1. PAGES 1-35 - Texas Track & Field Coaches Association
1. PAGES 1-35 - Texas Track & Field Coaches Association 1. PAGES 1-35 - Texas Track & Field Coaches Association
C OACHING YOUTHS Table 1. Sex Differences in World-Record Performance in Track (400 meters) step is taken forward, the hips rotate forward, followed by the shoulder, then the upper arm, and finally the lower arm and hand. The throw ends with the body leaning forward over the stepping leg. Why these differences in throwing motion? A few theories exist on this. The most likely is that the sociocultural importance of throwing well for males creates an atmosphere in which girls who throw poorly are allowed to continue to throw poorly and boys who throw poorly are trained until they throw well. The fact remains that training reduces those differences but does not eliminate them. All children should be expected to throw with an efficient pattern. As boys and girls practice, encourage them to take a large step, throwing with force. Do not worry about accuracy until a mature pattern is well established (5 for boys, 8 for girls). Table 1 shows how both males and females improved in the 400 meter dash over this 70-year span although females clearly improved more. Why? Opportunity, expectations, and encouragement for females are much different today than they were in 1923. World-class athletes are all motivated, well trained, and well coached. At this level, males and females differ by about 10% in performance— this likely represents a true biological difference. The differences within a gender are also large; that is, some males are much better at a particular activity than other males, and likewise some females are much better at a particular activity than other females. Thus, depending on the particular track and field event or task, biological and inherited factors make a relatively small contribution. Sportswriters, broadcasters and parents often use terms such as “natural athlete” to describe superstars. Less often they use the terms “hard worker” and “dedicated.” When working with young athletes, it is hard work and practice that should be emphasized, because that is within their control. The characteristics leading to performance are biological (physical size), psychological (motivation) and cognitive (knowledge and practice). Many professional athletes report being discouraged during childhood and adolescence. However, they persisted and became successful. This is likely attributable to the relative age effect—which means the oldest athletes in youth sport are identified as the best and the youngest and least mature as the poorest (Thomas & French, 1999). The relative age effect was discovered by examining the age of players on youth all-star teams, where the players with birthdays just after the cut-off date were most frequently all-stars. Similarly, in baseball the skilled position players (pitcher, catcher and shortstop) are all about a year older than outfielders and bench players. If environment did not matter, practice would be unnecessary—as would coaches. If innate “talent” is all that matters, practice becomes unimportant. A coach’s training philosophy is based on the notion that environment (and nurturing) does matter. The foundation for youth sport is effort, practice, and improvement. Motor development research suggests that good things do come to those who work hard. 20 techniques AUGUST 2011
Figure 3. Running speed during childhood. From Espenschade, A. and Eckert, H. (1974). Motor Development. Science and medicine of exercise and sport (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Harper and Howl. Figure 4. Effect size for overarm throwing (gender differences increase with age). From Thomas, J.R. and French, K.E. (1985). Gender differences across age in motor performance; A metaanalysis. Psychological Bulletin, 98, 260-282. AUGUST 2011 techniques 21
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Figure 3. Running speed during childhood.<br />
From Espenschade, A. and<br />
Eckert, H. (1974). Motor<br />
Development. Science and medicine<br />
of exercise and sport (2nd ed.). New<br />
York, NY: Harper and Howl.<br />
Figure 4. Effect size for<br />
overarm throwing (gender differences<br />
increase with age).<br />
From Thomas, J.R. and<br />
French, K.E. (1985). Gender<br />
differences across age in<br />
motor performance; A metaanalysis.<br />
Psychological<br />
Bulletin, 98, 260-282.<br />
AUGUST 2011 techniques 21
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