenties are not competing in the same sport that they were involved in when they were 4 or 5 or 6 years old. However, in Australian culture, many children begin organised sports participation around this age. There is quite extensive research regarding sports participation at a young age.
Generally, the research indicates that for early specialisation sports, specific and structured training may be important at this age. However, for late specialisation sports (such as trampolining and aerial skiing) a mix of free play and deliberate play is more important. There is also a strong recommendation that children participate in sports sampling, which is participating in several sporting activities each year.
Sports sampling and play allows children to explore their bodies, their movement skills and their interests without the pressure of structured and deliberate practice. Children are not aiming to improve their long-term performance, but rather aiming to discover what their bodies are capable of. Children get excited by running, jumping, climbing, rolling, etc. without the need for rules and structure to their play. This gives children the opportunity to develop their fundamental movement skills and to develop an intrinsic motivation to participate.
Coaches and programs working with children of this age should structure the program around enjoyment and exposure to new skills and movements. The environment should be fun, with opportunity to explore and play games. Children do not need to know or understand the rules of sport at this age and enforcing these rules may discourage a child's desire to play. Programs targeted at this age group can have a lot in common or nothing in common with the competitive sport on which the program is based. We know this because many children can start when they are older, without having participated in a particular sport and still go on to be successful athletes in that sport.
Children should be involved in sports sampling, participating in several different sports. Children will learn a variety of skills and fundamental movement patterns. The children will participate because it is fun and will gravitate towards the activities that they enjoy the most.
Coaches are responsible for helping children experience a variety of movements and sports while they learn and grow. Coaches are also responsible for helping children develop a healthy relationship with sport and exercise as a means of fun.
While structured and focussed practice may play a role in sports participation, particularly as the athlete gets older, free play is still extremely important to nurture skill development, and a healthy relationship with sport. Free play and deliberate play help to maximise enjoyment and intrinsic motivation while decreasing the risk of burnout (yes, burnout can happen in young athletes). There should be more play time than practice time.
Athletes begin participating in fewer sports, maybe 2-3 sports. Athletes select sports based on what they enjoy and what they are good at. As athletes participate in fewer sports they can focus more intently on their training and engage in more structured training. While athletes are still interested in play, and play is still important, structure needs to be implemented. Playing and focussed practice should be balanced.
At this stage, athletes are commonly grouped by their skill level, allowing coaches and athletes to focus on improving performance. Another advantage of this grouping is that coaches can come up with activities and games that are both challenging and within the reach of all their athletes. This sort of approach keeps athlete motivation and engagement high, while encouraging progress towards the end goal, which may be elite representation.
After the age of 16, we are no longer talking about children and youth athletes. Older athletes are ready to focus and invest their efforts into 1-2 sports with deliberate and structured practice that leads to a successful sporting career.
Common sense tells us that if we practice the same skill, the same way, under the same conditions we become excellent at it. Consistent training and constant, non-varied practice make for great quality performance. But this performance comes at a cost.
Research has found that varied practice gives subjects better learning and better skill retention. In the real world, this means that if a coach varies the conditions under which a skill is practiced, the athlete becomes significantly better at learning the skill and significantly better at performing the skill days, weeks or months later.
Skills learned through varied training has been proven to last longer and adapt better, without breaking down under pressure. Skills learned through implicit learning (that is learning through self-discovery), have also been found to be less likely to break down under pressure, so giving athletes space to learn and a variety of conditions and ways to learn may be hugely advantageous.
For learning athletes and children, variety is very important. This isn't to say that constant practice is to be avoided. Consistency and quality performance are crucial for competition athletes and must be a part of their competition preparations, but this is not important to young athletes who need to learn and have fun.
The optimal way of coaching young athletes may be by using guided discovery. Guided discovery is where the coach teaches skills to the learner in a broad, indirect manner. The coach asks questions, makes suggestions and encourages the learner to solve problems and try new things.
Guided discovery is exactly as its name suggests, it is the practice of guiding athletes to learn and discover movements for themselves. Guided discovery promotes implicit learning, intrinsic motivation, and variety. Guided discovery can be very difficult for a coach to master.
For young athletes, they are sampling a variety of sports, and within these sports are sampling a variety of different skills. In this nature, they are seeking to learn and to experiment. Coaches should foster an environment which encourages experimentation and exploration without interference. This can be challenging, as the coach often knows the most efficient movement or skill progression. Coaches must not solve the problems for the athlete and must give the athlete space to learn and to think. It is easy to give too much feedback and ask pointed questions, encouraging athletes to rely on the coach for confirmation. The aim is to create the most optimal environment for learning and exploration, allowing athlete's to have their own thoughts and discoveries.
In summary, athletes will choose to participate in sport from a young age, and this may mean that they are more likely to drop out before they are old enough for elite participation. Programs focussed on children need to be focussed on two things: fundamental movement skills suited to all sports participation; and, encouraging a healthy relationship with sport that is fun and engaging. This will give us the best chance of retaining athletes and will prepare them for future sport, regardless of which sport they choose. Through youth focussed programs, coaches should use play, guided discovery and varied practice to encourage learning and participation. As athletes become older and begin to specialise, more focussed training can be introduced.
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