The answer has never been a more definitive no than today.
“Our kids (playing the highest volume of sport, ever) spend their time cutting, shifting, & changing directions.
Compounding what they are already doing too much of in ‘training’ isn’t helping them.
It’s hurting them.
We have to stop trying to overfill already full buckets.”
-Ray Zingler on X
I often look at this whole thing and ask myself, “what are we doing?” (From a sport/training perspective.)
We are taking kids who are playing the highest volume of (often single) sport in human history, who aren’t close to prepared for the volume of demands and then when it comes to “training” them to be able to handle the abundance of volume, we do so with specific training stimuluses that increase the volume, that again is already too high.
I mean, I am a pretty dumb guy, but even on the most fundamental of levels, where does this make any sense?
Said differently, we are taking our pillowcase that is overflowing with candy on Halloween night and trying to add another 5 pounds to it, while the healthy, prepared meals sit rotting in the fridge.
Just think about it critically.
What do sports “look like” sprinting, jumping, cutting, shifting, & changing directions, right?
So if they are already doing too much of the (specific) actions in sport what good is adding more cutting, shifting, & changing directions to their training regimen going to do? Outside of appease the parental palatability notion and decrease performance, nothing.
But we’re so bought into this whole concept of “agility” and believe “well if it looks like sport that’s what we should be doing.”
This line of thinking is so backwards and wrong, it’s laughable.
Sports are specific.
Training that looks like sports is what many would consider “sport specific training”.
So if we are combing sport specifics and sport specific training without an inkling of general physical preparation to prepare for the abundance of specific demands… what do you think happens?
If you want to know, google: “Youth injury and burn out rates” to learn more about the epidemic plaguing our children, who in DROVES are leaving organized sport by the age of 12, if they choose to participate in sport at all.
We must understand, much like a concrete foundation supports the house, general training (preparation) will always fuel specific demands.
This isn’t just a cute saying.
It’s a physiological fact that we cannot “will or grind” ourselves around.
Most discover this when it is far too late.
Stop trying to overfill overflowing buckets.
Our kid’s health & performance hinges on it.
