And then act on it.
“Notice how nobody is promoting the abundance of sport they are for kids (extra games, tournaments, showcases, & etc).
& then backing it vehemently with any of sort of data confirming this is what’s best for kids?
It’s because all the research out there is counter to their ideology.”
-Ray Zingler on X
Our youth sport model parallels the average American mindset:
Naïve & Reactive.
People tend to believe what they want to believe.
They value their own personal interpretation of “truth” over fact and then when fact trumps their truth and they don’t get their way (imagine that) they reluctantly become reactive.
If you we’re to look at the youth sports/development research out there, I mean even just accidentally, you’d be swarmed with quality studies PROVING the problems with the abundance we subject our kids to, today.
The data is limitless and rapidly growing.
But we ignore it and subject our kids to the mess because Coach Mike (who couldn’t hit the broadside of the development barn standing 3 foot from it) said I should, and “Hey look, Timmy is doing it, too.”
Nothing like a strong dose of FOMO and confirmation bias from people who don’t know what they don’t know to help us make decisions for our mental and physical health, but hurry up Janet, next month’s dues are due!
But what about the research to pertaining to the safety & necessity of performance training for youth athletes?
Surely, it’s as bad as the youth sport specificity literature out there, because my granddaddy told me, “Them weights will make you bulky and slow!”
It’s not.
You won’t find a single piece of literature confirming the wives tales dangers of performance training.
In fact, you’ll only find the contrary. You’ll learn that not only is it far safer than ANY team sport your child will ever play, it’s essential, especially in today’s world to help them develop the bandwidth to tolerate the demands of today’s youth sports.
But even with all this research confirming the negatives of the abundance and promoting the positives of general training, we tell our kids to “send it more” on the ball field, and when it comes to training, “we don’t have time.”
The Good ‘Ol American Way, baby.
The only reason I can passionately talk about this stuff every day is because I have a leg to stand on.
I’m not spouting a bullshit opinion.
I use facts to drive my narrative.
And we must start prioritizing facts over feelings if we want our kids to be the best versions of themselves.
