The keys to increased performance are held by the general base kids don’t have.
“The masses simply increase their volume of sport.
What they’re doing is just showcasing an unchanging skillset, frequently.
Few are taking the time to increase their output potential with GPP Training, which is the prerequisite required to enhance specific outputs.
GPP —> SPP.”
-Ray Zingler on Twitter
It used to frustrate me to no end that people truly believed that in order to increase performance in sport, the answer was to increase volume of sport.
This frustrated me because common sense will tell you that kids are already playing too high volumes and if they’re not getting the results they’re after, while simultaneously increasing injury and burn out rates, how can the rational human being say to themselves, “I think even more is the answer.”
But now it honestly makes me sad. I’ve learned that people just don’t know any better. They seriously don’t know. Or, if they do, they are simply ignoring it and following the ‘more sport, more money, hope for the best’ crowd, which, statistically speaking, turns out disastrous for the majority. (Yet we still use <1% of outliers to build out and justify our youth sport model.)
Increased sport participation (for those who are already playing too high of volumes) is going to have a host of diminishing returns, ranging from physical, to mental, to emotional, all of which will stagnate, and often negatively impact sport performance. More is not better. It’s just more.
Because our kids are running around in a highly specified sporting world without the general footing to support the demands of their activity volume, if we want to see them improve, gain more confidence, & satisfaction, we actually have to back up.
It’s a classic case of taking 1 step backward to take 3 steps forward.
What is (actually) going to improve their performance is GENERAL training.
I know that sounds wild in the fast paced, ‘specific coaches everywhere’ world we live in, but it’s what they need.
You can build a building on dirt, or you can build a building on a concrete slab. From afar, they look the same, but only one has the structural integrity that will stand the test of time.
The kids ‘have the building’. They have the sport knowledge, they have the sport IQ, they know and understand the game.
What they don’t have is the general base to support the potential specific outputs they are after.
They keys to their performance are not held by more sport, they are held by the general base they don’t have. Build it.
